Your decade in music

Music Room
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So the 2010’s are ending and I thought we could reflect on the decade in music. Not necessarily to just pick a list of our favourites but to think about what has changed.

So for me;

  1. It was the decade that the CD became defunct. All my new music is now downloaded, and
    all the old is stored and played from a NAS. I started the decade buying and ripping CDs-but no more.

  2. Bandcamp changed the way I looked for, sampled and bought a lot of music. The prices have risen slowly but it is still where I go first when I fancy finding something new or to explore back catalogues

  3. I listen to less African music and also choral/modern classical (Glass, Part etc) but have more folky tastes. Still like a good indie guitar band at times though.

  4. The ratio of new music (and new artists) to old/established has continued to rise. A few old favourites have fallen by the wayside, either quitting or just releasing nothing that excites me any more.

  5. Some of my favourite established artists have got better. Nick Cave, Jeff Tweedy, Bonnie Prince Billy, Yo La Tengo come to mind. Leonard Cohen before his demise was doing his best work I think.

  6. Despite more choice iRadio forms very little of my listening. DAB and podcasts have a fair place though. BBC 6 music now a regular listen.

  7. I still love music, love finding new artists and play as much if not more than ever. Long may that continue.

…and if pushed my album of the decade is probably 2011’s King Creosote/Jon Hopkins ‘Diamond Mine’, not least because my wife and I completely share the pleasure of it.

Bruce

(PS feel free to be negative in this thread if you like)

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This is the decade where I first read about hifi.
I had owned hifi since 1980, and an allNaim system since 2004.

But I made a decision not to research hifi very early. Bad decision!

Then about 2 years ago I stumbled on the Naim Forum.

The nice people there explained that I needed to get a rack and get my power amp serviced and get better cables and get streaming and find my Naim speaker plinths and spike my speakers, get a better Naim source and preamp and power supply, and Rehome my old kit, and get a Cisco…

and then the music all started to sound so good :blush:

I started to dip much further into jazz, and now listen to only jazz more or less.

Then discovered GoGo Penguin Brad Mehldau and all the trails of jazz coming off Miles…

Then very recently realised how large the ecm catalogue is and why it sounds so different and so clear - that is one delicious seam of amazing stuff.

So yes, the past couple of years have been musically transformative thanks :pray: to this community…

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Great idea for a thread!
So here goes;

I’ve sort of gone the other way,after having a system for almost 20yrs,mix of Linn ,Audiolab etc,I changed everything except t/t . This has led to me playing/buying more cd’s than vinyl!
I personally blame Naim,for the amazing sound I’m now getting from CDX2 +XPSDR,SN3+Hcap DR,it’s transformed my listening pleasure,outshining my RP6 performance (more upgrade on way I fear)
Of course it is the decade that has seen an immense growth in streaming ,but from what I’ve read on other threads,it’s not for me,too many pitfalls that can hinder the listening process of just sitting down and getting lost in the music.
On the artist front,I agree that this forum has opened my eyes/ears to genres of music I previously didn’t have an affinity to,namely Jazz,and Blues,so a huge thank you to all for that.
On a personal level,I also retired,so now have lots of time on my hands to enjoy all of the great new music that is being produced,by new artists as well as more established artists that still maintain a high standard of new releases,thinking of Springsteen etc.
Finally ,again,a huge thank you to the Forum for all advice ,tips,and entertaining threads !

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Yes, fascinating idea for a thread.

The decade for me started with finishing ripping all my vinyl, and creating CDs.

Then loss of CD player (Shearne Phase 7 - deteriorated mechanism giving too much skipping for pleasure, and failure of attempt to have repaired).

Considering replacement led to realisation that streaming was the future, CD being more limited, leading to my getting an ND5XS.

With all my vinyl ripped I had a ready collection on hard disk to play, while I set about ripping all my CDs, and downloading of music to replace the most worn of my vinyl, and now as a source of new music.

Discovery of this forum.

Discovery that the incremental sound quality benefit of XP5XS was minimal and not good value for money

Discovery of Chord Hugo (using ND5XS as renderer)

Learning of alternative sources leading to Mac Mini + Audirvana

Discovery of significance of metadata, with none of my vinyl rips having any, CD rips and downloads often having inconsistencies or missing bits - a big mess. Attempts to fix retrospectively convinced me it is a rapid route to loss of interest in life, so any choice of future library/playing software will have to be able to manage with file structure instead.

