[Happy Camper]

The personality of the place is not the same.
 
People came here in a light hearted society to share the hobby and music, family and friendship. A few DIYers started making a few bucks and has morphed to today.
 
I'm happy to have the technology the site has brought but not at the cost of the fun that has been lost.
 
Ragging will only create hardship for those putting a lot of time and effort in to this so as the old saying goes, "Their ball, their game". Either play by their rules or don't play at all.

 

[9pintube]

Quote:

The personality of the place is not the same.
 
People came here in a light hearted society to share the hobby and music, family and friendship. A few DIYers started making a few bucks and has morphed to today.
 
I'm happy to have the technology the site has brought but not at the cost of the fun that has been lost.
 
Ragging will only create hardship for those putting a lot of time and effort in to this so as the old saying goes, "Their ball, their game". Either play by their rules or don't play at all.

This responce by Happy Camper is why He was on my List of "Favorite Head-Fi writers" asked in a post, not to log ago.....

 

[Uncle Erik]

Yes, the personality of institutions will change over time. I've seen it with a number of workplaces, schools and my family. People leave for various reasons, some come back and new personalities arrive. I remember people complaining about the "old days" here five years ago, and we'll probably get similar complaints in 2015.

I'd like to see some of the old personalities return, too, but we're also going to see new members step up, too.

 

[rds]

To be fair it may be more that the hi-fi headphone scene has changed a lot and headfi is a reflection of that.  I feel like this may be a transition point where tonnes of companies have sprung up and a few years down the road the number will be culled back to something more reasonable.  
I do really admire all the hard work of the volunteers and those who give their time to disseminating the wisdom (not sure if that's the best word) and knowledge that has accumulated within this community.
I'll still keep my eye on developments here and hope to see things come back around to the state that for me made this hobby so enjoyable.  Also hoping to see continuation in the great work of the DIY community. 

 

[9pintube]

I've seen so many changes in my life time, you're spot on again U.E.
Quote:

Yes, the personality of institutions will change over time. I've seen it with a number of workplaces, schools and my family. People leave for various reasons, some come back and new personalities arrive. I remember people complaining about the "old days" here five years ago, and we'll probably get similar complaints in 2015.

I'd like to see some of the old personalities return, too, but we're also going to see new members step up, too.

Another Positive thought provoking response, from another of my "favorite Head-fi writer" members list....

 

[Uncle Erik]

You're probably right, rds. It seems that a lot of younger people have shown up with a great deal of interest in IEMs and portable gear. The market responded and created a lot of new products.

But if you take a long-term view, it says good things about the full-sized/desktop amp market. Most of the younger members are in school, need portable equipment to take with them, and don't have the room or money for big, dedicated setups. Yet.

But they're going to finish school, get jobs and then most listening will be done at home in the evenings. They certainly know about the T1, HD-800, LCD2, O2, and all the other full-sized open cans. Eventually, they're going to want something like that waiting for them when they come home after work. When that happens, we'll probably have an explosion of new products there, too. It's a few years off, but the new members are going to upgrade.

The other cool thing that's going to happen is that a much bigger used market will develop. Speaker/traditional hi-fi has a good 50 years of products to choose from. We have at most ten years of products of choose from, many still with their original owners. As the years go by, new members will be able to pick up great deals on great stuff.

I think the headphone world is just going to get better, but you're right about a transition going on.

 

[ak622]

That's a good forwarding thinking POV you have ther Uncle Erik.  I hope you're right and the IEM/Portable phase is just the beginning of a new wave of interest into higher end gear.  I agree that interest into higher end gear has to start at the lower end / affordable for people to hear that there is a difference from just ibuds or typical big box store items.  And from there, for some people who really get into it then all hell breaks lose and the "sorry about your wallet" mantra fits in.  

 

[Kirosia]

This forum needs more attractive female redheads. C'mon, you were all thinking it. 

 

[Graphicism]

...I remember when we were allowed to have friends, friends are banned now.
 
I really don't post on head-fi any more.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

You're probably right, rds. It seems that a lot of younger people have shown up with a great deal of interest in IEMs and portable gear. The market responded and created a lot of new products.

But if you take a long-term view, it says good things about the full-sized/desktop amp market. Most of the younger members are in school, need portable equipment to take with them, and don't have the room or money for big, dedicated setups. Yet.

But they're going to finish school, get jobs and then most listening will be done at home in the evenings. They certainly know about the T1, HD-800, LCD2, O2, and all the other full-sized open cans. Eventually, they're going to want something like that waiting for them when they come home after work. When that happens, we'll probably have an explosion of new products there, too. It's a few years off, but the new members are going to upgrade.

