rdnkjdi
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2015
- Posts
- 99
- Likes
- 18
This post is for anyone else out there like me. This is a long, highly opinionated, audiophilic uneducated post. But it’s to try to help anyone who was in my boat several months ago.
I had absolutely NO interest in being an audiophile until last Black Friday when I scored a pair of 598’s for free by buying four on Amazon and selling three on eBay. Prior to that 90% of my music was using earbuds. When I understood the quality of life difference my 598’s made since I work at a desk all day long - I knew eventually I had to put together an end game setup.
I don’t give a **** about testing every new piece of equipment - I just wanted to know I was enjoying 95% of what I could possibly enjoy with my budget. (I have spent as much on audio equipment in the last six months as I spent on the car I’ve driven for the last two years.)
There is a lot of specific information & opinions about every possible headphone on the market (not to mention amps & DACs). I’m just interested in shotgunning my experience differences & throwing specific combo recommendations.
First of all buy what you can afford. If you can’t afford it seriously reconsider what you can afford (Downgrade the car, deliver some pizzas, sell the firstborn, etc).
The best thing I can come up with the describe what I call the different “classes” of headphones are my different experiences with motorcycles.
The first class is a budget class. You are going to experience the thrill of rolling down the interstate with the wind thru your hair, the sun off your face & freedom. The experience is completely different than what you’ve had before. This is the 1985 Honda Goldwing you picked up for $900 and decided to take across the country that gets you enthused with the motorcycle experience.
Budget $200. Buy an HD 598 + an E07K DAC / Amp.
The second class is a Honda Shadow 1100. You can feel the speed off a stoplight. The wind, sun and freedom join forces with the thrill of acceleration & bass between your legs that make you pity every man who has died never knowing what a mechanical horse could feel like.
Budget $500. HD 600 + Vali + Modi 2. I swear the HD 600 is the closest thing in headphone world that everyone agrees on. This combo seems to be recommended over and over again. After listening for a few months I can understand why. It completely changed my listening habits. I enjoy certain types of music that before that were too boring. Quiet times without your headphones will be as painful as sunny days without the Honda Shadow.
The third class. My God the third class. It’s the FZ1 or R1. It’s hammering down the interstate at 170 or zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds. It’s making the Corvette off the stoplight look like the family minivan. It’s knowing that one percent of the population ever gets to experience this. And that this is the difference between living and existing. THAT is the difference between the second and the third class.
Budget $2,000 - ??,???
I feel like the third class demands audition. Some logistics kept me from doing that. I fell in love with the LCD 3 and the Deckard. The HE 560 I really enjoyed too. Signature, comfort, nostalgia (for me) came into play.
I wanted to like the LCD 3 because it was an American company. I wanted to like the HE 560 because it was cheaper, more portable, I wouldn’t feel obligated to haul around a 7 pound Audeze amp & I wouldn’t be as concerned about quality issues down the road.
In the end - I just love the way Jazz sounds on the LCD 3. The bass profile & the entry into and out of sounds regardless of if it’s a voice, a trumpet or piano keys just leaves me breathless, engaged and smiling for hours on end..
I promise the journey is worth it.
P.S. screw you guys so much for teaching me that different INSANELY expensive headphones & amps sound better for different music. screw* you so much.
I had absolutely NO interest in being an audiophile until last Black Friday when I scored a pair of 598’s for free by buying four on Amazon and selling three on eBay. Prior to that 90% of my music was using earbuds. When I understood the quality of life difference my 598’s made since I work at a desk all day long - I knew eventually I had to put together an end game setup.
I don’t give a **** about testing every new piece of equipment - I just wanted to know I was enjoying 95% of what I could possibly enjoy with my budget. (I have spent as much on audio equipment in the last six months as I spent on the car I’ve driven for the last two years.)
There is a lot of specific information & opinions about every possible headphone on the market (not to mention amps & DACs). I’m just interested in shotgunning my experience differences & throwing specific combo recommendations.
First of all buy what you can afford. If you can’t afford it seriously reconsider what you can afford (Downgrade the car, deliver some pizzas, sell the firstborn, etc).
The best thing I can come up with the describe what I call the different “classes” of headphones are my different experiences with motorcycles.
The first class is a budget class. You are going to experience the thrill of rolling down the interstate with the wind thru your hair, the sun off your face & freedom. The experience is completely different than what you’ve had before. This is the 1985 Honda Goldwing you picked up for $900 and decided to take across the country that gets you enthused with the motorcycle experience.
Budget $200. Buy an HD 598 + an E07K DAC / Amp.
The second class is a Honda Shadow 1100. You can feel the speed off a stoplight. The wind, sun and freedom join forces with the thrill of acceleration & bass between your legs that make you pity every man who has died never knowing what a mechanical horse could feel like.
Budget $500. HD 600 + Vali + Modi 2. I swear the HD 600 is the closest thing in headphone world that everyone agrees on. This combo seems to be recommended over and over again. After listening for a few months I can understand why. It completely changed my listening habits. I enjoy certain types of music that before that were too boring. Quiet times without your headphones will be as painful as sunny days without the Honda Shadow.
The third class. My God the third class. It’s the FZ1 or R1. It’s hammering down the interstate at 170 or zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds. It’s making the Corvette off the stoplight look like the family minivan. It’s knowing that one percent of the population ever gets to experience this. And that this is the difference between living and existing. THAT is the difference between the second and the third class.
Budget $2,000 - ??,???
I feel like the third class demands audition. Some logistics kept me from doing that. I fell in love with the LCD 3 and the Deckard. The HE 560 I really enjoyed too. Signature, comfort, nostalgia (for me) came into play.
I wanted to like the LCD 3 because it was an American company. I wanted to like the HE 560 because it was cheaper, more portable, I wouldn’t feel obligated to haul around a 7 pound Audeze amp & I wouldn’t be as concerned about quality issues down the road.
In the end - I just love the way Jazz sounds on the LCD 3. The bass profile & the entry into and out of sounds regardless of if it’s a voice, a trumpet or piano keys just leaves me breathless, engaged and smiling for hours on end..
I promise the journey is worth it.
P.S. screw you guys so much for teaching me that different INSANELY expensive headphones & amps sound better for different music. screw* you so much.
