Man, I can relate.
I am totally swamped at work but all I can do is obsessively read this forum (and the links it sends me to), searching for the holy grail of upgrade paths for my new "needs." I have done little else for 2 or 3 weeks now; it's pretty scary. I am sleep deprived and way behind on work and home responsibilities. I have no idea who is in the final 4, or if we still have the same president for that matter.
I always enjoyed good music, and HAVE to wear headphones at work due to the loud-mouth accross the hall from me, but I had no idea what I was getting into when I opened Pandora's Box, also known as Head-Fi.
Before stumbling here, I was surviving on Triports and 128kbps mps's on my laptop. I knew the phones weren't as good as the Bose hype as soon as I bought them, (other than being truly comfy, which is important to me), but I had no idea what the hi-fi world had to offer as alternatives. I had already added an Audigy 2 pmcia card, which helped a little, but not much. I did not know there were better sound cards than Creative sells.
Since discovering this forum about 3 weeks ago, I bought a 4 gig Nano, a pair of E3c's w/ 2 packs of replacement foamies, an Apple Remote Radio, ordered a Xin micro 3 (which I hope will be shipped sometime this century), and a pair of Klipsch 2.0 speakers so I can hear the Nano in the shower (which "required" adding a better mini/mini adapter and a pocket dock; also needed if the Xin micro 3 ever arrives).
The aforementioned purchases, coupled with more forum reading, made me realize that I not only need a good set of real headphones to replace the Triports, but I also need a freaking DAC (which I had never even heard of) and an external amp for my laptop (which I didn't know existed). I'm probably going Bithead on that, and soon.
I'll probably buy the E500's shortly after they come out and give the E3c's to my drooling son, passing on the addiction. The E3c's are nice but lack bass. I'm sure an amp will help, but I don't think I will be able to resist tripple driver IEMs.
My son will also get the Audigy soundcard when I get the Bithead. I will also probably buy a 60 gig Ipod, since I am now having to re-rip all of my music because the 128kbps mp3's are utter garbage even on un-amped E3c's. I have spent countless hours reading FAQ's and playing around with different encoding/ripping software, searching for the elusive balance of quality vs. file size, learning the codec lingo, etc. I'm looking at larger external hard drives to hold my music collection which will not fit on my existing drives after re-ripping lossless.
I am going nuts trying to figure out the best headphones to buy. The IEM's work, but they are a pain to yank out of my ears when I get a phone call or somebody dares enter my office and disturb my surfing in an effort to get me to do my job.
I was about to the pull the trigger on the K 701's, and still might, but I'm now thinking that it is quite probable that I will wind up buying more than one set of good cans, and I lack the patience to wait forever for delivery. I think I'll buy the HD 580's, 600's, or 650's since I can get them in a couple of days. Immediate gratification is important to an addict. I have no idea whether they will provide enough isolation to drown out the loudmouth across the hall, because I've never owned anything but closed cans. I always have the IEM's to hold me over if I need more isolation. I want to see how the airy cans sound anyway.
I have been careful to avoid counting up how much all of this is costing me, and I will certainly be raiding the mailbox for awhile to get the credit card statements before my wife can see them.
I have to buy this stuff soon, or I may lose my job for lack of actually doing it, and will no longer be able to support my new obsession.
What tangled webs we weave.
I remember when I was happy listening to 8-track tapes and pitted Zepplin albums on a pathetic all-in-one stero with cheapo 10 dollar headphones.
Would I return to a state of blissful ignorance if I had the choice? I don't think so. A little knowledge, coupled with an obsessive personality and a credit card, is a dangerous mix.