Hifi Poofy Music!

[Yasvanth]

Hi

I don't what it is, but all the hifi enthusiasts that I have met at Hif conventions and Hifi Retail shops tend to listen to poofy music eg Classical, Soul, Jazz, Folk and World Music. Come on this really does piss me off sometimes, there must be enthusiasts who listen to more harder edged music like Dance, Techno, Rock, Heavy Metal etc

Anyway I'd to hear what you guys listen to as long as it's not Poofty music your alright with me?

Rock On!
Jazz

[basite]

yes there are enthousiasts that listen to 'harder' music, but then again, there is jazz that is so 'hard' that even hardcore dudes consider it heavy...

maybe you think jazz is poofy, but then again, do you know something about it? maybe you'll have to broaden your interests a little...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[noddin0ff]

I'll take a stab for arguments sake...

I would posit that, in general, musicians who play classical, jazz, and likely folk, have a deeper knowledge of their instrument and have acheived a greater degree of mastery with it. This results in subtle nuances and expression that meet a thresh-hold where Hi-Fi reproduction is more necessary to bring out the enjoyment that one experiences when you view them live.

I’d also suggest that, in general, as people get older and have more income, they listen less to hard edge stuff and more to the above genres. The income brings them to the shops, the tastes just correlate with the age.

Finally, I don’t think a lot of the harder stuff is really recorded that well and is generally targeted toward playing in large loud venues or broadcast rather than critical home listening.

2 cents

[basite]

Finally, I don’t think a lot of the harder stuff is really recorded that well and is generally targeted toward playing in large loud venues or broadcast rather than critical home listening.

2 cents

or shorter said: Made for the mass... pretty much like most pop music

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Resident Loser]

Hi

I don't what it is, but all the hifi enthusiasts that I have met at Hif conventions and Hifi Retail shops tend to listen to poofy music eg Classical, Soul, Jazz, Folk and World Music. Come on this really does piss me off sometimes, there must be enthusiasts who listen to more harder edged music like Dance, Techno, Rock, Heavy Metal etc

Anyway I'd to hear what you guys listen to as long as it's not Poofty music your alright with me?

Rock On!
Jazz

...why they make boom-boxes? and Cerwin-Vega?

jimHJJ(...It's really all just bottom-end and SPLs...)

[JohnMichael]

My neighbors comment that one moment I might be listening to opera and the next they might be hearing Disturbed or System of the Down. Then of course I might play some Edith Piaf for a change. I love it all from poofy to hard with the exception of modern country.

[hydroman]

When i was selling audio (Back In The Day) my first question was :'What do YOU like?' I would then pull that style of music CD out and demo a system.

My point? Bring your own CD to the store for the demo. Me? I bring Metallica - wOw does that show up a sloppy bass in a hurry! I also bring some jazz (non-poofy Of Course) vocals and lastly, some accoustic guitar recordings.

Works for me!

[Dusty Chalk]

Poofy music -- that's perfect. I call it "audiophile music", but from now on, I'm going to call it poofy music. I consider stuff like Diana Krall and well anything else that one hears a lot of a CES and so on.

I suspect that it's popular amongst audiophiles because it doesn't stress the system -- there's plenty of busy music, but this crap will make any system sound good.

Me, I prefer to listen to interesting music.

I do listen to a lot of classical and jazz, but I also listen to a lot of pop and rock, too, it actually depends more on where I am -- when I'm at work, I don't want to be distracted by lyrics, so I listen to purely instrumental music -- pretty much anything will do. But the rest of the time, I'll listen to the gamut from And One to Zeromancer, from Beborn Beton to Yello, from Therion to Tristania, from Skinny Puppy to Stolen Babies.

Rock on.

[lewburgh]

Personally I love listening to Satriani, Eric Johnson, Tool, and Pearl Jam on my brothers B&W803s. Sounds incredible compared to my system! But it should for the money he pays for equipment.

Lew

HK AVR525
Toshiba 51" HDTV VSX7?
Marantz CD 5001 (In the mail)
Samsung HD-850
Acoustech HT-65
Athena RS1
Velodyne DPS-12
Fronts? selling my JBL Northridge e60s in market for new fronts

[topspeed]

I wouldn't say it's the genre of the music so much as the medium being used to deliver the music. Acoustic vs. amplified, in other words. For an audiophile listening to a system, it is easier to tell if a rig is getting a grand piano right than a Strat with God-only-knows how much distortion added to the chain. Plus, as noddin rightfully pointed out, people that have a deeper appreciation for music often find the subtle nuances in certain instruments and harmonies that the casual listener may neither pay attention to nor care to.

If you prefer trance, trip-hop, or whatever, then good on ya! However, it is shortsighted to condemn others that prefer their music unamplified. My guess is you're pretty young, haven't logged a lot of experience in either music or the world, and simply don't understand what's possible yet. Nothing wrong with that, that's what life is for; to learn, grow, and understand . When I was at 'SC, I took a class on classical music, even though I didn't care for it at the time. Part of the curriculum was to go to the LA Philharmonic a number of times over the semester and write about my impressions. The first two times I went, I fell asleep. No joke. However, the more I understood the music and how it related to the art and world at the time it was created, the more appreciation I had for the complexities of it. Don't get me wrong, you're still more likely to find The Killers or The Bravery in my cd player than any classical, but I can certainly understand why people love it.

