[Magik32]

I made my first post earlier today, but figured I'd share my story with the rest of you.  I've been lurking here for almost two months now, and appreciate the different stories, recommendations and reviews.  I hope to learn a lot more from all of you in the future.
 
Here's my simple story of how I got here:
 
My first introduction to headphones were in-ear Skull Candies.  Which I had no problem with.  They were a lot better than the ear buds that came packaged with the iPod.  They lasted for a good two years without any problems. This past Christmas, my wife purchased me the Beats Solos.  It was because I mentioned, at one of our shopping days at Best Buy, "Who the heck would pay $200 for headphones?"  She bought them because she thought with that price tag it should be terrific and wanted me to have a great set of headphones.  I love my wife.  After having them for a day, I thought I was missing something so I started researching... strictly the Beats line through bestbuy.com and amazon.com reviews.  I then decided to return the Solos and spend an extra $100 to get the Beats Studios, which I thought sounded worse than the Solos in some areas.  Maybe my ears are a little weird.  Guess what,  I returned the Studios and spent an extra $100 to get the Beats Pros.  I have to admit I really love those.  I am a bass-head at heart, but unlike the Solos and Studios, I could hear the mids and highs clearly.  Yes, I know I will probably get flamed for liking the Beats Pros, but it's true.  I did say my ears may be a little weird.
 
In any case, I believe that everyone needs to go through a learning period and try different headphones to find what they like.  At this moment in time, I have the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80, Sennheiser HD650, AKG Q701, V-Moda Crossfade LP2, V-Moda V80, and am thinking about picking up the Grado 325IS within a month or two to add more variety to the mix.  Yes, quite a bit for a couple of months, but I'm having fun.  I run them through a Fiio E7 and E9 combo which is hooked up to my Mac. Most of my music is ripped from my CDs in lossless format and I have a few jazz albums I purchased from HD Tracks, which includes the Head-Fi sample mix and the other binaural album that Jude did a review on.  My main tastes in music lies in rap/hip hop, 70% of the time, but I also listen to R&B,classic rock, reggae, Hawaiian and jazz.  I am thoroughly enjoying all of my headphones and the differences in sound they have.  I guess I have to thank Head-Fi and the forum here for providing the plethora of knowledge and information on the different brands and sounds that are available.  My wife is not too happy about that just to let you know, but she takes a lot of the blame for buying me that first set of Beats Solos that set off my new addiction.
 
Hope to read more from you as time goes on and my experiences become greater.  Thanks!

 

[catscratch]

All you're missing now is planar magnetics and electrostatics. You can get a Fostex T50RP for modding purposes (lots of threads about modding these in the forums) and maybe some used Stax Lambdas, or a new Stax SR-001 Mk2 for portable use. The 001 and 003 have some pretty serious bass if you get a good seal with them, they fit a bit like canalphones do.

Getting your hands on a lot of different stuff in the beginning to find out what you like and don't like is the way to go. Your tastes will change and evolve over time, and while jumping straight into something high-end will save you money in the long run, high-end headphones are as different from one another as a lot of low-end headphones, and you never know if you'll like what you're going to get. Now I don't buy the "everything is subjective" notion on bit, but no headphones are truly neutral and even among high-end electrostatics there's quite a bit of variance.

The higher up you go, the more resolving headphones become (generally) so sources will become really important eventually - at your rate, probably sooner rather than later.

And if you REALLY want to get into the hobby, DIY is the way to go. Not only will you learn the technical ins and outs - which will help you avoid the overpriced junk that's cropping up a lot more often in the hobby these days - you'll also save tons of money in the long run and will have fun building stuff, too. Or get a divorce since your house now resembles a mad scientist's laboratory. Either way.

 

[jackwess]

Quote:

And if you REALLY want to get into the hobby, DIY is the way to go. Not only will you learn the technical ins and outs - which will help you avoid the overpriced junk that's cropping up a lot more often in the hobby these days - you'll also save tons of money in the long run and will have fun building stuff, too.

 
Second that. Diy is a lot of fun, im planning to build a Cmoy to start...and a beta22. 
 
 

 

[Magik32]

@ Catscratch... Whoa, while I certainly entertain the idea of one day being able to discern music well enough to justify jumping into the high end stuff, I know I'm not at that point yet.  I will however enjoy the ride getting there and not rush things.  The one thing I get from everyone so far is how expensive things can get in this hobby.  All the more reason to enjoy how my tastes will change and evolve over time as you said.  Thanks for the advice though.  I appreciate all of it.
 
@ jackwess...  The DIY part of all this does seem really interesting and fun, but taking the plunge and actually building and taking things apart may be more costly for a pure novice like me.  But of course, I'll start with some easy stuff such as modding earpads and the like as time goes on I'm sure.