Wow, what an interesting rabbit hole to go down! This hobby is multi-faceted and multi-level, and people can get so caught up in the chase that they lose perspective. It was indirectly the stinkinâ pandemic that got me started again chasing the audio dragon by virtue of working from home a lot more than I used to, and then suffering the loss of an old but prized Marantz receiver. After the shock of the loss wore off, it left me with the prospect of having to replace it. Where do I even begin?
And so I started the research, which one day led me to this forum and one Mr. @ZeosPantera who opened my eyes to the wonder of good, affordable audio gear! Now donât get me wrong, my brother is a bass player so I knew a little bit about what was out there. I used to read his audio catalogs and laugh my ass off at the âidiotsâ who threw away thousands of dollars on audio gear! 
Little did I know how easy it would be to get sucked in. But Zeos showed me that there was really no need to do any of that. Today, you can get gear that sounds incredible and is actually reasonably priced.
Since my focus was desktop, I started small with the Topping MX-3, a beautiful little device which I still have to this day and refuse to get rid of. But like anything else, once you get that taste, you want to elevate. And the Audio Dragon chase began. But then you hit that wall where your wallet reality just doesnât match your audio dreams. At that point, resentment kinda set in and I started getting a little bitter. I would scoff at people who would/could spend serious bank on things; things that I wanted but couldnât have. It was kinda petty and destructive thinking, and it was taking away from the whole experience.
But then I had an epiphany about 4-6 months ago. I realized that my thinking was seriously flawed; this isnât about the gear - this is about the love of music! Just because someone is in a better position and can spend more than I, it didnât mean they were enjoying the music any more than I. Once I cleared my head of this ridiculous stigma of having to spend a Kingâs ransom to enjoy music, things got much clearer. The hobby took on a whole new perspective, and today I am enjoying the music - and the gear - more than ever. It doesnât bother me anymore when I hear that someone just bought a Cord Dave. More power to them. I now enjoy this hobby Bullshit-free! I love my MidFi setup. It provides me a way to enjoy music like I never have before. At the end of the day, that is what itâs all about.