i feel ashamed and i don't know why.

[music_man]

this is sort of of topic and i don't mean to offend anybody either.
that being said,

i have now owned/tried/borrowed most of the "great" headphones.
including the likes of the he90,sr007,010,gs1000,rs1,hd650.k740. ive recabled them, rolled all the amps and their respective tubes(unless they were solid state of course).....

and ultimately all i listen to is a pair of k240(s) that i modded and cabled and a rolls amp that i modded. incidently that amp is good for those because it provides enough current. but i digress.....

well i feel like a black sheep because the 'bug' has seemed to have left my system for some time now.
as crazy as it sounds i just enjoy listening to my headphones without disecting their sonic anatomy. and the (modded) k240s are great for this. more groovey than stock with bass that does not overstep the midrange anymore and a little sparkle up top, seriously. i can't really ask for more. just constantly listening to the headphones instead of the music is no longer appealing to me. well, i say today. tomorrow who knows? it's like i want the bug back. longing for the bug may be more of a curse than having it!

i don't really see this as having lost intrest. contrar, maybe i have suffered a loss of intrest in hardware and gained a love of actual source material! someone please tell me i am blessed and not cursed! would anyone else be happier if this scenario fell upon them?


everytime i got new expensive phones someone would always speak up and say their was some 'problem' with them.

well, contrary to the popular consensus around here i just want to listen to a pair i know intimately and enjoy, without constantly nitpicking.

forgoeing that this terribly offends anyone i do not intend to leave this board. i am just going to spend a lot more time listening to my beloved cheap cans.

i just can't keep getting into finding 'problems' with multi thousand dolar setups at this point. not to say i won't some day again, but not for now however.

now, as to the title of this post. yeah, i feel like i have gone against the holy grail of the headphile. like i have broken a sacred code. but then again i am torn because if people keep finding 'problems' with the gs1000.hd650,010,k740 etc. then i can't really mind having 'problems' with a pair of $160(after mods) cans!

i'm not meaning to make a joke but my wallet sure will be happier. even though i somehow feel guilty that i am not 'rolling' $500+ phones and amps everyday. maybe i should look at it as actually being lucky at being content for a moment regardless of what cans provide this feeling for myself.

a very confused,
music_man.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

lol you aren't alone, really. I prefer my iM716 and KSC75 simply because I can throw them around and not tend to them like my K701, which I will soon send in for a 2nd RMA because of a build defect in many of them.

 

[music_man]

that is another thing i didnt even touch upon. how incredibly frustrating when $400+++ cans are doa or go defective in week(s). this is just all too silly for me. it is like lighting your foot on fire to get some sort of pleasure. from the endorphins or something. i can't stand it anymore. and it is not just phones. the source components play loudspeakers too don't forget. i went through my 'crazy' phase with loudspeakers too. i do feel however that headphones put oneself closer to the music in more ways than actually being physically closer. i went nuts after i decided on sub-sat instead of gonzo reference speakers. i tried to convince myself the baby utopia be was better. whats sitting in my living room? sonus faber concertino and baby sunfire sub.
i no longer can spend more than $300 on a single interconnect either! yikes! what has become of me? it is like some superior audio being is laughing at us.
it is cruel.

music_man.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Yes, it's very ironic that the more expensive the item is, the more fragile and prone to turning defective it is

 

[Jahn]

there's no shame in following the second motto of head-fi, which kicks in when you get the first rig put together that you're happy with...

"Congrats! Now run far far away and don't look back!"

 

[derekbmn]

BAD BAD BAD MAN !!! No seriously I've said it before IF YOUR HAPPY THAT'S ALL THAT REALLY MATTER'S .Just enjoy the music and don't worry about it.

 

[bifcake]

Many people on this and other audiophile forums tend to lose sight of the ultimate goal: music enjoyment. Perhaps their hobby is not so much music, but gear. Some folks just love tinkering with gear, rolling tubes, discussing engineering aspects of various interconnects, tubes vs solid state, being the first one on the block to own a new set of phones/amps or the latest in Chinese tube based CD players. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but that's not what rocks your boat. You happen to enjoy music and you like the way it sounds through your set of cans. Good for you! Enjoy it! Nothing wrong with that. You've found headphone nirvana and everything else wound up being a dead end. You just happen not to enjoy the process of looking for a perfect headphone as some on these forums do. Well, more power to you.

