[SenorParsley]

I think it would be really cool to learn how everyone got turned on to this hobby. And I haven't seen a thread about it yet so I thought I should be the one to start it! Post your stories

 

[bradhyper]

I had Beats for around a year, they broke, I went from studios to pros. Then I found this website, took the Pros back and bought different headphones. Now I'm waiting to buy more headphones, amps, other silly things. In retrospect maybe I should have kept the Beats XD.

 

[Alghazanth]

iBuds broke for the 10th time, decided to stop replacing them every 2 months and looked into new earphones. Found out there was a kind that went INTO your ear canal, and that it was supposedly better than regular earphones. After a week of research and debating the $100 price tag, I finally decided to get Klipsch S4is. Got em, was totally confused about the fit, but eventually I got it and learned what bass and clarity was for the first time.
 
Decided to get something for home listening too, eventually settled on the D2000, and had a wonderful 7 months of happy use with them. Then I ordered the AD700 to try out for gaming because everyone kept raving about them, discovered what soundstage and airyness was like, and was no longer satisfied with the closed feel of my D2000, nor the anemic bass of the AD700. Finding a can with powerful bass and massive soundstage became my undying goal for a while until I experienced the T1 and kept looking for something to complement or expand upon its unbelievably natural and engrossing sound, ending up where I am now, about to keep my LCD2/T1/ED8 (and possibly HE500) and likely be done with headphones.

 

[deadlylover]

Listened to a friend's AD700's (they were FOTM at the time), had to get them for myself. And then I stumbled across the high-end forum, and got screwed over by Stax
Being the poor student I am, I also got into DIY to build some nice amps, to 'save money'.

 

[Eric_C]

Earbuds always hurt my ears, so I started looking into in-ears (not that I even called them that, back then). Progressed through some US$30-50 Audio Technica, Koss and Sony IEMs for a while, until a friend showed me his beyerdynamic IEMs. What was this brand? How come I never heard of it?
 
Then he brought me to Jaben.

 

[Curly21029]

I had been into music for a long time and had just started recording.  I picked up an AKG K271S, but as I was researching them I stumbled upon audiophile sites like Head-Fi.  After some reading, I decided to buy a dedicated listening rig.  I settled on the Sennheiser HD600 and happened to see one being sold as a package along with a Headroom Portable Desktop amp.  I purchased the combo and enjoyed it for a long time.
 
I've remained a big music fan and returned to Head-Fi as I was segueing out of recording (which, admittedly, was exclusively for my own enjoyment and anything released into the wild was done so anonymously) and into solely appreciating.  Of course, upgradeitis set in quickly thereafter...

 

[HynchSidrick]

Started with apple stock earbuds on the 1st gen ipod, sounded really good to my noob ears way back. Heard the apple in ears when it was released and it blew me away again. Bought sony ex85 after that and it blew me away again the 3rd time. After a few months, got bose on ear and i had some intense bass eargasm. Thought it was the best but met beats studio and was blown away again. Stumbled into headfi.org and got poisoned quickly. Bought too much stuff to count from 2009-2010. Fast forward to the present and i own a merlin,w4,w3,ie8,ie7,mtpg,mtmd,mtpc,ddm,dba02,eq5,ms400,t50p,hd598,pro 900/2900, and many more. What a rollercoaster ride my journey has been

 

[bradhyper]

Quote:

Started with apple stock earbuds on the 1st gen ipod, sounded really good to my noob ears way back. Heard the apple in ears when it was released and it blew me away again. Bought sony ex85 after that and it blew me away again the 3rd time. After a few months, got bose on ear and i had some intense bass eargasm. Thought it was the best but met beats studio and was blown away again. Stumbled into headfi.org and got poisoned quickly. Bought too much stuff to count from 2009-2010. Fast forward to the present and i own a merlin,w4,w3,ie8,ie7,mtpg,mtmd,mtpc,ddm,dba02,eq5,ms400,t50p,hd598,pro 900/2900, and many more. What a rollercoaster ride my journey has been

I did something similar, the funny part, though, was that in the middle I had a nice pair of Koss porta-pros (somewhere between buds and bose). I still can't remember why I don't still have them. =\
 
 

 

[flyingbangus]

Quote:

iBuds broke for the 10th time, decided to stop replacing them every 2 months and looked into new earphones.

Same here. But....
....got Skullbroken FMJ's. My first time with IEM. Got really confused at first, but like Algh and his S4i, I eventually figured it out. After the 3rd warrant replacement, got tired of it.
....almost bought Bose QNC, but decided to do research before investing......then google led me to head-fi.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I used the Sony MDR-V6 for years. Then I got a catalog in the mail and decided to buy a Sennheiser HD-650 and a Creek OBH-11 with my Christmas bonus in 2005. That sounded really good, so I went online to see if anyone else liked good headphones. You know the rest.

 

[dhaarbrink]

Been a music lover all my life. Not only liked good music, but good music coming out of quality gear. My parents always had good gear, not hifi perse, but well above what most people have.
 
Than I got my own car. It got a crappy radio, crappy speakers. So I got a decent headunit (Clarion, damn, they're good!), good amplifier, speakers, subwoofer, the whole shebang. I was always into SQ, SPL was never that important. To this day the best audio experience I ever had! Sound is all around you, you are completely engulfed. It is absolutely amazing.
 
At work I have used my Sennheiser HD201's for a couple of years, very nice phones for their price. Last week I had my birthday and decided to get an upgrade. First settled on a budget of ~€100, but after listening to some in that range, I realized I had to upgrade. Before I even bought a pair! haha. So currently I'm looking in the <€200 range. Can't wait till I find a satisfying pair.

 

[Szadzik]

Always listened to music, had some good portable players, but headphones were usually crap.
 
Then one day I bought a pair of AKG k24p and after 2 years upgraded to K450 that brought me to this forum. When I started reading and browsing and posting and here I am today.

 

[crinacle]

 
Quote:

Then he brought me to Jaben.

AWWW YEEAAA *brofist*
 
I started out with zilch knowledge on sound; back then I though bitrate was everything. I started with stock radio earbuds, then moved up to $5 in-ears (a major improvement), then moved onto $15 Sony "extra bass" earbuds (a HUGE improvement). One day my friend then came over and showed me her headphones (Skullcandy and Beats), stating that headphones had "better sound quality" than earbuds, and started to recommend me the Beats.
 
OBVIOUSLY, they were too expensive (she was RICH) so I went off to the internet to search for alternatives. First Amazon (lured into the ATH-M40fs) then Head-Fi.
 
And here I am.

 

[Eric_C]

-fist bump back-
'Sup man.
Eh you must be one of the few people I know who've tried the ATH-M40. How is it? How's it compare to the M50, or any of the more popular Head-Fi cans?

 

[crinacle]

Absolutely no idea. I was lured into it; I didn't buy it though THANKS TO YOU GUYS