Audiophile peer pressure and the joy of gear

[M0N]

Put it better than I ever could have lol

[Delta9K]

@Shane

I seem addicted to trying out every headphone in the world under $1K.

Admission of the affliction is the first step…

Music is the Medicine!

[rice]

@Gothique

My questions are: how can a community avoid creating this kind of peer pressure; how can we find ways to share and encourage new hobbyists to have joy with what they find and use and how do we discourage the sense of having to constantly chase chimeras whilst still supporting people in their explorations and enjoyment?

As someone who has been in several different kinds of audio and tech communities. and a hobbyist of a few expensive hobbies. what I find to be the most discouraging to see to new folk. and what seems to upset people most is telling them their research into things were in-sufficient and they wasted their money. are at least telling them bluntly. Another thing I seem to see is conformation bias. there are many who feel if they jumped in at a price point they feel the need to encourage others to join in and suggest “skip X get X instead”.

I think the most effective way of developing a good community that is without peer pressure and finding joy and acceptance with what they have until maybe they are ready to upgrade. Developing a healthy perspective as a community around all price points is also a good way to encourage people to find joy in what they have. One way of doing this is to remind ourselves is we all have different ears, different music preferences, sonic preferences and things we value.

but of course a lot of this still depends a lot on the person reading who is unnable to find joy and constantly falls into peer pressure of upgrading being able to get over that fear of missing out especially when “hype” products get into the equation.

I feel sorry for who ever read to the end of this very messy reply.

[Gothique]

@rice

One way of doing this is to remind ourselves is we all have different ears, different music preferences, sonic preferences and things we value.

I do think this is very important and not repeated often enough. I remember reading that because everyone has a slightly different arrangement of taste buds that we all experience flavour in subtly different ways. No two people taste exactly the same way. Why would hearing be different?

@rice

of course a lot of this still depends a lot on the person reading who is unnable to find joy

I think we don’t talk about our audio gear joy as much as we maybe could when we all get together online. A limitation of forums maybe?

@rice

I feel sorry for who ever read to the end of this very messy reply.

Thanks but it was worth it

[NickMimi]

Let’s look at this from a different perspective for a moment. If you have made it into this forum or are a regular in any other hobby specific forum you need to remind yourself that you are not simply a passive and lightly interested enthusiast of the particular hobby.
This fact goes for just about any hobbies, sports, collectors, art lovers, and enthusiasts of any activity you can imagine.

I enjoy a Coca Cola once in a while, I don’t own anything more than 2 Coca Cola glasses though. I know a fellow who has decorated his entire garage in Coca Cola memorabilia, hell of a collection and when you talk to him he has no qualms sharing his joy for his memorabilia and being very encouraging in recommending multi thousand dollar coke machines you too can own

I still own and sometimes use 95% of the equipment I have ever purchased related to HP’s and 2 channel audio. Some items sit around and collect dust most of the year, but tend to come out for a listen once in a while when someone asks a question about them and I can assist by giving my opinion with a fresh listen. I follow forums for this hobby and others because I crave knowledge and personal proficiency in my interests and besides hands on experience one of the better ways to gain knowledge is to look for and try and gleam experience from others who have had experiences similar to what you want to know about.

Finally, I have had experience in dealing with the general public in a variety of careers over the past 35 yrs. For the most part, people suck, sometimes I need to take a break from folks. I always go back though, I’m an extrovert it’s part of my character. I’m done generally rambling for the moment, I’ve met great folks in this hobby and hope to make some long term friends over the years. My wants and desires keep me productive at work and thinking I may never retire

[Shane]

Great post! Says the collector and a cokeaholic.

This pic is showing my sign hanging over the kitchen sink. I picked it up in Denver many years ago.

[Gothique]

Very cool vintage sign!

[Alan_Cronin]

This is a great thread. It’s something every one should read while in this hobby. It’s easy to get caught up in the constant deluge of new gear.

[elementze]

Thanks @Gothique for starting this discussion, it’s really on point. Reading through everyone’s comments is therapeutic. I can feel my “upgrade itch” subsiding already

I catch myself being apologetic for my setup way too often: on audio forums I feel like a knuckle dragger with mid-level gear; and then with my non-audio friends I’m a circus side-show freak with too many DACs/Amps/headphones/speakers.

