oooh, another gem from 13th note.
‘HiFi serves music…mostly; it doesn’t serve sound’.
that comes from comments discussing the Cambrdige Audio Minx MIN22 and how they have very little in the way of bass performance. I know it’s heresy, but not all music needs bass. 
the journey is just as important, if not more important, than the destination.
audio is subjective, but there are so may levels and layers to music that you really do need to learn what is bad, so you can learn what is better. to have gobsmacking experiences as you try newer / better gear on the path that is audio.
this came to me when Andrew Robinson answered a user submitted question on building a beginners stereo setup. the user had a portable Marshall Bt speaker and wanted something better, so asked if some equipment he was thinking of buying was a good start. Andrew said no, that going from something like the single point Marshall speaker to $4000 JBL would not be a good start. He outlined how they have so many features / functions to learn about imaging and soundstage (as two examples) in a TRUE stereo setup.
if you did that, you would be amazed by what you hear…but you wouldn’t have the knowledge / experience to know why that would give you REAL appreciation for what you were listening too.
it’s exactly the same with headphones. 
Hey! Here is a new one, I think. I haven’t seen this posted yet, so here goes.
When removing your headphones to get up for whatever reason, turn the volume down BEFORE you get up from your chair. That way your ears won’t get blown out when you return and hit play.
And always “safe” your gear before calling it a night. Volume down, gains set to low… that kind of stuff. This applies especially to speaker powered systems. Make the mistake here, and EVERYONE knows it!
@Raptor168 Sounds like you’ve experienced that, lol. Another thing I ingrained…when
switching from my DT880/600 to Anything else I turn the volume down as I unplug the
880! Made that mistake…Once!
It’s good to turn the volume down before removing the headphone plug as well. This will prevent any shorts on a TRRS connection.
I think this bears repeating but DACs are the 2nd thing to upgrade after you get your transduncer down. No amp is going to save a DAC coloured in a way you do not want.
Also clean power becomes a must the further down the rabbit hole. At lest for me hearing that electric hum even at very low levels can drive me insane.
I would love to say it never happened to me, but - LOL!! It has. But this is how we learn. Now it’s just second nature to do these things.
When you get something new like a DAP, DAC, Amp, cables, speakers, headphone, iem, tips, pads, etc., don’t A/B them to death! Try and listen to your new gear for at least a day (better a week, if they have obvious potential) -THEN go back and listen to your old gear.
Also, if you do A/B something, don’t listen - exclusively - to music that you are intimately familiar with. There is “feed forward” (the music coming into your ears) and “feedback” (your prior expectations about what familiar music “should” sound like). A/B testing familiar music back-and-forth can screw with your prior expectations - which may not be evident until months after you already sold your old gear.
Roughly one year into the hobby:
1: Your brain will adjust to a headphone after long, consecutive sessions. Switch to a different headphone of greater AND lesser quality to switch it up.
2: Be happy with what you have…for at least a year, ideally longer. Do not chase the new new thing.
3: Expensive gear can sound worse than modestly priced gear.
4: Do your own research and ask questions, even the dumb questions.
5: It’s ok to have multiple DACs/Amps if they bring out the best in your headphones. Just don’t overdo it.
6: Music is a drug. A good drug. But, make sure it doesn’t take you away from things that also matter.
@Jim_S @audiotron VERY good advice! I agree, though I find it hard not to A/B, lol. I do switch headphones and devices, sometimes just plugging my ksc 75 into my laptop or kindle…and often just take a day or two off with no listening at all, just to give my ears and brain a break.
PS Good timing, as I have been trying out new USB cables!
I would definitely second this. In the past I would compare new things to death to try and make a quick decision. I was obsessed with buying, trying and then selling products that did not WOW me immediately.
Current example: I got a set of pads for my Elegia’s and wanted to immediate start A-B’ing with my Beyer T5’s. After a day or two they both sounded inferior. Going back and forth quickly I just kept noting what each headphone was missing compared to the other. When I stretched that out to a full day, the differences, and my preferences became crystal clear.
I have been so obsessed with buying the last three years, I haven’t really given the gear room to breathe before moving it on. And it is coming back to bite me now. I should have given my last two tubes amps more time to breathe without constantly comparing them. After losing money on reselling those, I am now looking for another tube amp. This one will get a Long time to settle in.
A few things I recently finally understood, a bit more specific this time:
Focusing on what you are after and consolidating is more rewarding than having a larger variety of less focused/capable things in the long term. (more happy with my setup now that it’s closer to a few single chains, rather than when I had a wide range of options that weren’t as focused)
The digital source is much more impactful the farther you move up the dac ladder. (realized how much I was missing out on things by neglecting it with recent dac upgrades)
The real hassle with tubes doesn’t come from actually using and maintaining them, but instead the FOMO when swapping and trying different options, along with the mental nag of lifespan concerns, both of which aren’t really that big of a deal in the end, it’s just a mental hurdle to get over. (changed dacs and not having those thoughts come up anymore is nice)
As much as I like and appreciate 2ch, I still use headphones much more often and still really enjoy what they do. (which is why I’ve ended up focusing more on headphones rather than 2ch with recent upgrades)
There are so many damn designs and ways of going about things, and most of them have merit, it’s all in implementation. (even though I already knew this, I recently got caught up in thinking one tech was clearly better than another, had that quickly broken again with more experiences lol)
Oh even on the “budget” end(under 500) I find that the dac is still a extremely big factor contributing to 25% of the sonic character if I were to put a number. Getting a dac that fits your listening habits is very important even though it may be a “cheap” 100 or under dac.
Then again it may be because I’ve stepped into looking at kilobuck stuff that I retroactively know what listen for even with the cheaper dacs.
Yes it’s really hard to understand without what’s hearing what’s above, but once you realize and see what’s up there it really gets to you lol, hard to ignore after that
if you dont live near a hifi shop you’re doomed… recommendations almost never work
this is almost true…but you don’t come away empty-handed as you just gained some knowledge and experience that will aid you on your quest to the end game.
also, posted it earlier and it won’t hurt to do it again…I’m always right and when I am, remember I always am 
MP3 320 is not so bad.
I´ve learned that I am not earning enough
And just as you say that, on the same exact day, I start itching real bad for an Edition XS, after being a happy camper with the 400i for years. 
I guess the thing this highlights for me is that because I set my “endgame” in terms of price, not quality, after a number of years it’s likely that something newer will drop within range that will be so compelling an upgrade that I will immediately “come out of hibernation” yearning to get it, despite previously thinking I was done for life.
(To be more precise on the threshold level, I’ve latched on to the price of my most expensive smartphone as the top number I’m willing to go to for any gadget that’s not a basic necessity of life, and that’s served me well in keeping my gadgetry expenses way down so far. Of course that was in combination with being a big fan of custom Android ROMs which void your warranty, which meant there was never any point in getting phones new, at list price. Always went second-hand and much lower.)
I can’t fix bad audio gear with EQ or ANY other audio effects. If it is bad, it is bad. if it has bad technicality, it is suck no matter what.