Inheritance led to replacement of 45 year old IMF RSPM speakers with PMC EB1i (after an epic two-day auditioning trip)

Dave replaced Hugo (wow! WOW!)

Trial of active triamping using existing MF amps and, and comparing Behringer DCX2496 digital XO with ATC EC23 analogue XO.

More inheritance money spent on Bryston 4Bsst amp following chance spotting of one wrongly spelt on eBay not attracting bids. Then Bryston 9Bst at first good price availability gave completeness to give the additional channels for triamping all with Bryston.

Decision that Boehringer XO flexibility over ATC desirable, so upgraded it with new analogue circuitry and clock, and sold the ATC.

Living where I do, access to live music I like locally is infrequent, so grabbed whenever possible, but meanwhile I’ve discovered that opera is much more accessible (i.e cheaper) in several European countries, notably Italy, so have sought out several times over the dacade, to great enjoyment.

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Bruce, this thread has caused some serious reflection! What has happened since 2010? What has happened musically? 2010 seems a decade of two halves. Prior to 2016 I had some really hard jobs and was stressed and exhausted and constantly fiddling with the hifi. Then in 2016 I was knocked off my bike and medically retired due to the resultant acquired brain injury. Music helped me through that, stuck in the house alone for much of the time while Mrs H was at work. My taste has changed much more to chamber music and jazz over that time. Then, a couple of years ago I started working as a volunteer for a local arts organisation that puts on gigs and other stuff. It was initially really scary but as I’ve grown in confidence I’ve done more and more. To hear live music in small venues and meet the musicians is just wonderful. I was in the pub last night with Ric Sanders and Vo Fletcher before the gig, chatting about music and musicians. We got talking about Anouar Brahem and Vo and I were swapping recommendations. Ric has played with loads of people over the years and we had a good chat about his liking of punk, which was quite a surprise for someone who has been with Fairport for so long. To then go to the hall, serve beer and watch them play and see the response of the audience, and be thanked from the stage is just wonderful. It’s something that wouldn’t have happened had I not had the accident and music really is a bigger part of my life now.

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HH thanks for sharing.

Lire and music interwoven. I have just retired and intend to go to more live music now because I am not always knackered and don’t have to get up the next day at 5am

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Another decade closer to death; made even more real by my (and my wife’s) retirements, one leading to the other in 2014, and my minor health issue at the start of this year. The system had stayed fairly stagnant while we were both at work (no time during the week and weekends too precious to spend listening to music, other than the occasional purchase of new music).

On retirement I have re-found my love of music and the system has rapidly evolved, all save the CD player and tuner. I have a TT that is now passable and a fairly good amplifier. Part of the impetus has been to spend time with other, local Naim owners and listen to their systems, thus showing me what could be achieved, although some remain as fantasies for me. Living in the backwoods of the UK does not offer many chances of live music, at least of the type that I deem worthy of attending.

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The most auspicious elements of this decade for me have to be my discovery of Naim & ProAc, and the consequent rediscovery of my love of music.

Simples!

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One non-change for me-I still almost always listen to entire albums. Perhaps the streaming generation do this less?

I posted in the Music Room because I thought it might be about how music and your consumption/tastes have changed not just the boxes that produce it.

Bruce

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For me it is the “finding of Naim” like others have done, but also the follow on in that it has made me go back and revisit my music and hear all sorts that I have not heard before in it.
I have always used vinyl and buying Naim I got a HDX and ripped all my CD’s to it and that has opened another world, more in that I have a play list for different things so I can kick one off if we have friends over and forget about it, rather than getting up every15 mins to flip the vinyl.
I suppose that is called progress and you might even get me talking about streaming this time in 10 years time (but I doubt it :grinning:)
I genuinely dont remember a time I have been more happy about listening to music at home than now.
As for the actual music this decade, not a lot to write home about but as always some that stand out but all too much X factor clones for me.

