Do you get strange looks? - Page 4

To be honest, most people have found it quite surprising the amount I've spent over the last year or so. My first purchase (as a result of coming here) was some Ety ER4P earphones I bought here in the UK for a whopping £260 (~$400). I hadn't really considered buying abroad, d'oh.

At the time, people thought I was mad, but I've since persuaded one friend to buy some (for ~£130 so much better deal) and he loves them. My father is also pretty understanding of it, he loves this kind of thing and really enjoyed trying out my Etymotics when I first got them. He's also blown away (as are most people) by the SACD, PPA, HD650/Zu combo.

Then I decided I'd get a non-portable solution and bought some HD650 headphones, then bought a PPA from JMT, a silver lace IC kit from Homegrown. I also bought a pair of RS-1s from another Head-fier but stuck with the 650s and needed the cash so had to sell them on.

Then I bought a second hand SACD source (pretty inexpensive though, was going to get it modded but it doesn't really get used much now), and I've stopped. I've also put together a few MINTs and PIMETAs. I'm now building another MINT for myself (even bought some cool silver hookup wire and 2 BG caps to make it a little extra special).

Oh, and I've also ordered some Sensaphonic 2Xs earphones (they're called the T2XS by their UK distributor here).

I'm now sorely tempted to purchase a SuperMacro to go with them for commuting, seeing as it looks so absolutely tiny and I've already got some spare OPA627 op-amps to put in it. But, I think I'll hold off on that one

My relatives think I am crazy. My uncle happens to be a musician/music professional, he has a somewhat pro home studio... My gear (other than mics) easily exceeds his own. When I bought an Accuphase amp and maggies, he raised his eyebrow a little and found it to be a waste. When he heard I had a LavryBlue and a set of Dynaudios for my front-end, he gave me a long lecture about the value of money and how I should be investing for my future. Jealousy much? He's still kicking it on JBL speakers and a UA 2192 Good thing he knows nothing about the amount of headphones and audio cards I've gone through. My mother is a mooch. She's always asking me if I have anything I'm getting rid of (since I seem to have the upgrade bug like... once every two months or more) -- I already have her set up with a Chaintech AV-710, a Velodyne sub and KRK V8 nearfields, what the heck more does she need?! Cousins all can't understand why I'm not spending the money on more school. What, so I can get more certifications that won't help my career status with any company I'd work with to begin with? (any corp/company that hires based on paper alone, I refuse to work with -- I'd rather they skip the education section on my resume and get right down to it with experience)

My friends all have different opinions. One friend, who is a total bass-head car stereo maniac... Thinks everything I have is crap, because I basically can't shake tree limbs down with bass (I'm surprised he isn't deaf yet) Other friends often enjoy listening to music via my headphones or speakers, but cannot ever see spending that much money on audio. In fact one of them can't even tell the difference in sound from his Audigy2 and my LavryBlue -- I don't know if I should envy him or cry. Quite a few are skepticle about high-end sources (anything more than $500 for an entire system is high-end to them) and cables that cost more than $10 a piece (even to build), I'm taking a trip soon to let a few listen to some headphones and my portable system so hopefully I don't feel like my words are falling on deaf ears anymore.

All of my ex-girlfriends think I am crazy, most definately. One I am still really good friends with and hang out with on a weekly basis, always rolls her eyes whenever she changes the FM station in her car and I have to readjust the equalizer (you silly broadcasts with bass boost must be smitten!). It wasn't until I was basically broken up with one of them until she mentioned to me that my speakers sounded "really good". She was never even in the right listening position either.... I got some pretty strange remarks when one of them purchased a turntable (not too sure about it -- haven't listened to it personally and didn't inquire all that much) I asked what pre was she planning on getting... and what type of amplification she was using. She was perfectly content just buying a mini system with a phono-in and listening to it on her headphones that came with a Coby PCDP. "It plays music, that's what it's for"

People on the bus... They stare, and they stare often. Notebook usually in my lap, with an Apogee MiniDAC sitting where the hand-wresting area is on my notebook... cord going into my jacket... Etymotic ER-4S in my ears (SuperMacro in my jacket). Pretty much tuned out... surfing the web and sighing every now and then deeply due to going under a tunnel killed my EDGE data connection. I do my best to not make eye contact, eyes on the xbrite, looking up ocassionally to make sure I don't have to tug the wire notifying that I need to get off the bus next stop... I'm like a rabid dog when people move to get a closer look. Paranoia, hurray! I need to find a good insurance company that will insure personal belongings on your person - or a big burly guy with a big black shirt that says "security" to stand next to me on my way home when the bus is packed.

Lol, that's funny I can imagine the look on her face...

