[yorkie]

Before I get into the main subject of my post, i've owned a number of headphones ranging from inexpensive to pretty decent, but i've never owned more than two pairs at a time and i've never owned any real high end stuff.

Stuff i've owned (headphones and amps only)
Sennheisers HD580s, Sennheiser PX-100s, AKG K501s, Shure E2cs, Bose Quietcomforts (christmas present, i swear!

), the Gilmore Lite, and Xenos 0HA

I feel like I have this incurable desire to replace the headphones I own every few months, and it drives me away from using my headphones until I can get new ones. At some point, they just start fatiguing my ears, the sound starts to feel stale and the soundstage feels like it narrows down on my ears.

When I got my AKG K501s, I loved them. They did everything I wanted for my classical music collection. Now? Not so much. I don't like listening to my music as much anymore, because the sound just feels dull and has lost its vibrancy.

Why does this happen?

I'm at a loss for words.

It's sort of interesting, because when I found some cheap multimedia speakers and hooked them up to my laptop (I have no speakers other than on my laptop in my current accommodation), I listened to my music a lot more, and enjoyed it a lot more than I did on my K501s. Of course, they stopped working after two days so I didn't get a chance to get tired of them, but geez.

 

[plywood99]

Sounds like you're just growing accustomed to the sound. Tell yah what to do, get a pair of really crappy phones, you know the under $10 phones at Walmart. Listen to them exclusively for a week. Now go back to your 501s...

Ply

 

[Uncle Erik]

Yeah, it happens. The sound is so exciting at first, and then you get used to it. It drove me to buy more pairs. I'll listen to one a lot for a few weeks, then switch to another. It's usually enough time to get accustomed to the sound of a different headphone and then older pairs sound exciting again. You can also mix it up with amps, as well. Every one affects headphones differently, so if you get a few of each, you can really take your time and explore the sound of each.

But this costs money and takes time. For a simpler solution, get into a different genre of music. You'll hear your old cans in a new way and you'll also focus more on the music, which is really the most important thing.

Yorkie, I see you haven't tried the Grado sound yet. Could you be persuaded by the $69 SR-60? That'll change things, and your current cans will sound very different after some time with Grados.

 

[SonicDawg]

It seems like what you really need is more new music

 

[jun41]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plywood99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounds like you're just growing accustomed to the sound. Tell yah what to do, get a pair of really crappy phones, you know the under $10 phones at Walmart. Listen to them exclusively for a week. Now go back to your 501s... Ply

QFT. I go from my 650's to my Sr-80's then back again.

 

[lutwey]

i agree with sounic dawg. but dont u guys think that most of our ears are spoiled with multiple top of the line headphones that we dont realize the greatness of any particular one.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

I feel like I have this incurable desire to replace the headphones I own every few months, and it drives me away from using my headphones until I can get new ones. At some point, they just start fatiguing my ears, the sound starts to feel stale and the soundstage feels like it narrows down on my ears. Why does this happen? I'm at a loss for words.

Tubes!

 

[epaludo]

I think a little bit different from some of this thread.
I think that if you really get a headphone that REALLY satisfy you, you'll not get feel like replacing it ...
I'm saying this because i'm listening some phones for more than a year without getting unsatisfied.

 

[fuzydice]

I go back and forth between my AD500's and HD580's. works pretty well as they're really very different headphones: great highs and good mids but no bass and no soundstage on the ad500's; recessed highs, good mids, great bass and soundstage on the 580's. When I come back to the 580's I really appreciate all they have to offer.

I think simply changing it up every month or so is a great way to keep your spending costs down, as long as you actually like the headphones you're rotating through. But you've gotta spend some cash initially to find a couple headphones you actually like. Speaking of which, I might add a dt880 to my rotation here in a bit

Edit: I agree with epaludo, and the fact that no headphone does exactly what I want unless I spend some serious cash is the reason why I rotate. Sooner or later I want some damn highs in my music, so I break out the ad500's. Maybe I'll find cans that do everything I want so no rotation is needed, but I really don't mind rotating.