[M Rael]

I'm not wanting to review each headphone I own so much as post about realizing how useful it can be to own more than one can. I listen at work a lot, and I'm a house painter (interior painted finishes.. 'faux' painting) which means sometimes there are other people/trades on the job.
I was recently doing one single ceiling for about 5-6 weeks. The Grado 325's I had were irritating my outer ears after 6 hours of listening each day. So I bought some Sony MDR-F1's, and they were ok, but I wanted more sound quality. So enter the Sony MDR-CD3000's. I was in heaven! Isolated from the commotion of other trades doing their work, I was free to do my thing in peace surrounded (in my head) by great sound. But then I finished that ceiling and had to move on to other projects in the house, and wearing the fully enclosed headphones around a jobsite didnt seem like a good idea- on many different levels. But thats exactly why having more than one headphone seems like such a blessing to me now.
When the project allows for it I can wear the CD3000 and enjoy great detail and improved isolation. When I have to be available to other people more readily I might bring the F1's. If I'm bouncing between 2 or 3 projects I'd probably wear the Grado 325's because they can be taken off and worn around the neck, whereas the other two really cant.. they mostly need to be taken totally off the head.
On a lark one day, I let one of the non-english speaking Mexican plasterers on the job listen to a Smashing Pumpkins song at a loud volume through the CD3000's. It was a classic moment when the song ended and he took them off his head and gave an enthusiastic one word review, 'chingon!!' (I think this translates into 'bitchen!!' in english.)

The CD3000's produce a full but controlled bass and more fine detail than either the 325 or the F1. It sounds more expensive.
The 325 is just an all around great workhorse of a headphone that does very well in all areas. And after the mod I did today on them I also like the way they look better that the other two, at least when other people are around The F1 has a mid-fi sound, but in an ambitious design package. I respect Sony for trying a mostly open design, even if the sonic results are mixed.


.

 

[JMT]

Good point M Rael. joelongwood and I have had many conversations about how owning multiple headphones and headphone amps translates into choices and options. These choices equate to having the ability to select what is best for you, for the music, for the environment, for the mood.

As my signature says... It's ALL good.

 

[ai0tron]

It's nice to have extra headphones to give to your Bass playing roomate so that you can get some sleep.

 

[DarkAngel]

God help us!
It is a sickness to collect headphones, but they are relatively inexpensive in the world of audiophile gear, If had to only have one it would be Senn HD600/Blue Jaspis.

But it is fun to ocassionally listen to Grado models and hear the very real differences, like tasting different fine wines, both are good in their own right.

Variety is the spice of life!

 

[redshifter]

m rael:
do i smell a... rationalization?!

actually i agree with you. i use my cd1700 for home listening when my wife wants to watch some god-awful tv show like oprah or qvc. blocks out the tv noise nicely. on the street i listen with my ex70 phones, which have good isolation and a low profile so i wont get mugged for them. at work i use my v6 cans, which give me hours of listening enjoyment & comfort, and block out all the distractions around me so i can concentrate. the only thing i want to add to my collection is the e888 earbuds for work. sometimes i need to hear what's going on around me (if i'm working under a deadline with my team) and the e888 will allow people to get my attention. at least that is what i'm going to tell my wife when they arrive!

p.s., my coworker didn't understand why i would spend so much money on headphones. he thought it didn't matter which headphones you used, they all did the same thing (as he started putting his labtec cans back on). so i asked him what kind of car he drove, and he told me all about (for about 5 minutes) his new sports car he just spent $35,000 on. i then asked him why didn't he just get a honda civic, it "does the same thing" as his sports car, gets you from point a to point b? he of course was shocked at the question, but then got my point: people are nuts about different things, me for headphones, he for cars, other folks for golf equipment, etc. he then claimed that it didn't matter because he could not tell the difference in sound quality between his cans and good headphones. i asked him if he had ever LISTENED to good headphones... he admitted he hadn't. so how does he know he can't tell the difference?? i wasn't about to make him listen to my cans (i'm not THAT nuts), but i think the point was made.

 

[Phlosopher]

I think chingon means something more along the lines of "****ing A man!"

as chinga is, well....the spanish equivalent of...you know.

 

[coolvij]

lol! I guess that Mexican platerer knew what good sound was.....