Just wondering. To keep this simple I propose not to try to define “audiophile” and rely purely on people’s subjective self-assessments. As an audiophile myself I live in the belief that most audiophiles will identify with the label whereas non-audiophiles will not. Just curious to get an indication how the Roon customer base breaks down. Apologies if this has been asked before.
Until you define audiophile, statements like “As an audiophile myself I live in the belief that most audiophiles will identify with the label whereas non-audiophiles will not.” are meaningless.
Many people I know would label me an audiophile and many would not. Heck, a lot of them don’t have a clue as to what the term “audiophile” even means.
I self-identify as a “music lover”. I don’t use music to listen to audio hardware and software…I use audio hardware and software to listen to music.
If the answer to the question isn’t obvious for you feel free to abstain. I am not asserting any scientific rigour here, nor am I trying to start a debate. Just curious.
Often, that is true. I would rather listen to music in a car with a crappy stereo than listen to the traffic.
Of course I evaluate hardware and software using music. But, it really is all about the music. I tend to define audiophiles as people that listen to their hardware and software. In other words, I think audiophiles obsess over the hardware and software and seem to care more about the hardware and software than the music.
Btw my definition, as it applies to me, is that I care a lot about the fidelity of reproduced sound I can achieve in my home. It is, measured by time spent reading about equipment and listening to music (frequently simultaneously) and $$$ spent, my main “hobby”. My main music system cost a lot more than my car (and has at pretty much all points In my life). I would also absolutely consider myself a music lover, but one who separately and quite unashamedly loves the technology that reproduces it. I am an electronic engineer and a neophile as well. “Audiophilia” is, for me, where these three intersect. YMMV.
I would describe myself as a lover of music and (secondly) someone who enjoys hearing music reproduced as faithfully as possible. Maybe that fits your definition of an audiophile, @struts, but unfortunately the word itself has become too loaded for me to feel comfortable using it to describe myself.
To me it encompasses everything from gear heads, software tinkerers, builders, listeners. Anyone who has considered audio playback beyond sticking in a pair of earbuds or whatever. At this point if you own separate components beyond phones and bluetooth you’re on the “audiophile spectrum”. I just don’t buy the negative connotation. I listen to music but not equipment! But … I have equipment.
Depends on the time and the place. In the evening, when the family has gone to bed and I really need to decompress I would not be happy listening to music on “anything”. Other times/places quite possibly.
Can’t remember the last time I turned on a radio, in the car or otherwise, or loaded a CD in the car.
If radios in the car were an option, like in the good old days (), I wouldn’t even have one.
For the same reason, I can’t listen to the radio stations in Roon.
It’s about fidelity, for me.
I don’t use CDs in the car either. My iPhone holds the music I listen to in my car and on the go. I would have no problem listening to the local Classic Rock station on an old transistor radio while out washing my car or working in the garage. In fact, that would bring back some really great memories.
In my own case (and opinion) yes and no. I am extremely interested in music. And equipment. Some folks are interested in music but absolutely not in equipment. For me that makes them music lovers but not audiophiles. Some are even interested in equipment but not music. They are, for me, also audiophiles, just not like me. So I think you interpreted the question as I myself did when I posed it. How interested are you in the equipment quite irrespective of how interested you are in the music.
I’m interested in the equipment when I’m going to make a purchase … I take time researching and auditioning products, but I’d do the same when buying a car or camera or any other significant purchase for the home.
I forget about the equipment when I’m listening to music. It’s job done when I’m lost in music. So I’d say I’m not an audiophile by choice and definition. My hobby is music.
Having been a “card carrying” audiophile for many years I think I understand exactly what you mean. However looking at myself in the mirror I have to accept that this is what I am. If I had to wear a bell around my neck and shout “unclean” I would still be an audiophile.
I love music. I listen to it, read about it, play it (no detectable talent) and discuss it with my friends. Some audiophiles are like that, but in my view it is not a fundamental prerequisite. I have read about people who have invested lifetimes and fortunes in their systems yet only own or listen to a few “audiophile” recordings. For me they are audiophiles too. Just very different to me in their attachment to music. Just because they are not like me I don’t feel that gives me the right to look down on them or vilify them. They are not like me. But then again, who is?