[zaodriver]

I got into the audiophile hobby thanks to my junior year college roommate. He was apparently reading head-fi when he was researching some new headphones after purchasing a new stereo amp/receiver.  He found a thread that was a shootout for the Sennheiser HD 497 and the Grado SR-60. He bough the HD 497 and I bought the SR-60. I was floored by the amount of detail that the Grados emitted. I was even more floored at the difference between my crappy computer `headphone out' and his amp/receiver. Since then, I have been chasing the "full sound" that only good gear can provide. I will likely be chasing this idea forever. I was already well into chasing the sound for my guitars and guitar amps/cabs. 

 

[mbamg]

Because dollar-store earbuds just didn't cut it. It's been a slow trek uphill, but I think I'm close to reaching mid-fi.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Because I didn't want to spend $300 for a pair of Beats, googled it, and now Head-Fi has changed a lot of what I do, like I started watching good anime and am getting into good music and vinyl. But my initial go was NOT achieved... I've spent WAY more than a pair of Beats Studios on all my gear... :rolleyes:

 

[anuraj250]

I had got free sony earphones(separately) with first mobile (sony erricson live with walkman) , wch sounded great but later I had got around Rs.1600(approx 30$)left in my pocket. I bought UE200 earphones(randomly). Both had alot difference in SQ and UE sounded much better. Then I thought "if these have this much difference, then wat wud other earphones sound like". Now I have Audio technica ATH - SJ11 , klipsch s3 , sony xb400.

 

[anuraj250]

I had got free sony earphones(separately) with first mobile (sony erricson live with walkman) , wch sounded great but later I had got around Rs.1600(approx 30$)left in my pocket. I bought UE200 earphones(randomly). Both had alot difference in SQ and UE sounded much better. Then I thought "if these have this much difference, then wat wud other earphones sound like". Now I have Audio technica ATH - SJ11 , klipsch s3 , sony xb400.

I m still a student and this happened 6 months ago.

 

[Paul K]

When I was younger, so much younger than I am now I got my first Midi System and always played about with the EQ to make it sound better.

Then I purchased my first Kenwood Hi-Fi D700 I think, and thought it was the business. At the time my friends and I were heavily into the club scene with many a night spent in 'The Tunnel' Glasgow, Scotland. The bass in the place (pardon the pun) was incredible and the music was brilliant. I then set about replicating as best I could what we heard in The Tunnel by upgrading the speaker cable. The freight company I was working for at the time had a delivery for Linn Hi-Fi and that's where I saw the first £28,000 system and I was literally blown away, I then secured a job with Linn and so the appreciating for quality grew. Within 18mths I had my own system valued at £5000.

When I got married my other half did not appreciate the quality and eventually sold it. So I had to find something that would give me back the love I had for music. So I bought a pair of Shure SE530's and was happy with them, then upgraded to 535, came in here and find there is so much more to exploit.

Just ordered 2 new sets of cables and bought an AMP, so I've just taken the blue pill and now looking to see how far the burrow goes.

 

[chengsta]

 When I was younger, think I spent a total of $5,000 on subs, amplifiers, and high end audio for autos. I'm a relatively on and off audiophile, although I've been listening to music for at least 10,000 hours in the last 2 years alone.  But lately with my new job I work alot of overtime, and my work place allows me to listen to headphones, I wear them all the time. 
 
My (IEM) journey began about 3-5 months ago when my $20 sony mdr58v earbuds broke.  I thought nothing of it, and bought a more expensive earbud as an 'upgrade' but then I realized that it just couldn't compare at all to the cheap sonys.  The new earbuds had barely any detail and was just bloated with fake bass, and that really really really bugged me.  Several hundred $$ later, I just wasn't satisfied with anything of lesser quality than the sony mdrex58v which was ironically only $20.  I then happened to find this site and thats when I realized that I was at the beginning of the road through audiophile (IEM version) land.
 
Although I'm relatively new (with IEMS that is), I've spent a lot of money in a short amount of time to satisfy my new hobby:
 
$60 Fiio e11 -- Bought it for good reviews, and it is good.  Bass boost function is very nice, but kinda darkens the sound.
 
$30 Maximo 390 earbuds -- Very dark, bass is very weak and distorts alot.
 
$300 beats Studio --  Just horrible all around, I don't know how people can stand it.  I am a basshead and this is not bass.  I guess I just bought the brand name.  Very muddy, treble don't exist, bass is bloaty and not enjoyable.  I thought bigger cans = better music.  Not true.
 
$120 SOL republic tracks HD -- Alot better and cheaper than beats, good bass but that's about it.  Slightly more detailed and less veiled than beats, but again the highs are very muffled.
 
$70 sony ex510lp -- Beat the sony mdr58v on all fronts, except transparency. But bass was thin and distorted at high volumes.  Also too sibilant.
 
