[thedips]

i always used cheaper headphones with all my gadgets... even with my old mini discs and cd players... it wasnt until i finally worked on my car stereo ... i finally realized that needed to up the ante on the headphones.....

started off easy...

GRADO sr80s... and i did alot of research online before i just got any ol set of cans

 

[progo]

HD595s.

 

[Ellen_125]

Grado SR60's for me. And I won't even let them go!

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headphile808 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sennheiser HD455 about 20 years ago, still got em', sounds exactly the same as they did back then. Aloha Headphile808

Heheh, I still have my HD455. They sound as crappy as the day I bought them. Of course, I didn't know it at the time. For me the first REAL headphones I bought were the HD600, which I bought in 1999. And then I discovered a website forum called Head-Fi a few years later.

-Ed

 

[ting.mike]

UM2 from Jaben.

Bought it, listened to it overnight, the next morning I came back to Jaben and told Wilson "This is not the one for me", and got the Ety 4S.

Been happy ever since.

 

[Bubbah]

HD595 <3

 

[Kevin.T]

I've been fascinated with "good quality" headphones since I was a kid. I remember seeing people with the neckband Sony Street Style headphones and wanted them sooooo bad (when you're a kid, 25$ is very luxurious hehe). I didn't know the concept of "sound quality" back then.

Eventually I got 'em. Then they broke. Got more cheap headphones in between... eventually started realizing I was not satisfied with the sound quality. I was finally SQ conscious... it's like I leveled up overnight

. So I bought the Sony MDR-V300, which satisfied me at the time. I was still not very informed about headphones at the time, though.

Then they broke too. No more Sony for me! I eventually got informed on headphones and bought Sennheiser PX200s. That's when I'd say my journey began. After rocking them with my portable player for about a year, I paid a visit, for the first time, to the local HiFi shop. I was there to buy (cheap) interconnects, and tried the AKG K 414 P they had on display just out of curiosity.

That's when it all really took off. The sound quality was so detailed and immersive compared to the PX200, it almost sounded too good to be true. And they weren't even really expensive! I bought them on the spot. I actually still swear by them today with my portable gear.

Later last year was when I started working on the high-quality, don't-leave-the-house headphones. I bought AKG 141 Studio with Christmas money (full retail price) and AKG K 530 with birthday money which was 15 days later (found them for half of retail price, thinking I was getting a super sweet deal).

Of course, now that I'm on Head-Fi, I realize that I'm never buying retail again. MUCH better deals to be had online and in a community where people take great care of their headphones it's like getting them new, condition wise, with the benefit of an already 'broken in' sound! Also, reading on Head-Fi really keeps me in check before I buy a pair of headphones.

Next stop for me is the K 701 + Corda Headfive. Should be a good step up from K 530 + Harman/Kardon AVR 146!

 

[ting.mike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm pretty sure I was 12, at which point I got Alessandro MS1's which I bought to replace my AHP-512.

that has got to be a record! I dont' think anyone else started younger.

 

[mark_h]

ER4P (still a favorite)

 

[socrates63]

Back in 2001 or 2003, my search for earbuds better than stock led me to Sennheiser MX500 (still have). I read the blurb on Headroom's web site and bought them. Headroom gave them really high praise and deservedly so.

That then led to more searching and reading about the Grado SR60 (still have but one driver is broken) in a review by IGN.com.

Another year or so later, I found Head-Fi and the ride really took off starting with the HD595 (sold) and SR225 (sold).

 

[indydieselnut]

I had a pair of Sony's I bought overseas...I don't remember the exact model number (this was 20 years ago and I was a young kid) but I remember it had "800" on the side of it. They were over-the-ear sealed design and I spent more time with my head between those than I can remember. I really discovered music with those 'phones and my trusty Discman.

There's still a vivid mental image in my head of the orange backlit glow from that Discman (using the AC adapter) as I spun tracks when I should have been sleeping. Isn't it funny how much we enjoyed music before we knew what sound quality was all about? In some ways, the whole point of hi-fi is to take us to a place where we can regain the innocence of our ears.

So, unnamed Sony headphones...I salute you!

 

[chadbang]

I bought a pair of Sony E-888 earbuds. Cost me $25 bucks back then! Huge amount for headphones at that point. Hehehe.

 

[Lazarus Short]

I mentioned, early in this thread, that my first real headphones were Stax SR-34's, but I've been thinking since that post...

When I was a teenager, my mom worked at an electronics outfit called Midland. I got my first stereo, BSR TT, Midland receiver & speakers (still have the speaks, tho modded), from that place on an employee discount. She would bring returned/scratch&dent items home from time to time, and one time, it was a set of headphones. One side was dead, so I acquired some drivers of the right size and swapped them out. I still don't know how good they were, as I had never heard high-end audio at that point of my life, but there - I was modding headphones in the early 1970's, before most of you were born!

 

[Kevin.T]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang /img/forum/go_quote.gif I bought a pair of Sony E-888 earbuds. Cost me $25 bucks back then! Huge amount for headphones at that point. Hehehe.

I know, this is one of the things that I was really surprised with when discovering the hifi headphones hobby.

Back then, I though that 100$ was enough to get some top quality headphones. When I finally stepped into the hifi universe and saw the prices, reality kicked me in the nose and I knew I would never get my innocence back from that point on.

 

[Tridacnid]

Ety ER6i, which I've left behind, due to a lacking low end and what I feel is too much detail. But they got me started, and are in a good home now.