Audiophiles: 3 Myths and Misconceptions

It seems as though everyone has their own idea of what an audiophile is. Whether it's a 40-year-old man living in his mom's basement with tons of vintage audio gear from the 70s and 80s, the hipster who collects vinyl and IPAs, or the 65-year-old retired banker who has a $50,000 system in its own room with high-quality amplifiers and a wall of loudspeakers - the perceptions and misperceptions are abundant. I think one thing that most audiophiles, those who don't consider themselves audiophiles, and non-audiophiles alike can agree on is that the common denominator amongst all of them is music. It always comes back to the love of listening to music.

The audiophile industry is volatile. Not because of the people in it (mostly), but primarily because new products and technology are coming out all the time, constantly bombarding the consumer or music lover with the latest and greatest audio equipment.

Everyone does it a little differently too. Some people like large speaker setups with stacks of gear. Other people like to be portable and have a small, easy-to-carry DAP, or music player. Some people like open-back headphones. Others closed-back. This. That. Tomato. TamAto. Everyone does it differently so it’s tough to figure out what is right or wrong. Or right and wrong, because I dare say, there is no wrong way to be an audiophile. Unless you’re a jerk. Don’t be a jerk. There is such a large variety of gear, setups, budgets, ergonomics, and genres that it can simply be overwhelming to try and make your way through the hobby when you are new or you don’t know where to start. That’s okay because guess what? We all have to start somewhere and sometimes you just have to dive in head first.

When I want to get more information on a tech product one of the first places I go is YouTube – unboxings, reviews by reputable sources, demos, etc. The same thing goes for audiophilia. There are a ton of personalities, sources, opinions, and “authorities” out there with their take on the gear that’s going to make or break your music. What bothers me more about this hobby (like in all hobbies), is that someone can hate a product while another “reputable source” or “authority” can equally praise the music gear for being the best thing since sliced bread. Who is right? How can you have multiple authorities with completely oppositional views and opinions on sound reproduction?

It’s difficult to find consensus on something when everyone is on a different page. When it comes to listening to music, no two ears are the same - figuratively and literally speaking. When Drew listens to a new pair of headphones, I don’t hear it the exact same way he does – we might agree on a few things concerning the sound signature, soundstage, imaging, textures, etc, but I don’t hear the music in the exact same way that he does.

There are a number of reasons why people hear differently. There are varying levels of hearing loss, various shapes of the ears, canals, and different orientations of cartilage which results in varying time differences for the audio to actually hit your eardrums. The way the music hits your ears, reflects, and how it travels down your canal and eventually hits your eardrum is different for every single person on the planet. Hearing loss can affect individuals differently as well, causing sensitivity to certain frequencies or rendering some completely inaudible. Our head sizes and shapes vary which also leads to headphones and earphones sitting differently, or even sealing in different ways.

No matter what your level of “expertise” in this hobby there is only one thing that matters: that you have a passion for music. It’s the one and only thing we share as audiophiles, and it’s the most important aspect of the hobby. It’s the starting and ending point. Everything else is secondary. It’s this appreciation for listening to music that we can all agree on.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in expensive equipment, high-end components, custom audio hacks, bit/sample rates, and more, but it’s all aimed at one goal and the result is always you – sitting there and listening to the music. That’s the focus in all this that some audiophiles have lost sight of over the years. Yes, the equipment is important – but with so many factors that play into the range of different preferences and abilities (sonically, monetarily, etc.), it becomes seemingly impossible to define the term or persona of “audiophile” otherwise.

It’s time to open the curtain on the audiophile community. Let’s clear the air – it’s not a stuffy room full of pompous, old, rich white guys talking about how many times they clean the vinyl record before putting it on the turntable. It’s about the average Joe who loves music. Maybe he wants to see about getting a DAC amp to plug into his phone for a cleaner sound. It’s about the average Jane whose mp3 streaming service isn’t cutting it anymore and who wants to buy a dedicated music streamer for hi-resolution options. These aren’t people throwing down tens of thousands of dollars that they carry around in cash in their pockets on new audio gear.

One of my favorite rooms at AXPONA is the Expo room, where they have numerous vendors with vintage audio gear for sale, huge libraries of physical media, and tons of other things that you would expect to find in a much smaller, hometown gathering of music lovers. Not these huge and expansive rooms with multi-million dollar sound systems. It’s the only room in the entire show weekend where I really felt the community of average audiophiles come together in their love and passion for music.