[Spareribs]

The one thing I hate about headphones is that it’s terrible for casual listening.

There’s lots of music out there that I enjoy hearing as background music and I don’t want to be wearing something on my head or have something stuck in my ears.

So speakers or small bookshelf monitors are perfect and I can listen all day. Of course it’s easy for me to say this because my environment allows this. If you’re married or have room mates, it’s kind of impossible.

 

[chesebert]

With 3 kids and running 2 businesses + too many hobbies I go through this with everything. It is painful to see good gear collect dust, but it is a joy to pick things back up and revisit how good it is!

Exactly. I didn’t even remember I still had the LCD3 until I visited here (which is rare these days) - been collecting dust somewhere in the house. Any hobby can feel a bit old after few decades.

 

[Philimon]

Im getting there slowly. I actually left at midway due to child addition, then downsized from Stax and Hifiman and Magnepan (speakers) to a set of earbuds only. Now Im back baby! due to homework and covid situation. I do see an end goal and exit by affording eventually: TH900 + Lokius + Asgard3.

 

[550591]

Exactly. I didn’t even remember I still had the LCD3 until I visited here (which is rare these days) - been collecting dust somewhere in the house. Any hobby can feel a bit old after few decades.

You forgot you had 2300€ headphones somewhere in the house?

 

[Spareribs]

It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to headphones but I did get listen to the Sennheiser 600 on a tube amp today.

I gotta say, I was so actually blown away and amazed.

Its crazy how after a while when you return to headphones you become impressed.

Also, I have more expensive headphones than this 600 model and whenever I return to it, it impresses me again. In some strange ways, it kind of is the greatest headphone of all time especially paired with a tube amp.

 

[chesebert]

600/650 has always impressed me with their price performance - it’s 90% of the best headphones with the right setup. I mean once you add $30k dac with $5k amp the marginal cost of getting better cans is relatively small even if it’s only another 5-10%.

 

[chesebert]

You forgot you had 2300€ headphones somewhere in the house?

It’s under a cover so out of sight out of mind. Plus once you have had something for a long time you don’t really think about the price anymore

 

[oqvist]

Have to many headphones and you forget about them after a while. I don´t recall when I last listened to my Focal Elear. HD 800S is always at the back of my mind but it´s open so can´t really use it much. Since I stopped racing my sony cd 3000 hasn´t got much use either... Yet here I am trying to found an ether c flow

I am tired of dribbling with my headphones so I tend to use the jvc dx 1000 in the living room for dumb tv stuff and kennerton magni on my gaming rigg mostly nowadays.
Ether C is because I want even more isolation and it does sound great of course

 

[Spareribs]

It seems like in the past 5 years, microphones have really sky rocketed in popularity. I’m actually a fan of microphones and have a somewhat decent collection.

One thing I notice is that some people have a thing against AKG microphones since they have been acquired by Samsung. But in my opinion AKG are still top tier and still make amazing microphones. But the competition is pretty stiff with some of these impressive new outstanding companies.

 

[Steven31]

