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How did YOU become an audiophile?

post #1 of 78
4/20/09 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 
Hello EVERYONE! I'm new here, so I wanted to start a thread how everyone else became an audiophile. (This is my 1st thread!)
Also tell what was your FIRST HI-FI headphone or earphone.

We were all noobs once.
I'll first start off with mine.

It all started when I was searching for some cases for the ipod touch 2g online. Then I realized that yesturday I went to Best Buy and saw some really expensive headphones. You know those, how to say this in a good way, overpriced yet not that good quality headphones. (Dr. Dre, Bose) Like all noobs I checkout the Bose's review. I saw one guy who put a one star and said Bose was a piece of "trash" and he also said do your research and look at AKG, Grado, Sennheiser etc. Just talk to the people in HeadFi.org their the ones who spend countless $$ on headphones.

So I did do my research and now a proud member of headfi.org!
I don't remember who commented the that bose, but I THANK him or her.

For headphones I have an Alessandro MS-1 w/ a Pa2v2 as my first amp.
But the thing is now I'm mad at my self cause I'm saving some more money for even better headphones.
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post #2 of 78
4/20/09 at 8:17pm
I bought a creative nomad jukebox 3 on 2001 and decided to do a google search for headphones. I ran across an IGN artical reviewing grado headphones. I bought a pair of sr80s and loved them. Over the couse of 8 years I've upgraded a million times. I bought a pair of sr325s, ms2i's, shure er4's, e5's se530s and a number of headphone amps and sources. The biggest thing I've learned over the years is that I either have subpar hearing or people only make themselves believe they can tell the difference between good amps or cables.
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post #3 of 78
4/20/09 at 8:50pm
a friend/co-worker introduced me to the Grado SR60's he had brought to work with him. when i saw them i thought they looked like crap and cheaply made like it was from china. i sampled a listen from his ipod and thought...meh, not bad. then i sampled his SR325i's that he also brought and thought...whoa..that does sound pretty darn good. after that listen, i did some research and bought the SR80's and a cmoy then a pair of the SR325i's and a portable amp. and then upgradatitis kicked in and branched out to sennheisers, beyers, and akg. and now i am here today, welcome to head-fi, sorry for your wallet.
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post #4 of 78
4/20/09 at 9:04pm
I found this place while looking for an MP3 player that wasn't an iPod around February of 2008.
Now, a year later, I'm doing ok. I got an iPod last Christmas though, so that pretty much killed my reason for finding this place.
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post #5 of 78
4/20/09 at 9:39pm
A-T's CKM50 was giving to me by my cousin and eventually started it.

But I believe some audiophiles are born to be. A few years ago back when MP3 players was introduced. I always wonder how much better is a sony earbud from the stock one. I started A-B them for bass, clarity and treble. It was way before I have audiophile knowledge. Therefore, I conclude that the higher expectation of one from audio reproduction equipment. The more likely they will become a audiophile in some point.
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post #6 of 78
4/20/09 at 9:42pm
my uncle recommended me to buy a pair of px100's.
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post #7 of 78
4/20/09 at 10:16pm
I'd been playing with electronics, tubes and old radios for a few years, but I got an Audiophile Advisor catalog in December 2005 and the Sennheiser HD-650 caught my eye. I'd loved the Sony MDR-V6 for years, but I decided to try a high end headphone. I ordered a Creek OBH-11 to go with it.

That sounded so good, I went online to see if anyone else liked headphones.

Not quite my first exoosure to the high end, however. That was in 2002, when I built a pair of ribbon loudspeakersfrom plans in AudioXpress. Those were truly a revelation.
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post #8 of 78
4/20/09 at 10:49pm
After dropping a few hundred in a video card for my computer, visuals were covered. Likewise, i picked up the X-fi elite for $30 and figured I needed something to complement it. That was the beginning of the digression.
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post #9 of 78
4/21/09 at 12:28am
I was searching online for reviews of a $10 pair of ksc75 I picked up from RadioShack (thanks to fatwallet/slickdeals). I have since purchased numerous other headphones/earphones/amps/etc and my ears have been happy as ever..though my wallet has been pretty sad at times.
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post #10 of 78
4/21/09 at 1:44am
if i remembered correctly it was a combination of my SCL2s dieing, and from iaudiophile. This hobby should pick up more speed as soon as i have a better source of income, as i still need to replace my SCL2s
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post #11 of 78
4/21/09 at 1:53am
My Radio shack headphones finally broke one day and I decided that I would try to invest in a really good set of headphones to replace it. After doing research I settled on getting the DT-880s but then saw a deal on the DT-990s for the same price and picked them up instead. I then got a LDMKI to drive them and so that I would have a portable amp for future needs or if I am on a trip. After hearing the day and night difference in sound I now am on a quest to rebuild my libraries with all 100% flac and to upgrade my equipment so I can experience my music instead of just hearing it.
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post #12 of 78
4/21/09 at 2:03am
I bought a pair of Bose triport IE, two yrs ago thinking they where good. Was also looking into isolation noise, but they def did not do that well. So I looked to alternatives came across harman/kardon ep730. Read a review that mentioned head fi and here I am and within 5 months time I got myself a Grado sr60, rs2, Yuin Pk1, Head direct RE1, and a iBasso D1 or D10 coming soon.
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post #13 of 78
4/21/09 at 3:37am
Umm my history has been..
iBuds (2 years ago)
Apple in ears (Cheaper ones)
Some sony MDR NC22.
Shure SE110
Bose IE triports
Sennheiser IE8
Most of the before the IE8 kinda broke in some way (Wires snapping internally etc) Everytime I wanted something even better to wow me, and after my Bose IE broke (About December 08) when one entire side would give up due to wire problems, well I wanted something even higher quality and more durable.
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post #14 of 78
4/21/09 at 4:22am
Ah this is an easy question. I'm a musician and what do I like to do? Transcribe music! And what's the best way to transcribe music? Headphones! This is a must for any transcriber. You need headphones that offers high precision and accuracy to be able to pull and notate the instruments. Headphones that do not provide great accuracy will make it a lot harder on a transcriber. Once transcribed by ear, I play this on my piano. I started transcribing and arranging music in 2006. Then after my ears became more sensitive in transcribing, it was time to upgrade my headphones that I borrowed from my cousin. So I googled "headphone forums" and registered at head-fi. Until I get a source of income, I'll be upgrading my cans.

My audiophile addiction probably kicked in at the same time I started transcribing. I've told myself why work harder on scrutinizing a song when I can get better cans that will make it easier? Basically it was "common sense"
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post #15 of 78
4/21/09 at 4:29am
I never used to buy headphones based on sound quality. I usually bought them based on looks (usually clip-ons). In high school I wanted some better sounding headphones and did a little research (apparently not enough) and ended up with some $80 Sennheisers (forgot the actual model) which I did not like. After that, I floated away from headphones for a long while. Especially since dropping $80 as a high school student for some headphones I didn't like really turned me off.

A couple years ago, I had just bought my first mp3 player (Sansa e260) and didn't like using ear buds, so I looked for something else. My girlfriend bought me some $15 ANC headphones on sale, but they sounded like crap. So I went online and did some research. I happened to stumble upon Head-Fi and then things went slightly out of control.
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