Are you an audiophile?

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek

I would say I'm more of an audio enthusiast than an audiophile. If it sounds good to me, it sounds good. I'm not going to ramble on about soundstage, palpability (?), speed, and all those other non-technical terms I hear a lot of audiophiles (90% of whom are probably average joes) spewing out.

I'm definitely the same way. I just want what I have to sound good with what I've got. I'm fine with 128k MP3's on my speakers (although I prefer higher rates and VBR.) I don't care if my home audio system is not up to theatre standards. As long as what I'm listening to has a nice, full, rich sound, I'm more than happy.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

Frankly, people who insist on lossless-only rips or spend thousands of dollars on expensive stereo systems frighten me.

There are practical uses for lossless audio. If you want an archival copy of your CDs, lossless is the best way to go if you want a "perfect" copy in case you damage the original disc (but so are disc images.)

Insisting solely on lossless rips though, is just plain impractical on your hard drives.

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Kind of like people who consider themselves gourmands or artistes, actually--there can be a level of snobbishness about audiophilery.

I'd almost say half of being a "hardcore" audiophile is bragging about your setup and how it's better than everyone else's.

There's nowhere I can't reach.