[Deschain]

Lack of funds can be a great incentive to... delay.

 

[rattlingblanketwoman]

My problem is that eBaying/endlessly researching specs and comparisons before buying are hobbies I try to keep out of in the first place.

Combined with being at least a little particular about audio, and needing to keep things under budget... the cycle never ends. I might be happy with my setup and then open eBay/Mercari for the sake of price-watching, and get tangled in a discovery that comes out of that.

I should disconnect from the forum/other forms of updates when I am happy though, because new sound at lower $ keep rolling in, and of course I'll want to try them, partiuclary if I can improve my sound for even less than my current setup.

 

[megabigeye]

This is my hobby and whenever I get bored I check used headphones selling forum and source selling forum. I know I have financial constraint to further upgrade. However, whenever I see a good deal I keep get urge to upgrade and try out new things. Its very ambivalent. Rationally I want to stop but emotionally I get urge for better gears. Its like addiction I guess. If anyone went through similar experience or phase and successfully got out of this let me know. I would appreciate some tips.

Great question, great thread.

I don’t know that I have the definitive answer, but I do know that I do have my own answers. Generally, I don’t want to upgrade very often. In fact, for the most part I want to upgrade as little as possible and I sometimes feel annoyed when I do need to upgrade.

How do I keep from wanting to upgrade? In no particular order:

1. It’s ALL about the music, therefore
2. I view headphones and associated gear as tools only. I don’t view Head-Fi as a hobby.
3. I have a negative view of consumerism in general
4. I try to find pleasure in the things that I have
5. I read the Sound Science sub-forum, which keeps my expectations in check and helps me think critically about and understand audio stuff
6. I stay away from new products, especially flavor-of-the-month
7. I allow myself at least one month to think about whether or not I actually want/need new piece of gear, usually more. A lot more.
8. I don’t like things/clutter and I’m too lazy to sell stuff
9. I only upgrade/purchase when I have a legitimate reason to do so, but I don’t deny myself the things that I do need.
10. I research a lot before buying, so that I’m reasonably sure I’m getting something that I like
11. I try to stay away from gear that’s not compatible with all of my other gear; e.g., no OTL amps because some of my headphones are low impedance, no balanced amps because not all of my headphones are compatible
12. I try to only get headphones that are good for all genres and are flattering to most of my music
13. I’m relatively cheap with myself; spending money makes me anxious
14. I ask myself if what I have is good enough; before knowing about a new thing, did my old thing seem adequate?
15. I try to keep away from things that are significantly higher or lower quality than the best things I have; e.g., my best headphones are my DT 1990, I don’t want to make them obsolete for myself, so I don’t buy any headphones that are “better;” likewise, I don’t buy things that are “worse” than the DT 1990 because I know I wouldn’t enjoy/use them

These aren't hard and fast rules and most (all?) of them have been broken at least once. They're also not immutable laws that I've always abided by, but feelings that I've built up over time.

 

[taffy2207]

Just grasp the concept of "Good enough is good enough". That'll stop it.

I've said it before, Consumerism is either filling holes in peoples lives, an addiction or 'Keeping up with the Joneses' in the main.

The diminishing returns thing is another thing to cool the urge.

 

[Zambu]

Honestly, I wish there was a music forum that had like a sub-forum that talked about audiophile gear and stuff. Kind of an inverse of Head-Fi.
Nothing is really stopping me from frequenting the music sub-forum more, but ultimately there's not THAT much going on there. And most reddit music communties are super specialized...

This is sorta off-topic I guess but if anyone has any pointers I'd be glad to follow. I was member of a "abnormal music" group on Facebook, but decided to delete my FB account all together a few months ago....

Yeah I know what you mean. I've bought a bunch of great personal audio gear this year, and basically what's left is enjoying the music and I've been doing it more than ever (after the 90s teenager years). And what's most important is that I find great bands and artists of the past ~55 years on a weekly basis pretty much, ones that I have "sort of" known before but not taken the effort to properly listen to their albums (and I've really re-found the album as an art form to cherish). Most of my 21st century music consumption was centered on techno/house/psytrance parties and festivals so it was a different angle, and I intend to keep on doing that (once it's properly possible again) but a versatile music listening is so important to strengthen my identity.

