Can a system be too good?

edited January 2011 in Systems
I'm really enjoying my office system with the KingRex DAC/PSU in it. 

Trouble is, it's possibly too good for working to. I keep actively listening to the damned music. I hope the novelty wears off.

Comments

  • Rather than focus on the system, perhaps you need to organise your music collection into 2 sections: "good enough to listen to" and; "bad enough to work to"...?
    Ben

  • I never got in the habit of working with music going on - I find it too distracting.  Used to work with a guy who insisited on having R2 on all day - caused some problems.
  • The key thing is that's it music I want to listen to. It enables me to blank out all other distractions.
  • Rather than focus on the system, perhaps you need to organise your music collection into 2 sections: "good enough to listen to" and; "bad enough to work to"...?
    Ben

    Maybe. But there's a lot of it that's too demanding to work to, or too abrasive, or summat.
  • Dont know about "too good" but i had an all naim system for around 30yrs and for around 25yrs was very happy with it but then something changed......probably me to be honest including my musical tastes.   Everything sounded harsh or bright and thinking about it the system was "too revealing" which could be interpreted as too good !  all i know is that i found myself cherry picking my music to which cd's sounded best for sound quality and not playing all of my collection as to my ears certain stuff was almost unplayable.  Since moving to a valve amp however i am back to loving everything and listening to music genres that i would never have thought that i would like or get into.   shit even Zepps mothership sounds brilliant through my new system.....and thats saying something.   I know this sounds daft but try keeping the volume very low in the background whilst working and im sure you will still enjoy your music even though subconsiously you may not be aware to the fact that your enjoying the sounds without interfering with work.

    Scotty

  • How about a decent pair of cans ?
  • Can I suggest 2 options

    a) give me the Kingrex !  or

    b) Have Radio 4 on instead !!

     

  • I think a good set-up should maximise good recordings and minimise dissatisfaction with poorer ones.

    The minute I found myself not playing favourite music because of perceived problems with the recording, I would consider that my system was not doing the job I required of it.

    Steve
  • some answers are clearly not referenced to the orginal question :)
  • Dont know about "too good" but i had an all naim system for around 30yrs and for around 25yrs was very happy with it but then something changed......probably me to be honest including my musical tastes.   Everything sounded harsh or bright and thinking about it the system was "too revealing" which could be interpreted as too good !  all i know is that i found myself cherry picking my music to which cd's sounded best for sound quality and not playing all of my collection as to my ears certain stuff was almost unplayable.  Since moving to a valve amp however i am back to loving everything and listening to music genres that i would never have thought that i would like or get into.   shit even Zepps mothership sounds brilliant through my new system.....and thats saying something.   I know this sounds daft but try keeping the volume very low in the background whilst working and im sure you will still enjoy your music even though subconsiously you may not be aware to the fact that your enjoying the sounds without interfering with work.

    Scotty

    That's a very interesting POV, Scotty.

    I'm very much a revealing detail kind of guy - Richard Dunn of NVA goes on about information being the key to good hi-fi and I'm with him there. Personally, I'm willing to let a few duff recordings fall by the wayside as I upgrade. 

    But I find that doesn't really happen, though. After the 'playing with the new kit' stage dies away, I'll play the music for the music, not for the recording. I find more revealing kit opens up more and more music to me, rather than excludes it, but that may just be me!

    Cans or low volume don't really cut it for me.
  • How about a decent pair of cans ?
    I've just thought. Neither of my amps has a headphone socket!
  • Can I suggest 2 options

    a) give me the Kingrex !  or

    b) Have Radio 4 on instead !!

     

    The KingRex likes those Minstrels ;-)

    On a more serious note, I find spoken word or singers too distracting while I'm working.
  • some answers are clearly not referenced to the orginal question :)
    Yes, but the original post had a couple of carefully conceived debate-starters  ;-)
  • Dave,
    Speech is processed in the auditory cortex in the left hemisphere of the brain. Musical information is processed in the right hemisphere's auditory cortex.
    Unless you can train your left hemisphere to ignore lyrics and speech when it's trying to focus on your work tasks, stick to instrumentals - your right hemisphere can enjoy some Coltrane while your left earns the dough.
    Ben
  • I like cooking and listening to music , they dont interfere with each other , but neither earns me any money.

     I would have to agree , if the music sounds really good I would tend to stop what I was doing to listen. So yes a poor quality system would help , but I probably wouldnt pay it any attention and turn it off. 

