Its all psychological...

I found with streaming I was less focused on the quality of the sound also, because I had so much new music to discover!  I just enjoyed browsing my new unlimited library.  Still do.  Maybe that is why you are not obsessed with qualtiy. Congratulations on just enjoying the music, not the gear.

I think we are all creatures of habit, and more so as we grow older.  Was reflecting on this a bit yesterday.  Probably because it was a quiet, rainy Saturday, with minimal demands on my time.   And oh yeah, I was also quietly turning 54 years old.  Mrs. Hook has learned in recent years that I really appreciate a low-key, stress-free birthday.  A nice home-cooked meal or two, zero to-do's, a home theater movie date, unlimited hugs and kisses and, of course, as much time in the listening room as I want.   I wish every day was yesterday...

I recall Ken saying on several occasions that as he has grown older, his Naim setup has become more important to him.  Me too!   Without an hour of so of totally passive (and totally immersive) listening late at night, right before bedtime, sleep for me can be very elusive (and especially after a long, stressful day of work).  For me, that means one album, and of the highest possible sound quality.  I prefer it to be digital, so that there are no interruptions, not even getting up to change sides.   No surfing or reading -- just a brain massage.  In fact, I've gotten into the habit of turning down the bed and brushing my teeth before playing the album.  When it is done, I hit pause, stumble into bed, and am asleep within minutes!  Who the heck needs Ambien?    What started out as a luxury for me has now pretty much become a necessity!   I guess there are worse habits, eh?

But during the day, when my brain is in a more active mode, I enjoy mixing things up.  I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon trying out a bunch of the 320kbps radio stations that Steven Hopkins posted.  In addition to iRadio, I have many other listening options:  vinyl, silver discs (SACD, DVD-A, Blu Ray), remote streaming services (Rhapsody and Spotify), and local UPnP (CD rips, high resolution downloads and needle drops).   Honestly, who has enough time to do justice to even a small percentage of what is available?   And what a wonderful problem to have!    Like you guys, I also feel the need to explore what's out there (new artists, back catalog of familiar artists, historical recordings, etc.).   I was listening to some Robert Johnson via Spotify the other day.   Very listenable as a 320kbps stream, but I doubt these historical recordings from 1936-37 would benefit from any higher resolution.

Then there are the endless science projects!   Does streaming a WAV file sound the same as streaming a FLAC file that has been transcoded to WAV on-the-fly by a UPnP server?   Where does the 555PS sound best -- on the NDX or on the DAC?   Which pressing of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" sounds the best?  Of course, the introduction of a new component triggers a flurry of this kind of activity.  Sometimes, though, I just feel like tidying up my music library, making small corrections to metadata, etc..

So for me, I think the key is this active versus passive listening.  In the latter case, I want everything that my stereo system's technology can deliver:  the most detail, the most information, the deepest sound stage, the sharpest imaging, and the strongest feeling of "they are here", or "I am there".   Anything to preserve the illusion long enough to get totally lost in it.  For active listening, that is less important to me.  Surface noise and/or tape hiss doesn't bother me.  Even mono is just fine (queue George...).  And oh yeah, I am always multitasking while listening in active mode.  Surfing, reading, writing, researching, organizing, etc..  Probably spent an hour yesterday reading about NAS options (got to make a decision on Synology vs. QNAP vs. Vortexbox vs. ReadyNAS or even RipNAS, etc.!) while DJ'ing.    Not saying that the stereo gets demoted to "background music" during these times.  It's still the main thing going on, just not the only thing.

At the end of the day, I do believe that it all about a greater understanding of, and a stronger connection to the music itself.  But I do not see this ultimate goal as being in conflict with a healthy appreciation of modern audio systems, and how these technologies are evolving to meet the needs of our always-on, always connected, digital world.