That being said, I sort of lurk the "Steve hoffman music forum" which covers a good share of previous century music. I just haven't bothered with registering there since it's just way too big, I mean there's like hundreds of pages about some Neil Young boxset or thousands of pages about the Grateful dead that it just goes over-the-top and if you press F5 you get a different set of massive threads as it moves so fast. And personally, it feels that I don't even seem to enjoy talking about music that much on the internet, it's just so much of an individual taste that it always feels like all you can find are some corners with a specific genre and nothing particularly holistic (well, aside from some blogs).

 

[moriez]

This is my hobby and whenever I get bored I check used headphones selling forum and source selling forum. I know I have financial constraint to further upgrade. However, whenever I see a good deal I keep get urge to upgrade and try out new things. Its very ambivalent. Rationally I want to stop but emotionally I get urge for better gears. Its like addiction I guess. If anyone went through similar experience or phase and successfully got out of this let me know. I would appreciate some tips.

For me it's the realization upgrades aren't worth it. Not in the long run, because there's always still something not quite right no matter the league you play in.

 

[Redcarmoose]

For me it's the realization upgrades aren't worth it. Not in the long run, because there's always still something not quite right no matter the league you play in.

I will have to say, I have not found this true. Perfection is obtainable. Upgrades are worthwhile, just not endless ones.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I will have to say, I have not found this true. Perfection is obtainable. Upgrades are worthwhile, just not endless ones.

I agree with Redcarmoose.
I felt every upgrade I did this year wo be worth while, even if it costed 4x as much.

And yeah I am actually at a point where I am satisfied with my components.

I'm not finished yet, since I am still looking into additional devices, like servers or power regenerators.
Equipment I currently have is considered final though. No urge for another amp or dac

 

[Redcarmoose]

I agree with Redcarmoose.
I felt every upgrade I did this year wo be worth while, even if it costed 4x as much.

And yeah I am actually at a point where I am satisfied with my components.

I'm not finished yet, since I am still looking into additional devices, like servers or power regenerators.
Equipment I currently have is considered final though. No urge for another amp or dac

I don’t mean to argue with anyone but to only state that it IS confusing. Stories of people spending years with different IEM tips attempting to get fit on an IEM. What about people not even understanding gear till years later! So it was some perfect moments but then at times stuff can actually converge into where you don’t question the playback at all. Everyone’s goal should be to get to the point of not questioning gear! People may think that there is instant progress where really it’s confused progress then better progress. The fact that people rebuy headphones due to a prolonged acclimation phase?


It’s finding the music interesting and finding the replay interesting but not necessarily being 100% focused on gear. To be able to stop analyzing everything and looking for problems. My idea is that it’s finding some kind of playback which is a preferred sound signature? With-in that sound signature there may even be variations, where the replay could be acceptable and good but even still different by two slightly different headphones or IEMs? I mean the best obviously would be to change to different gear in your collection and have the differences be welcome and loved? The antithesis would be two different signatures causing both to sound wrong being they are different. So it’s how could something be different and still correct? Audio nirvana is when both styles reflect off each other and actually highlight what’s good about both. So you have something that sounds new and correct, while listening in acceptance that’s it’s just another possible way to replay music.

They probably call it a journey because that’s what it is, a long ride with an unknown end point or end timeline.

 

[moriez]

For me it's the realization upgrades aren't worth it. Not in the long run, because there's always still something not quite right no matter the league you play in.

Must add that ofcourse, IF the clearly better headphone can be had for the same, preferably less or a little bit more money than a huge yes. Totally worth it Sherlock.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Edit:

 

[Mhog55]

Just grasp the concept of "Good enough is good enough". That'll stop it.

I've said it before, Consumerism is either filling holes in peoples lives, an addiction or 'Keeping up with the Joneses' in the main.

The diminishing returns thing is another thing to cool the urge.

Completely agree with point three. Can you explain how to complete step one? Maybe provide a road map to the finish line?

 

[GREQ]

I'm starting to think it was easy for me to stop upgrading because I own like, 50-something headphones.

 

[taffy2207]

Completely agree with point three. Can you explain how to complete step one? Maybe provide a road map to the finish line?

It's something I see that's particularly prevalent on here. People stating that they're happy with their set up but are tempted by something that's new and hyped. I think that people should just concentrate on their set ups and ignore stuff that's hyped. If they're happy with their set ups then there is no need to upgrade but group think can persuade them otherwise. e.g. "This iem goes great with this Dap".

If they are not happy with their set ups then that is the time to upgrade. I guess I'm saying people should ask themselves if they need it and not just merely want it or are going along with what others do.

 

[grasshopperuk]

It's only an issue if you spend money you don't have, otherwise upgrade as you wish, life is too short.