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Hey You,

It’s Friday, so it is time for tips, talks, or tools from us—your trusty source for everything music. Our last newsletter, with its slightly spicy title, helped us get to know you better. The majority of our readers seek out music for themselves and used our Chosic tool recommendation. Nice!

This week, we are turning our attention to graduating amateurs to audiophiles. Good taste in music can be refined, and a good ear for detail may come naturally or take work. The art of hearing differently, discernment, and continuing your musical journey starts with practice.

Unlike a music lover, a true audiophile knows that the journey never ends and adjustments can always be made. The entire thing is non-negotiable; it is the truth in the music—the purest listening experience (still, this is subjective). On the other hand, music lovers consume music at a high pace, and signature sounds are never to be found. Neither is wrong; they are just different. With all that said, let’s get started.

A Simple Playlist, Kinda…

Start by building a new playlist—not using your old playlists, not with a playlist tool, just you and your ears.

Let’s get contextual. Instead of going for a ‘workout’ playlist, go a little deeper. What do you do at the gym? Do you cycle at high speed for hours? Are you constantly lifting until failure? How about working on your deadlift form? ‘Workout’ might be the overarching theme, but make it more contextual. Factor in speeds, distances, breaks, and work with the right beats per minute for it.

Break it down into its rawest form. Think of the music as part of the process, not just an addition. See what you curate when careful selection is required.

A Tiny Details

Hearing something in a piece of music is what you are looking for. This is the art of hearing, picking out tiny details not in the track's most forward layers. How do you even hear this stuff? Listen, listen again, and then once more.

Each time, intentionally tune into different instruments, vocals, and synths; if you are lucky, you’ll come across things you can’t identify.

Start moving deeper into the song and past the lyrics into the rest of the music. It helps if you have a set of headphones and good audio streaming quality (almost anywhere but Spotify).

Close your eyes, sit back, relax, and put your ears to work.

You’ll probably want to build an analog or hybrid set as you start listening more - a typical progression from music lover to audiophile. Speakers, a record player, an amp, and all those other modules. It's a lot of fun, but you’ll soon run into talk about a V-shaped sound or a warm sound. So what does it mean, and why does it matter?

• The V-shaped sound signature has an emphasis on treble and bass.

• A balanced sound emphasizes no part (no considerable peaks in the frequencies, but slightly more liveliness than Flat) and gives a ‘complete sound’ rather than being dull.

• A warm sound signature slightly boosts the bottom-end instruments (cellos, bass guitars, or any lower-range audio) and takes the edge off the treble.

• Flat signatures are considered an accurate reproduction, and all frequencies are at the same value.

• The bright sound signature emphasizes treble, making the audio sharp.

• Extra bass does what it says.

Combine your preferences with an equalizer and hardware tailored to your specific taste, and you’ll be getting close to the sound you want to hear. Not sure what your sound signature preference is? Find your equalizer (it's easier on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music or using an app) and play with the sliders.

Practice the listen, listen, and listen again. This is one you feel; you’ll know what you like when you hear it. And it might not be what you think.

Dedicated Listening

When was the last time you put an album on with the sole intention of listening to it? Not scrolling on TikTok, not reading or writing, not working - nothing but you and the sound? Sure, your daily life can be soundtracked in your AirPods, why not?

But, the difference between music lovers and audiophiles is a lot about intention.

Start Budgetphile

The more you listen, the more you hear. The more you hear, the more you want to hear. Until you hear your bank balance crying. By then, it is too late; you’re seven sets of speakers, two amps, and 3 WiiMs deep.

In real terms, start with two different sets of headphones. Start appreciating and noticing the difference, then look at why. It might be tempting to throw money at the man behind the counter in a HiFi store - but cool your boots there. Start budgetphile, plan your build.

Unfortunately, if you are waiting to be told you have achieved your goal of becoming an audiophile, this is about the journey, not entirely the destination.

But you can safely say you bridged the gap between amateur to audiophile if your setup brings you clarity and enjoyment, you understand your sound profile, and the music is, to you, as perfect as you want it…

Yet you still have your eye on those Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90s should they ever be reduced by $83,000. Welcome to the club.

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