fiddler
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2001
- Posts
- 1,930
- Likes
- 30
It's been a while. Lots of new faces about... In case you don't know who I am, I've been around since the dawn of Head-fi, from the time when Headwize suffered a horrible downtime way back, like 7 years ago, and I was one of the original migrants to the new site that Jude set up (sorry Cmoy, I know Headwize hasn't been the same ever since). [By the way Jude I still remember the time I was corrected by someone on Headwize way back when for referring to you as a "she". For some reason I always just thought you was a woman. Musta been the vaguely feminine name. *shrug* So, sorry about that.
] I don't know if any of the old crew (i.e. people who remember me) are still around. If you are, post here and say hey.
It all started 8 years ago or whatever, looking for decent headphones and being severely disappointed with the crap I was finding in stores. So I discovered Headwize, and back then the Sony MDR-V6 was all the rage. Those ended up being my first headphone purchase that cost me over $100 (after horrible UPS brokerage fees shipping from US to Canada, yikes). And then I got ordered the original Corda HA-1 amp from Jan Meier along with a set of Senn HD600 for my first taste of high-end sound. Etymotic ER-4s and Koss KSC-35 were added to the collection at some point, and I have no idea how many headphones I bought used on these forums, then quickly parted with. I soon realized the importance of a good source, and ended up with a funny combination of a USB-digital interface for my computer and a very nice sounding DAC built by AOS. And then oh my god, cables. "You paid HOW MUCH for a replacement cable for your headphones???"
I got into DIY, built my first CMOY. Became one of the resident build-to-order META42 builders (there were enough of us...). I even put up some Mall-Fi ads back then. I then moved on to building and selling cables (too many people were building amps, I wanted to try something different), and at some point I got bored/uninspired and just quit. Shut down the business. Interest in headphones waned. I finally caved in to peer pressure from Stax/Etymotic people that really, these HD600's are just too horribly veiled.
I guess I was in some sort of self-denial about the Sennheiser veil for a long time. It's ok Sennheiser owners. You're not alone.
So despite having invested huge money (and years of denial) in these headphones with aftermarket cables... Bye bye HD600. There were days when I just plain enjoyed my Koss KSC-35 more. Consider the cost difference anyway - there's no way those HD600+Equinox cable combo should cost THAT much more than those $20 wonders. Then one day a friend runs over my KSC-35 with a chair, the cable is screwed. I get mad, throw them in the trash (worst mistake ever, I coulda so saved those babies). Sold all the amps I had in my inventory, got rid of all expensive sources (including omg vintage Sony PCDP??).
And these days, all I have left is a pair of Etymotic ER-4S. I have no headphone amps, no huge headphone collection. I just plug em into an iPod, and that's just about enough. I was perfectly happy.
Or so I thought... Recently I've started getting into home recording gear (I'm a violinist you see, and I always wanted to be able to make a decent recording of myself) and I stumbled across an ad for a pair of used headphones. Hmm AKG eh? Strange. After all I've been through, I've never tasted that flavour before.....
And so, it begins.
(sorry, this ended up being much more of a rant than I planned. oh well. it's what the lounge is there for, right?)
It all started 8 years ago or whatever, looking for decent headphones and being severely disappointed with the crap I was finding in stores. So I discovered Headwize, and back then the Sony MDR-V6 was all the rage. Those ended up being my first headphone purchase that cost me over $100 (after horrible UPS brokerage fees shipping from US to Canada, yikes). And then I got ordered the original Corda HA-1 amp from Jan Meier along with a set of Senn HD600 for my first taste of high-end sound. Etymotic ER-4s and Koss KSC-35 were added to the collection at some point, and I have no idea how many headphones I bought used on these forums, then quickly parted with. I soon realized the importance of a good source, and ended up with a funny combination of a USB-digital interface for my computer and a very nice sounding DAC built by AOS. And then oh my god, cables. "You paid HOW MUCH for a replacement cable for your headphones???"
I got into DIY, built my first CMOY. Became one of the resident build-to-order META42 builders (there were enough of us...). I even put up some Mall-Fi ads back then. I then moved on to building and selling cables (too many people were building amps, I wanted to try something different), and at some point I got bored/uninspired and just quit. Shut down the business. Interest in headphones waned. I finally caved in to peer pressure from Stax/Etymotic people that really, these HD600's are just too horribly veiled.
So despite having invested huge money (and years of denial) in these headphones with aftermarket cables... Bye bye HD600. There were days when I just plain enjoyed my Koss KSC-35 more. Consider the cost difference anyway - there's no way those HD600+Equinox cable combo should cost THAT much more than those $20 wonders. Then one day a friend runs over my KSC-35 with a chair, the cable is screwed. I get mad, throw them in the trash (worst mistake ever, I coulda so saved those babies). Sold all the amps I had in my inventory, got rid of all expensive sources (including omg vintage Sony PCDP??).
And these days, all I have left is a pair of Etymotic ER-4S. I have no headphone amps, no huge headphone collection. I just plug em into an iPod, and that's just about enough. I was perfectly happy.
Or so I thought... Recently I've started getting into home recording gear (I'm a violinist you see, and I always wanted to be able to make a decent recording of myself) and I stumbled across an ad for a pair of used headphones. Hmm AKG eh? Strange. After all I've been through, I've never tasted that flavour before.....
And so, it begins.
(sorry, this ended up being much more of a rant than I planned. oh well. it's what the lounge is there for, right?)