Trying to focus more on what makes each piece I have great, instead of what it’s missing, does help. Perhaps the strategy here is to spend dedicated time “upgrading” my music library, instead of upgrading my hardware. Get new sound from new bands, not new headphones…

[M0N]

@elementze

and then with my non-audio friends I’m a circus side-show freak with too many DACs/Amps/headphones/speakers.

Well, I don’t think there’s really any way to change that if you are in this hobby lol, you kinda just have to come to terms that most people won’t get it, or get them addicted aka force them to get it lol

@elementze

Perhaps the strategy here is to spend dedicated time “upgrading” my music library, instead of upgrading my hardware. Get new sound from new bands, not new headphones…

There’s so much excellent music out there, although sometimes it is nice to listen to the same thing 50 times over once and awhile lol. But yes getting into new types of music can be really rewarding and really increase appreciation of the hobby in general, it’s really easy in current day to do that as well with the ease of access to new music which is real nice, so many options and so many different and worthwhile stuff out there (sometimes too much)

[elementze]

@M0N

you kinda just have to come to terms that most people won’t get it, or get them addicted aka force them to get it lol

Doesn’t bother me too much - most people have a unique hobby that’s interesting. This hobby has turned into mine. I’ve given up on my adult friends, they either all have hearing loss or just no soul lol.
So now I’m focusing on the next generation: my two boys (7 and 9) use KPH30i’s and KSC75’s at school in the computer lab. They have started wanting to give these to friends as birthday presents And at home they are frequent fliers in my listening chair. It’s becoming a fun family thing - for me - wifey doesn’t get it, but can’t win 'em all.

[Gothique]

Thank you. I’ve found the conversation very helpful as well. Sometimes it helps to normalize things by saying them. Perhaps that’s the answer to my question? Just talk about it with each other and with newbies.

[rice]

@elementze

I catch myself being apologetic for my setup way too often: on audio forums I feel like a knuckle dragger with mid-level gear; and then with my non-audio friends I’m a circus side-show freak with too many DACs/Amps/headphones/speakers.

honestly contextualizing your position to the greater populace I find to be the most effective way for me to not fall into just spending all the money I earn into any of my hobbies. finding myself in a position in them as better than almost anyone I talk to in real life in any of my hobbies is already satisfaction enough to not feel like Im missing out not having the high end gear others have here and really add to my satisfaction with what I have.

[Shane]

Good point of view! To the rest of the world…
I got a package delivered to work one day in early 2018. My boss asked what it was and I showed him my new Grado GH2’s. He asked what they cost and I said just shy of $1,000.00 (That is in Canada). He looked at me like I was insane and just shook his head. I didn’t dare mention the rest of my, at the time, modest collection.

It’s all relative.

PS: My co-worker kept pestering me to find out how much they cost and I didn’t dare tell another person. Most people think we are insane.

[elementze]

@Shane

Most people think we are insane.

They’re not wrong… but it’s more fun this way

… on a related note, has anyone else considered giving final instructions to your family to burry you with a DAP, loaded with your favorite music, and your favorite headphones, so there’s something good to listen to for eternity?

[hifiDJ]

I told em to make sure my casket would be a speaker cabinet instead. lol

[Shane]

My wife keeps saying to me, “You can’t wait until they can send music straight to your brain can you?”

I can not disagree.

[TempoTim]

@Shane Wouldn’t that spoil all this fun?

[Gothique]

I think most hobbies seem odd to people who don’t understand the attraction of them. I also feel like fewer people have time and interest for old school hobbies these days. When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s most people had more than one interest be it tinkering with a car, a bike, knitting or sewing etc. These days most people count consuming media as their hobby - watching a screen or playing a game for the most part. Back then if someone had seen going to the cinema, or being a fan of a tv/film series as a hobby people would have thought them a bit odd. Now people consume music much more as a background to another task, rather than as an end in itself.

Times change, basically.

[Shane]

It would certainly cut out the middle man.