I've been lurking here for a couple of months now and decided to finally chime in on something that I don't really need to have a high level of audio expertise in. My first post! Yay! I found the article to suit its audience quite well. I believe this article is written for those, like the writer, who are new to the world of headphones. I believe that this article has enough information to launch the odyssey of a great many new headphone listeners in search of better sound through education. Maybe if I had read this article two months ago, I would have found Head-Fi earlier and make more sound decisions in my initial purchases.
My first introduction to headphones were in-ear Skull Candies. Which I had no problem with. They were a lot better than the ear buds that came packaged with the iPod. They lasted for a good two years without any problems. This past Christmas, my wife purchased me the Beats Solos. It was because I mentioned, at one of our shopping days at Best Buy, "Who the heck would pay $200 for headphones?" She bought them because she thought with that price tag it should be terrific and wanted me to have a great set of headphones. I love my wife. After having them for a day, I thought I was missing something so I started researching... strictly the Beats line through bestbuy.com and amazon.com reviews. I then decided to return the Solos and spend an extra $100 to get the Beats Studios, which I thought sounded worse than the Solos in some areas. Maybe my ears are a little weird. Guess what, I returned the Studios and spent an extra $100 to get the Beats Pros. I have to admit I really love those. I am a bass-head at heart, but unlike the Solos and Studios, I could hear the mids and highs clearly. Yes, I know I will probably get flamed for liking the Beats Pros, but it's true. I did say my ears may be a little weird.
In any case, I believe that everyone needs to go through a learning period and try different headphones to find what they like. At this moment in time, I have the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80, Sennheiser HD650, AKG Q701, V-Moda Crossfade LP2, V-Moda V80, and am thinking about picking up the Grado 325IS within a month or two to add more variety to the mix. I run them through a Fiio E7 and E9 combo which is hooked up to my Mac. Most of my music is ripped from my CDs in lossless format and I have a few jazz albums I purchased from HD Tracks, which includes the Head-Fi sample mix and the other binaural album that Jude did a review on. My main tastes in music lies in rap/hip hop, 70% of the time, but I also listen to R&B,classic rock, reggae, Hawaiian and jazz. I am thoroughly enjoying all of my headphones and the differences in sound they have. I guess I have to thank Head-Fi and the forum here for providing the plethora of knowledge and information on the different brands and sounds that are available. My wife is not too happy about that just to let you know, but she takes a lot of the blame for buying me that first set of Beats Solos that set off my new addiction.