Audiophile confession booth

[Klassik 380]

2 hours ago, Leem said:

Do you ever get time to listen to any of it?

Sí.  Cataloging and organizing everything took some time when I decided to do it some time ago, but now having the structure that it has actually saves time when I'm looking for a particular recording or just something to listen to in general.  Maybe once or twice a year I do some re-organizing just to accommodate new CDs I've added to the collection.  Sometimes that means opening a new storage box and then shuffling things around.  That does take some time, but it's not too bad.

I've been able to listen to more of my collection this year than I normally have a chance to since I'm at home more often than I usually am due to the pandemic.  Under normal circumstances, I'm only really able to do serious listening maybe twice a week. 

2 hours ago, Leem said:

What's wrong with alphabetical on composer name?

An alphabetical structure by composer name does work.  The classical CD shop I visit uses such a structure.  The only problematic thing they have with it is that if a CD has works by, say, Mozart and Haydn on it, they have to put it in either the Mozart or Haydn section.  If they put it in the Mozart section, someone looking for the Haydn work on the disc may never actually find the CD if they are browsing for it.    Of course, this problem happens with most classical organizing structures. 

The reasons why I don't sort primarily by composer name are:

1. When I'm in the mood to listen to something without having a specific recording/work/composer in mind, I find that I can usually tell what era of music I think I want to hear.  Thus, the structure I have works well here.
2. Given that I'm storing the CDs in boxes, sorting by name would probably mean I would have to reshuffle things more frequently than I do with the current system.

55 minutes ago, Three sheds said:

I remember hearing about somebody who (long before home computers were generally available) used to make a note of each time they played an album, and at the end of each year, they would produce their own top ten most played albums.

I've thought about putting in a column in my spreadsheet where I can write down the last time I listened to a particular album.  There are CDs I really like in my collection, but there are some which I have not heard in years.  For whatever reason, those recordings have just become blindspots for whatever reason.  I had that experience last week when I listened to a Paganini recording of music for violin and guitar which I really like, but had not listened to in 2-3 years.  After hearing it again last week, I could not believe I went so long without hearing it.  There are CDs I like less than that which I've probably heard 2-3 times since I last heard that CD.   

So, yes, perhaps having the dates of when I last listened to an album might help me see which recordings I've neglected.  It could also help me determine which albums might be worth purging from the collection, but that would be kind of useless as I rarely remove anything from it. 

[Jules_S 662]

Organising classical works by era and then composer is no different really to organising non-classical music by genre and then artist. Many record shops do the latter. I get where you're coming from @Klassik with your system, and it's good that you found something that works for you. I might try something similar.... if I ever get round to re-organising my classical LPs from the "record label order" (yes, I've still never got round to putting things back the way they should be!)

I'm not really that bothered by what I listened to most this year / month / morning to be truthful. I have albums in my collection that haven't seen the light of day for years, but that doesn't mean I'm ever going to get rid of them. There will be that moment when I think, "oh, I could just listen to X today".... and then realise I don't own it any more. Nah, not happening!

Another confession.... I can often go a week without turning on my hi-fi at all (except the amp, which also does duty as the front channels for our TV audio setup) 

[Klassik 380]

15 minutes ago, Jules_S said:

I'm not really that bothered by what I listened to most this year / month / morning to be truthful. I have albums in my collection that haven't seen the light of day for years, but that doesn't mean I'm ever going to get rid of them. There will be that moment when I think, "oh, I could just listen to X today".... and then realise I don't own it any more. Nah, not happening!

Another confession.... I can often go a week without turning on my hi-fi at all (except the amp, which also does duty as the front channels for our TV audio setup) 

I wouldn't be interested in keeping statistics about my listening other than maybe knowing when I last heard something just so I can spot potential blindspots in my listening habits. 

One thing Klassik is absolutely not about is creating 'Top 10' lists and London like that. 

I can certainly understand why someone would not have the time to do some serious listening.  Under normal circumstances, I don't have a whole lot of time to do serious listening.  Sometimes I have the time, but I'm too tired to do it.  I'll just fall asleep in my chair.    Of course, my chair is pretty comfortable so sometimes the combination of closing my eyes to listen, the comfortable chair, having a free mind to try to take in the music, listening late in the day, etc. means that I take a nap even when I'm not that tired. 

[Beobloke 800]

The worst part of this confession as I see it is having a spreadsheet!

You may laugh, but it serves two important functions - firstly it enables me to prove to Mrs B. that I do make some money when I buy broken stuff, repair it and sell it.

Secondly, and most importantly, it helps me to remember what I have as there’s....er....quite a lot of it.

[CnoEvil 3,268]

9 minutes ago, Beobloke said:

You may laugh, but it serves two important functions - firstly it enables me to prove to Mrs B. that I do make some money when I buy broken stuff, repair it and sell it.

Secondly, and most importantly, it helps me to remember what I have as there’s....er....quite a lot of it.

I see you have the accumulate and repair bit down to a fine art - but the selling bit needs a bit of work. 

[Three sheds 73]

1 hour ago, Klassik said:

I can certainly understand why someone would not have the time to do some serious listening.  Under normal circumstances, I don't have a whole lot of time to do serious listening.  Sometimes I have the time, but I'm too tired to do it.  I'll just fall asleep in my chair.    Of course, my chair is pretty comfortable so sometimes the combination of closing my eyes to listen, the comfortable chair, having a free mind to try to take in the music, listening late in the day, etc. means that I take a nap even when I'm not that tired. 

I love drifting off as the music washes over me - especially late at night. Does that mean I'm not taking my serious listening sessions seriously?    

[Klassik 380]

2 minutes ago, Three sheds said:

I love drifting off as the music washes over me - especially late at night. Does that mean I'm not taking my serious listening sessions seriously?    

Hey, it's listening without distraction.  All is good as long as you don't slobber over the liner notes or remote. 

[Monitor Gold Ten 690]

4 hours ago, Klassik said:

Hey, it's listening without distraction.  All is good as long as you don't slobber over the liner notes or remote. 

Or fall asleep and leave the Valve Amplifier on all night. I've done this once... 

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[Ian 444]

23 hours ago, HectorHughMunro said:

Here’s a confession that will alienate many;

I don’t like Dark Side Of The Moon. I don’t even think it’s a massively good recording. 

I do like DSOTM but agree with your letter statement entirely !

[DomT 1,046]

After our house move my wife refused to wait for my to organise the CDs and put them in order in their drawers. I really can’t be bothered to take them all out again to organise them especially given that I can’t think of a good enough reason to listen to one.