[Midnightcoffee]

Greetings,
 
I currently have no sound equipment. I made several posts about what i should buy given my circumstances and got some helpful advice. One of which was "find out your signature sound" which i translated to mean find out your preference.
 
This seemed like sound advice (get it?).
 
But i don't understand how you can find your signature sound without spending some serious cash. I mean who can i try out the JH13's or the Sleek audio CT7 (which no one talks about but me) or the UM3X or any other universal/custom that gets talked about so much.
 
I hear advice like "try out the UM3X" then get them customized if you like them... Well that's a 300 test run... I guess i could sell them after?
 
Is that what people do? Buy a whole bunch of universals test them then sell them off at a loss? 
 
Is there a netflix equivalent for IEM's?

So in conclusion, how do you find out your signature sound without breaking the bank.

Thanks

 

[Head Injury]

Get to stores and try out the full sized headphones. Figure out which ones you like, and come back here for IEMs that sound similar.

 

[Uncle Erik]

It takes a few years, some gear and trips to several meets.

But don't get hung up on it and enjoy the journey. Keep in mind that almost no one is listening to their first pair after a few years.

Buy a reasonable pair of beginner IEMs or headphones. Do not rush to buy more. Spend a lot of time listening. How you react to something like a SR-60 will tell you where to go next. And this is fun. You'll enjoy the beginner stuff (look around at the thousands of others who enjoy it, too) and you'll have fun along the way. You don't know what you like yet, so go find out.

It'll take a couple of years to figure out what you want, but that time is exciting and full of new discoveries.

 

[LFF]

I would also recommend you try to make it out to a few head-fi meets. These are perfect places to try out expensive gear you don't own yet and learn from other people in the hobby. With time and experience you will find out what type of sound you like.

 

[NinjaSquirt]

Go to your local audio store, generally every city has a few, and ask for auditions. People working at the stores, because it's such a niche hobby, are almost always willing to let your listen whether you want to buy or not and are willing to discuss, extensively, audio equipment (because that's what they love talking about as well).

 

[Iniamyen]

For headphones, I've found after trying lots of different types, the sound signature has become less important to me. I get used to the different headphones after awhile and just focus on the music. This is of course there aren't major flaws with the sound signature of the headphones (which is of course a little subjective I admit.)
 
This has actually caused me to consider other properties, such as comfort, portability, and appearance when choosing headphones. You'll probably eventually get used to the sound signature so they won't have you saying "omg these have huge bass" or "omg these have great detail" anymore.