[FlyingPigman]

Haha, I was just reminiscing about my first headphone purchase. I asked for a pair of Samson SR850's for my 10th birthday. At the time mind you, $50 seemed like a ton of money. Anyways, I grew up listening to good sound, and I got hooked. I now own 2 pairs of Senns, AKG Q701, and Grado SR80's. Anyways, what headphones first got you hooked on the audio bug? 

 

[viralcow]

HD595.

 

[jeremy205100]

Sennheiser HD 555s. Too bad they suffered from the notorious cracking. But Sennheiser gave me an upgrade to the 558s for free. Hearing an open headphone for the first time really opened my eyes, or ears I guess.

 

[tdockweiler]

The original K701. I was using it with just an Ipod Classic (monochrome!) with a Total Airhead.
It got the job done and managed to sound good. I believe it had a Wolfson DAC in it.
 
Even double amped it because they didn't have LOD cables back then..
 
I would say I didn't really get hooked on headphones until I wanted to find a headphone that sounded as good as my Triple Fi 10 (with Comply foams).
I downsized from my K701 and spent 3 years with just a Triple Fi 10.
 
 
 

 

[Modular]

DT880's. They were my first really good headphone. Prior to that I picked up a few FOTM I heard about on here and while they were good, they were nothing like these. 
 
That being said, I picked up the Samson SR850's as well as my first well thought out purchase. At the time $50 on headphones seemed like a lot...ha

 

[reddragon]

my first jump was the etymotic research hf5, i remember receiving it and being very disappointed about the bass. thought it was close to non existing, especially when i was using the 5 bucks coby jammerz (my first iem ever and i actually liked it despite it does not really impress in terms of sound quality technicality wise but its signature targets average consumer, boosted midbass and warmer than neutral sound across the spectrum which makes it pretty easy to like for 5 bucks, a pretty fun sounding iem) prior to the hf5. then i learned that i had to insert it deeper and then theres the bass! not a lot in quantity but quality was quite good, cleaner bass than any of my other gears at that time. clarity and resolution were clearly a notch up from my other gears also (all others i had at that time were 5 to 10 bucks cheapos). thats basically how i started.  

 

[ubs28]

Headphones and IEM that people said were the best in world got heavily beaten by my old AKG 240S. Hence why I did some research and bought some premium cans and IEM (Shure SRH 1840 and the Shure SE535).

 

[GaryWA]

  Headphones and IEM that people said were the best in world got heavily beaten by my old AKG 240S. Hence why I did some research and bought some premium cans and IEM (Shure SRH 1840 and the Shure SE535).

Nice headphones..
 
I've had the M50's for a while, but I would consider them barely entry level headphones. My real foray into the hi-fi world were DT880 PRO's from Guitar Center, and now the 1840's.

 

[Oregonian]

Denon D2000

 

[J&J]

Back in the day 90s ? a Senn HD 600 with a HR Amp btw the 600 is still holding it's own against the newer stuff

 

[blessedangel]

The first for me was the SRH- 440's....Such clear sound...I never knew the meaning before buying them...  And oddly enough, they were the first "true" headphones I ever purchased.

 

[bid2630]

Sony MDR V6 - circa 1985.

 

[Old Pa]

I started out with Koss Pro4a in the early '70s, but did not find real resonance with any headphones until the Sennheiser HD-600s with a decent cord and amp.  

 

 

[62ohm]

I was once a hardcore Bose fan (lol, I know), and was very proud of my QC15
 
Then I want to get myself a pair of earphones for ease of transport, so I get the B&W C5 and was mesmerized by how good it sounds. It actually puts my QC15 into its box and rarely see daylight, let alone play music. So yeah, my B&W C5 started my audiophile journey.

 

[Kyle 491]

HD595 also. I still prefer it to most cans below flagship level.