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In the Forum: Playback Listening
In the Thread: Accuracy vs. Musicality (and YMMV)
Post Subject: To be continued....Posted by Romy the Cat on: 1/31/2026
Now we are talking about something interesting, and for me “interesting” means that it has no relation to the subject of musicality versus accuracy. The concept of musicality versus accuracy has meaning only within the context of sound reproduction, when the objective of the entire sound-reproduction ceremony is to produce a very specific sound or a very specific cerebral impact on the listener. It sounds noble, and all the necessary G-spots of audio and musicality are certainly being pressed. The problem begins when, instead of cognitive or emotional benefit, the objective of the listening session becomes informational, something that can be penetrated, exchanged, and processed on a consciousness level. At that point, the listener begins to dive elsewhere, and very interesting manifestations start to re-emerge. The process of listening is no longer defined by sound or its impact; sound becomes an almost irrelevant variable. Everything sinks together: the LP record, grid bias, amplification topology, cable elevators, the skill of the musician, the quality of the performance, even the deeply interpretive meaning that a great musician brings to a work becomes as relevant as VTA on a tonearm.
I know, Robin, this is very difficult for you to hear, because how could some jerk from Boston claim that everything musicians do is about as relevant as the type of suspension a speaker has while playing music? But in my view, the destruction of meaning is absolutely mandatory for any serious engagement with deeper meaning. Only after a complete denial of everything known and understood, at a subconscious level, does the room become clean enough to formulate a completely new principle of musical consumption. At that point, it is no longer based on what is heard or projected by the listener’s psyche, but on what is understood. Before, a person might think what plate voltage will give me better sound, or what breathing technique will allow me, as a trumpeter, to produce a more refined impression. After passing through the shadow of having no convictions, that person builds a completely new cardinal system in which technical aspects of playback or the ability to manipulate an instrument are mapped directly onto the quality of one’s own understanding. This is where an entirely new kind of audio begins. I really need to record a video about the events in my life during the night in 2025 to explain where all of this comes from. I was actually planning to record two videos, one technical and one philosophical, and together they point in the direction I am describing above. I completely understand where you are coming from, Robin, but I no longer feel that it is my way of thinking.Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site