[justinliu]

Well, I've been looking around at all of the beautiful customs that have been created and reviewed around here at Head-Fi. 
 
 

Spoiler: My%20cheesy%20audiophile%20journey...

 
I only recently started my "audiophile journey" this year, actually. I first had an interest in headphones when I saw a random YouTube video on... the Beats. At the time, I had no idea headphones besides the old, vintage ones that are used in older movies and such even existed. They looked really awesome, but when I heard the price tag, I blew it off.
 
Then, my brother actually did some research and found that the Sennheiser HD 555 were some pretty decent headphones. I continued to use my Apple earbuds, but sometimes stole his HD 555, although my brother got pissed sometimes. Then, he was looking for a new pair of headphones. He eventually got the ATH-M50, which sounded amazingly clear to me during my first listen with them.
 
I started to take an interest of my own in audio, and so I eventually stumbled upon Head-Fi. I lurked around a bit on and off. I only recently made an account so I could discuss some of my choices for earphones and headphones, as well as contribute some of my experiences and opinions. 
 
For some reason, the equipment that I have read about on Head-Fi seem to beg me to spent more money on them. Unfortunately, only being a lowly teenager (hooray for being a young'un),  my budget is obviously limited. Of course, I have a "gaming laptop", which is my Alienware M17x. I was thinking of selling it so I could afford what I have been obsessed with for the last 24 hours or so - customs. And I'm talking about the UM Miracles, Westone ES5, and other high-end customs. I've gone through joker's comparisons, and he says that there's a significant jump in sound quality compared to other phones when he listened to the Miracles, especially compared to universals. 
 
Now, I only began thinking maturely and I figured I wouldn't really need this laptop. I rarely even use it for my intended purpose of gaming now, and I only enjoy it because of the glowing lights and nice 1080p screen. Unfortunately though, the laptop comes with its cons, such as its crashing every once in a while as well as its 15 pound weight.
 

 
 
So do you guys think I should get some customs? I can definitely afford it if I decide to sell my laptop. If I can sell it soon, I can get an incredibly cheap, yet nice desktop setup and still have over $1000 left (if I can sell my laptop for the same price I bought it at). Along with this, I may be selling my Astro A40's and wired Mixamp, so add another $200 in there. 
 
Or are customs just a bit too wild for me at the moment, and maybe I should get them in a few years when I can get a job and pay for it solely on that pay? I can definitely wait, but I have the opportunity at the moment to get them. Thanks!

Edit: I forgot to mention I have been through all of this thinking in only 2 months, so it might be too fast to jump into the high-end custom world... but then again, they're so desirable!

 

 

[Poak]

Which headphones are you currently using? 
 
Because I'm pretty sure you can find a decent pair of universals which will suit your needs and cost much less than a pair of customs.
 
If I would be you, I'd give myself some time and enjoy what you currently have or get a pair of decent universals if you don't allready own one. The difference between a low-end headphone and a high-end universal generally is a lot bigger than the difference between a high-end universal and a pair of customs. 
 
But if you want customs really bad.. well it's up to you!

 

[davidcotton]

Have you actually had any experience of iems themselves?  Only asking as you seem to have had mainly headphones at the moment.  You may not like the feeling of something in your ear, custom or otherwise.  There's also the fact that as your a teenager then the shape of your ear canals will change as you grow and won't really settle down until your about 20 ish.  TBH in your situation I would wait until you have a feel of what sort of sound you like, whether it be bright, dark or somewhere in between.  It's christmas time so there should "hopefully" be all sorts of deals around atm so should be able to bag yourself a bargain.  Do a bit more reading particularly jokers mahoosive thread and see if there's anything there you like the sound of.  Besides if you jump straight in at the top (not that there's anything wrong with that!)then you won't know what else you'll have missed.
 
Good luck.
 
