Author: rrmahalle

rrmahalle

I had written previously about the ‘My Advice to My 18 Year Old Self’. I wish to add two more things to that.

That essay was written 2 years back. Life is a continuum. You learn things as you age. The two more things I wish to tell my 18 year old self are below.

30. As you age, you start to give less f***s about things. So start giving less f***s about things right now. You’ll be more powerful.

33. Time is the most important thing in this world. Once lost, you’ll never have it back. Protect it more than anything. The more you’ll use your time for your deep curiosities, the more fulfilling your life will be.

rrmahalle

I’ll post it again. The whole quote is a highlight, yet I’ll highlight it more.

See the shit you went through. Most people don’t know pain like that. They never will. And if they did, it would end them. But the people who dig in, the ones who keep surviving, those are the ones you can’t beat. Those are the ones no one can beat. Because once you’ve weathered a storm like yours, you become the storm. You hear me? You are the storm. And it’s the rest of the world that needs to run for cover.

Fernando Vera to Elliot, Mr. Robot
Quote

How to find the music similar to the music that you can’t get out of your head?

rrmahalle

Don’t check all the artist’s music – instead, find who the producer of that music is.

Producers have a huge impact on the music they choose to produce. An artist may be versatile, but producers love niches. Think producers as the curator of niche musics.

E.g. I was drowned in ‘ID2 by Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman’. No song matched it. Start of the workout, I wanted ID2; Deadlifts, I wanted ID2; Start of the walk, ID2; end of the walk ID2. I craved for finding similar music. I played and skipped most of the artist’s songs, but I was not satisfied. I searched its producer – ‘Size Records’. Eureka! Music after music, my cravings satisfied here and there.

Same with ‘Dream of You by Joshua Daniel’ – Enroute Recordings. Similar with every music I can’t get out of my head.

tl;dr – To find the music similar to what you can’t get out of your head, don’t search the artist’s other music, neither the genre. Find who the producer is; and fire up that playlist.

Music is breathing to me bro! I can’t function without it. I’ll be a zombie without it. It keeps me sane and human. It is Oxygen to Me…

ID2!
Have you ever felt that you’ve become a wave and snapped back to being human again! ID2!

How to find the music similar to the music that you can’t get out of your head?
rrmahalle

Every time I listen to this, I find it fresher than ever.

सर उठा के मैंने तो कितनी ख्वाहिशें की थी
कितने ख्वाब देखे थे, कितनी कोशिशें की थी
जब तू रूबरू आया
जब तू रूबरू आया, नज़रें ना मिला पाया
सर झुका के एक पल में
सर झुका के एक पल में मैंने क्या नहीं पाया… … …

rrmahalle

I know you are craving. I know you can not hold yourself more. I know this feeling. I too know this pain. But my dear, however you are craving, hold a little longer. My dear, however intense this pleasure is – to bite, to chew, to gulp, and jump onto another round – it is not the way to eat a dark chocolate. The way to have a dark chocolate is simply put it on your tongue, fight your urges, and let it melt slowly. Trust me my dear, I too was a non-believer, but that’s the best way to enjoy it.

Don’t overpower that dark chocolate, let it overpower you…!

Am I an Audiophile?

rrmahalle

Few days ago, one of my pen-friend purchased a new wireless bluetooth headphone. I asked him his review of those headphones.

To be true, I was not at all interested in headphones, but curiosity is a stubborn disease. I hate bluetooth headphones because they are not meant for quality (as well as longevity). But on the upside, they are practical. I prefer quality over practicality – anytime. Rather, practicality is relative to one’s personal preferences. For me, quality is practicality after all.

Back to my pen-friend. Rather than reviewing his headphones, he exclaimed, “Don’t say that you are an Audiophile too.” I asked him if what does he mean by too. Cheeky fellow. He said, “You are a man of many things and ideas, this shouldn’t surprise me that Being Audiophile can be your field too.” (Enough personal praise!)

I could not give him an answer. I don’t like myself to be accredited with stupid certifications. I feel that certifications rob your originality. Rather than some monkey with credentials, I like to find an interesting field to satisfy my curiosity and move forward to see the boundaries of that field. Satisfaction is a consequence of that search for the boundaries.

To a narcissist sociopath, music is the best companion. I still remember my first song on which I spent my money. It was Teri Deewani by Kailash Kher. I had spent ₹30 to pirate it on a cassette tape and my musical journey began.

Rather than lengthening my history with music, here I present you with the musical equipment I have currently. Judge yourself, am I an Audiophile?

My Current Audio Equipment

Commodity Audio Gear

  1. Regular iPhone Earpods (Wired)
    Side-Sleeper podcast headphones.
    Free, so value for money
    Audio Quality – 2/5
    Value/price – Free 5/5
  2. Soundcore Sports Air (Bluetooth)
    These used to be my gym headphones.
    Dirt Cheap – No wires.
    Audio Quality – 2/5
    Value/Price – 3/5
  3. Sennheiser pmx60 (Wired)
    Bedroom desktop headphones.
    Dirt Cheap – Value for money (old, not available).
    Audio Quality – 3/5
    Price/Value – These were gifted 5/5
  4. UE Roll 2 (Bluetooth Speakers)
    Roadtrip speakers, Get-together speakers.
    Great sound for a small size. Robust build.
    Audio Quality – 3/5
    Value/Price – 4/5

Semi-Audiophile Gear

  1. Koss Porta Pro with Yaxi Pads (Wired)
    Primary desktop headphones.
    Great open sound.
    Audio Quality – 4/5
    Value/Price – 3/5 (kinda costly in India)
  2. Audio Technica M50X with Brainwavz Earpads (Wired)
    Current Gym Headphones.
    Powerful Sound, Tight Bass, Analytical (Not so much fun, but forceful).
    Audio Quality – 4/5
    Value/Price – 3/5
  3. Mackie CR4 Studio Monitors
    Desktop Speakers.
    Crisp Sound. Bassy. Solid Build.
    Audio Quality – 4/5
    Value/Price – 4.5/5
  4. Harmon Kardon SoundSticks
    Reading Room Speakers.
    Bright Sound with nice bass (though my subwoofer broke).
    I use them as a background music player while reading (Lo-Fi music).
    Audio Quality – 3.5/5
    Value/Price – 4/5

Pro Grade Gear

  1. Hifiman Sundara (Wired)
    Smooth as butter. Beautiful Warm Sound. Fast. Truly Sundara.
    My Enjoyment Headphones. Can’t explain. More than to explain.
    Audio Quality – +5/5
    Value/Price – +5/5
  2. Stereo Sound System
    Elac Debut B6.2 + Elac S10.2 Subwoofer + Yamaha RN-602 Integrated Amplifier
    God Sound. Warm, Bright, Banging, Thumping, Throbbing, Heartbeating, Tripping, Eargasm… … … More than to explain.
    Audio Quality = ++5/5
    Value/Price – 5/5

Planned? What say?

  1. Audeze LCD 2C – Heard a lot about them.
  2. Sennheiser HD660S – For A. R. Rahman?

So, am I an Audiophile? Don’t say yes – I hate credentials.

11Why so many? Because there is no one endgame gear in music. Every gear has its own personality. Also, rather than going for an endgame (which no beginner know), I climbed step by step.

Am I an Audiophile?
rrmahalle

By the way, what the hell is going on these days? First, my right ear swelled with pus. For three days, I was in severe pain. When it healed, my left ear went haywire, that gave me hard time for three days. When both are healed, now my right eye has swelled.

My father said that it must have been an infection because of the Diwali cleaning. If it is, enough now. Go away my impurities. He he.

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