It's interesting to read about other peoples journeys. I guess I have my father to blame for my interest/obsession with audio equipment (I was a 1990's kid and grew up listening to his Technics HD45 mini separates system, that had a tuner, CD player and Cassette player with Dolby Noise Reduction, a technology that I value in todays world, (and I am the proud owner of a 1999 BMW 5 series that has this technology in it's Harmon Kardon stereo.) My father also had a vintage Pioneer SA-5300 stereo integrated amplifier, which must've been one of the first of it's kind and was passed down to him by his uncle, but the amp finally packed in after around 40 years of service, in 2015 or so) but only myself to blame for the obsession I have (or had) for headphones and speakers, and the very long bank statements I received each month for several years (full of audio related transactions both expensive and inexpensive) at the height of my addiction. I started buying headphones in 2008 at the age of 18, my journey started with a Denon AH-D5000 and AKG K702, several years later, despite having lived for a few years from 2011 to 2013 and not having so much time to spend listening to my audio equipment (travelled to France a couple of times and was preoccupied with girlfriends and applying for jobs) by 2014 I had amassed something like 60 headphones and at least 8 pairs of speakers (I probably had more, lost count and don't know as I seemed to own that many: Canton's, Wharfedale diamond 9.0's and 10.0's, Jamo, Gale Gold series, Crystal Acoustics THX Certified floorstanding speakers, Mistral Bow 3's and Mission LX2's, Sony's, Denon's, JVC's...), I had discovered Head Fi 2 years before then, in 2012, which I used to visit as a guest and also discovered Tyll Hertsens website that same year too, I would read reviews and threads to help me make headphone purchases, at that time (in 2012) I was a noob when it came to headphones, and didn't gain an objective understanding of the scientific side of this hobby, until 2016. It wasn't until after I gained a complete scientific and objective based understanding/grasp of the different types of headphone/speaker transducers/drivers and how they work, and the electronics involved (PCB boards and their components, and alternating current) that I had my breakthrough moment. This knowledge I had acquired in the space of a few short months stopped the never ending cycle (some call it a "bug") I had been going through for several years, of purchasing a new headphone and/or speaker ever month. I done myself a massive favour by taking the time to understand the science. Since 2016, the number of headphone purchases i've made have been significantly less than half that of what I purchased between 2008 - 2016, and I got rid of 95% of the headphones, amps and speakers I had, only keeping the practical stuff (power amps are not practical, lol) and my absolute favourites from that era. I think now, at 31, I have arrived at a point where I know what I know, and am ready to settle down with just 1 system that will hopefully last me the rest of my days. I do not need to build again from scratch, I already have parts of this system (a Marantz CD player, Audiolab DAB tuner and a Pioneer AV receiver), it just needs a few more additions (such as a power amp so I can drive my bi wire-able Mistral speakers), a good quality dedicated headphone DAC/amp, a better hifi rack than the one I currently have and some nice speaker stands..and then i'm done. What do I take from my journey? well, it's been fun and good memories to look back on. I guess i'm more of a speaker guy than a headphone guy, looking back, I always was, I just got lost in the void of Headphonedom for a while, lol.

 

[feverfive]

My time in audio has gone thusly: fell in love with 2-channel speaker rigs at the feet of a wealthy uncle (all his gear fascinated me, plus he had a listening room to kill for); left for college right before my 17th birthday, and quickly transitioned to desktop nearfield speakers, and finally onto headphones for a awhile. I played at going summit-fi but not really...

Then I decided ~2012 that I wanted to be all about portable/transportable so entered the world of IEMs and DAPs. I likewise made slight movements towards summit-fi, but I decided that the cost-for-performance just was a losing battle (**for me**); ditched a BUNCH of gear, went mid-fi and exited all online aspects of the hobby for almost 6 years until coming back ~18 months ago.

I've been most shocked that I haven't fallen back into the rabbit hole. I have spent surprisingly, and relatively, very little since coming back I actually am again feeling that sense of baling out. Not sure how this will go, but I keep coming back to head-fi almost every day, and I know, I know: you're not out of this if you're coming here all the time. However, I must say that this go-around, I feel content in reading threads and taking in others' experiences. I sincerely feel no FOMO.

Weird.

I've had so much going on, including the recent loss of my beloved dog, so probably not a good time for me to make any proclamations.

 

[Redcarmoose]

My audio journey was probably partially started by my Mom. She was a piano teacher as well as had/has a killer vinyl LP collection. She has an incredible collection of guitars. She has been in charge of musical seminars and played in a bunch of bands. Early memories have her and I looking into getting cassette tapes, so the whole music shopping thing started very early.

But headphones probably started as I thought it sounded better than mono tube amp I had for music at the time? Later I had friends with older brothers who were really cool. They had a couple pairs of headphones and lots and lots of amazing music. I was super impressionable at 13 and was just starting to figure out what’s up. Even then comparison between the Sennheiser HD414 and the Koss had me choosing the Koss for the bass. By the time I was 19 I actually had an end-game stereo.

The fascination with the stereo I had at 19 was that it sounded completely different a month after I had it. It wasn’t that it burned in or anything like that. What I figure happened was I learned to hear. Big Altec Lansing 15” X 2 woofers and horn tweeters for each channel. A handmade crossover system and an almost perfect listening room. Everything was just right, still (even at that time) I enjoyed headphones?

Headphones vs speakers obviously didn’t sound the same, but that didn’t matter. There was something that headphones did that speakers didn’t. To this day I don’t know what it is? It may even be true that my minimal 2 channel speaker system (even now) is better. Still I’m captivated by headphones?

I’ll never stop being interested in headphone technology. Though to tell you the truth I could keep just what I have now and be happy. I’m more into the music and how it sounds. Every new album is like getting new gear, not the other way around.

It is always a personal thing if a person gravitates to headphones or stereo sound, or loses interest in acquiring new gear. So I don’t have any answers, except maybe hold on to your gear so you have something to come back to?