[MrJohnny]

I thought it would be cool to ask around and see why people love headphones? More specifically what got them hooked?

Honestly for me it was simple, I enjoy analyzing and being consumed by detail. Its almost like a treasure hunt, looking for little hidden details and adding to the whole picture. It also seems to make me happy on a daily basis. I have adhd which has been very difficult. I kind of fell out of the hobby, finding a new fix, (motorcycles and turbochargers) but they never held same power as these lil cans. The stimulation of being an audiophile\audio analyzer, seems to fire the correct synapses i need to get my much needed dopamine!!]


Anyway, these thread is super casual. I was just curious about what hooked everybody else up to this hobby!!

Thank you.

 

[michaelwheeldon]

Reset switch for my brain

 

[blackdragon87]

I love using headphones because it blocks out other family members annoying piano music. Whenever i use them i can't hear anything else

 

[wuwhere]

I'd rather have big speakers.

 

[5twnr]

I use my good headphones when I really want to concentrate on music that I know has a lot of layers, i.e. experimental stuff like Radiohead or Bjork. When I heard Bjork's Vespertine on good headphones for the first time I was entirely blown away. It was like a whole new world opened up for me.

Otherwise I prefer speakers for casual listening, or for blasting general music. Most music I would put in this category, as I find listening to them with headphones don't really give me a much better experience. If anything, they reveal more mastering flaws (brick-walling sucks!)

 

[FastAndClean]

i use them because they sound good

 

[blackdragon87]

i use them because they sound good

As do I

 

[Hangling]

i usually use headphones listen to music, block out noise and keep my own space

 

[lantian]

I'll spend whatever I can to get to where I am going, striving for perfection. I want the full experience each artist has intended to be had with each album I press play on.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I started listening to audiophile headphones around 1976, but didn’t get my own headphone system together till 1981. In 1981 I also had a great stereo but always appreciated the difference from good headphones. Next purchase started in the mid-late 1990s getting a new system together. There was nothing of a community at that time except audiophile headphone advertisements from GRADO and Headroom amplifiers. In 2008 I became more interested in headphones even after owning them for years. Finding out about Head-Fi created intrigue as now it seemed there was more and more products. The last ten years have been an exciting time, as it really doesn’t matter what you buy. There has never been such interest as today. Much of headphone listening for me centered around both Lp collecting and music production. But even after I gave up recording music or collecting vinyl, my love of music on headphones remained. It also became a goal to find out how good I could make replay quality.

Headphone listening is a great way to find entertainment and continuous education about both musical playback and music culture in general.

Headphones can help a person hear details which would be difficult to hear without super expensive floor standers or super loud playback or both. The hobby is also interesting from a technology point of view. It keeps me out of trouble........well slighly out of trouble.

 

[wuwhere]

Its the only hobby I could afford.

 

[serman005]

I want to hear as much of what was occurring in that studio or arena as humanly possible. It makes the music more real for me. Was a speaker guy, now prefer phones.

 

[jjflemin]

Haven't spent a huge amount yet, but am leaning towards some large upgrades. There is something exciting about hearing a song you think you know well out of a different setup and realizing there is a lot you may have missed. That's what is pushing me to set aside money for audio anyways.

 

[wuwhere]

Cause I can't afford a big listening room for big speakers with mono-block tube amplifiers.

 

[dhc0329]

This is a hobby which we don't have enough time to enjoy as we spend more time in preparing to enjoy.