Audio quality — don’t skimp on the back end

I’ve had several audio based epiphanies over the years.My first was switching up from routing my bedroom DJ setup from a crappy midi (no the other one) hifi to some Tannoy Eclipse speakers. The next was swapping those for some Stanton ATM.6 monitors. But most recently, it has been moving into the worxlab, where I’ve experienced yet another lift in audio quality.

My new setup is a pair of KRK Rokit 6s, a Focusrite Forte USB audio interface, Ultimate support speaker stands and some good quality cables. I was listening to a folder full of random music today, and realised that I was hearing things that I hadn’t heard before. I wasn’t even really listening, more becoming aware of music I thought I knew sounding different, nay better. It wasn’t anything radically different. Hip Hop hadn’t suddenly become Blue Note, but it was the nuances of sound — the subtle differences in quality that made old music sound fresher.

What has become clear to me (again apparently) was that while there’s a continuing and raging argument about file formats and subsequent audio quality. But the files I was listening to were the same ones I had heard for years.But now they were coming through decent monitors via a very good audio interface properly setup for optimal listening pleasure.

So while you might rage on about how anything less that FLAC sounds like an insult to your ears, give some thought to what you’re actually listening to your music with. Investing in a solid setup may well make all the difference. It certainly did with me.