[serman005]

First headphone was some sort of closed-back, om-ear Koss in the early eighties. Was strictly a speaker guy at the time (Yamaha NS series) and didn't expect much. Very surprised with how enjoyable sounding they were, though they were lacking in bass. Stayed with these until they died while in college and did not replace them. Was busy with an extremely crazy job until 2005, when the first ipod shuffle was released. I bought one and it came with the white apple ear buds. I thought I had died and gone to heaven because I now had a rig that was mobile. I could run and work out and get on the airplane and still have my music with headphones. Awesome! I went through a couple of the shuffles and their accompanying ear buds for several years. Then, on a lark, I decided to take the plunge on a pair of over-ears (they are really more of an on-ear, actually). I bought some Sennheiser HD202s and for the first time sort of experienced a bit of a real soundstage. I was blown away by these $29 Senns. I read here and elsewhere as much as I could. Discovered there was a whole world I didn't know about. I wanted to hear what an open headphone sounded like. What's the difference, I wondered. I ordered a Superlux HD681 Evo, on the strength of good reviews here at Head-fi. The bass astonished me, I thought that was supposed to be a weakness of open cans (?). But that clearly was not the case with these Superlux. They had bass, a foundation for the music. I dug into my old music and rediscovered it. I noticed on Head-fi that a lot of people had multiple headphones for different purposes. Huh. I bought an HD598. Wow. A different world. And then an HD600. Then a 650. And then I was off... AKG, Audio Technica, Beyer, Campfire, Focal, HiFiMAN, iBasso, KZ, Mr.Speakers, Sennheiser, SONY, SoundMAGIC, vmoda, ZMF. On and on. Sorry about my wallet... I have had a great time. My partner no longer freaks when I buy another headphone, which is nice. Still, I try to be judicious. I love headphones, they are a huge part of my life now. Oh well. I guess it's better than fentanyl.

 

[MtnMan307]

I was pretty much a speaker guy and never owned more than a cheap Sony headphone or Apple earbuds until early 2016. It was then that I went to a headphone store in Bozeman, Montana and listened to a bunch of different cans. I listened to "Forty Six and 2" by Tool on the LCD-X. It absolutely blew me away...the detail, the speed, the sound coming from practically all directions around me. I could not believe that any headphone or speaker was capable of sounding like that! Holy crap! I couldn't afford the $1700 price tag for the LCD-X, but I walked out with the Audio Technica M50X. Things progressed after that. I soon ordered the AKG K7XX on Massdrop, then bought my first headphone amp, the Schiit Vali 2. The combo was good enough for me to sit there at my desk with my mouth wide open in awe sometimes. Then I picked up my first DAC, the Modi Multibit, and it was another big step up. I think this was still 2016. Then in 2017... went on eBay and got a used pair of 650s, added Dekoni velour pads, good complement to the K7XX. I attended my first Rocky Mountain Audio Fest that October. Of course I listened to all kinds of headphones, DACs, amps. I liked the Jotunheim so much that I ordered it that weekend. December 2017, found a good eBay deal on a used LCD-2, fazored, from 2013. It's not quite like the LCD-X experience I had, but very good. I was content enough for a while with all that, although I sold the M50x a while after getting the K7XX. Then I moved here to the Denver area in September 2018. I got here in time for the 2018 Audio Fest. Being a huge Schiit Audio fan at this point, I had to hear the Lyr 3... placed the order! December rolled around and Uber driving was going pretty well at this point. On the last pre-order day, I placed the order for a ZMF Aeolus. So that brings me to today basically. I am waiting on the Aeolus to arrive. Oh yeah, I do have a "beater" pair of IEMs, the Shure SE-215. Those are mostly for running or what not. I still do not have a closed headphone but I'm thinking Aeon Flow Closed for that maybe.

 

[LuczOr]

My journey starts in the late 90's when I was in elementary school and middle school. Even back then audio was a pretty big deal to me and my buddies. We mostly compared portable CD players and whoever's had the most anti-skip was pretty much king. At that time we used to listen via whatever crummy, on ear, thin band, foam cushioned headphones came with the CD player.

Around high school I discovered Sony over ear headphones and was totally blown away. I probably had 5 or 6 different pairs at different times all around $20. Back then, the models didn't really mean much to me. It was all about brands. One day my brother brought home a pair of COBY noise cancelling headphones. I thought they were the coolest things, not to mention they also sounded better than the Sony's I had been religiously tied to. My brother kind of gave up on audio so I ended up snagging those COBY headphones and used them all through college. Even when the headband broke, I just taped it back together.

