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But the thing is, doesn't "audiophile" simplified equals to a person who likes audio? I mean, if none of us are audiophiles, why are we even paying money for headphones? If music is that awesome, can't we all use cheap earphones to listen to them?
It does. It's just that with every new term of this kind, it slowly starts implying more than it was meant to imply from the start. In the end it becomes a real term and implies a certain thing about a person; you actually have to fulfill certain unspoken criterias to be called an audiophile. You can't just like sound qualities, you have to have knowledge about why your sound preferences are wrong as well (plus, you
really have to go for neutral cans, because it's in the criterias). You can't just be interested in headphones, you have to know and have a certain amount of experience before you can call yourself a "true audiophile", et cetera. Personally, it's all those implications I try to steer away from; I'm not especially knowledgable when it comes to currents and voltages in amplifiers, or why a silver cable supposedly does make the sound better, and so on. I'm not even particularly interested in modding my headphones more than putting something underneath the earpads for more comfortability or extra padding on the headband..
I am on the other hand interested in having good headphones. I like to listen to my favorite songs through better headphones, increasing the experience of music listening to the point where having headphones for hundreds, possibly even thousands of dollars (down the road), would be worth it. Seeing as how far away that is from what audiophilia has come to mean with all the new implications, I am simply put not an audiophile. Just a regular music lover prepared to spend extra dollars for a more enjoyable moment with my music.
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TOC = Testing obsessive compulsion!
The thing is, some of this "audiophilia" has been going overboard quite a bit. As with all kinds of hobbies and situations where there are more than one choice to choose from, fanboy wars will ensue; hate will start; snakeoil salesmen will find a new attractive breed of buyers; people start talking in absolutes: "these are by far the best ones out there, can't be beaten"; people start arguing their personal, subjective experiences and accuse others of not being knowledgable enough to enjoy whatever they enjoy; people will start telling other people what to like and what not to like (LOL, this one always gets me laughing, "No, you want neutral cans because you want to hear what the producers intended" - No, I want what I want because that's what I enjoy more, thank you very much). It's all getting very silly.
It's all in the implications of being an audiophile: you want this and that and so on and so forth.
Since I am none, I have the freedom to choose what I want instead, yippie-ki-yay.
End of rant.