Redcarmoose
Headphoneus Supremus
Ok let’s see you are 50 now and your talking about listening to a premium stereo 30 years ago.
Check.
That made you 20 years old at the time of hearing that particular stereo.
So your in the same place that many of us are. Chasing the emotional highs that came with music at 20 years old. It’s totally a normal thing here to be looking for that. And it’s not happening with your current set-up but your gut instinct tells you that there is a possibility it’s out there.
Check.
Folks suggested going to a Head-Fi meet as a solution, and I would suggest that too as a great place to start. What happens here much of then time is you will read 50 posts about someone looking for a sound, then spending 1K only to find out it’s a let down and not the sound they were after. Truth to be stated there is a chance you could luck-out and find your dream system; but the odds are against it. For most of us this has been a learning curve. It was a quest which was sprinkled with both highs and lows.
Fact:
There is nothing wrong with not being able to differentiate between 24/96 and 16/44.1. It’s an argument that has ruled the forums, but when you find what your looking for, 320kbps will get you almost as excited as regular FLAC files and 24/96. Don’t get me wrong I do believe in the sound quality improvements from high resolution files; and even use those same files for testing gear in final tests. It’s just that there is far too much concern on their influence on someone reaching audio nirvana.
Fact:
You have to find your sound. It’s a learning curve of sorts but each person here has a basic idea of how the tone of good music sounds. That’s the single best reason why it’s hard for anyone to recommend anything to you. The best suggestion would be to try gear that you can return or take and get your money back if you don’t like the sound. That’s the second best methodology if you can’t get yourself to a Head-Fi meet.
Also keep in mind that finding your sound may not be something you recognize right off the bat. It takes at least a couple days or weeks till the dust settles on a new purchase and you get sonic acclamation. Also typically it’s not just a set of headphones but a whole system which offers the personality that your after. Keep in mind too, it’s in the details here. By that I mean, people have slowly kept adjusting small details until they were able to feel like they were finished. Also keep in mind some folks may even go past what would be perfect and somehow get caught up in consumerism.
Fact:
There has never been a time when so much good equipment is available. Also Head-Fi has changed dramatically in the last 10 years offering a bewildering amount of good information and suggestions.
Also you may have a couple folks who argue that the best equipment was available 8 years ago. But.......most level minded here recognize that mid-fi has truly changed making the present day the best time for putting an amazing system together on a budget. That mid-fi is closer now to sounding like what summit-fi sounded like 8 years ago. Much of the time $200 headphones can sound close to what $800 headphones sound like, if you chose to go down that rabbit hole. What I’m trying to say is stuff being expensive doesn’t always end up a guarantee of audiophile sound. Again it all goes back to tone and some folks like one tone and another set of people like another tone. There truly is no right or wrong in this hobby. The only wrong would be not letting yourself enjoy the music you deserve the way you want to hear it.
Myself:
Again this is simply one persons end results, as your trajectory may vary. I’m pretty much done with maybe a couple cable purchases this year and one IEM purchase. I really have no need for any more equipment. At the same time I have both explored portable systems and desktop systems. If I had only $1000 to spend, and knowing myself and knowing what I know now...........I would buy a Sony 1A DAP used for $700, a pair of BGVP DM6 IEMs and a balanced aftermarket cable with the extra $100. But again I see this as the best bang for the buck because I’m into IEMs, and I like the sound of the Sony DAPs.
The ridiculous thing is in many ways IEMs are a compromise. IEMs are almost never going to get to the full spectrum reproduction of a full-size headphone. But this hobby is about feeling the emotion of the music. It’s all an illusion. There are no musicians playing music in the room in front of you, it’s an illusion. So IEMs place the music slightly inside your head, where full-size headphones only place the music outside your head. You choose what illusion entertains you. And hopefully in the end it gets close to the emotion you felt at 20 years old.