After college, I kind of lost touch with audio. Most of my time was spent telling all the iPod people how terrible the earbuds they were using were. I had been buying up the cheapest possible Sennheiser earbuds and using them till they broke (rinse, repeat). I probably went through the entire CX100 range as well as CX200 and CX300's. I also ended up giving a bunch away to my iPod/iPhone friends after I would make them listen to them. They didn't want to give them back. Funny, I now go back and listen to some of my leftover CX series buds and they sound SO BAD. The crap that Apple was shipping back then was truly garbage.

Then came my reintroduction to really chasing audio again. Oddly, it was gaming that brought me back in. I had been playing online games with some crappy bluetooth jawbone mic thing and people always complained that they could never hear me clearly so I got frustrated and went all out.

I bought a pair of Logitech G35
They were my first set of over-ears since those old COBY's. They just sounded so good and really reignited my audio passion again. I still have them 7 years later, but barely play games anymore due to having a new baby, haha.

Those led me to buy a set of headphones with a long cable for watching movies at night and I went with a brand that I was pretty familiar with in the past. Sennheiser HD 429. I really didn't like these. They didn't even sound as good as the Logitechs to me. I gave them to my dad.

And replaced them with Audio Technica ATH-M40x.
I really enjoyed these cans. They just really seemed to have a pleasant sound. I still use these for Movies and such.

After I had my baby I decided I needed a pair of open backs so I could watch movies while she slept and still hear her. So I went straight back to Audio Technica and picked up the ATH-AD700x. These headphones were an absolute revelation. Open back just sounded so... well... OPEN. These were definitely my gateway drug to deep head-fi. After I got these, I started reading the forum and decided to build a rig for work...

So I started shopping around in a much more informed way than I had before. Reading reviews, reading specs, comparing technologies (drivers came in different implementations?!? WUT?!?!?) stumbling upon Massdrop where I started comparing the Sennheiser HD6XX and the winner: Hifiman HE4XX. I had only owned dynamic drivers before so it seemed like it could be fun. That's how I ended up with new cans... and a dac/amp... and a tube amp (gotta try that too...)

 

[ricksome]

Back around Woodstock (that would be 50 years ago) ... fisher tube amp ... Gerrard and Dual turntables... Koss Pro 4A headphones... Lafayette Electronics Criterion Speakers
Can't remember all the in between items
Now have no CD's ... All paid files are on hard drive... Fulla 2, Dayton Amp, Klipsch Speakers, Subwoofer

I have gazed at High End for 50 years but never went there. The one constant thing for the last 50 years is Snake Oil

 

[MtnMan307]

Right now I'm back to the Vali 2. Using the K7XX and rocking some Chevelle. The Lyr 3 is indeed a much more powerful amplifier, and more refined, but the Vali 2 is more fun sometimes.

 

[Spareribs]

My headphone interest started in the mid 2000s with an AKG K501. But to be honest, I’ve come to realize that there is a part of me that hates headphones and much prefer speakers.

I’m in a fortunate situation that I can listen to speakers and I rarely listen to headphones. But I am interested in sound so I like to read about headphones even though I don’t like them.

 

[St3ff3n]

My headphone journey just started recently.
Music have allways been a big part of my life, but for listening at home I have mostly been using speakers.
I have offcourse had several cheap headphones, but these have been mostly used for gaming back in the day and I didnt go for quality for that purpose.
Also had some various solutions for traveling and training. For traveling I used iem's in around the 100 dollar range connected to my phone(and earlier walkman cassette players and discmans), while for training I have just seen the need for bass/power and not quality.

In 2012(I think), still not interested in home-use, I got the B&W P5 in the search of somewhat better sound-quality while listening on my phone while traveling.
Never sprung for seperate dac or amp as I still didnt use them enough to justify the cost, and they played decent on the phones I've used them with.

Back in 2017 my girlfriend, who used to work as a live sound-tech and also did some studio work back in the day, moved in with me. She had a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770Pro she didnt use. I connected those to my NAD D1050 dac wich I allready had connected to my stereo and discovered the joy of a good headphone experience.

