Ear for detail

Listening they say is the most difficult of things Yet this rare quality is crucial to an audiophile On Sunday Mumbai will witness a large outpouring of individuals who share their love for music technology and headphones converge at an Andheri venue for an audiophile meetup Headphone Connect a community for headphone fansldquoAn audiophile feels passionately about the music but also cares deeply about the way it sounds and feelsrdquo explains Raghav Somani CEO and founder Headphone Zone Somanirsquos irritation at not finding the right headphones to listen to his favourite AR Rahman number led him to form his company in 2011 and the first event in 2015 Since then he has discovered others who walk his pathldquoImagine a vintage car rally everyone cares about the car you are driving Your identity is defined as the person who owns a headphone or a set up not by your money or statusrdquo Somani says The meetup invites people to bring their own headphones and gear to share with others From music to technology and debates the forum allows participants to share their ideas and gear Walk in to the event and you might find people tinkering with every kind of headphone setupDeepak lsquoChuckrsquo Gopalakrishnan a content and marketing freelancer and an avid rock and metal music fan was part of the first Mumbai meet It offered him a chance to sample technology as well as understand the diverse qualities of equipments ldquoThese meetups have helped me improve sampling different headphones the tech and what different people like about different headphonesrdquoRaghav SomaniFor Shanth Swaroop exfeatures writer at What HiFi magazine the objective was to find a platform that allowed him to listen ldquoIn India you wonrsquot find a platform where you can experience music for the sake of experiencing itrdquo he says Meetups were a chance to listen to music on great productsBoth Swaroop and Gopalakrishnan believe that most Indians listen to music almost subconsciously The absence of accessible equipment at an early age also means a lack of awareness of audio qualityThis is evidently changing Somani says that he has noticed different temperaments among listeners from different Indian cities ldquoAn audiophile in Bengaluru is often a nerdy tech person who gets hands on and technical with the product They have no problem sitting with graphs and interpreting the sound quality based on the instrumentsrdquo Mumbai he adds houses the more experiential buyer interested in sound quality than the technologyWhile the membership is growing mdash 120 people attended the Bengaluru meetup earlier this month mdash it remains a niche community Somani says ldquoThese are people genuinely passionate about their creations and always seek someone to share it withrdquoOn April 24 10 am to 5 pmAt The Leela Andheri EastLog on to headphonezoneinCost Rs 999On a record huntVinyl lovers have a chance to up their game this Record Store Day on April 23 To celebrate the 15th edition this year the Indian Record Store has curated a collection of records from different parts of India with a special prominence to classical music If you are a fan collector or enthusiast of vinyl records this just might be the perfect time to look for some rare and precious collectibles at bargain pricesLog on to indiarecordcoinEmail indiarecordcogmailcom