One other reason you find most audiophiles listening to "poofy" music: today's pop recordings suck. When Sir Terrance patrolled these parts, he would always tell us how he had to mix a recording hot and clipped, because that's how the studio's wanted them. Now, combine this fact with a really revealing system and what do you get? Crap. That's the double edged sword of ultra transparent rigs; the better the recording, the better they sound. The worse the recording...ugh. Hifi shows have the very best the vendor can set up, therefore they are going to feed them with the best recordings they can find. Rarely does that include modern rock or pop recordings. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

Hope this helps.

[blackraven]

As I have moved up the audiophile ladder over the years my taste in music has expanded. It seems the better the music (any music) sounds the more I appreciate it. In my late teens and early 20's (I'm 48 now) I listened to hard rock, folk rock, motown and jazz. Now I appreciate classical and blues among the music previously mentioned. As I get older I like to expand my horizons and appreciate new things not stagnate on one form of music. High fidelity helps me do this.

Open your eyes and ears and expand your mind or live in mediocrity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poofy Music Lover!

[Rock789]

Hi

I don't what it is, but all the hifi enthusiasts that I have met at Hif conventions and Hifi Retail shops tend to listen to poofy music eg Classical, Soul, Jazz, Folk and World Music. Come on this really does piss me off sometimes, there must be enthusiasts who listen to more harder edged music like Dance, Techno, Rock, Heavy Metal etc

Anyway I'd to hear what you guys listen to as long as it's not Poofty music your alright with me?

Rock On!
Jazz

depends on my mood, but see my post here: What to do when work has you stressed

I listen to almost everything.... no rap, almost no country,

[hifitommy]

i call mannheim steamroller poofy. jazz and classical are intelligent choices but whatever music you like (?skinny puppy ferinstance) is valid for you to evaluate a system.

in a room populated by many 'philes such as at a show, that kind of music may not fly but in a private demo, anything goes.

[bobsticks]

i call mannheim steamroller poofy. jazz and classical are intelligent choices but whatever music you like (?skinny puppy ferinstance) is valid for you to evaluate a system.

in a room populated by many 'philes such as at a show, that kind of music may not fly but in a private demo, anything goes.

I'm going right down the line with Tommy. I think that...nevermind, I totally agree with the above.

[emorphien]

A lot of "hard stuff" is poorly recorded, as mentioned. Since I have a preference for more progressive rock, a lot of which can be hard to find or sometimes obscure, I've noticed they don't seem to do as sloppy a job of recording and mastering a lot of those, interestingly. I think that since they're not aimed at the slobbering masses they're not trying to make it sound as loud as possible.

Although prog rock is probably my main staple I do listen to a fair bit of jazz and lighter/acoustic music and am constantly picking up more as I can when there's not something more "rocky" that I want. I made a point of auditioning both, and I don't care what the guy at the shop likes to hear. Some of it is better recorded than others but there's a point to listening to something you know although I tried to stick with the better recordings to get the best feel for the capabilities of the speakers.

[Feanor]

Hi

I don't what it is, but all the hifi enthusiasts that I have met at Hif conventions and Hifi Retail shops tend to listen to poofy music eg Classical, Soul, Jazz, Folk and World Music. Come on this really does piss me off sometimes, there must be enthusiasts who listen to more harder edged music like Dance, Techno, Rock, Heavy Metal etc

Anyway I'd to hear what you guys listen to as long as it's not Poofty music your alright with me?

Rock On!
Jazz

I listen to classical 90%, jazz 8%, and other stuff 2%. Classical poofy? What does that mean? You don't like it? You're entitled not to like it, so what?

Hey, we could trade insults, but no. I'll only say that classical is music of intelligence and substance (to echo hifitommy). Admittedly what non-classical listeners tend to hear is only the most "popular", usually light, romatic stuff, say, "Bolero". But this stuff isn't even the a snowball atop the tip of the iceburg.

By the way, for equipment evaluation I tend to go for larger scale, (classical), choral works. Nothing like the combination of multiple voices and multiple instruments to evaluate for transparency. I could name a few good recordings.

Peace, bro

[cvc]

I grew up listening to hard rock and heavy metal music. After purchasing my first good set of speakers and stereo receiver it allowed me to hear how good other music actually sounded. Jazz and classical can be a lot more appreciated on a good system allowing you to hear the airiness and space between instruments and a better understanding of a spacial soundstage. I still spin rock music (Bowie, Zepp, Police, Van Halen etc..) but the majority of my cd collection is now "Poofy" music. Your rock cd's will also sound more powerful after spending some time with Krall, Coltrane, Sinatra. Personally, I'm now into big band swing music. Awesome stuff. Let's also face the truth, American pop music and rock just absolutely suck these days. Am I really supposed to get excited over all these American idols? I'll pass on that crap! But Japanese pop music is a whole other story.

I guarantee you will eventually have a large selection of "Poofy" music.