[flaxton]

Sennheiser hd540 was the first really good headphones I owned.

 

[ruinedx]

From a longtime speaker listener-

HD700 got my attention
HD800 got my money
HD820 got my long term commitment to headphones

had plenty of headphones before these, but these converted me from speakers to headphones

 

[Fyrsten]

Must have been either Takstar Pro 80 or Audio-Technica M50x
been through hell of alot headphones since, and still enjoy just getting to listen to new experiences, it truly is an immersive hobby, also expensive, but meh

 

[loregnum]

HD600 back almost 20 years ago was the first real pair of headphones I got and they got me hooked on this hobby. Crazy it's been that long.

 

[Bern2]

I worked as an engineer (video) on a music program. (Larry McCray did songs from his first album...I think before it was even released). Anyway....we hired the audio out as contract and the gentleman had Beyer 990 pros. While I wasn't a fan of his mix....I liked the sound of his headphones. I never did get those, but that was the (slow) start of it all. This had to be around 1989.

Bern

 

[indykun]

Sony MDR-D55 "Eggos" are what hooked me into the "journey". They sounded great for the money, were highly portable and looked damn cool. Of course it's been a whirlwhind of cans, amps and dacs since then, but they were the "red pill".

 

[stephenlee2801]

I think the first time my ears were opened to this world was when I listened to my friend's HD600s. I don't remember what amp / DAC was used but I really didn't know music could sound like that when I tried them. It was around 15-20 years which is remarkable when you consider that quite a few people still use those same headphones to this day.

 

[rxzlmn]

AKG K271s. I don't even know why, but for some reason I started to research headphones and found these as an affordable option being used in real studios as monitor, which impressed me, lol. Although nowadays I could not deal with their anemic bass response at all, at that time I was blown away by the detail they revealed. Tracks that I knew in and out suddenly sounded like brand new.

 

[ksorota]

JVC HA-500s
Started with these... quickly moved to HD595, then HD650... and so on!

 

[hiImGrant]

Hilarious thread gap here! But I’ll bite anyway.

it was probably the ad500x or m40x that really started the progression.

 

[nasty nate]

I agree with many of the others - the HD600s are flagship headphones for less than mid-fi price.

Amp them properly with a good source and it's all you need.

 

[plmon]

Got double hit back when the budget Monoprice stuff was FOTM (8320 IEM and their DJ headphones). But it wasn't until the Q701 that I really felt awed and bit with the unstoppable bug.

 

[SubieGC8]

hd580, still have em too

 

[Mink]

10 years with Sony MDR-CD270s, loved them to death and yes they really died. After my subscription to Head-fi I bought a pair of Audio Technica ATH-A500s. They improved on everythng: soundstage, bass and detail. My first 'serious' pair of headphones, (I mean a MSRP of 699 USD was some serious s**t to me) were the Denon AH-D5000s.I got them for 350 euro btw.
(Funny, nowadays 699 USD is considered 'cheap' to many here at Head-fi...)

 

[SubieGC8]

Sony MDR V6 - circa 1985.

still sooo good