Hook

Good post Hook. I am hoping to get my hands on and NDX someday too. It would take the place of my CD5x which I now assume is buried in the ground somewhere near Christchurch... wherever it is they take the rubble from demolished buildings. We had some earthquakes, I lost my apartment and contents including my Naim system. Nice to read posts like this... I don't keep up with the forum like I used to as I have to admit I was a bit turned off by the endless obsessing over whether a UnityServe rip sounds better than a DbPoweramp rip etc etc (great piece of software, just switched to MAC and miss it greatly). It's nice to read posts such as the above and hear what role music plays in other peoples lives. I sure can't imagine life without music and my Naim system got me pretty deep into it when I gave myself the opportunity. Currently I am without a stereo however, but the pair of Grado 80's I picked up on holiday along with my iPod keep me happy enough. Great headphones! They seem perfectly matched for an iPod or iPhone and they just sound... well, great! I do miss the scale of my old system though, and it is nice to FEEL your music as well as hear it sometimes. I thought my Arivas gave a great kick and slam which was a lot of fun. For the next six months I'll be quite content with the iPod/grado combo and when the time comes for buying a new stereo it should be as fun as it was the first time around!

For us it was quality before convenience. The latter came as a delicious layer of icing.

When the HDX was launched, much was made (to me at least) of the advantages of a perfectly ripped stream versus all the noise, servos, interpolation, and all that, of a transport playing back.  Compared to playback from my CDX2/XPS2 the HDX came in first. Subsequent audition/addition of the nDAC and after that, 555PS rendered our plans to go CDS3 moot. I must say that aiming for a CD555 never really appealed, can’t say why, it just didn’t sound worth the outlay despite sounding excellent – some of the time. We never got one home for audition.

We ran a CDX2 and HDX side by side through the nDAC for some months but for musical enjoyment the CDX2 couldn’t justify its place on the rack in the end. So there were no compromises for us  and the sheer convenience and accessibility of streaming was a happy coincidence, one which we had not fully realised at first.

Nice reading! happy b-day mr. Hook!

i am actually finding the opposite -- for now, i seem to be creating random playlists across my current ripped collection and enjoying the surprise of a track i havent listened to for a long time -- and therefore "rediscovering" my collection, as the saying goes.

today, just for fun and for a brief break from work, i compared the same track on original CD and the ripped version (Van Morrison "These are the days"). i noticed the 2 sources had different "immediate" impressions. the CDP555 conveying emotion, and the US/nDAC (sans power supply) conveying etched clarity.

i haven't done enough listening i guess to really pick up on differences in sound quality, but i guess that is not surprising.  i will also report what i find as i listen more.

Thanks for interesting thoughts Simon...

enjoy

ken

dear mr hook

belated happy birthday. cant recall when i was so young.

funnily enough, my critical listening sessions are now few and far between since i installed of this digital stuff. but i am listening to more music though -- probably because the effort involved in doing this is much reduced, or perhaps for another reason i haven't yet fathomed.

yes, my naim system is still very important to me,  but i am still trying to come to terms with why this new 'medium' (?) seems to be changing my listening habits somewhat.  and as i say, i suspect, the sheer convenience of it all may be a major contributing factor -- changing the psychological landscape -- so to speak...

thanks for your thoughts -- great stuff

enjoy

ken

We ran a CDX2 and HDX side by side through the nDAC for some months but for musical enjoyment the CDX2 couldn’t justify its place on the rack in the end.

 

for me, the cdp555 still justifies its place on the rack, and when i compared US/nDAC with 555/555ps, i sensed the later conveyed more emotion whereas the former conveyed clarify. whether this 'feeling' will last as i rip more music is another matter -- we'll see.

nServe on an IPad2 is quite 'cool' though (i am not allowed to use this word in my daughter's presence -- she believes i dont know what it means -- and she may well be right...). but where is all this "convenience" leading us???

enjoy

ken

The key ingredient and one which I fear not enough of us get in sufficient quantity. But that's also to do with the nature of forums.

yes, you know what i mean Harry  -- now i sound like Frank Bruno

enjoy

ken