I love taking walks around my neighborhood park at dusk while listening to Chopin nocturnes on my iPod. It's so relaxing.

Anytime.

I'd rather listen to the birds and the wind in the trees when I'm walking. I listen to classical CD's and King.Fm when I'm driving and I listen to it in my head 24/7.

All day, every day!!!

I will definitely be watching you practice.

While driving and while cooking !

while driving and while running through the neighborhood~

On the train!

Any time, but particularly in the street. I mean, I would go mad with the cars without my iPod...

I listen while working, but it sucks because I can't give my full concentration to the music. I use Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones http://www.sennheiserusa.com/professional-dj-headphones-HD-280-PRO_004974 which I highly recommend. They're especially comfortable for anyone with an extra large noggin.

When it is being performed. I worked at a concert last night, went to a musical this morning, and a student recital in the afternoon.

While driving to and from work, otherwise, I do not enjoy listening to music. It is a waste of time for me. I'd rather do something else, such practice piano etc.

When I'm studying, typing stuff, completing questions assigned to me during classtime, reading (usually the music goes with the story XD sets up the mood). In my head I have a playlist of 10000000+ songs. When my laptop/mp3's out of batteries or I just can't be bothered to turn it on (very often this happens) I just start humming to myself a piece.

Not listening to music is a waste of time for me. There's just so much great music.

+1. Though, there are times when I just shut the music when I have to work seriously.

Somehow, this doesn't surprise me much.

This is possibly the most astonishing statement I have ever read on PianoWorld. He doesn't enjoy it? But, but then why....... wow.

I am surprised too...

On my music player (Cowon J3 combined with Ortofon EQ7 IEMs) when walking the dog in the evening (on earlier walks he spends time off the lead and I need to be generally more aware of surroundings).

When driving, particularly at night.

Absolutely any time after having indulged in a little "herbal relaxation".

when I'm doing homework or trying to fall asleep at night or exercising

+1

... when I'm driving or making dinner ... and almost always classical music.

While I am training myself to listen carefully to what I am playing when I am practicing/performing, I rarely listen to music, otherwise. Even with a large collection of CDs and several days worth of music on my iPod, it all sits there, waiting to be heard.

I never listen to music when I'm driving; there are so many inattentive idiots behind the wheel these days that it takes all my attention and concentration to avoid them or to out-guess them so that I can get from point A to point B safely.

When walking, particularly along the beaches and cliffs here, I am uplifted by the sound of the wind in my (non-existent!) hair, the cry of gulls and the pulse of the surf.

I can't listen when reading as the music distracts me. I'm one of those individuals in this noisy world who appreciates calm and quiet when I can get it or create it.

Regards,

:facepalm:

Question - was the price on those Ortofons worth it? I've never used a really high priced set of iem's but I just can't imagine they could sound as good as a nice set of headphones.

A top pair of headphones will have an inherent sonic advantage over a top pair of IEMs, just like a top pair of floor-standing speakers will have an advantage over top bookshelf speakers. Just like a big piano has a sonic advantage over a smaller one!

For use with a portable music player, however, I find headphones to lack portability and pocketability, and a good pair of IEMs to be totally sufficient sonically.

I would only recommend spending the money on a top pair if the source is also top quality, i.e. you're using uncompressed sound files (I use FLAC format) and a good player.

With specific regard to the Ortofon EQ7s - they are very transparent and highly detailed throughout the frequency range. I found them the teenist bit too mellow for my taste at first, but thankfully the Cowon J3 has a fantastic EQ which I was able to use to nullify that. I might not have been able to do too much about it on an iPod, but then again it was more an issue with rock music than classical, and even then a small one.

To me they've been totally worth the money; they provide a very nice mix of highy quality sound and portability. The design is also attractive and solid, and cleverly includes a little bobble on the left phone so you can tell which is which in the dark.

There are a number of other top tier IEMs worth looking at too. I hear good things especially about the Earsonics SM3s.

When I'm alert and attentive....it's as though I am listening through a magnifying glass, and absorbing as many notes as possible.