[JMT391]

No, not head-fi meaning the forum, head-fi meaning hi-fi headphone audio, although I'm sure most of your journeys started here.

As for me, I was a bose IEM rocker for awhile, but upon reading the headphone FAQ on OCForums, I found this in the list-o-brands:

Bose: While it hurts me to include this company here, people must be warned. Like all of their products, Bose headphones, the Triports and Quiet Comforts (QCs), are not good, and have a tendency to break. They are grossly overpriced, to the point that the general consensus on Triports is that they would be fairly priced around $40. The noise canceling on the QCs isn't great, you are much better off getting some passive isolation cans, like Shure, Etymotic, or closed headphones, like HD280. Bose is not recommended, stay far away.

I immediately became very upset, and posted a thread about it. I wasn't getting too many responses, and somebody recommended I come here to look for some(chadrh on OCForums) - Wow I'm glad I did. This forum's got a great community with a lot of audio crazed people. I do have to say though, It kind of sucks being an audiophile - I can't sit and listen to any setup without critiquing, and when you consider the amount of people's cars you sit in, you're just exposed to a lot of crappy sounding stuff.

So, what are your stories?

 

[decay]

For me, a search in google led to a search in ebay with keywords "Westone 3". Then I saw
IE8 mentioned somewhere in a thread and in turn searched ebay and found a sweet deal
(with live cashback of course). Flattened my wallet and took the dive. Since it's most
definitely a luxury item I WILL know everything I can to push it to its limit in SQ, so a
google search again. "IE8 appreciation thread" is the first result, and...

There is no and, this is a sink hole that I don't want to crawl out. By all means, as long
as I have my IE8 no one can force me out either.

So, what's your story #3?

 

[Currawong]

My father didn't like hearing my music being played on either of his systems and, to a degree, not on mine either (built from his cast-offs when he upgraded), so I insisted he buy me a good pair of headphones. Thus I ended up using MB Quart 55X's for 15 or so years, until the pads were so flat that I started looking for new headphones. Oops!

 

[JMT391]

Hmm, so far it seems to be mostly accidental in a way. GREATEST. ACCIDENT. EVER.

 

[e v o]

Received a pair of HD600s for free from a generous family friend. Proceeded to destroy my wallet based on those headphones. Also, reading here has gotten me into headphones more as well. Seeing everyone's sweet setups and godly knowledge drives me to want to learn (buy) more.

 

[Ghigguls]

My cousin broke my Skullcandy Skullcrushers and I looked online for "headphones." I came across Headroom and found my way over to here. I kind of wish I hadn't now that getting a job is imperative. Oh well, gotta do what ya gotta do.

Incidentally, i gave my Skullcrushers to this really annoying guy I know as an insult. His response was "GAWD I LOVE THE BASS ON THESE HEADPHONES THANKS BRO!!!" /facepalm

 

[SOUNDinterpreter]

I've always been into personal audio when I was growing up. I would use headphones on long road trips which happened quite often. I went from radio cassette players, cd players, to digital audio players. I never really considered or cared about audio quality until I started to discover new music and I began to listen waaaay more analytically. I wanted to "feel" the music more and searched online, found this forum and had been an addict since. I'm glad I found a community like this, but my wallet doesn't seem to agree with me.

 

[olblueyez]

Black Hole

 

[earthpeople]

I was looking into getting a new DAP, someone mentioned something about Denon headphones and the rest is fuzzy.

next thing I know, head-fi is one of my most frequented forums.

 

[blawhh]

my MX160s sounded extremely good for me for only a short period of time... I was soon craving better sound

 

[timaishu]

Two years ago my family planned a cruise ship vacation to the caribbean.

My brother had an Ipod and I wanted wanted an mp3 player of some sort so I could entertain myself while on the plane. I ended up buying a sansa e280r. I also had read a headphone shootout that was in PC Magazine a few years. I remember reading about the sennheiser cx300 series and I knew that that was exactly what I wanted. I drove to Circuit City the night before we were to leave and bought a pair.