The wife somewhat tolerates it, as it isn't as geeky as my past hobbies, but not as cool as my guitar hobby pre-marriage.

Both friends that I've sat down and had them listen to my rig have both converted to the dark side.

Looks in NYC are of the "not an ipod bud eh move on" to "is that a Grado?"

Family at home don't know the damage, which is a good thing.

All in all, not too bad!

Most people I know just look at it as another one of my eccentricities. I pretty much geek out 100% on whatever I do.

Any girl I bring to my apartment the first time tends to comment immediatly on the "Wall-O-CDs". I have a ton of modular wall cd racks in my bedroom that takes up an entire wall. Then the left half of my desk has 2 cd players, a broken turn table, a wooaudio3*, and several headphones on wall clips and stands.

By this point though, most of the ladies will know of my extreme music & audio hobby, but that never fails to prepare them for the level of isanity when they actually walk into my room.

*An actual comment from someone seeing it the first time "What the hell is that, some kind of glowing space age sex toy?" WTF!

My co-workers also tend to wonder why I have 2 ipods, and have a hard time grasping the concept that one is an amp. One co-worker made the mistake of asking me what my work rig costs, and I told him (4g ipod, shure e5c, TAH (soon to be supermacro) and he just laughed wondering why I needed that much equipment for work. I didn't bother trying to explain that the mundane day is only tolerable by the fact that I get to bliss out to music while working.

I just started a new job at my company 2 weeks ago, and one my new co-workers (on a team of only 4 people) happens to be a fellow auidophile and owns his own speaker company. So he "gets it" and is happy to have an ally among the team when it comes to defending our hobbies.

But again, I tend to geek out on everything I get into. The audio hobby takes a back seat to cars in both time and money. I have a garage full of parts and broken stuff. So when compared, headphones look tame.

I also spend a ridicules amount of money on paintball markers, equipment, and paint. I only one own marker now (dm4) but at one time I had 4 and a couple others I was fixing for friends. I'm a total marker geek.

I think the only hobby of mine I DON'T geek out on is women. I just don't have the money left over anymore!

What would you do exactly? Catch a case of upgraditus and throw some silicone balloons in there?

I've recently tried explaning to few of my friends. Then I just gave up. They also think it's weird that there's an internet forum for headphones. I pointed out to them there are ones for speakers but they thought that was just fine. One of these days, they'll know better.

I've only just started. Mostly positive reactions, but I'm surrounded by geeks who are open-minded.

It's kinda spreading around, actually. I listened to a friend's PX-100 and HD-580 on a Airhead and I was infected. I'm spreading it by carrying around my CMoy - a lot of people who see it all of a sudden want to build one.

Crazy my foot, how can anyone resist this stuff??

Too bad not all women have the synergy for such an upgrade

only when i go to public places wearing my headphones... most people think it's odd to see people with any headphones other than the little things that come with the portables so they look at me like i'm crazy or something...

You want to get a funny look from somebody? Try explaining that the little earphones you have in your hand cost over $1,000 out the door. Then just as they are looking at you like you have lost your mind you try to explain the difference that is worth the money and realize your wasting your breath and just walk away.

i couldn't do that because i'm broke

Really? I don't get those looks, or maybe I just don't notice. BTW, everyone on here assumes that everyone else thinks they look funny or are weird when they wear their phones in public... I don't really think that they are so judgemental. I know before I got into it, I just thought the big nice headphones were pretty cool.

So far, I've gotten to know a few girls better because of my headphones. Guys never really seem to ask to listen, excepting my friends. My parents are accepting because they blow tons more on their various things. My dad trusts me on headphone stuff, and I'm going to figure out something for him to listen to while skiing next weekend (probably Koss KSC35 or equivilant Koss model). However, when he shared the info about my headphones (and then subsequently my amp and sound card) to my relatives, who are cheap, they all freaked out. They now think I'm frivelous with my money or something (since I don't have much, being 17), or maybe they just figure I'm my dad's son.

Same here. I get samples of a lot of parts for headphone amps/etc as well as other random projects for my EET classes. I also built a bike from parts, and a PC...and ordered my home theater system on the net, delivered to the dorm. They dont ask me for ID anymore, lol.

When i wear the white cabled phones that came with my Zen Touch, all the iPod wearers look at me an nod like "hey, cool, we've both got iPod's" and i want to punch them in the face for being ignorant and not seeing the GRAY earpieces, and the fact that the cable it's symetrical...not to mention the case that says CREATIVE on my belt. Thus i like the hd280's in public, most people just stare...it's lots of fun to stare back.

It's always fun too when I walk into a room while visibly enjoying a song NOBDY else can hear, and i take them off and suddenly EVERYONE can hear it.