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Audio as a hobby is dying ... ?

maybe it isn't dying, per se, merely evolving

a shambling mound of goodness

live music ===== led to ======vinyl=====old-timey radios=========hifi=======home theater========phones/computers=======bluetooth=====DAC.............

a lot of the aural quality goes down but the convenience goes way up

i hate taking my Pioneer separates when I leave the house
 
Nixxuz said:
It's not dying at all, if Reddit is any indication, (which it is, as a cross section of the general populace).
r/Audiophile - 1,329,815 subscribers
r/Budgetaudiophile - 122,960 subscribers (And that's up from about 40k 3 years ago)
r/hometheater - 220,876 subscribers
Just these subreddits show that more people are getting interested in better audio, even if they all aren't spending tons of money. Add to that all the other groups and YT channels out there, and it seems like audio is getting bigger than ever. That doesn't translate, in this modern world, with more dedicated B&M storefronts, but that's just the way retail has progressed.
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I take Hotrod magazine. But I was priced out of that hobby years ago. I buy Astronomy magazines, but have been priced out of that hobby too, except for what little dabbling I have been able to cobble together. So subscribing to magazines does not necessarily mean participation in the subject.
 
Zygmo said:
I take Hotrod magazine. But I was priced out of that hobby years ago. I buy Astronomy magazines, but have been priced out of that hobby too, except for what little dabbling I have been able to cobble together. So subscribing to magazines does not necessarily mean participation in the subject.
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It gauges interest. This correlates to more participation. Your anecdotal evidence is the exception, not the norm. Most people don't subscribe to magazines centered on hobbies they don't actually participate in. And reddit isn't a magazine...
 
Ok...magazines as an example of subscription. I don't think I would describe my experience as an exception.....in the minority, though no doubt. And, along with several other music centered friends, we used to look through my Audiophile magazines mostly to laugh at the weird things the high-end people would do. Trestles, anyone?

BTW....you need to keep in mind that your Reddit examples don't specify which of those subscribers took only the one. Most likely, many if not most took 2, or all 3. So the numbers are not a sum total. I took several similar mags after I left the hobbies. And the thing is, paper magazines have disappeared, or gotten so expensive that people moved to the netzines. So there is really no way to know if more people are getting in or not. It is still a tiny fraction of population.

I read a couple of years ago that a tape manufacturer sold more cassette tapes that year than they ever had. I was amazed until I realized that by then they were virtually the only cassette tape manufacturer left making cassettes! No wonder.

After saying all that, of course you may be right. If one takes in the substantial increase in finances so many people have today, a substantial number of those will be buying high-end equipment if for no other reason than setting up their home movie theaters. Those numbers would show up as possible audiophiles. After all, Forbes says that 1700 people become millionaires every day in the United States!!
 
Nixxuz said:
It gauges interest. This correlates to more participation. Your anecdotal evidence is the exception, not the norm. Most people don't subscribe to magazines centered on hobbies they don't actually participate in. And reddit isn't a magazine...
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Yes, it takes even less commitment to join a Reddit group than paying money for a magazine subscription. :)

Of my own hobbies, there is often lots of online participation from people who don't do the activity very much.

Rick "lifestyle hobbies have more talkers and buyers, and fewer doers, than activity hobbies, too" Denney
 
Rdenney said:
Yes, it takes even less commitment to join a Reddit group than paying money for a magazine subscription. :)

Of my own hobbies, there is often lots of online participation from people who don't do the activity very much.

Rick "lifestyle hobbies have more talkers and buyers, and fewer doers, than activity hobbies, too" Denney
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Again, anecdotal. Go to those subreddits and look at the posts of people showing pics of their setups or new gear. Steve Guttenberg's videos on the Reisong A10 or the Wilsenton R8 alone have prompted many new buyers of tube amps. I just walked out of Walmart, where there was a growing area of records. The hobby is honestly attracting new people all the time.
 