I dont even use my 5.1 computer speakers for music anymore. I much prefer the sound quality of IEM's over computer speakers. I also would rather no one know what I am listening to anyways, so it is a double bonus. About 98% of my music listening through my headphones is done on the computer. I rarely use my sansa anymore.

Anyways, I stuck with my trusty sennhesiers for 2 1/2 years with no issues what so ever. I loved how they sounded throught my computer with my creative x-fi sound card as a source. Recently though, my cx300 was sucked up by a vacuum. So my search begun again. I happened across this very forum and started doing research. I came to the conclusion that overall sound quality was what I wanted. So I set my eyes on the Klipsch Custom 3 as my next set.

Well, things happened and I found the thread on here about the iM-490 sale going on at woot. Since I did not want to wait till I had money for the Custom 3, I decided to pull the trigger on these as temporary phones. Well, after ALOT of critical listening, I dont see any reason anymore as to why I would replace the Maximos. They sound great I think and they are here to stay.

Thats my story.

 

[qusp]

I always used headphones as a necessary evil when mixing music at home and my flatmates were in bed or it was real quiet. I had HD25 that I used for making electro. anyway I had one of the first generation ipods, and CD walkmans BF that, but I never really spend much on headphones for them, I had sennheiser CX500 for the longest time.

but a bit over a year ago I stumbled on this place when looking for reviews for triple-fi 10: I didnt like them, so more research was in order to find a more suitable pair that matched my preferences. I was commuting a couple of hours a day on public transport, so needed good isolation. I ended up with SE530 and had already previously bought an iphone. iphone LODs were thin on the ground, so I bought some materials to make one for myself to go with the pico I thought was just around the corner (noob mistake, it took over 4 months to be delivered back then).

one year later and i'm truly sick. if you told me a year ago that I would be carrying close to $3000USD worth of headphone rig (will when the JH13 are ready) and take up collecting expensive headphones, I would have laughed at you. I also would have laughed; if you said I would become addicted to a community of people who spend their time discussing the subjective differences of a subjective pleasure. who knew it wold prove to be so addictive.

this place is one of the more community oriented online forums i've ever used and the knowledge base here is immense.

i'm glad i'm sick; even if my wallet isnt. I would have been just spending the $$$ on studio equipment or photographic gear otherwise anyway. the welcome line says it all though. I wouldnt take it back for the world; those SE530 got me through the hellish 4.30am starts that go with cheffing like no earbud would have.

 

[r@mside]

Quote:

Originally Posted by squid+ /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was looking into getting a new DAP, someone mentioned something about Denon headphones and the rest is fuzzy. next thing I know, head-fi is one of my most frequented forums.

Came looking for a DAP. Within a week had DAP, Mylarone and Denon.

 

[nkk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by r@mside /img/forum/go_quote.gif Came looking for a DAP. Within a week had DAP, Mylarone and Denon.

Lol. I came looking for an IEM around $50. After doing research, I took a long hiatus as school started to pick up. Then I got back in with the same goal. After a month, I have ety hf5, Altec Lansing 336 coming, Fiio e5, Nuforce Icon Mobile, AD700, HD555 coming (I rationalized that one by saying I should experience different sound sigs with my new Compass), and a Sony X1000 or S9 coming. Oh, and a clip I could not resist for $20.

I know how it feels. My only godsend is that I am still evolving my hearing to bette levels, so a Compass satisfies me. I have no need for anything better right now (or so I tell myself).

And to top it all of, I am infecting others. My mother has the same pink clip (gotten becuase I forcer her and she needed it after loosing an iPod shuffle) (somehow it is a little less emasculating for her, buy I do not care), and has a Yuin PK3 coming (a gift since she did not want to spend that much on earbuds, and I thought she would enjoy them).

-Nkk

 

[mambo5]

i was looking for the best headphones for my ipod with the most bass under $15.