Audius
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2011
- Posts
- 81
- Likes
- 39
In the Summer of 2011, I joined the Headfi community. Checking my post history, you can see that I obviously haven't posted in a *very* long time, so please forgive any shortcomings when I talk about my experiences here. -- They are antiquated and irrelevant, solely included for entertainment purposes.
In the Winter of 2012, I owned a pair of Sennheiser HD428 phones that only recently died on me (10 years!!) and a pair of Fischer Audio DBA-02's (the originals with the Japanese TWFK drivers by Knowles, still working) and a pair of a Grado SR-80's (Godspeed).
I chose on a whim to stop into my local pawnshop. I saw a pair of headphones stashed in the glass case with a $200 tag.
I didn't have $200, so I sold two of my fountain pens from my vintage collection -- a Mabie Todd and a lapis blue Parker Duofold Jr via Ebay to cover the cost.
I didn't know this, but I walked out with what would be my penultimate audiophile purchase for the next decade, (and counting). These cans went through dorm rooms, 20 hour videogame sessions, jam sessions, drug induced vibes, addiction, a couple apartments, and given I leave them constantly playing when not in use, close to 70000 hours of use. The pads are still in shape, the connections act a little weird sometimes if I have the cable on the floor, and it's ran off of a HRT Microstreamer almost the entire time (8 of the 9 years).
The reason I am typing this review is the funniest thing happened today. I was digging through my old boxes and found the DBA-02's. I tried them out and naturally they were just as precise and zippy and punchy as I remembered them... but I realized something. The sound was extremely clinical. Awesome for Rock, but was this truly how the artist wanted their music represented? I doubt it.
I've been extremely spoiled to have the D5000's the entire time.
The soundstage is intimate yet expansive, the bass is punchy and thick like a lassi yogurt, the trebles are sharp and acidic, but tamed through a greasy, buttery midtone and sloppy but contained bass. These phones care essentially contained chaos, a vision of a great listening experience that strives to represent things the way the artist wants *you* to view them.
Arguably, my review holds no purpose. I've managed to find something great, and I've gone into the void with it, the intention of being simultaneously lost and together forever in a listening experience and strange friendship that has outlasted many real ones. I take comfort in putting on these guys, and listening to the playlist I've been building the entire time as well. Many things in this playlist I don't listen to anymore, but I refuse to curate it. Music is a journey, and like many things, people's tastes change.
When I originally got into audiophilia, I felt like I was part of a small yet budding community that was very quickly growing, I remember going to RMAF and not seeing crowds, sitting alone in a room with a $25000 record setup at the time was a really, really amazing experience, and I felt like the community had a great grasp of what it meant to have hospitality towards others. This is something I reflect on when I provide my own customers with services in my own industry.
I suppose I should begin the review.
I listen to anything and everything, from "Planets" to Phish to T.S. to Stooges to Garth Brooks, Bill Withers, Tom Petty, Cranberries, Toots and the Maytals.... You get the idea, I listen to anything. I listen to stir, invoke, or calm emotions, but this pair of headphones goes beyond that into what I would describe as religious an experience as holiday prayer. They have seeped into who I am. Within the confines of their cord, They define me as much as I define them, a symbiotic relationship that seems to defy the objects many of us own today. Today now more than ever, products are designed to fail, and these have yet to fail me.
As I sit here listening to "Lean on Me", it seems like the headphones speak to me through Bill's voice at this point. They're inanimate, but they've always been there, a powerful tool to get me through good times and bad. I hate to admit it, but this review has a lot of raw emotion and I just wanted to say thank you to whoever dropped off those Denons that day so I could find them. You probably saved my life a couple times over over the last decade, during Covid-19, and gave me the strength to keep moving forward. Props to the folks who designed these headphones. They have withstood daily, constant use, and the test of time.
I look back on my older posts, and I can only cringe and hope to get around to deleting them. I probably won't. I'm big on keeping mementos to my past behavior and how I've changed since.
I can't be the only person out there who has used a pair of cans this long, but I figure I'd post here and let everyone know how it's been going. It's been going great, and I hope it stays that way forever.
Peace and Love folks, I hope you all find your pair of "Forever cans".