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For me it was discovering the ability to rip CDs in top quality FLAC format, and discovering SACD and Naim.
Rather than searching for CDs loading them and playing a few tracks then swapping to another CD, I could do it easily with my Oppo 105 Blu-ray player and even create playlists or more often, just play random selections by genre!
The 105 was a great player with a great DAC and the ability to play SACDs. I didn’t buy many SACDs but have now learnt how to rip them all.
I used a trusty Myryad 2080 integrated for many years and resisted the temptation to move to a Naim amp at the time that I auditioned and bough my Neat Motive 2 speakers - my Myryad was only a few years old at the time.
About 4 years ago I remembered auditioning the speakers with a Naim CD player and integrated (can’t remember the models) so auditioned the XS2. I bought it immediately as it was an improvement on my Myryad (the Myryad had better detail but lighter bass, the XS2 has a more integrated sound).
Next step was a speaker upgrade to Neat Motive SX1s - great system!

After reading up on streaming I decided to give the ND5 XS2 a go and again bought it straight away. There was a slight problem (loose screw inside) so rather than replace it I thought what the hell, get an NDX2 and trade the XS2 for an SN2. Got the NDX2 and SN2 at the same time and was delighted with the sound.
As the SN2 was only 2 months old when the SN3 came out and my dealer offered an irresistible deal, I went for the SN3.

A new Titan Styx mains block and new Titan mains leads everywhere completed the system but I still hankered after better speakers to complete my last time buy system. I have Kudos Titan 606 on demo at home while I wait for my ordered pair to arrive.

From a control point of view I had a Tidal subscription anyhow with my Oppo also loved the Naim app on the NDX2 via iPad. I then subscribed to Roon and Qobuz so I am all sorted FOREVER or at least will be when my speakers arrive!

I am discovering a lot of new/different music and I am certainly listening to music a lot more.

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A fair proportion of the music to which I listen was designed to be heard in its entirety and in the correct sequence, whether a prog rock album or a classical symphony. The vast majority of the rest I have bought as albums, first heard each as an album in the track order as released, and that is how it sits in my musical memory. My normal play is therefore by album, and streaming doesn’t change that.

Mostly I stream from my own store (maybe technically it is playing not streaming). When I sample things online, e.g. using Spotify, a first listen might be a random track or two (or part if I don’t like it), but then the album in full unless it a rare instance of just a single track being of interest.

My musical taste has not changed perceptibly in the decade (but then it didn’t change much over the previous 4 and a bit decades since I first started buying music!) . My dislikes are much greater than likes - but that is a good thing because I couldn’t afford it the other way round!

This decade did bring an increase in my music buying, partly replacing old worn vinyl after ripping, partly trying some hi res releases, and partly because the online ability to try some things (even without any subscription service) makes it easy.

And, more than anything, the thrill of music is still there, whether home or live - though a good live performance is hard to beat.

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I’ve had a Naim system since the early 1980’s, but it has never sounded as good as it does now. The changes I’ve made to my system were thanks to a good dealer who introduced me to streaming. First In to my system came a NDS, out went the CDS, then out went the SBLs to be replaced by Ovator 600s. (My brother has my Roxsan deck, and now and then I’m tempted to reclaim it.) Finally, after thinking about it for over 30 years in came a a radial electrical circuit. More recently, the NAS has been replaced by a dedicated music server. It’s the circuit and server that have improved my enjoyment of music most :notes:

My musical tastes have not changed, but thanks to Radio Paradise, Roon and Tidal I’m discovering more bands, artists and composers. I still buy CDs, but rip them, and I download music from Bandcamp and specialist websites. However, I’m reluctant to continue subscribing to Tidal.

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Interesting topic. Maybe went to one live performance in 2010, this year over a hundred. Feels to me that sound quality at gigs has improved dramatically over this time, but it may just be that I’m better at appreciating the experiences. At home I had an Arcam CD based setup 2010, now it’s Naim streaming based. A really big changer was hearing an ND5XS in 2013 which of course meant that summer was spent ripping CDs to Flac. Started following this forum (well the old one first), worked out how to do multiroom last year, and took the plunge on Roon recently, all of which are great. In 2010 my wife and I didn’t have that much in common in terms of musical tastes, now we have far more. On the downside my setup is much more complicated now than it was in 2010, with consequently many more parts to go wrong (rarely do though).

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