How Much Do You Listen to Music at Home vs. Mobile?

View
Results

How Much Do You Listen to Music at Home vs. Mobile?

By Scott Wilkinson • Posted: Mar 4, 2011

Last week, I asked how much you watch TV versus on the go, and the results confirmed that the vast majority of UAV readers watch all or nearly all of their TV at home. This is not really surprising, since our readers are ultimately concerned more about quality than convenience when it comes to video content, as indicated by the response to a previous poll question—Which is more important, convenience or quality?

This week, I'm asking the same question about music—how much do you listen at home versus on the go? Of course, the same issues arise in this case—the audio quality of your home system is likely far better than your iPod or other portable music player, but the portable player is far more convenient. On the other hand, portable music players have been around a lot longer than portable video players, and you can be doing other things while listening to music as opposed to watching video. So I suspect the distribution of answers might be somewhat different, with more people listening to music on the go more of the time. But I could be wrong…

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice. Select the ratio that most closely reflects your listening habits.

Comments

Submitted by Dcbingaman on March 10, 2011 - 8:21pm.

I listen both at home and in my car, but with 1 hour commutes both ways, I have to admit that most of my listening is mobile, and I would guess that, that is true for most of your readers, (whether they admit it or not.) I use an Alpine digital head unit / receiver tied to an iPod with lossless files ripped from my CD's, and I listen to my NPR affiliate, which has a 3-channel HDRadio multicast set-up, one of which is classical. The Alpine incorporates Audyssey equalization, which makes it reasonably listenable.

It does not match the home system, but it sounds better than most stereo systems, and given how much time I spend in my car, it seemed like a good investment.

Submitted by WazNeeni on March 10, 2011 - 8:24pm.

Yeah, I could have chosen my words better. Sorry, Scott.

Submitted by WazNeeni on March 8, 2011 - 2:33pm.

Because I rarely listen to music, a better poll would be:

How Much Do You Listen to Music vs. Podcasts and/or Audio Books?

I'm about 99% podcasts/audio books and 1% music.

Submitted by John Atkinson on March 9, 2011 - 2:02pm.

"Can anyone tell me if the AXPONA show in Atlanta, Georgia, is a good show to go to?"

Last year's Axpona in Florida was very much a 2-channel show, and it looks as if the Atlanta Show will be similar. - John Atkinson, Editor, Stereophile

Submitted by Scott Wilkinson on March 9, 2011 - 4:10pm.

If you're into 2-channel audio, I'm sure AXPONA is a great show to attend. Of course, Stereophile is co-sponsoring the event, so we are a bit biased... ;-)

Submitted by Scott Wilkinson on March 9, 2011 - 4:12pm.

I wouldn't say your idea is a better poll, just a different one. But I'll certainly consider it for a future entry. Thanks!

Submitted by uavK.Reid on March 9, 2011 - 11:19pm.

Thank you both, Scott and John. I appreciate the response. I booked my ticket to go. My friend in Atlanta and I can hardly wait. I have never been to one of these shows and am looking forward to it.

I cannot wait to attend a few of the seminars - especially ask the editors and interpreting speaker measurements.

By the way, John, The Entry Level column is now my favorite read in Stereophile - it rocks.

Submitted by uavK.Reid on March 7, 2011 - 10:58pm.

If I am riding the train from work, definitely have my ipod with Shure 310 earphones or Sennheiser IE7 earphones. If I am driving, I definitely have the rock, pop or jazz playing.

I just purchased some Dynaudio Excite X16, so I plan on some long listening sessions at home.

Can anyone tell me if the AXPONA show in Atlanta, Georgia, is a good show to go to?

Submitted by Jarod on March 6, 2011 - 3:25pm.

I listen to almost all of my music at home, with the exception of when i'm driving and listening to music in my car audio system; Alpine CD player with XM Radio, JL Audio 6.5in component set, 10in JL10W3 sub and a JL Audio 400x4 amp. I do not listen to an iPod through it (cannot stand that). Now at home I listen to music about 90% in my dedicated theater and the other 10% is up-stairs on my iPod player through a Beats by Dre iPod dock, which fills up my living room very well with sound. Usually fire that up right when I get home at the end of the day or in the morning when Im getting ready. All serious 2-channel listening is in my home theater with a Pioneer Elite receiver bi-amping Polk Monitor 40s and a HSU Research VTF-2 MK-3 powered sub.

Submitted by Seth G. on March 4, 2011 - 2:00pm.

I do listen in the car from time to time though its mostly what I call traveling music - which consists of almost entirely pop, dance and the like. These tend to be heavily compressed and have other sonic issues which in this case are somewhat of a plus given the environment. I don't care for the portable music players. My listening experience with them has only reinforced that wether they are convenient or not.

With the car sound system the minute I change over to say NPR or something similar I usually turn it off -I can't abide the sound - it grates on me. I'm also of the view you can waste quite a bit of money on aftermarket gear and gain very little. You're sinking money into an inherently poor environment so no matter how good the equipment it'll always be handicapped. I'd rather put that money to much better use in the home system.

I did try to improve the experience of the car with the JBL MS8 - very interesting product and it does work as advertised - It did make everything much more listenable, though ironically I still find myself turning the car stereo off most of the time as before.