Whoah...have I really been on this forum for 5 years?

Sep 5, 2007 at 4:56 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 12

averydonovan

Headphoneus Supremus
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Aug 16, 2002
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I just realized today that I passed the 5-year mark on this forum. Wow have things changed since I got here, both here and for me.

When I started here I was asking about the Sony V6 which seemed obscenely expensive to me at the time. And it was still a somewhat respected pair of cans back then. Within 2 years I got a pretty decent system together and up until earlier this year I was working on a good portable system.

Now I've had my same amp and cans for over 3 years, had my turntable for 2, and my former primary DAP for over a year. Yet my amp and turntable are still boxed up after my latest move (actually the turntable was boxed up 8 months ago), I use my phone and sealed earbuds as a DAP, and my headphones are connected directly to my computer. Yet I enjoy listening to music as much as I ever did, just that it's the music itself I value over the sound quality. Certainly I have a minimum expectation of sound quality except that it's more that I don't want the sound to be offensive, not necessarily that I am in audio bliss.

When I joined this place there were just over 3000 members and I think less than 100,000 posts. The HeadRoom sponsor forum was the only sponsor forum, and Todd was doing TTVJ as a side project while working for HeadRoom. HeadRoom and Meier Audio were the major headphone amp manufacturers. IEM meant Etymotic. Computer audio was barely discussed. The Member's Lounge contained topics that would now earn a swift negative reaction from moderators. You barely had to scroll to see the complete list of forums. Kelly made Head-Fi records by racking up over 5000 posts within about a year. Nobody would touch that one for a while.

Now there are nearly 33x the posts and 20x the number of members as back then. The TTVJ forum is now the single longest running sponsor forum on here. HeadRoom and Meier Audio have a large number of competitors in the headphone amp space, both above and below their target markets. IEM makes one think of Shure or Ultimate Ears first, and then remembering Etymotic makes them too. The computer audio forum has 75% of the posts of the dedicated sources forum, despite being a few years newer. The Member's Lounge went through a cleanup phase to match what is allowed in the general topics are of other large forums. And wow do I have to scroll through that list of forums. Not to mention 53 posters have more posts than kelly, the top poster having 4x the number of posts he did.

So there's 5 years in a few paragraphs
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Sep 5, 2007 at 5:12 AM Post #2 of 12
Time flies. After reading your post, I realized that I have been on here for 3 years already... wow
 
Sep 5, 2007 at 6:12 AM Post #4 of 12
I miss apheared.

The explosion of mom and pop amp makers is the most remarkable development since my joining IMO. Used to be if you wanted a small portable amp, you bought a Airhead, a Porta Corda, or you built your own CMOY. Now, the choices in the under 100 dollar amp category are mind blowing.

To the issue of the V6: as I have said many times before, I have bought and sold many headphones, amps and sources. The only constant in my collection has been my V6, unamped. No other equipment combination has brought me the listening satisfaction that it has. I know all the criticisms, and I could care less..................does that make me a non-audiophile? Maybe. But so long as I have fun listening to the music, I don't care.

ADDED: Since I originally joined under another username, I am actually closing in on my sixth year on the forum.
 
Sep 5, 2007 at 6:14 AM Post #5 of 12
yes. time goes fast. people come and go. the big posters today will be someone else 6-12 months from now.
 
Sep 5, 2007 at 7:29 AM Post #6 of 12
i remember reading back in 2004 for fun and shopping hints and suggestions and yes, there was a different air even back then. after typing my first ever post last year or so, i felt something (tension) break within in me as maybe after 2 years of comparing silently myself with other comrades and bringing my experience into the fray, i felt that i could bear my weight down as well.

recently, i am happy to notice that i see fewer (suggest the best headphone for 200$ threads - 3 or 4 months ago, i opened up browser to my boss who was interested in seeing this forum and she exclaimed "oh, it is just a hook up service). shame as i had told her that it was the place of educated discussions and life for us fanatics.
 
Sep 5, 2007 at 6:53 PM Post #11 of 12
Quote:

Originally Posted by Assorted /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Wow looking up posts by Kelly is a real eye opener for what Head-fi used to be :O


I miss Kelly a lot. We had some great disagreements, but he was always fun to argue with, and there was mutual respect even when we were going at it tooth and nail. He knew a lot about headphone audio, and what he was looking for in an audio system. He also had strong views about Head-Fi, and was a major force in shaping it during the early years. In today's Head-Fi, I'd give him about 100 posts or less before the ban
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