[talleywho]

I bought my 80i Grados to watch movies and game because my wife studies in the evening and needs some quite time.

I found Head-Fi while researching the wonderful world of headphones. BIG MISTAKE!!! Now I'm an obsessed person! Now I am pouring over countless threads, scrutinizing post after post trying to mentally piece together the ideal components for the sound I want. "Hmm.. That sounds interesting..." "No maybe that'll be a little better..." "Nope, this is the way to go... but wait, hmmm?"

It will happen to you too! Just buy a GooD phone and start listening... "sounds good... sounds better than before... man this is the best I've ever heard this song... and these are "entry level" phones???? What if I...just ..."

Then: "Gotta get better gear! MUST HAVE SWEET GEAR!!! PRECIOUSSSSS! GEAR!!!

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Swingtops]

Surely no one on this forum...

 

[SillyHoney]

I also find that reading Head-Fi is a big mistake of my life.

Im playing guitar in a rock band and love music since I was a child but I have had no idea how good sound from music can be and thought that paying more than $50 for a headphone is a huge waste of money (in my country where I lived before moving to the US $50 is kinda a big).

Well then my Apple iPhone's phone was lost 4 months ago. I decided that since I have to put up some cash for a phone eventually I would give a "good" headphone a shot. I almost bought a Bose because of its expensive price tag and ads on magazines and availablity in BestBuy

Luckily I did some research first and then went for a Shure SRH440. That was the first time I know the term "burn in" and after burning in I was like WOW! What a sound! Then I know about sound stage and decided to give an opened cans a shot. I went for a Sennheiser HD-555 and loved it sooo much. I loved my headphones to a level which I have to brag them to my family and then ended up gifting a Senn for dad and the Shure for girlfriend lol. Now Im with a DT880 600ohm which is a fortune for student like me and still saving up for a tube amp which cost even more

Now I "must" use a nice headphone when I listen to music.

About those Bose, I went back to BestBuy trying them and feel lucky I didnt pay about $200 for that crap.

Hate Head-Fi so much

 

[talleywho]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SillyHoney /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also find that reading Head-Fi is a big mistake of my life. That was the first time I know the term "burn in" and after burning in I was like WOW! What a sound! Then I know about sound stage and decided to give an opened cans a shot. Now I "must" use a nice headphone when I listen to music. Hate Head-Fi so much

Isn't that the truth! Didn't you enjoy how your phones changed daily during burn in? I couldn't believe they kept getting better and better!

 

[beamthegreat]

because headphones looks cooler.

 

[revolink24]

Cost and practicality. You can actually do things with headphones

 

[Lazarus Short]

Nobody mentioned the joys of nearfield listening. Two good "mini-monitors" on stands on either side of your bed can give you the best of both worlds. I did this with my Proton 300/301 combo which now does computer audio duty. There is no head-in-a-clamp issue with such a setup, and SQ can be very good. I concede on the portability part.

 

[kunalraiker]

I have decent 2.1 speaker setup which cost me a little over a grand it is really nice and my mates talk about it with respect, as I'am the music taste person

Anyway I decided to buy some headphones and googled just to find head-fi, rest is history.

 

[Spareribs]

That is a good question which I have thought to myself before.

I love headphones but I have to admit that even good budget bookshelf speakers can be wonderful and in ways better than any headphone. No headphone can capture that airy musical quality of a speaker and the kind of bass impact into your chest. I think speakers, even cheap ones can be great.

That said, I also love the refinement of a headphone and it can be refined in ways a speaker cannot. Ideally, I want both headphone and speakers.

 

[SillyHoney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spareribs /img/forum/go_quote.gif That is a good question which I have thought to myself before. I love headphones but I have to admit that even good budget bookshelf speakers can be wonderful and in ways better than any headphone. No headphone can capture that airy musical quality of a speaker and the kind of bass impact into your chest. I think speakers, even cheap ones can be great.

Yeah I like the "airy" part. I also love listening to music on my Infinity 2.1 setup which are a pair of Primus 140 2-way and a subwoofer Primus P28 8" on my Denon AVR-589. They are cheap but still produce nice sound. My main listening is Blues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by talleywho /img/forum/go_quote.gif Isn't that the truth! Didn't you enjoy how your phones changed daily during burn in? I couldn't belieAve they kept getting better and better!

I used to think thats a marketing too but nope. You will see a huge difference between an out of the box cans and a burnt in one.

Even on an IEM like my AT ATH-CK7 burn in is still important, just not time consuming tho. Out of the box the phone sound worse than a $5 fake Chinese one but after about 20 hours it sounds great!

 

[Pianist]

I prefer the intimacy of good headphones.

 

[uofmtiger]

I listen to speakers and headphones. The main reason I bought headphones was for late night listening. However, when I am in my home office I still listen to them just because I like the sound. As someone mentioned, the sound qualities are different than speakers, so the same recording can sound different with different headphones and speakers. I like the variety.

 

[Antony6555]

I prefer speakers to full-size headphones. Full-size headphones are just too uncomfortable and awkward to me. Plus, imaging on headphones is always inaccurate. As far as micro details, I suspect some speakers (electrostatics in particular) can get pretty close. But micro details aren't that important to me (you wouldn't hear most of these details were you to hear a live performance.) I still have iems though, mainly for the portability factor.

 

[fordgtlover]

My wife and kids hate it when I use my main stereo with speakers to rock out to AC/DC at 2:00am

 

[spookygonk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adiZero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why headphone? Why not stereo speakers? Why Not Both?

Would love to have a dedicated stereo / 5.1 surround setup but I don't have the space or money at the moment to get what I want (too many household bills renovation work atm) so a nice home headphone setup will do me for now. Unfortunately (to my wallet) this website has meant my old, basic plan of a Marantz CD player and Senn HD580s has mutated into something much, much more. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazarus Short /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nobody mentioned the joys of nearfield listening. Two good "mini-monitors" on stands on either side of your bed can give you the best of both worlds. I did this with my Proton 300/301 combo which now does computer audio duty. There is no head-in-a-clamp issue with such a setup, and SQ can be very good. I concede on the portability part.

That's not a bad idea, I have a pair of Atacam stands, with some old Mission speakers that I could do that with. Oh, hold on. SWMBO would never allow that. Maybe for the spare bedroom then...