The other cool thing that's going to happen is that a much bigger used market will develop. Speaker/traditional hi-fi has a good 50 years of products to choose from. We have at most ten years of products of choose from, many still with their original owners. As the years go by, new members will be able to pick up great deals on great stuff.

I think the headphone world is just going to get better, but you're right about a transition going on.

 
I totally agree with your post.  When I was back in high school, I simply had a pair of Koss R80s connected to my computer and I loved it until the headband broke.  Then in college I had a pair of Shure E2Cs only connected to a computer, and I loved that too.  Now, two years out of college and I can't see myself ever going back to those types of headphones.
 
It's definitely nice having an excellent headphone setup that I can come home to at the end of a long day at work.  Listening for an hour or two before bed really calms me and puts me in a pretty good mood.
 
Of course, it helps to have a decent job so you can support this hobby.  I could only dream of spending this much on a headphone setup three or four years ago.

 

[Czilla9000]

As the oldest poster (by join date) in this thread I thought I'd comment. 
 
You'll be surprised by my ultimate conclusion. Gather 'round kids:
 
 
1. The Fall Of HeadRoom: This may come as a shock to you, but HeadRoom used to be an imposing presence in the community. They had a lineup of amps much larger than today's, and were pretty much the only game in town for headphone amplifiers. The HeadRoom Max and HeadRoom Blockhead were the amps to aspire to. They had there own forum and were one of very few sponsors. They used to link their homepage, in fact, to HeadFi.
 
HeadRoom's monopoly and business model were slowly destroyed by the DIY cottage industry. It was a very slow transition that did not appear momentous at the time. The cost of headphone amps has gone down since that turn of events; today's amps are also much higher quality as well (including HeadRoom's own efforts).
 
2. The Fall of Aftermarket Cables: Back when I first joined HeadFi cables were very cool. Speaking out against cable companies, especially Cardas,  was extremely dangerous. Those of us who criticized aftermarket cables were a small minority who often were threatened by other members. We were not popular, and the opinion we held was not considered respectable.
 
The common wisdom was to spend about 20% of ones budget on cables. It was not uncommon for a member to a have a power cable more expensive than their headphones. Do a search for "Virtual Dynamics" if you want to see how it was around here.
 
Oh, how the tables have turned: The conventional wisdom is now slightly in the anti-cable camp. The Sound Science forum, absent for my most of tenure here, has made discussion of DBT commonplace. Even the "pro-cable' side is far less extreme than they used to be.
 
3. The Rise of $1000+ Dynamic Headphones: Back in 2002 spending more than $300 on a headphone was uncommon. Grado was thought of as pushing the envelope with the $695 RS1. The AKG K1000 was relatively affordable, and did not possess the reputation it enjoys today. I think at one point HeadRoom had the AKG K1000 on clearance sale for $399. But the most common threads were "Grado Vs. Sennheiser". Grado and Sennheiser controlled the majority of headphone mindshare: The HD600 and RS1 were it. Japanese dynamic headphones weren't taken that seriously.
 
But spending more than $1000 on a dynamic was out of the question: That was left to electrostats. The conventional wisdom was that electrostats were the unaffordable pinnacle, and that Stax was the Rolls-Royce of headphone. A Stax system of any kind was considered very special and elite...
 
...But most people bought Sennheiser HD600's for $300 and thought that was the best they'd ever see. You'd spend $300 on an HD600, spend $150 or so on balanced cabling,  hook it up to a $3000 HeadRoom Blockhead, and figured your system could never be improved besides going for a Stax Omega 2 or an Orpheus.
 
Conclusion: If anything has changed, it is that HeadFi is under LESS corporate influence than it used to be. In the olden' days a couple of powerful players controlled the supply of product and HeadFi's revenue stream. The DIY movement has largely eroded their power, and HeadFi now receives revenue from a cornucopia of sponsors and advertisers. Ultrasone and others popped into existance. No one manufacturer, or ideology, has the kind of monolithic mindshare that was once commonplace here.
 
So, if anything (besides for a dark and brief episode in 2008 I won't talk about) things have improved since 2002!
 

 

[chadbang]

I'll be you ten to one you aren't here in 2015. Or you'll be posting three times a week instead of three hundred.

 
Quote:

. I remember people complaining about the "old days" here five years ago, and we'll probably get similar complaints in 2015.
 

 

[ford2]

Quote:

This forum needs more attractive female redheads. C'mon, you were all thinking it. 

 How nice another redhead lover,only TRUE redheads need apply.

 

[3602]

Kari Byron.
I will not explain what I just said.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I'll be you ten to one you aren't here in 2015. Or you'll be posting three times a week instead of three hundred.

 

I plan to stick around. You might be right about the posting, though.