$260 sony xba 40 -- So far sony has been the only reliable quality brand that I knew so I pulled the trigger.  Pretty damn awesome, better than the Beats and Tracks HD.  This is when I realized that yes, I really CAN relive my bassful youth through tiny IEM's minus the physical vibrations. But then my audiophile-ness started to pick at the flaws:  the subs try to play all frequencies, veiling the mids and highs just a bit, enough to eventually annoy my audiophile soul.  It is slightly echo-ey if you listen hard enough, and the subs have a volume limit before they start distorting.  I thought to myself, if only it had crossovers (like my old car audio systems) so that the damn subs wouldn't try to replicate the highs....
 
$115 Digizoid Z02 --  I wanted more bass because some of my techno/trance didn't give the booms that my hiphop tracks gave, even with the e11 bass boost.  I read that this baby gave lots of bass.  It does, but it needs to be doubleamped to give good volume, volume is too low.  Also, makes the music way too dark, turned the xba 40's into beats.
 
$1260 JH16 Pro -- I just shipped my earmolds today, I consider this my first real leap into the (IEM)audiophile world.  I can't comment on quality of sound yet, but I researched for weeks deciding between this, UM merlin, UM miracles, Aurisonics as-2, UE900, 1PLUS2, Westone 4R, 1964 V6, Sure SE535.  Ultimately I went with the JH16 because there was just too many good reviews + the new FP tech + I cannot resist the idea of 4 subs.  I wanted soul shaking bass, without sacrificing detail and clarity.  It was a really damn tough decision to make. I hope to be blown away by this when i finally get them next month.
 
$190 JDS labs C5 amp -- I'll need an amp to go with my jh16's (and LOD from ipod nano 7th gen), and I heard this baby is more transparent and neutral than the E11.  Also I heard the bass is just as powerful, but better overall, and doesn't interfere with the other frequencies as much as the e11.  Just ordered a few hours ago.
 
I also plan to get an aftermarket cable, still doing research on whether or not it is really worth it.
 
Music I listen to:  hip hop 10%, Jpop 10%, Rock/metal 25%, techno/trance 30%, soundtrack 15%, others 10%

 

[audionewbi]

An experiment became an obsession.

 

[reddragon]

Quote:

An experiment became an obsession.

 
 
haha who can describe better?

 

[ramintop]

It started when I listened to the earphones that came with the first sony ericsson walkman phone, they shipped really good earphones with their phones back then and I remember them breaking like 4-5 times and I bought new ones every time.

 

[jimmylee1997]

I didn't have a good transducer for my substantial CD collection until I saw a HD595 on eBay for really cheap and won the bid.
Then, I thought it sounds much nicer than many in-ears that I had and the usual fashion headphones that my friends own, but it sounded thin somehow.
So I went on the internet and discovered Head-Fi...And I bought an amp, then I bought a DAC, then came more headphones, more amp, and more CDs...

 

[Spastic]

I actually saw two players talking about the ATH-A700 during a Counter-Strike Source game years ago, they were lauding the audio quality and how 'sweet' it was. I was really oblivious to headphones and the notion of SQ as I was using a Logitech G35 headset at that time. After reading a review on CNET praising the SQ of the ATH-A700 I got very curious about circumaural headphones and decided to buy the ATH-A700X (since it was a revision of the A700) after lurking on these forums a year ago. 
 
I was gobsmacked by the sound that came out of the A700X, it was so airy, clear and balanced compared to my G35. I enjoyed them for a year before deciding to expand my horizons, I purchased a second-hand HD558 and performed my first mod. Eventually I started to buy more headphones & my first proper IEM the EPH-100 and finally registered with head-fi this year.
 
I am now very satisfied with my recent purchase, the ATH-A2000X.

 

[myap2328]

I started out seeking for a headphone with more bass than the beats pro. And when I compared it with the Denon D5000s, the pros can't hold a candle. From there I started trying and comparing headphones and here I am now. When the bass gets too loud on my parent's car, I start to feel dreaded about the damn resonance. I became mindful that the most bass isn't the bass, that bass bleeds in to mids sometimes. And well, like a few mentioned a joy and a curse, haha.

 

[headphone man07]

Quote:

 When I was younger, think I spent a total of $5,000 on subs, amplifiers, and high end audio for autos. I'm a relatively on and off audiophile, although I've been listening to music for at least 10,000 hours in the last 2 years alone.  But lately with my new job I work alot of overtime, and my work place allows me to listen to headphones, I wear them all the time. 
 
My (IEM) journey began about 3-5 months ago when my $20 sony mdr58v earbuds broke.  I thought nothing of it, and bought a more expensive earbud as an 'upgrade' but then I realized that it just couldn't compare at all to the cheap sonys.  The new earbuds had barely any detail and was just bloated with fake bass, and that really really really bugged me.  Several hundred $$ later, I just wasn't satisfied with anything of lesser quality than the sony mdrex58v which was ironically only $20.  I then happened to find this site and thats when I realized that I was at the beginning of the road through audiophile (IEM version) land.
 
