About Michael Jackson having any real "audiophile" notions or being technically knowledgeable, there is also the fact that he kept demanding that his ‘Invincible’ album should be recorded on Analog, and not on Pro Tools (digital).
Rodney Jerkins spoke about that in one of his interviews:
“…I like digital because it's a lot cleaner, but I love the warmth of analog. There's nothing like Neve EQs and analog mixes on vocals and tracks. It makes everything warm and Pro Tools is not able to capture the true essence of analog yet. Sometimes I use both …The last time I used analog was on Michael Jackson in 2000 [‘Invincible’ album]. He was a little scared of Pro Tools. We tried to get him to use it, but he didn't want to go that route yet and I understand: He came from the school of analog. But experimenting with new toys keeps you ahead of the game…” (Rodney Jerkins, Mix On Line)
On October 26th (2001), Michael Jackson stated that the listener should buy the actual CD in order to feel the real punch of the sound of his new album, rather than listening the album over the Internet or small speakers:
“…Well, the sound is…sonically, we always try to make sure we have, you know, pristine, detailed, uh, you know, the best sound, the best engineers, the best technicians available ... That’s one of my favorite things, hearing the music really loud. ‘Cause I like to play music loud. I mean, it’s, uh… If you play something over the Internet or small speakers, it doesn’t have the same punch. That’s why you have to buy it. You have to buy that CD to really hear that punch. It makes a huge difference. Huge difference. There’s no comparison. Buying the CD is the best thing…” (Michael Jackson, Online Audio Chat, 2001)
The singer cared a lot about the pristine, detailed sound of his studio albums in general, judging also by the fact that he demanded his ‘HIStory’ album to have the most elaborate and expensive mastering process (the ‘HIStory’ album still these days remains the most expensive album of all time, in terms of mastering costs).