In the second half of last year I felt the urge towards something more detailed, and started sniffing around the open-back concept.
Sennheiser seemed like a good place to start, and after ending up with a giftcard for christmas 2018 I ended up getting a pair of HD660S.
Very happy about these so far(and havent noticed anything to the vertigo mentioned in an earlier post here).
The details I missed in the Beyer's came to life and they are very comfortable for long listening sessions.
Still have the Beyer's for bass-heavy music where the focus is less on details, and believe I will keep those a good while to.

I'm both excited and nervous(for my wallet) about trying something higher-end in the future, but I guess my next step will be upgrading the dac/amp to get the most out of the can's I now own.

 

[SonyFan121]

My headphone interest started in the mid 2000s with an AKG K501. But to be honest, I’ve come to realize that there is a part of me that hates headphones and much prefer speakers.

I’m in a fortunate situation that I can listen to speakers and I rarely listen to headphones. But I am interested in sound so I like to read about headphones even though I don’t like them.

I sometimes feel the same. Headphones are a necessity to me, an absolute requirement. I need to use headphones on a daily basis as part of my job, but also at night at home. So I will always make sure I have at least 2 very decent and specific headphones that qualify perfectly for my needs. I have come to really appreciate what headphones can do, however, I am fortunate enough to be able to listen to speakers loud without worrying too much about what the neighbours will think (I live in a very big house, so I don't need to worry if the volume is too loud), I really appreciate the fun aspect that speakers can provide. At the moment, I haven't been able to use my speakers for a while due to a lack of space, but i'm slowly making space for new one's. I've been searching for some Sony floorstanders as I like the sound of my Sony bookshelf speakers, but I can't seem to find any. I did see a nice set of Onkyo speakers that aren't too expensive, so I might get them instead.

My audio journey started in July 2008. As an 18 year old music lover (and musician) who had just got my first job, I remember browsing the Audio & Hifi section of Amazon and came across the Denon AH-D5000's. At that time I wasn't even aware of the existence of any headphone costing more than $200 and had never seen wooden headphones before.
I remember thinking "What?..no way! $800 wooden headphones?! they must be..like..the best thing in the world!
When my family found out how much i'd paid for them they thought I was crazy, they would say things like "Does the band come with the headphones". lol.
A few months after that I decided that I wanted to experience what open-back headphones sounded like, at that time I was obsessed with John Lennon, always listening to the Imagine; John Lennon, album and I discovered that the headphones he used in the late 60's, 70's for recording his music where AKG headphones, so based on that I decided to go for the AKG K702. I wasn't disappointed. At the beginning, I actually favoured speakers over headphones and by 2014 I must've accumulated about 10 sets of speakers. From 2008 to 2014 I was perfectly happy with just the Denon AH-D5000 and AKG K702, my only headphones in that whole time. Then in 2014, as the two headphones had started to wear badly, I set out to replace them. Thus I went a bit daft with my money, buying lots of different headphones from 2014 until last year (2018), trying to find 2 headphones that I would consider as better than those two. I failed, so last year I noticed someone selling a practically new (only used once) pair of Denon AH-D5000 headphones on Ebay for about $510, and I bought them, also a used pair of AKG K702 (Austrian version) in very good condition. This time, I won't be using both headphones very often as they are my gold standard, I would rather preserve them to extend their lifespan. My goal is to find 2 alternatives that I will be content with for many years to come. So far i've singled out the Sennheiser HD800 as an open back alternative to the K702, and possibly the Beyerdynamic T70 250 ohm or probably the Sony MDR Z7M2 as a closed-back alternative to the AH-D5000. I'm very content with the Sony MDR7510 at the moment though, which is extremely good value for money.

Since I wrote the above quoted post, I have permanently replaced the Denon AH-D5000 with the Sony MDR7510. The AKG K702 still remains though.

 

[bcaulf17]

My first foray into audiophile was with the M50x, my first “real” headphone (before that was EarPods lol) that I got back in 2015. The difference at the time was striking.

I then moved on to DT770 which I didn’t like (too much treble), so I got the B&O H6 a couple months later (nice for portable use and at the office) so I’ve been enjoying those as my closed back. They’re a very good all rounder.

Then I decided I should get my first open back, and what better place to start than the HD6XX? Love them. Unfortunately, I don’t get to use them that much. Don’t know if I will upgrade in the future.

Since I use closed backs more, I might upgrade eventually. I’ve been eyeing the Elegia, because it’s currently considered one of the top closed backs under $1k and is portable enough for travel and work it seems.

