You will get sick of head-fi

You forgot how you get sick of not having head-fi, then go back to it, then get sick of it again.  It is a cycle...

Interesting. I'm usually caught up in PM's while on Head-Fi. I could definitely see the redundant checking of threads, etc as getting old.

But talking to good ole buddies, that never gets tiresome. 

 

And the biggest problem, when you decide to settle down with your gear. Bad idea. 

I find I settle down with my gear when I'm too busy to spend a bunch of time @ head-fi, and barely have time to squeeze in some listening here and there.  When a bit of leisure presents itself, I end up at head-fi a bit more frequently, and suddenly get the urge to try something new.

 

I notice I started out with decent gear, built up to my peak level of great gear, and have scaled back a bit in what I use and look for now.  I went from portable, to desktop, back to portable.  I also notice I like to buy and sell things about as much as I like to listen, so yeah, for that head-fi is awesome.  Flavor of the month - I alternately get tired of it, or get caught up in it and buy one, if the flavor hangs around for more than a couple of months.  Most of it is FOM for some reason - it usually has something going for it.  Some of it though - not so much.  My current FOM? Mr. Speakers Mad Dogs professionally modded Fostex T50RP's.  Over priced DIY, or well done, professional modding of a retail headphone?  The later in my opinion, I really like them - they hit my preferred sound sig almost square on the head, and ae very nicely done.  Anyway, I seem to digress, so I'll end here.

Edited by aamefford - 10/18/12 at 8:05pm

I'm kind a getting tired of the repeat questions. What amp? What DAC? What headphone? It never ends. Now I'm moving towards the less common topics (like this).

But as I see it, every mission has to have a goal. We can have discussions here at all levels of knowledge (noobs to experts) but whats the ultimate aim of all this? Ultimately its just stuffing our own ego without any way to channel it.

Another thing is, a lot of us are consumers (as in, those who consume). Yes, we can get all sorts of equipment, but in the end, its just a recorded thing being replayed in front of us. There's a certain dead end (I'm afraid its us).

And I'm also afraid thats what our world is turning into. A handful of those who create, with millions who consume. Not a good sign.

Edited by proton007 - 10/18/12 at 10:29pm

I think as long as you are changing equipment, you want to talk about it. If you stay with one headphone for a year then you are going to run out of things to say about it and get bored. I'm always paranoid that I'm repeating myself... I'm always paranoid that I'm repeating myself:) and annoying peeps with the same old recommendations!

 

I've been on here just under 2 year and I'm still enjoying it, but I was into this hobby long before I joined. Finding this site was brilliant for me, because before I only had my Dad to talk hifi with as none of my friends are into it, and so to able to speak to people from all over the world about my hobby is fantastic.

Wow. It had to be said. Sometimes the truth hurts a little. There ia a lot of truth in that sentence.

I can relate to why senior members would get a little jaded.

Waaaaaaaay back when I used to belong to, at the time, a small up-and-coming computer cooling and OCing forum. There couldn't have been more than 50-100 of us 10-15 real serious members.

We did our own home built water cooling setups(you couldn't buy it at that time). It was a lot of fun and a close knit community made it even more fun.

You became good friends with people you never even met face-to-face.

Of course good things never last. Water cooling and OCing became popular, the in flux of new members was overwhelming and the "good ol days" just got lost in the muck. Everything became "commercialized" and it pretty much took the wind out my sails.

But you find other interests and move on.

I think the best thing to do is just not take it so seriously.

 

Yeah, I guess treat a hobby like one. A lot of "entertainment" we see around us are attempts at commercializing hobbies. Commercialization brings improvement, development, yes, but it takes the 'hobby' part away.

There has to be a limit. Where do we want to put our collective intellect and knowledge? A lot of areas crucial to our survival can do with more ideas. I think these questions should be answered.

I kind of feel that since I've been quite happy with the gear I have for several years now, and none of it is anything that has been popular for years (am I too late to get on board with the hot DT880 craze?), I have increasingly little to really say. Everybody is getting the newest, shiniest stuff, trading impressions, etc., and I'm not really doing that. I've been relatively active here for the past few weeks again after taking nearly a year off, and before that I had taken nearly half a year off. The counter says I've been a member since October 2012 (two years now), but honestly if you add it all up I've only been active for about five months of that.

