teen audiophile moral issues - Page 3

My parents understand if I want good audio and what not. MY dad has a bunch of audio equipment in the basement (old school speakers from the 60's and an old school amp form the 60's too). And a bunch of other stuff I don't know what it dose.

They just don't understand why I want to have multiple pairs of headphones/earphones. But that doesn't mean they won't let me do it if I choose to. but i don't think 4 pairs is a lot. perfect amount for me.

ARF....

mebbeh a govibe6 would be a cheaper alternative to the ray sammeh tomahawk.

Your parents are basically right. Audiophilia is an endless treadmill where you're never satisfied until you spend an enormous amount of money. Eventually most people stop and realize this (some never do); your parents have a reasonable outsider's perspective. This is especially true with those last 0.1% things, like the iMod or fancy cables. The cash outlay is often way out of proportion to the benefit, if there is any benefit at all. (It's a little different with things that make a bigger measurable difference, such as speakers, though people get carried away there too.) Your parents are wise.

I concur with people who suggest getting the KSC-75s. I've been through a large number of high end headphones and have tried others at meets, and my current listening cans are KSC-35s. Price is almost never an indicator of how good something sounds. You can have close to the very best for peanuts. (Similarly, most really expensive speakers actually sound bad and many pieces of modded gear sound the same or worse than they did originally.)

Beyond that, though, if you want better gear that your parents can support, I'd suggest getting into DIY. You learn a lot (it's educational, your parents will likely support that), it takes a long time to finish a project (so there's isn't the compulsive shopping that happens in this hobby), it's cost-effective in a way that will make sense to your parents, you'll learn to spot the scams from things that genuinely make a difference, it's a good hobby, and you get the pride of building things yourself. Also, if your parents have some tools, you could try a speaker building project with your dad. Good bonding experience, and you'll get great sound too.

There was another member a while ago with exactly the same problem as yours; he ended up building an amp with his dad, they had a good time, and I think he ended up at MIT (or another good engineering school, I can't remember).

they are trying to teach you responsiblity. i felt the same way, but when you are not paying rent, or other bills, its easy to feel that way, once you get in the real world, its not all fun and play.

Remarkable. Reading this thread reminded me that the same thing happened to me (without the religious overtones) when I bought $3 Maxell high bias blank casettes -- that's what they used to cost -- instead of the 3 for $.99 drugstore house brand.

If you have enough money saved to buy the iMod, why did you feel it necessary to intentionally break your Nano to get a new one to sell?

You're very fortunate to have some guidance when it comes to spending.

I grew up with my retired grandparents, and their main source of income was social security. This just tell you how they can be critical at their budget.

Actually, I had my first summer job at $3.35/hr, when I was 14 yrs old. At the end of that summer, I gave half of my earning to my grandparents to help them with expenses, and I used the rest for my personal expenses, and a $1200 component system. My grandparents were stunt when they saw the system in the middle of my humble bedroom. However, to my surprises, they just said "You really like stereo?.... You deserve it...."

Nowadays, I'm still very concious about my spending on my hobbies. I only make major purchase when I have bonus from my job. My wife knows how much I spend on head gear, but she does not give me any hassle, but a warning "... as long as you don't mess up our budget..."

I could not have said it better than this. Excellent post.

BUSTED!

There goes respect for the OP.

I keep sayin' it 'cuz it's true - parents go through puberty too. It's not the concerns they have, that's completely what parents do, protect their kids, it's how they go about it.

How you kept your temper, I don't know. I certainly couldn't have kept mine, having my parents dare to tell me what I can and can't hear. Once you calm down if I were you, I'd be the man here and call a family discussion about it. It's your money, right? And obviously there's the trust issue. Have they had reason to distrust you in the past?

Then there us evil internet people. No amount of printing out good feedbacks will matter because we're all liars, but again, if it's a mistake, then you have to point out that part of learning and growing is making mistakes. If it's a mistake, then it's yours to make.

If it's not your money, then you're at their mercy. If you're not a musician, this can't be considered as something that furthers your love of music. My parents didn't even allow me to have a job (in fairness I'm not sure how my classmates found the time, what with the clubs, and bands and choirs and horses and stuff - and oh yeah, school), so if I couldn't take the music route, I'd be SOL.

OTOH, your money would mean your choice.

But from their point of view, they have a point about chasing an unattainable goal. So you get an iMod. The next thing you'll want is a home setup (haven't looked at your profile yet, maybe you have one, but you get the picture). So many people here chase the unattainable goal of perfection. Not even live performances are perfect, so why bother? Just pick a plateau and be happy. Your parents are afraid you'll end up in the nicest cardboard box with the nicest audio setup around. It's irrational, but they're looking out for you.

Anyway, you get the idea. Kudos to you for keeping your temper. My musicians ego back then would have been way too big to stand for that. However, if you approach this rationally and they still won't hear you, then you tried. You were the bigger man, and this may be something that they just never know really about you.

At that point, you have a choice, accept what mommy and daddy say, or do your own thing and take the heat.

Sounds to me like you're going in way too much, too fast, and your parents are right, even if maybe a touch overboard. That's even discounting the FS thread info. With only $600, even at 16 (no living costs), an iMod is quite excessive all by itself.

Try maybe spending half on audio stuff--total. If you must spend it all, at least make it music. I can never spend as little as I plan on CDs...

Have you seen that documentary video about the Greek Audiophiles? One man said he had always wanted a nice villa by the ocean, as he was showing his villa-priced (no, really, not a cottage) rig. It was half-joking, and the confession of someone is knows he is quite on the fringe of things, but it still gives an example of what the extreme (and highly unlikely) case could be.

"How much better could it be" is an excellent, excellent question, and I would say that spending $200 on an iMod is not the purchase of someone who is also planning a hornet and some nice iems, but rather one who already has the amp and iems, and really wants to see how good the iPod hardware can get.

There is that pursuit of absolute excellence that would drive one to add/remove components for the most pure signal path, in addition to the careful labour, is what your $200 is getting.

For now, stick with just the off-the-shelf stuff, and stay far away from boutique services! A cheap usb sound card with digital out and a $200 DAC should absolutely destroy an imodded iPod.

I think that the best way to improve your hearing is to go slowly upgrading, this way you will perceive the little differences and it will give you more time to accumulate money or just forget about this passion for a while. Maybe in two month you will become passionate about electric guitars and would have love to got some money for this new hobby, only an exemple here. I believe that the best deal is to buy the PK3 in the group buy, they are only 25$ for US resident or 30$ for non US and are suppose to sound godly for theire price. Or go with the classic KSC-75. Since PK3 aren't suppose to need an amp to shine they could just be the end it all product that you would need. But to go for an iMod when you don't have good headphones and no amp would be plain wrong IMO.

Save your money. Even at that young of an age, put it in a bank account.

Trust me. I'm 18, and attending college this fall. I need to buy a car and a tuba, and I am no where near purchasing either.

Besides, you don't need anything as hi end as $200, especially not an imod.

well its not 100% relevant but take a look at my thread a while back

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224704