 

[MtnMan307]

Have you heard the Aeon Flow Closed? I would take it over the Elegia. Although that’s also a good headphone.

 

[bcaulf17]

Have you heard the Aeon Flow Closed? I would take it over the Elegia. Although that’s also a good headphone.

I have not, but I want to, I’m a little more into the Elegia only because it looks better for on-the-go use while the AFC is a little more bulky. Those two are probably the top two closed cans under $1k. Also the LCD2-C and maybe (even more bulky)

 

[wordfool]

Can't remember the exact path, but I was always a speaker person (KEF, Tannoy, Mission, B&W etc.) so came to headphones a bit later on in life. Started with some folding low-end AKGs for the office (model escapes me), then started appreciating the convenience of headphones a bit more. Tried and hated the Grado SR80 (bought them because they were relatively cheap, looked cool and retro, and seemed to get decent reviews), which made me realize I did not like mid-forward sound so I bought some Beyerdynamic DT990 (250ohm), which I loved and were my only headphone for years along with some (equally bassy) Westone 3 IEMs I got on sale for $150 and that I still use today for loud office-type environments.

Many years later I decided to upgrade to the DT1770 because I needed some closed backs. Worst decision ever. At first I loved them because they sounded so much more dynamic than the DT990 and I rediscovered what mids actually were, but I quickly discovered their flaws and sold them when I got the E-MU Teaks, which I still adore. Then in the last year I fell down the rabbit hole. Wanted some open-backs to complement the Teaks, so bought both the Aeon Flow Open and Audioquest Nighthawk with the intention of keeping only one, but to date I have not decided which and the Nighthawks are so ridiculously cheap right now (relatively) than I might just keep both. Then I made the mistake of going to CanJam last month and listening to ZMF headphones. I now have Eikons. Oh, and for Xmas/bday I got some Sony XM3s for travel and they've made long flights a lot more bearable. Along the way I repeatedly auditioned various Sennheiser models, but they just never appealed to me (although the HD800 level of detail and soundstage is admittedly phenomenal).

So now I'm struggling to work out how to pare down my headphone collection. Because who needs five pairs of headphones (six including IEMs)?!

 

[Bern2]

Can't remember the exact path, but I was always a speaker person (KEF, Tannoy, Mission, B&W etc.) so came to headphones a bit later on in life. Started with some folding low-end AKGs for the office (model escapes me), then started appreciating the convenience of headphones a bit more. Tried and hated the Grado SR80 (bought them because they were relatively cheap, looked cool and retro, and seemed to get decent reviews), which made me realize I did not like mid-forward sound so I bought some Beyerdynamic DT990 (250ohm), which I loved and were my only headphone for years along with some (equally bassy) Westone 3 IEMs I got on sale for $150 and that I still use today for loud office-type environments.

Many years later I decided to upgrade to the DT1770 because I needed some closed backs. Worst decision ever. At first I loved them because they sounded so much more dynamic than the DT990 and I rediscovered what mids actually were, but I quickly discovered their flaws and sold them when I got the E-MU Teaks, which I still adore. Then in the last year I fell down the rabbit hole. Wanted some open-backs to complement the Teaks, so bought both the Aeon Flow Open and Audioquest Nighthawk with the intention of keeping only one, but to date I have not decided which and the Nighthawks are so ridiculously cheap right now (relatively) than I might just keep both. Then I made the mistake of going to CanJam last month and listening to ZMF headphones. I now have Eikons. Oh, and for Xmas/bday I got some Sony XM3s for travel and they've made long flights a lot more bearable. Along the way I repeatedly auditioned various Sennheiser models, but they just never appealed to me (although the HD800 level of detail and soundstage is admittedly phenomenal).

So now I'm struggling to work out how to pare down my headphone collection. Because who needs five pairs of headphones (six including IEMs)?!

What was your thoughts of the Eikon vs. Auteur? (price not being a consideration)

 

[wordfool]

What was your thoughts of the Eikon vs. Auteur? (price not being a consideration)

More similar than different, but the Auteur overall sounded a bit more neutral than the Eikon so the sub-bass slam that I loved on the Eikon was less obvious on the Auteur and the Eikon sounded a bit warmer overall. For a closed headphone I thought the Eikon was very good. For an open headphone I though the Auteur was good (technically and in the way it gives the music a certain lushness) but not so much of a standout relative to the competition.