Nixxuz said:
Again, anecdotal. Go to those subreddits and look at the posts of people showing pics of their setups or new gear. Steve Guttenberg's videos on the Reisong A10 or the Wilsenton R8 alone have prompted many new buyers of tube amps. I just walked out of Walmart, where there was a growing area of records. The hobby is honestly attracting new people all the time.
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The “hobby” is different now... therefore most of my fellow old people on here really do not see it as a thing for some reason. ;)

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I wonder if big corporations can do audio right. Too many bosses. lots of overhead and most everything now days is a group decision. Smaller companies are actually driven by the music and the better making of it, not necessarily profit margins and making money for those with 401Ks or IRAs, (or share holders).

I look to the smaller companies for most things, but there are exceptions. Some large speaker companies seem to know what they are doing, especially when they make their own drivers. That takes lots of talent, lots of resources and lots of cash to pay for tooling.

But that's just my take on it.
 
YY1 said:
What I find more disturbing is the trend to lease the material to the listener, for a recurring monthly fee.
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That's the trend across all intellectual property, and it started with software.

It's one of the main reasons why I want CD's and vinyl records in my collection. If I have the CD in my possession, that is an irrevocable right to listen to that music in perpetuity, no matter what happens with online services. Too many online services have just vanished overnight--many have lost whole libraries of, say, photographs. I don't want some future IP-rights software to tell me I can't listen to the music on my hard-drive, or if they do, to have no way to keep listening to it.

Rick "it's called 'rent-seeking'" Denney
 
Part of the draw of audio equipment was that it improved in performance over time, and that kept people looking for something better. With the digital audio era well into its maturity, we're there. For all intents and purposes, it's as near to perfect as it will likely get. Except for transducers, the electronics part is beyond getting sonically, perceptively better. No point in upgrading except for appearance, convenience or ease of use features.
 
A part of the audio interest came in home construction of amplifiers, preamps & the like. With the digital era upon us, that has pretty much dried up because of the difficulty of building something digital, which has to handle very high frequency components (like edges of pulses) and requires careful PCB layout. A good ol' tube amp could be cobbled together with lots of freedom as to layout & design, and you still got something that sorta worked, or even worked well. No more.
 
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Part of it has morphed into bluetooth, sound bars and powered subwoofers.

You can get pretty high end equipment in those areas and some (Like our son) is willing to seek out and buy decent semi-high end stuff so the sound portion of the "immersion" is on par with the video from their 4K projectors on the opposite wall.
 
GChief said:
The “hobby” is different now... therefore most of my fellow old people on here really do not see it as a thing for some reason. ;)

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Well, I think our fellow 'old people' here see the hobby as a hands-on thing. If you are into vintage, it's great to happen on to a great deal, take the thing home and clean it up, maybe have to change a belt or something, and use it. Moving your speakers around and listening for the difference. Cleaning and playing a record, trying different tapes in the deck, building a new cabinet for the equipment. Also, a lot of the interest is in the look of the equipment. (That is an important part of what influences many High-end audiophiles)

Walking around listening to your phone with ear buds just doesn't seem like a hobby to us. My sister bought one of those little all in one units....fake wood, plastic chrome receiver with a CD player, tuner, cassette deck on the side and a record player on the top. She listens to records some, and always has music playing in the background, but certainly doesn't consider it a hobby.
 
Zygmo said:
Well, I think our fellow 'old people' here see the hobby as a hands-on thing. If you are into vintage, it's great to happen on to a great deal, take the thing home and clean it up, maybe have to change a belt or something, and use it. Moving your speakers around and listening for the difference. Cleaning and playing a record, trying different tapes in the deck, building a new cabinet for the equipment. Also, a lot of the interest is in the look of the equipment. (That is an important part of what influences many High-end audiophiles)

Walking around listening to your phone with ear buds just doesn't seem like a hobby to us. My sister bought one of those little all in one units....fake wood, plastic chrome receiver with a CD player, tuner, cassette deck on the side and a record player on the top. She listens to records some, and always has music playing in the background, but certainly doesn't consider it a hobby.
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I do both and stand by my comment :thumbsup:. As I said it doesn’t not mean any of us are correct, it’s all just opinions ;)
 
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