    :)
  • Perhaps we need to strap electrodes to dave's head and carry out some experiments...
  • Dave,
    Speech is processed in the auditory cortex in the left hemisphere of the brain. Musical information is processed in the right hemisphere's auditory cortex.
    Unless you can train your left hemisphere to ignore lyrics and speech when it's trying to focus on your work tasks, stick to instrumentals - your right hemisphere can enjoy some Coltrane while your left earns the dough.
    Ben
    That would seem to make sense.
  • I like cooking and listening to music , they dont interfere with each other , but neither earns me any money.

     I would have to agree , if the music sounds really good I would tend to stop what I was doing to listen. So yes a poor quality system would help , but I probably wouldnt pay it any attention and turn it off. 

    :)
    I like cooking and listening to music as well. I have an AirPort Express and a pair of active computer speakers in the kitchen.
  • Perhaps we need to strap electrodes to dave's head and carry out some experiments...
    I don't like the sound of that at all  =;
  • Oh go on. We could see if some hitherto unidentified part of the human brain fires up when you listen to some of the uglier corners of your music collection..,
  • No. It all shuts down  :)
  • edited January 2011

     Uglymusic wrote "

    I like cooking and listening to music as well. I have an AirPort Express and a pair of active computer speakers in the kitchen.
     I just turn my living room system up really loud , about to do a home made Chilli , minced beef , fresh plum tomatoes , onions , some Chilli peppars , tinned kidney beans and a few other herbas and spices are at the ready ...Radio 3 playing ..and I'm off...
  • I'm with you on the radio being a vital ingredient for cooking Jon. Though for me, I go for the Radio 5 (ie talk - news and sport). Perhaps my left hemisphere auditory cortex has ADHD or something and requires constant stimulation to be at peace.
    Thinking about this thread, I always prefer talk radio to music if I'm looking for background stimulation while doing some task/activity...
    Perhaps I should strap on the electrodes to my own head, and see what happens to my brain when:
    1. I'm involved in cooking, gardening, DIY etc,;
    2. What happens when I listen to spoken information;
    3. What happens when I receive musical information and;
    4. What happens when those various things are happening at the same time in various combinations.
    Ben
  • Chilli prepared , ended up listening to Dvorak Chello concerto, Rostroprovich/Guilini from 1978.... Ben be careful of those electrodes , they might reveal something buried deep within your id , dont awaken any monsters ;-)
  •  Uglymusic wrote "

    I like cooking and listening to music as well. I have an AirPort Express and a pair of active computer speakers in the kitchen.
     I just turn my living room system up really loud , about to do a home made Chilli , minced beef , fresh plum tomatoes , onions , some Chilli peppars , tinned kidney beans and a few other herbas and spices are at the ready ...Radio 3 playing ..and I'm off...
    May I suggest the Red Hot Chili Peppers?  :-D
  • Like Ben I prefer talk radio to music as background 'noise' where work is involved . Music is too distracting whereas speech can be more easily ignored. Leisure activities like cooking can accommodate 'quality' background music. (providing it is does not induce physical movement with arribiata sauce flying everywhere !)
  • I'm with you on the radio being a vital ingredient for cooking Jon. Though for me, I go for the Radio 5 (ie talk - news and sport). Perhaps my left hemisphere auditory cortex has ADHD or something and requires constant stimulation to be at peace.
    Thinking about this thread, I always prefer talk radio to music if I'm looking for background stimulation while doing some task/activity...
    Perhaps I should strap on the electrodes to my own head, and see what happens to my brain when:
    1. I'm involved in cooking, gardening, DIY etc,;
    2. What happens when I listen to spoken information;
    3. What happens when I receive musical information and;
    4. What happens when those various things are happening at the same time in various combinations.
    Ben
    Spoken word when I can concentrate on it, such as when I'm in the bath. Or doing something repetitive in the office.
  • edited January 2011

    Just been doing some letter writing on my PC , while listening to the Durutti Column , Treatise to Steppenwolf"

     I  keep stopping to wallow in the beauty of what I'm hearing

    B-)
  • You need to find something uglier  :)
  • In the interest of total distraction during working hours, I've just replaced the A400X with an NVA AP20 I thought I'd sold on years ago.

    Even cold, it sounds better than the Pioneer 
    :)
  • edited February 2011
    I have cleared & organized my desk at home over the recent days, and I have persuaded myself I have room for some small speakers, especially as I now use spotify.