I'm happy to try something new, but I just don't see the point. I love these things. They give me everything I'm looking for, and I find that the other 10% of the magic lays within recording quality.
Have a good week.
- Kyle
In the Winter of 2012, I owned a pair of Sennheiser HD428 phones that only recently died on me (10 years!!) and a pair of Fischer Audio DBA-02's (the originals with the Japanese TWFK drivers by Knowles, still working) and a pair of a Grado SR-80's (Godspeed).
I chose on a whim to stop into my local pawnshop. I saw a pair of headphones stashed in the glass case with a $200 tag.
I didn't have $200, so I sold two of my fountain pens from my vintage collection -- a Mabie Todd and a lapis blue Parker Duofold Jr via Ebay to cover the cost.
I didn't know this, but I walked out with what would be my penultimate audiophile purchase for the next decade, (and counting). These cans went through dorm rooms, 20 hour videogame sessions, jam sessions, drug induced vibes, addiction, a couple apartments, and given I leave them constantly playing when not in use, close to 70000 hours of use. The pads are still in shape, the connections act a little weird sometimes if I have the cable on the floor, and it's ran off of a HRT Microstreamer almost the entire time (8 of the 9 years).
The reason I am typing this review is the funniest thing happened today. I was digging through my old boxes and found the DBA-02's. I tried them out and naturally they were just as precise and zippy and punchy as I remembered them... but I realized something. The sound was extremely clinical. Awesome for Rock, but was this truly how the artist wanted their music represented? I doubt it.
I've been extremely spoiled to have the D5000's the entire time.
The soundstage is intimate yet expansive, the bass is punchy and thick like a lassi yogurt, the trebles are sharp and acidic, but tamed through a greasy, buttery midtone and sloppy but contained bass. These phones care essentially contained chaos, a vision of a great listening experience that strives to represent things the way the artist wants *you* to view them.
Arguably, my review holds no purpose. I've managed to find something great, and I've gone into the void with it, the intention of being simultaneously lost and together forever in a listening experience and strange friendship that has outlasted many real ones. I take comfort in putting on these guys, and listening to the playlist I've been building the entire time as well. Many things in this playlist I don't listen to anymore, but I refuse to curate it. Music is a journey, and like many things, people's tastes change.
When I originally got into audiophilia, I felt like I was part of a small yet budding community that was very quickly growing, I remember going to RMAF and not seeing crowds, sitting alone in a room with a $25000 record setup at the time was a really, really amazing experience, and I felt like the community had a great grasp of what it meant to have hospitality towards others. This is something I reflect on when I provide my own customers with services in my own industry.
I suppose I should begin the review.
I listen to anything and everything, from "Planets" to Phish to T.S. to Stooges to Garth Brooks, Bill Withers, Tom Petty, Cranberries, Toots and the Maytals.... You get the idea, I listen to anything. I listen to stir, invoke, or calm emotions, but this pair of headphones goes beyond that into what I would describe as religious an experience as holiday prayer. They have seeped into who I am. Within the confines of their cord, They define me as much as I define them, a symbiotic relationship that seems to defy the objects many of us own today. Today now more than ever, products are designed to fail, and these have yet to fail me.
As I sit here listening to "Lean on Me", it seems like the headphones speak to me through Bill's voice at this point. They're inanimate, but they've always been there, a powerful tool to get me through good times and bad. I hate to admit it, but this review has a lot of raw emotion and I just wanted to say thank you to whoever dropped off those Denons that day so I could find them. You probably saved my life a couple times over over the last decade, during Covid-19, and gave me the strength to keep moving forward. Props to the folks who designed these headphones. They have withstood daily, constant use, and the test of time.
I look back on my older posts, and I can only cringe and hope to get around to deleting them. I probably won't. I'm big on keeping mementos to my past behavior and how I've changed since.
I can't be the only person out there who has used a pair of cans this long, but I figure I'd post here and let everyone know how it's been going. It's been going great, and I hope it stays that way forever.
Peace and Love folks, I hope you all find your pair of "Forever cans".
I'm happy to try something new, but I just don't see the point. I love these things. They give me everything I'm looking for, and I find that the other 10% of the magic lays within recording quality.
Have a good week.
- Kyle