 

 

[justinliu]

Quote:

Have you actually had any experience of iems themselves?  Only asking as you seem to have had mainly headphones at the moment.  You may not like the feeling of something in your ear, custom or otherwise.  There's also the fact that as your a teenager then the shape of your ear canals will change as you grow and won't really settle down until your about 20 ish.  TBH in your situation I would wait until you have a feel of what sort of sound you like, whether it be bright, dark or somewhere in between.  It's christmas time so there should "hopefully" be all sorts of deals around atm so should be able to bag yourself a bargain.  Do a bit more reading particularly jokers mahoosive thread and see if there's anything there you like the sound of.  Besides if you jump straight in at the top (not that there's anything wrong with that!)then you won't know what else you'll have missed.
 
Good luck.
 
 

 

I have a couple of universal IEMs, such as my Miles Davis Tribute. The fact that they are in my ears doesn't really bother me. Also, I was thinking about the changes of my ears and ear canals as well, as another reason to wait.
 
Thanks for your advice guys!
 

 

[reelraw]

Hi there I among the same predicament as you however i am just going to bite the dust. i will get the westone Es5 as I dont know what I'm missing out on. It is the only custom iem i will get. Other than that I will only consider the uerms for clarity and most balanced eq and i look away from the jh series due to their emphasis on different parts of the eq And overall fitment.
Where will you buy them from if you were to?

 

[justinliu]

Quote:

Hi there I among the same predicament as you however i am just going to bite the dust. i will get the westone Es5 as I dont know what I'm missing out on. It is the only custom iem i will get. Other than that I will only consider the uerms for clarity and most balanced eq and i look away from the jh series due to their emphasis on different parts of the eq And overall fitment.
Where will you buy them from if you were to?

I'm really interested in the UM Miracle, so I would probably order through an audiologist from Unique Melody.

 

[Spyro]

If you are single and have decent discretionary income, yes you should get customs.  Buy JH16, ES5 or UE18 and be done with it.

 

[ZoNtO]

From personal experience, any time an audio "upgrade" gets you to the point where you're considering making huge monetary decisions in a short amount of time you need to be careful. The phones will still be there in a week or a month. Decide exactly what you want slowly and think about the pros and cons of having/selling certain gear.
 
Head-Fi fosters impulse buying, and it's easy to get lured into the trap.

 

[pilus]

I'm just sharing my opinion here okay ...
 
My first audiophile grade IEM is a Klipsch Image S4i, from there jumped right to Westone UM3x.
 
After several months I got tired of changing eartips, trying to find that perfect fit, and so on, so I decided to buy a headphone.
 
A week ago I bought a fully burned in & used ATH M50, as I can't spend too much money on on year ends.
 
When I first heard the M50, I thought it sounded like cow's fart, so ugly, it made me want to just throw the damn thing to the wall.
 
After a while, and after some simple cotton stuffing mod to the earpad, my ear got accustomed, and I can appreciate the sound signature, although it's no where near my UM3X.
 
My point is, take it easy, this is headphones / IEMs we're talking here, there's a lot of options to venture ...
 
Almost a year ago I'm one of those typical basshead, but after some time with um3x, I found myself to be quite fond of detailed and analytical sounding phones
 
Cheers
 

 

[pilus]

Okay, just my other two cents
With $1000 you can buy a really nice full sized circumaural headphone (thinking about HE500, as they're my next target), and a really nice DAC, and a really nice full sized AMP (Valhalla ? )
Custom ? Just one custom IEM, and probably one sub-standard DAC/AMP combo.
And you haven't got a job yet ? Talking from experience, it's somewhat annoying to pursue your hobby using someone else's money
Westone UM3X + Westone UM56 Custom Eartip would be a wise move ...

 

[justinliu]

Quote:

Okay, just my other two cents
With $1000 you can buy a really nice full sized circumaural headphone (thinking about HE500, as they're my next target), and a really nice DAC, and a really nice full sized AMP (Valhalla ? )
Custom ? Just one custom IEM, and probably one sub-standard DAC/AMP combo.
And you haven't got a job yet ? Talking from experience, it's somewhat annoying to pursue your hobby using someone else's money
Westone UM3X + Westone UM56 Custom Eartip would be a wise move ...

It's actually my money, heheh. I wouldn't do that to my parents.
 
Also, I'm out a lot, so I was thinking of portable first and desktop second. If I was more of a couch potato, I would have bought myself a desktop AMP and DAC by now.