    I got these JPW Sonatas today for £22 + post:

    image

    http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=726050&image=446040888&images=446040888,446040900,446040909,446040922,446040933,446040944,446040957,446040966,446040978&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0

    The Sonatas seem to be generally well regarded among the cheaply inoffensive JPW range. I had read that they were assembled in HM prisons - has anyone else heard that?

    I will try to make use of my particularly cheap & nasty 'T' amp in the garage, and may consider a DAC one day too.
  • My problem is, is it ever good enough? I,m a self confessed tinkerer and just can't leave well alone. It has a lot to do with being in the trade I suppose and feel the desire to learn as much about turntable/arms/cartridges as I can. I'm always learning through trial and error. I feel it's the best way, For me anyway. I could not hope to advise people if I havn't had the actual experience myself?
  • It's never good enough, that's not a problem Dominic - it's just a little obsessive!! This hobby caters to & feeds the obsessive/OCD tendencies that nerdy men seem to cultivate, but few can adequately follow up. We need experienced tinkerers like you.

    For instance, I am a happy adopter of LDR passive pre-amps (Light Dependent Resistor), and have an absolutely super, cheap, simple implementation in the EVA II. However, I have just been looking at another LDR based alternative which is, according to some, the best LDR based pre-amp there is. But they haven't compared it to my EVA. To make things worse, I have an almost unique opportunity to buy a used on in the UK, for comparative peanuts.

    Now, logic tells me there is no need to change or get insecure - in fact I am enjoying the best musical quality I have ever heard on my system right now. But I'm still thinking about it...
  • I have usually had a cheap system next to my computers for work, usually in a room shared with one other person. Working long hours having music definitely keeps me going.

    I do find that when I work through the night my tastes get much more acoustic, Joni Mitchell and Mark Kozelek dominate my listening between 1am and 8am when working to a deadline. The loud and electronic music is usually during the daytime.

    I haven't had the work computers set up near the Naim system, partly as I like to keep work out of that room, but mainly because the Raid stores I still use are too noisy and need keeping cool.

    I can imagine that working next to my good music system would be distracting though.

    As for radio, many years ago I worked in a lovely little place where Radio4 was on all day, we stopped work for 'Just a Minute', and 'Test Match Special' was on during the summer, which was when I really got into cricket. Lovely workplace, lovely people, no chance of the work going anywhere sadly.
  • edited February 2011
    I have cleared & organized my desk at home over the recent days, and I have persuaded myself I have room for some small speakers, especially as I now use spotify.

    I got these JPW Sonatas today for £22 + post:

    image

    The Sonatas seem to be generally well regarded among the cheaply inoffensive JPW range. I had read that they were assembled in HM prisons - has anyone else heard that?


    These are super little things! Far preferable to my AR18's for near-field use on a desk. They're like serious HiFi PC speakers... I'm running them with a little Muse amp (about the size of a fag packet, £35 on eBay), straight out of the laptop through a splitter cable from the headphone jack. No DAC as yet either.

    The best thing is they are in as new condition - they certainly knew how to put things together in HM prisons...
  • Now, that is cool.

    Glad to hear they're so good.
  • Well - they're good for what they cost - far in excess of expectations really. With a DAC & decent cables they should be 'proper good'.
  • And better than your AR18s, which is a very interesting comparison.

    I've just spent my desktop speaker budget on a KingRex PSU and trick DC cable, so I'm just an interested onlooker here :-)
  • I don't think they'd be better in a room tbh - I like ARs. ARs need a little more room to breathe, but they are still great nearfield speakers. The Sonatas are good as oversized headphones though!

    What trick DC cable?
  • I use this one with the UD-01 SE, where it makes a significant difference, so I'm ordering one for the Eva/PSU pairing.
  • I remember you saying as much somewhere else. I am slapping myself here - we are talking about LEDs!!! All this guff makes a difference though, I just have a hard time believing it.

    As you just placed you order - what plug fit's EVA?
  • 2.1mm, I think. The same as on the UD-01. Mark knows the size.

    We are providing a clean, controlled power supply that doesn't mess up what the LEDs are doing. I don't have any problems with that, conceptually.

    But then, I don't have any problems suspending my disbelief if I'm happy that my ears are telling me that desirable things are happening.
  • Conceptually - I agree. I understand most of my HiFi conceptually....I have been surprised by what I hear more than once.
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