[Rizumu]

A strange thing just happened to me. I loaded up my new Spirited Away soundtrack that I've never heard before into my CE775, put on my HFI-650's, and pressed Play. The first track comes in with some lovely piano music and it sounds great!!!!! "Oh crap, I forgot to plug my phones in, my speakers are playing" I think. It sounds like someone is really playing a piano in front of me. No wait...this isn't my computer...I have no speakers hooked up to my CD player! It really was my headphones and I was amazed that for a minute there were no headphones, there was just the music...

A recent thread in the Headphones forum got me thinking about this. Mystik64, a new member to this forum, stated that he had no intention of hearing the ER-4x's after buying his ER-6's since he couldn't imagine anything sounding better. Rather than feeling the need to spend more money buy hearing better, he has decided to stay content.

This is a hard thing to do! I know it's hard to halt the upgrade path for any long period of time at all being here, when you know that there's bigger and better stuff out there. It's easy to become discontent with your gear. To tell you the truth though, the HFI-650's are the best I've heard and realistically...should I even bother upgrading? Should I spend more money on gear?

Thanks to Canman's generosity I'm going to be able to audition the RS-1's soon which I have been wondering about/lusting after for awhile now. $400 is about the going price for a used one though and of course then I will need to upgrade my amp, another $300-$500 there, and my cables, at least $100 there....is it worth it? I mean, that's my hesitancy in hearing these phones (not that I don't want to!) I don't have near that kind of money. I want to get a job but even then....my CD collection is a bit pitiful and I want tons of new music.

I'm not really looking for personal advice hereso much as a general discussion on what your thoughts are. At what point should one just be content and stop worrying about the gear and just focus on the music? At an orpheus? (

oh god I hope not!) Are you content? At what point did this happen?

Apologies if this has been beaten to death, this just popped into my head and I am simply a talkative newb, hence the post count

 

[williamgoody]

Well, curiosity will almost always get the best of me. What I always do is basically pay attention to the opinions of certain phones by those members who I know have similar tastes in sound and hear somewhat the same things I do. Their opinions will form my "ambitiousness" to want to check out new equipment. (I do the same with CD reviews, this way I don't get burnt as much).
I also get in the habit of asking myself "If this was the only setup I had, would I be satisfied"? If the answer is Yes and other circumstances come into play, I pretty much lay off.

 

[djgustashaw]

i'm still new to the hobby, but i decided after getting my SR60s to not listen to anything more high-end for a long time after buying. i'm just happy with em. i have, however, bought less-expensive phones for other applications, but i've tried to avoid the upgrade bug altogether by being ignorant and not knowing what i'm missing

 

[lan]

I have a different approach. I tried to listen to the best, you know HP-1s, K1000s, Omega IIs, etc. and then sort of say if I get like 85-90% close to the top, I'm done. I have other interests and hobbies that need $$$. I think it's important to sort of establish what sound of headphone you like first then go deep in the rabbit hole in that path.

 

[mclaren20]

I know what you mean. When I tell people I got new phones, they have all been under $100, they say stop buying portable gear and invest in some good stuff. When I read that I go listen to my portable gear and I love it. Why move on to bigger things when you are VERY happy. I am of going to upgrade more because there are major faults in my rig, this god forsaken hiss

, but thats my crappy sourcs. Once I get rid of that, Ill be done.

 

[Rizumu]

Quote:

Originally posted by mclaren20 I know what you mean. When I tell people I got new phones, they have all been under $100, they say stop buying portable gear and invest in some good stuff. When I read that I go listen to my portable gear and I love it. Why move on to bigger things when you are VERY happy. I am of going to upgrade more because there are major faults in my rig, this god forsaken hiss , but thats my crappy sourcs. Once I get rid of that, Ill be done.

I've often been confronted with this too. Would I rather have one awesome headphone than three good ones that serve different purposes? It's a question of convenience. I don't think so. I'm not willing to sell all I've got for one pair. I don't see anything wrong with having three under-$100 headphones.