 

Even when I first started, the endless recommendation threads were wearing me down. I also did a lot of lurking before I joined, so I was already on my third headphone before I finally signed up. Consequently, I didn't get to give everybody a blow-by-blow account of my journey through the Five Stages of Audiophile Denial (burn in, amp, cable, mod, admit defeat and sell) the way many posters do.

 

These days I make most of my posts in the cooking and "You know you're an audiophile when..." threads. I'm content. I've got two sets of cans I really like and am currently searching for an IEM to complete the ultimate trio of sonic satisfaction. For my last birthday I bought myself an SSD and some RAM rather than anything audio-related. I also bought Perlman's performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and played it a dozen times a day for a solid month, so I guess the music means more than the gear at this point.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I tend to think of Head-Fi as a great place to research new purchases and keep up on new developments, but if you're not in the market (and it might be astonishing for some of you to hear from somebody who isn't perpetually searching), there honestly isn't much to do. I've been here two years and haven't even broken a thousand posts, and that's with at least a hundred or so being lost to posterity in the epic "1000 posts" thread that eventually got axed (ask BobSaysHi or ArmAndHammer).

 

I'm not going to say I'm sick of Head-Fi. It's always here when I need it. I enjoy the small talk and reading through a lot of the impressions threads. But that's what I do for the majority of my time here. Read, and not post.

Strongly agree with proton007. Increasingly, I debate the so-to-speak 'morality' of spending ever-bigger hunks of money to pursue incremental improvements. There has to be a balance. A point where each of us says "enough".

 

I do think a distinction needs to be made though. It relates to finding this 'balance'. I'm fairly sure pursuing excellence in any hobby, even as a consumer, can enhance what we offer in other parts of our lives. By relaxing better in our down-time and developing new skills and insights into (in our case) music-listening, there is a chance it indirectly enriches what we offer to others.

 

But can it go too far? An obsession that absorbs us so much it takes away from what we offer, like addiction? Obviously it can, but I'd be surprised if most of us get anywhere near this.

 

I see head-fi as a social "tool" with unique qualities. Typical of internet-based groups, it is a "knowledge-base" which pretty nearly "knows" about every headphone and hp amp in existence (DACs not so much maybe). To this it adds a large group of "testers" - us - from all around the world and many perspectives and skill-sets.

 

Given time and experience with head-fi it's possible to read our 'test-reports' and get some idea how something will sound to one's own ears - more 'accurate' I suspect than what we get from manufacturer's marketing hype and - in many cases - magazine reviews.

 

Against this - as we all know - head-fi has its own hype (FOTM, FOTY) which oversells some products and undersells others. I know which hype I prefer though.

 

There is another limitation to head-fi. Each of us really is unique (ears, preferences, how our brain decodes sound etc) in how we hear. Decision-by-group only goes so far. I was reminded recently it often does not provide the specific answers we might seek about a particular piece of equipment.

 

Once one reaches this point constantly, one has probably out-grown head-fi - except for other aspects such as Argyris mentions.

 

(ps: I've been here five years and lurked two years before that, and consider I've posted far too often for what I have to offer  I suspect I will be sick of head-fi well before reaching headphoneus supremus status!).

Going on the same line of thought as AiDee, I guess there should be a guide to buying <fill in the component>.

 

You know, something like a database. All headphones, DACs, Amps sorted according to their properties, like input/output options, power source (portable/non portable), power output, Specs, Sound signature.

As you keep selecting criteria, your choice  keeps narrowing down until you've found the component you want.

 

It'll be much easier for a lot of users, both new and experienced. You could easily narrow down to a selection in a few clicks. No need to keep asking the same question again. 

Edited by proton007 - 10/22/12 at 5:54pm

Lurking here for about a month and joined last night and I'm feeling a little sick already knowing that I'm going to end up spending a lot more than I had originally planned on...

 

The key is in taking the middle path. Take some time comparing what you get for the price. Pay for what you want, and nothing more.

Edited by proton007 - 10/22/12 at 7:19pm

 

+1

 

Value is absolutely key. Headphones carry a notorious slope of diminishing returns. If you're not careful, you can feel like you need to spend super ultra megabux, especially if you get too involved with the various appreciation threads around here.

 

There is excellent value to be had for very reasonable prices. Invest some time researching and you will be richly rewarded in the end.

I frequently take breaks from my audio rig and from Head-Fi. That way, I don't get caught up in the hype and have a laugh about what changes when I return.

Example - Came back when the LCD2 came out & the O-DAC release.