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Audio as a hobby is dying ... ?

All hobbyists are 1%-ers, and all of the hobbies have been dying for 30 years. There are probably ebbs and tides with hobbies just like everything else.

They said the same thing about shooting sports and hunting. There are more competitive shooting sports, and people competing now, than ever.

They said the same thing about the auto/hot rod hobby. Then people like Dave Kindig come around. Sure, the younger crowd may not have the same taste in styling, but they want nice paint and to go fast.

Photography has become easier with the advent of digital SLRs.

There appears to be an awful lot of new audio gear coming out from all over the world for this to be a dead hobby.
 
What streaming has done to the music industry, it has also done to the film industry (thank you very much, Netflix). That is, changed the distribution system totally.

While never a fan of either the film or music distribution system, upon reflection, there is something monumental about 35mm film stock, and vinyl albums mastered from half inch tape.

Anyone remember the first online crisis for music distributors, back in the 90s? Napster vs the Music Industry and the Government of the United States of America.
 
jrtrent said:
That's an interesting quote, and I found that in an article here:

https://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/1107awsi/index.html

It was also interesting to read Holt's purpose in engaging in the audio business in the first place, his "love for the sound of live classical music." That sound is also what drove his definition of what high end audio is all about, "Audio actually used to have a goal: perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space," and why he believes that goal is dead, "That was found difficult to achieve, and it was abandoned when most music lovers, who almost never heard anything except amplified music anyway, forgot what "the real thing" had sounded like. Today, "good" sound is whatever one likes. As Art Dudley so succinctly said [in his January 2004 "Listening," see "Letters," p.9], fidelity is irrelevant to music."

In that referenced Listening column, Dudley wrote, "It might sound good or it might sound bad; your opinion of how it sounds might change over time, or even from day to day. But if you get something out of it—if the music moves you and connects with you in some otherwise indescribable physical, emotional, or even spiritual way—then it's good. . . The above is only one of the many, many reasons I say that real music and hi-fi have nothing to do with one another. They are different experiences." He goes on to lament that "audiophiles" of the day ignored Leonard Bernstein's recordings (which Dudley considered "artistically brilliant") simply because "his label, Columbia Masterworks, opted for a house sound that today's audiophiles abhor," so they felt, "his recordings aren't conducive to the "high-end" listening experience."

One of the things I've long appreciated about Dudley's reviews and columns is that he wanted people to "forget about the sound and listen to the music," asking themselves, "Is this thing playing the tune properly? Is it getting the beat? Is it really fun to listen to? Is it conveying the emotion that’s on the disc or in the groove? That’s the thing for me." http://www.soundsgoodtome.us/2011/01/06/noted-audio-critics-fess-up/
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That Dudley guy and I are then kindred souls! I've been saying the same sort of thing for a very long time, that though I like for the sound to be good, that I see the whole idea of what is "good" is entirely subjective. We can't really have any truly fixed idea of what a pop record that's been made with overdubs and doesn't even pretend to be anything like a "realistic" portrait of music happening in a room. Even with a more "purist" type recording, made in a hall of acoustic instruments with no processing applied a stereo is never going to sound like the real thing. Even if some level of realism is what's wanted there can be different flavors of that. Basically there isn't likely to be any objective standard where folks would agree which is the least colored reproduction.

Since upgrading my gear some, I've really enjoyed listening to music that's a bit more faithful to a real experience of music in an actual physical space. At the same time, I still enjoy a lot of very processed music that isn't recorded in a particularly dynamic way. I don't really consider that stuff to be so awfully recored, just that it may no benefit as much from being heard on really great gear. The music though could be really great and the production pefect for what it's all about... and that stuff is what's really important, I think.
 
reddodge053 said:
dead-as-a-doornail.gif
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I'm curious... Does this thing ever change? I don't have the patience to wait around to find out, but I feel like I really need to know...
 
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've met plenty of the older folks at local brick and mortar high end stores who don't care about vintage. They care about performance, and chaising their particular dragon.

Vintage gear along with preservation and restoration is heavily represented on this website, but it's by no means representative of audio as a hobby. It's just one narrow facet of it.

And here's a question. If a phone is a media delivery system then what's wrong with trying to squeeze the best sound out of it? People have created successful businesses off of that question.
 
RamblinE said:
I've met plenty of the older folks at local brick and mortar high end stores who don't care about vintage. They care about performance, and chaising their particular dragon.

Vintage gear along with preservation and restoration is heavily represented on this website, but it's by no means representative of audio as a hobby. It's just one narrow facet of it.

And here's a question. If a phone is a media delivery system then what's wrong with trying to squeeze the best sound out of it? People have created successful businesses off of that question.
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:thumbsup:

Edit: it just dawned on me that the only people into old crap that I know personally are AKer’s and my daughters (because I set them up) o_O
 
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I think the most accurate barometer of our hobby is music itself . How many album sales are there this year compared to the past ? I have heard of one Platinum album this year . Taylor Swift as far as I know .
 
This philosophical discussion is great. Interesting points of view.

My two cents... I don't know if the hobby is dying or not. All I know is my old Luxman has these B&W speakers singing (91.5 FM out of Baltimore), and I like it.

End rant.
 
Now that we are all confined to our homes a lot of people are up grading and buying new Stereo equipment and a lot of restored equipment at bargain prices. But I have to agree it will never be the 70's again. But I would never want to go back to that time. The equipment available today can be much superior. Especially Loudspeakers and phono cartridges.
 
twiiii said:
Now that we are all confined to our homes a lot of people are up grading and buying new Stereo equipment and a lot of restored equipment at bargain prices. But I have to agree it will never be the 70's again. But I would never want to go back to that time. The equipment available today can be much superior. Especially Loudspeakers and phono cartridges.
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Too bad "HD Vinyl" is still being worked on and not yet ready. Supposedly the stampers will be coming out next year...
https://hdvinyl.org/hd-vinyl-benefits/
 
Aaron Hayman said:
I knew that... but does that mean I can't be a kindred soul?
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No, not at all -- but the rest your post used the present tense, so I didn't know if you knew that he was gone.
He was, from my perspective, the heart & soul of Stereophile, and a person that would really have enjoyed the chance of meeting & talking with.
His death was a great loss to the audio's literary side.
 
CraigVMN said:
Blame iPods, MP3 and earbuds.
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The iPod (digital audio player) market is indeed much smaller now that smartphones and streaming have reduced their mainstream appeal to almost nothing. But there are some very impressive and high end digital audio players on the niche market. They pack power for driving a variety of headphones, and they can extract the finest details and nuances from high resolution digital files.

So if I had to blame iPods, MP3s, and earbuds for anything, I'd blame them for creating a richer market with more choice and more flexibility for enthusiasts to listen to their music in the highest fidelity while on the go.
 
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