Enjoy the music.

 

[muckshot]

This forum has been both good and bad for me.

The Good: a renewed sense of enjoyment when listening to music simply to enjoy it for itself, rather than as a background accompaniment to other activities where it tends to be enjoyed yet ignored at the same time. Although my love of music has always been front and center, it wasn't until I bought some new headphones (thanks to Head-fi) and sat down for some 'critical listening' that I re-discovered how enjoyable it is simply to close your eyes and just give everything up to sound. So, in short, new gear reminded me of how much I love music and taught me that better sound can significantly change one's perception of music for the better.

The Bad: Now that I am obsessed with reading about and comparing headphones/amps/peripherals, I find that I spend almost as much time zeroing in on 'imperfections' in the sound signature of a given piece of equipment I am using, rather than enjoying the music I intended to listen to. I read a post by Monsieur Headroom, Tyll, where he made a distinction between enjoying music and enjoying good sound. That is, music can be enjoyed thoroughly even when coming out of the WORST equipment, while 'great sound' can be a realm of enjoyment in itself. When the two are combined, then you've struck gold. This combination can be found in HPs that are very moderately priced and personally, I think one's best bet is simply to go with what sounds good.

For people with tons of cash to blow and who want to train themselves to enjoy nothing but 10000$ gear, go to it, but IMO great sound can be achieved at a fraction of that price and that ought to be made clear to people starting out here so they don't break the bank believing that every time they double their gear budget, they'll double their enjoyment. For those of lesser means, stop worrying about 'perfect sound reproduction' and save your money for buying music (and your stimulant of choice

if that yanks your chain). Our common love of music is why most of us are here in the first place and my bet is that, perhaps, if people stopped concentrating on the 'imperfections' of their gear and started focusing on the music instead, they might be able to increase their enjoyment of the listening process without dropping another cent. Of course, for me at this time, dollar store cans are simply not going to cut it, but if that's all that was available, you better believe they'd be sitting on my head right now. Anyway, my 2 cents.

Music_man: Forget the bulls**t and enjoy those k240s!

 

[Wmcmanus]

Your post in quite interesting, and I tend to agree with a lot of it.

I think that I approach the hobby differently than do most people. I've never gone out looking for "the" perfect system, and don't really "upgrade" as such, or at least this isn't the primary motivating factor for me. But I keep buying more gear simply to try it out. In my case, experimenting with gear really is a "hobby" in and of itself, and I think it's a lot of fun. Yet, I don't go crazy over the micro details of A/B testing. In fact, this pretty much drives me nuts unless I'm doing someone a favor (i.e., if I get a PM asking me to compare headphones X and Y).

As a result, I can pick up any pair of headphones and really enjoy them without worrying about what they do good, better, and best, or bad, worse and worst. Each pair of headphones gets at least some use every month, but of course I have my favorites and they get much more use.

I'm a music lover first and foremost (ya, I know we all say this, but it's true in my case). This is what got me into "high end" audio to begin with, and what will keep me interested long after I've burned out on gear collecting and cable swapping.

If my priorities change at some point (say if I get married and have kids), then I'd sell off a bunch of stuff and settle in on a couple of systems that would keep me happy on a long-term basis, even if I didn't do as much listening as I do now. But where we differ, at least from what you've described, is that chances are it wouldn't be the cheap stuff that I'd keep.

Without dissecting the system "flaws" as such, I can easily say that my present speaker rig by far outperforms anything I've had in my house before, and the same could be said of the Orpheus system relative to some of the early headphone systems that I was once in awe of (like the HD600's with a Creek OBH 11-SE amp). I just can't see going so far backwards in terms of my long-term satisfaction from listening to music.

