"I don't listen to music for the nostalgia"

I thought I was losing interest in music a few years ago, until I upgraded my equipment. I was actually getting depressed because I had a full iPod of stuff I knew I liked and others I would like to listen to, but simply could not get into them. I was also using a pair of IEM's that emphasized bass over the mid range. I feel like with my current portable set-up (Cowon D2+, Digizoid Zo and Brainwavz B2), is much easier to take in and enjoy music. Both old and new. Very warm and dynamic.

As for nostalgia, I think it helped define a lot of my tastes and plenty of "classic" stuff is still pretty untouchable for one reason or another, but it doesn't hinder my preference for new music either.

One issue I have with new music is the loudness wars and when music becomes an absolute chore to listen to (as in, gives me a headache even when I'm enjoying it). It's kind of unfair to have to judge newer music when it is crippled by shoddy sound production. To me, it is far more dangerous to the industry than piracy is. Making your product a chore to enjoy is not good for either the sellers or the buyers.

And will the mod who put the below statement in my post kindly remove it? Thank you.

I realize I have sufficiently made my point about questionable mastering and am just being a whiny baby at this point.

Well the irony for music is that a lot of the digital players of today aren't as powerful as a lot of portable CD players from 10-15 years ago. The digital to analog converters are smaller and less powerful, which means weaker sound (and longer battery life). For my set-up, the Zo headphone amp makes a world of difference to the experience. The set-up without it becomes tiring to listen to very quickly. I really don't know how people listen to stuff with the iPod buds, they are awful. As for players, I love the Cowon when it is amped, but my old Sony Walkman CD player was a beast and was fun to listen to even with cheapo headphones.

Another thing...For me, nostalgia tends to fade as my pool of music gets bigger. Good stuff is still good stuff, but those albums I "sort of" like get pushed down the food chain with each better discovery, to the point of being shelf decorations (or the files sit idly by in a folder on my computer). I have a lot of VGM albums that I liked early on, but just aren't that good anymore and a lot have tracks that I might have tolerated because there was nothing else really on the horizon.

There's nowhere I can't reach.