> It definitely sounded different, I heard things in songs that I've listened to for years that I've not heard before.
That usually means one of two things—
1. the frequency response of this new system is different, changing the relative loudness of different instruments;
2. the context caused you to concentrate on the music differently and your experience of it was therefore different.
The critical thing nobody ever says is "I heard things I never heard before, then I went back to my regular system and I stopped hearing the new thing." That never[0] happens—because the thing you hadn't noticed was there all along.
[0] Edit: Okay yes, so not never. I was assuming that the regular system is a reasonably competent modern setup. The median intentional audio system, shall we say.
> The critical thing nobody ever says is "I heard things I never heard before, then I went back to my regular system and I stopped hearing the new thing."
...well, I have, but only when I was a child, and my “regular system” was a thing my parents bought for probably less than $20.
That usually means one of two things—
1. the frequency response of this new system is different, changing the relative loudness of different instruments;
2. the context caused you to concentrate on the music differently and your experience of it was therefore different.
The critical thing nobody ever says is "I heard things I never heard before, then I went back to my regular system and I stopped hearing the new thing." That never[0] happens—because the thing you hadn't noticed was there all along.
[0] Edit: Okay yes, so not never. I was assuming that the regular system is a reasonably competent modern setup. The median intentional audio system, shall we say.