Upgrade that source though!

Diminishing returns is what I speak of I guess...just wondering if I've hit it already. Maybe RS-1's will blow me away and I'll bitchslap all of you for not buying them but for right now I'd like to stay content with what I have

 

[usc goose]

i feel content with my audio stuff. my feeling is that if i ever got to a point where music sounded even better, i'd never get anything done. that or my head would just explode from the rush.

edit: spelling

 

[dohminator]

I'm content with my W100s. I've had them since August and I haven't felt the need to upgrade from there. Sure, I should get an amp and a better source, but I can't afford them. I would also like to dedicate money to other areas of my life and not just the headphone hobby.

If you enjoy what you have, why spend more. And I think that that is the purpose of head-fi. It is to help people find what they enjoy or are content with.

The main reason I keep coming back to head-fi is because of the community here.

 

[Davie]

I guess insatiability is part of the human condition, though insatiable desire for better headphones seems fairly unusual.

I've pretty much been taking a break from the upward spiral since I got my Audio Technica A1000s. There seem to be some others out there I might prefer (CD3000s ?), but ATs basically satisfy me and take care of that nagging "something could be better" feeling.

Interestingly, I find myself quite satisfied with the $17 Philips HP170s which I got a while back. On some basic level they just strike me as right. I wonder whether if I'd stumbled on to them at the beginning whether I would have stopped right there.

 

[Sentral Dogma]

take it slow. upgrade at a pace that your wallet will allow. headphones aren't life(very arguable). Most of us are young, we've got so much damn time to buy headphones.

but if you can, listen to cans first. Headphone lust inspired by words doesn't mean a damn thing.

be content.

that said... i really don't enjoy my er4p's. gonna "upgrade" soon.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

I am pretty happy with my current headphone setup, but there are two speaker power amps on Audiogon that is taking all I have not to buy them. I need to make more money, or get out of this hobby fast..... I probably just need more money.

 

[kuma]

and I have been lucky enough to listen to fews at home.

But, after the initial *googly-eyed* stage, I realised that there aren't many gear out there that I would hand out my hard-earned cash.

I never understood people who swap out gear with no particular reason or even when they are happy. I know someone who sold his cdp and asked me 'so, what should i get next?'

I go through * what if?* scenario, too, but, only if I know someting was *off*. I stop once I reach 'yeah. this is cool, i can live with this. '

Don't hesitate to listen to something you can't afford. I've done this. And the results sometimes may not be to your liking.
Or just enjoy the *ride*. I haven't heard (in)famous Orpheus myself, but, don't assume it is to *die for*. Upgrading sometiems isn't upgrading at all.

You know it already, minute you start obsessing hardware, you'll die broke and unhappy. It's a whole mindset thing, and few folks just can't get out of that rut.

 

[Rizumu]

Quote:

Originally posted by kuma You know it already, minute you start obsessing hardware, you'll die broke and unhappy. It's a whole mindset thing, and few folks just can't get out of that rut.

Sound advice...although...you already have RS-1's.

 

[tom hankins]

I'm very happy with what I have, but at the same time I've always got my plans and goals for upgrades and when I want to have them by. Then while I'm saving or looking for the right deal on what I want I enjoy whats there for the time being. As far as owning one excellent headphone or 3-4 good headphones I would rather have one excellent. I would rather have one R-10 or Omega II or HP-1, over any combo of HD600, DT880, CD-3000, W-1000, or RS-1's.

 

[Sentral Dogma]

Quote:

Originally posted by kuma Upgrading sometiems isn't upgrading at all.

very wise. link this with what i said before, Headphone lust inspired by words does not mean a damn thing. I enjoy my mx400's more than my er4p's. And i was inspired by only reading. i've learned now.
As for people who swap out equipment on a weekly basis, I think they need to evaluate what they're looking for in hi-fi. A sense of superiority because you own more expensive equipment? Lots of equipment to rack your mind over to drown out your lack of other hobbies? Or to enjoy music?