Stirring the muck

In yesterday's post I wrote about toe tapping as an Audiophile measurement criteria for sound quality. I think I did a poor job of explaining if judged by the rash of responses in the comment section. My apologies. Of course we tap our toes to just about anything: the car radio, MP3 players, good beats wafting through an open window. Music moves us regardless of its audio quality. I listen to compressed AAC through crappy earbuds and am moved. Our ear brains have amazing abilities to adjust to environment. We can hear music through the noise of a crowd. One of my readers sent me a note about Neil Young's recent rants about his failed Pono platform and how he laments the loss of connection for the millions of unsuspecting MP3 music listeners. If only they had better sound quality, their connection would be the better. And the truth is, he's right and he's wrong. It's all a matter of direction. Listen to a set of earbuds and if the music's to your liking, you'll connect and toes will tap. Switch to a better set of headphones, and your connection will deepen. And now let's spin the example around the other way. Listen to a great set of headphones and engage with the music. Now, put the earbuds back in and guess what? You've lost the connection, your toe tapping disengages. When we go from the norm to better it's an improvement and our connection deepens. Travel in the opposite direction and we disconnect. Toe tapping as a measurement for Audiophiles is legit. It's all a matter of starting point and direction.