I prefer to listen to great music through great playback systems. Since I can hear the difference between good, better and best types of systems, I'd keep the "best" that I have and then sell the rest if ever I decided to disinvest in the hobby.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by muckshot The Bad: Now that I am obsessed with reading about and comparing headphones/amps/peripherals, I find that I spend almost as much time zeroing in on 'imperfections' in the sound signature of a given piece of equipment I am using, rather than enjoying the music I intended to listen to.

I guess I've bounced in and out of this sense of being "obsessed" by various aspect of the audio hobby as well, but I think most of that is behind me now and I'm enjoying it (the music and the gear) about 99% of the time.

Quote:

I read a post by Monsieur Headroom, Tyll, where he made a distinction between enjoying music and enjoying good sound. That is, music can be enjoyed thoroughly even when coming out of the WORST equipment, while 'great sound' can be a realm of enjoyment in itself. When the two are combined, then you've struck gold. This combination can be found in HPs that are very moderately priced and personally, I think one's best bet is simply to go with what sounds good.

Although I've not taken this approach myself, I'd highly recommend it to others. For a new Head-Fi member, I'd sit them down with a pair of HD650, K701, DT880 and maybe a couple of others (AD2000, 325i, for example). I'd have them listen for a couple of hours and then force them to pick out a pair. Then I'd do the same thing with 3 or 4 moderately priced amps (say $500 or less). After they make their choices, I'd say "Ok, buy those, enjoy them, and then forget about the rest of it. Come back in another year, and I'll move you up the ladder a bit if you so desire." For most people, if they were totally honest with themselves, their answer in a year's time would be: "I'm prefectly happy with what I have." Our problem at Head-Fi (and it's worse at Audiogon) is that we're all like the proverbial "kids in a candy store." Way too much information!

 

[muckshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus Although I've not taken this approach myself, I'd highly recommend it to others. For a new Head-Fi member, I'd sit them down with a pair of HD650, K701, DT880 and maybe a couple of others (AD2000, 325i, for example). I'd have them listen for a couple of hours and then force them to pick out a pair. Then I'd do the same thing with 3 or 4 moderately priced amps (say $500 or less). After they make their choices, I'd say "Ok, buy those, enjoy them, and then forget about the rest of it. Come back in another year, and I'll move you up the ladder a bit if you so desire." For most people, if they were totally honest with themselves, their answer in a year's time would be: "I'm prefectly happy with what I have." Our problem at Head-Fi (and it's worse at Audiogon) is that we're all like the proverbial "kids in a candy store." Way too much information!

Amen to that! New members ought to be forced to attend a Head-fi meet before they're allowed access to the forums, esp. the FS/FT sections

 

[chesebert]

this is so true..I now listen almost exclusively to KSC75 moded running out of dynahi...easy to maintain, easy to put on, and the best part is I really enjoy the sound. many time more than my senns ....

 

[music_man]

i am really surprised. to my apreciation actually! i truly did not expect anyone whatsoever to agree with me at all. i fully expected to finally get flamed right out of here! you guys really are (at least the ones that posted so far) level headed people imho.

you would have to take my right leg to get the orpheous away from me. but that is because it is like a lamborghini. a lot of it is looks and status. the problem with the orpheous or anything that aproaches it. is that it makes me concentrate 60% on what is sitting on the table and 30% on quantifing each note and only 10% on enjoying the music. many people have said something to this effect. it is not solely awesome because of its sound mind you.

i may be awkward in the respect that i like the modded k240s/rolls setup. however none of you have heard what i have done with it(not to say they would float your boat anyhow). it is super fluid. it does not allow me to hear every nuance. which is exactly what i like about it. it is more like chewing bazooka bubble gum than drinking fine wine. i am pretty happy for exactly that. there are phones for the same money that will let me hear more information from a recording. i feel that just detracts from the enjoyment. then there are the phones that "put you on the stage with the band". you know which ones i mean

. too fatiguing!


i will continue to collect phones and amps and source gear/cables. but not for the sake of listening enjoyment. for the sake of enjoying collecting something.

