I don't know how deaf the person in the OP was, as with blindness, there are varying degrees of deafness. He may have some form of hearing because the vocabulary that he describes the first things he hears, e.g. friend with a "slight rasp in his voice" is quite rich.
But even assuming he was totally deaf before, a lot of people believe that basic music appreciation is one of the wired-in aspects of the brain, like language. In fact, there is some proof that language and music are processed by the same parts of the brain (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070927121101.ht...). So, just as a person who never have exposed to language can quickly learn it when s/he encounters it (many such cases are documented, e.g. feral children, Genie) so a deaf person theoretically would start enjoying music from the get go.
The difference in the other story may be related to the sensor technology, as you point out, maybe the cochlear implant was distorting the sounds somewhat.
I actually have a friend who claims to not like music; that's it... end of the argument.
He doesn't dislike certain types of music, or the modern perversion of music. He just can't stand music.
He's been known to watch movies with little-to-no music in the soundtrack... and with his almighty DM powers he has been known to ruthlessly obliterate Bard's from his D&D campaigns.
It's not uncommon in other areas, such as food, for people to be prematurely dismissive - such as "I don't like Chinese food" or "seafood", or whatever, based on having eaten one or two dishes and being put off it. Is it possible that your friend is in a similar situation, where actually there is music he would like except that he made his judgement before he discovered it and hasn't allowed himself to re-evaluate his opinion since then?
I have listened to a wide range of music and I don't care for any of it. Some African chanting is interesting but more in the way that crashing waves where interesting than any real emotional response.
But even assuming he was totally deaf before, a lot of people believe that basic music appreciation is one of the wired-in aspects of the brain, like language. In fact, there is some proof that language and music are processed by the same parts of the brain (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070927121101.ht...). So, just as a person who never have exposed to language can quickly learn it when s/he encounters it (many such cases are documented, e.g. feral children, Genie) so a deaf person theoretically would start enjoying music from the get go.
The difference in the other story may be related to the sensor technology, as you point out, maybe the cochlear implant was distorting the sounds somewhat.