H.A.S. Do you suffer from it?

Headphone acquisition syndrome, that is.

I thought I was set with my HD 600...  I figured that it was "good enough", and that I couldn't get reasonably closer to my speakers without taking a giant step up in price and amplification.

Then I went to the local shop, which has high end Sennheiser, AKG, and Beyerdynamic phones all ready for listening...  I haven't spent much time comparing phones (mostly just the Beyer A1 amp they've got there), but the bit that I did spend listening to the AKG K701 and Beyer DT990 was very enjoyable - especially the almost speaker-like soundstage of the AKGs.  But, I figured, the smooth sounding HD 600 is all that I need for the all-day listening I do - and not to mention, the AKGs could never last in my backpack like the carbon fiber and steel Sennheisers have.

But then, I thought - it would be handy to have a portable source other than my laptop + uDAC.  What about a Clip+?  And headphones?  Something smaller than the HD 600 would be nice... Maybe some Grados, or Alessandros...  Well, I spent some time thinking about the ATM-M50 too...  But decided that I just would love to try the Alessandros instead.  Not sure if I'll be getting them as a gift, if not I might get them myself anyway...

And then I got to thinking - what about the soundstage of the AKGs?  That was the closest I've gotten to my speakers in a long time.  And they go for only $265 new or under $200 used...  What a steal!  I want a pair now, although there's little I can do to justify it...

All of this is on top of my old Shure E2C's, which have been my uncomfortable travel companions for quite a long time; and the Goldring DR100's I got as in intro into real 'phones.

I'd still like to try some portable closed 'phones too...

And I'm sure that after I test the HD 800 at the shop, I'll want them too...  Not gonna happen though.

For me, phones are really just something I use when I can't use my stereo for some reason - they're not my main system by any means. Yet despite this, I see myself getting different phones far more so than even speakers...

Note: Interestingly, here in Sweden it seems that by far the most popular 'phones are the Koss Portapros.  At least a third of the headphones here are those!  The majority wear cheap buds of some sort, I see a few of the unnamed bad-value 'phone brand trio's phones, and Sennheisers are reasonably popular too.

The funny thing is that none of them sound anywhere near as good as my speakers...  Maybe it's just withdrawal symptoms from not being able to use it for four months thanks to being abroad?

: )

Luckily, headphones don't cost nearly as much as camera lenses.  Granted, headphones don't (historically speaking) last as long either...

HAS is just as dangerous as NAS though.  Any form of GAS can be lethal to your bank account balance, for that matter!

Well, I'm a broke grad student so there you go...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moontan13 

I went through that phase last year. I'm happy with what I have, and am not even close to spending in the triple digits.

I think my stereo is my curse.  Trying to get as close to it as possible is a losing battle...