there is a store in chicago where they must have over 1 million tubes and it is like a candy store. i love it. it feels good to get new toys. i will for right now keep the modded k240s/rolls to actually lsiten to.

by the way my vinyl/cd/cassette/reel collection commands a far higher dolar amount than my gear collection. which i think should be first and foremost. many people tend to loose site of this i think.

i sold a sota star vacuum a long time ago and got something more 'tame' that i could live with. maybe one day i'll ditch the orpheous. i can think of better conversation pieces if thats what i want. i'm not bashing this stuff. it is great. but it is for listening. if i am not going to use most of it i am begining to wonder why i need it. things like the rs1 and hd650 i might eventually part with since they are production pieces. i am also weary of a rack of 10 units. like transport dac psu power conditioner. ahh, this hobby could drive one completely mad if it steers you in that direction. you could replace all that with a g08 plugged right into the wall with the stock power cord lol.

listening to my favorite artists on semi good equipment(not rubbish mind you) makes me far happier than trying to see if it can sound better on higher end/more expensive gear. or getting better cables trying to find an 'easter egg' in a recording. my favorite artists could please me on bose triports(egads). no, i don't own those lol.

also. why do we torture ourselves with doa phones that when finally rma'd 3 times are so uncomfortable physically anyways? it has become to seem silly to me. sure, i'll buy sandpaper phones but just for the collection. they will not get much listening time.

the other thing i mentioned is that phones like the orpheous that make me concentrate on every nuance of every note really tend to actually ruin the experience. many other people have said this. this is really the only big fault they find of the orpheous. they actually built something too good! they are way to analytical for me to listen for more than one cd at a time and i even struggle with that.

i'd prefer if this does not get into a discussion of what phone does what. every other thread here is about just that. i simply mentioned the orpheus because from a price standpoint it is the end all-be all kit. case in point: it's flaw is being too good!

i have fallen asleep for hours with the akg's with have 'memory foam' pads on them now. i can actually live a normal life with them. i don't have to hide them from the pet cat's or worry in any manner whatsoever.

this is also why i took the sonus faber and sunfire over the baby utopia be. it is a little sloppy,slow,warm which is relaxing to me.

i for one am much happier that i have come to terms that i can now seperate collecting from enjoying what was meant to be enjoyed. don't worry though i intend to continue to do both well into the future, but now with a bias towards listening. which i think the definition of a true 'audiophile' excludes one from(listening). (that wasn't an insult just an observation.)


music_man.

 

[warrior05]

i certainly agree with much that has been said here. people should listen with their own ears and if what they're hearing puts a smile on their face and gets their groove going, they shouldn't care if it is from a pair of $40 cans rather than $400.

i will say this though: yes, you hear a lot of nitpicking on these boards but keep in mind that it is coming from people who spend many hours listening and enjoying music every day/week. i like to believe the same people who complain about "slightly recessed upper mids" regarding a particular pair of 'phones can also totally lose themselves listening to music on those cans. it's like the person you love. none of us are perfect and you can nitpick about certain things your SO does that drives you nuts at times but when it comes down to it, you wouldn't want to be with anyone else.

on these boards we dissect and pick apart. but off - we are sitting back and enjoying the music or whatever we happen to be listening to. at least that is what i like to believe and how i am.

so keep on enjoying your K240s and don't mind what anyone else has to say. congrats on finding your holy grail (at least for the time being

).

 

[coolshot]

heh, i think ill stop when i cant tell the difference in a distraction type setting. I mainly listen to music at two times. During the commute in my car and while im browsing forums. Both situations i cant close my eyes and disect the sound and really enjoy the technical ability of sound. However i can still enjoy the groovy beats and the fun elements. In a quiet room with my eyes closed i can tell the difference between ICs. Have someone talk to me for 5 min while the music is playing and i cant hear the slightest difference. Basically if i cant hear a the difference while my mind is focused elsewhere, its not worth it for me. I think thats why i prefer broader characteristics like, bass/impact, lush vocals and overall pleasing highs. I dont have the oppertunity to enjoy the likes of subtlties like image seperation, soundstage, etc.