Although I'm relatively new (with IEMS that is), I've spent a lot of money in a short amount of time to satisfy my new hobby:
 
$60 Fiio e11 -- Bought it for good reviews, and it is good.  Bass boost function is very nice, but kinda darkens the sound.
 
$30 Maximo 390 earbuds -- Very dark, bass is very weak and distorts alot.
 
$300 beats Studio --  Just horrible all around, I don't know how people can stand it.  I am a basshead and this is not bass.  I guess I just bought the brand name.  Very muddy, treble don't exist, bass is bloaty and not enjoyable.  I thought bigger cans = better music.  Not true.
 
$120 SOL republic tracks HD -- Alot better and cheaper than beats, good bass but that's about it.  Slightly more detailed and less veiled than beats, but again the highs are very muffled.
 
$70 sony ex510lp -- Beat the sony mdr58v on all fronts, except transparency. But bass was thin and distorted at high volumes.  Also too sibilant.
 
$260 sony xba 40 -- So far sony has been the only reliable quality brand that I knew so I pulled the trigger.  Pretty damn awesome, better than the Beats and Tracks HD.  This is when I realized that yes, I really CAN relive my bassful youth through tiny IEM's minus the physical vibrations. But then my audiophile-ness started to pick at the flaws:  the subs try to play all frequencies, veiling the mids and highs just a bit, enough to eventually annoy my audiophile soul.  It is slightly echo-ey if you listen hard enough, and the subs have a volume limit before they start distorting.  I thought to myself, if only it had crossovers (like my old car audio systems) so that the damn subs wouldn't try to replicate the highs....
 
$115 Digizoid Z02 --  I wanted more bass because some of my techno/trance didn't give the booms that my hiphop tracks gave, even with the e11 bass boost.  I read that this baby gave lots of bass.  It does, but it needs to be doubleamped to give good volume, volume is too low.  Also, makes the music way too dark, turned the xba 40's into beats.
 
$1260 JH16 Pro -- I just shipped my earmolds today, I consider this my first real leap into the (IEM)audiophile world.  I can't comment on quality of sound yet, but I researched for weeks deciding between this, UM merlin, UM miracles, Aurisonics as-2, UE900, 1PLUS2, Westone 4R, 1964 V6, Sure SE535.  Ultimately I went with the JH16 because there was just too many good reviews + the new FP tech + I cannot resist the idea of 4 subs.  I wanted soul shaking bass, without sacrificing detail and clarity.  It was a really damn tough decision to make. I hope to be blown away by this when i finally get them next month.
 
$190 JDS labs C5 amp -- I'll need an amp to go with my jh16's (and LOD from ipod nano 7th gen), and I heard this baby is more transparent and neutral than the E11.  Also I heard the bass is just as powerful, but better overall, and doesn't interfere with the other frequencies as much as the e11.  Just ordered a few hours ago.
 
I also plan to get an aftermarket cable, still doing research on whether or not it is really worth it.
 
Music I listen to:  hip hop 10%, Jpop 10%, Rock/metal 25%, techno/trance 30%, soundtrack 15%, others 10%

whoa!!! you just went out and bought this stuff, you're meant to spend ages considering headphones and being lead from one to another until 2 years dwn the line you buy headphones. And for cable, look at 3 things
1 how much of an audiophile are you (how many minute differences can you feel
2 how much money you have to spend and how much the headphones are in relation to the speculated cable
3 if you've achieved headphone enlightenment, there are some people who eventually get the right headphone set up and think 'yeaaah...' because you've bought all this stuff, you should give it a while and then decide if this set up is right, try out software, play with eq, balance, different environments, do you need a different environment or room set up? this would make more sense than a cable, long story short, is there anything else you need more.

 

[chengsta]

Quote:

whoa!!! you just went out and bought this stuff, you're meant to spend ages considering headphones and being lead from one to another until 2 years dwn the line you buy headphones. And for cable, look at 3 things
1 how much of an audiophile are you (how many minute differences can you feel
2 how much money you have to spend and how much the headphones are in relation to the speculated cable
3 if you've achieved headphone enlightenment, there are some people who eventually get the right headphone set up and think 'yeaaah...' because you've bought all this stuff, you should give it a while and then decide if this set up is right, try out software, play with eq, balance, different environments, do you need a different environment or room set up? this would make more sense than a cable, long story short, is there anything else you need more.

I just listened to the c5 for a couple of hours, since it just came in.  Compared it to the Fiio e11, and found rock/metal/strings/classical/vocal really really enjoyable again.  I believe the C5 is THE amp that I was looking for this entire time (all of less than 5 months haha).  Not that the e11 is bad, its just a bit darker and less detailed, perfect for hiphop/trance/techno.  That being said, I hope the JH16's are THE iems that I've been looking for too, so I don't have to spend any more money.  If not, I may just go for the UM Merlins, and if not that, the Aurisonics as-2...