I got into this hobby when my pair of cheapo Altec Lansing headphones broke, I had those things for years and at that point a headphone was just a headphone to me, if it made sound I was happy. I ended up getting a pair of Sennheiser PX100-ii and I was blown away by how good they sounded. I checked on YouTube to see what others thought about that pair, and I think I stumbled on Tyll Hertsen’s Innerfidelity channel, and Hifi Insider (then I think Mike named his channel Hifiguy528). Through those channels my curiosity lead me to acquiring more headphones, many of which I still have to this day.
Of course, many new channels sprung into existence, and Tyll many months later would go on to retire from the hobby. Two channels that I started to watch more and more, were of course Z Reviews and Bad Guy Good Audio Reviews. At this point, I started my new obsession with IEMs. Even though I’ve been into the hobby for a while now, I’ve not spent as much as others have on gear, maybe at some point in the future that will happen, more likely sooner than later. I’ve pretty much heard the best in the mid-fi realm by now. So like everyone here, my journey hasn’t ended yet, but it’s a journey that I am enjoying.
Zeos, well being a bit of a music nerd, record collecting and never really owning a good pair of cans. I spent this January locked in sub zero weather watching headphone reviews, DMS, Valous, Zeos, Metal571, etc and well…hello rabbit hole, 6 months later, 6 cans later, 2 amps, 2 dacs, 1 IEM, and one hell of a butt groove in this chair.
I got into the hobby late last year, just before Christmas time. At the time, I was using some Logitech desktop speaker setup, and while I enjoyed it for some things, the bass was just massively overbearing and it wasn’t particularly great for gaming. I started looking for a gaming headset but then opted instead to search for “hifi headphones” on Amazon. I stumbled across the Philips SHP9500 and watched numerous reviews from a myriad of channels on YT.
Once I got them in, I was floored at how great they sounded compared to anything else I had used up until that point. Soon after, I found myself getting some HM5 hybrid pads for it to up the comfort level a bit and then the chase began. I picked up a Schiit stack, tried the HE400i, Fostex T50rp mk3, and just this weekend acquired a Drop x Cavalli CTH and HD6XX. Absolutely digging the latter.
Looking forward to seeing where the hobby takes me! I’m sure my wallet will absolutely hate me by the end of the year though…
I think this is an interesting conversation. I’m watching Steve Gutenberg and some of what he saying reminds me of my earliest conversations with the man who got me into high end audio.
I was working at a hospital, in my early 20s. I shared an office with another therapist who was deep into this stuff. He lived in a one bedroom apartment and his entire livingroom was filled with speakers, power amps, a plasma display, and a single seat. Everything pointed at that one seat. I was curious, and I like tinkering and so our conversations often made their way back to audio when we werent talking about how shitty our jobs were or politics.
One day he was talking about how he was going to order a new set of speakers from someone on audiogon, and he needed to get rid of his Mirage M1s including his center channel. I had just moved into an apartment with my girlfriend and a room mate so everything lined up. For a very reasonable cost I took the gear off his hands and found a receiver that could power them. They were amazing. Going from a TV speaker to bi-directional canadian built cabinets with full range(ish) response was staggering. I was hooked and things have progressed. I havent gone much further into home theater but headphones make a lot more sense for my lifestyle. I still run that mirage center, but with ariel 10t flanking it.
I had previously been somewhat into car audio, and I think this helped to prime my ears. I knew crossovers, subs, amps, power ratings and so forth.
I feel very fortunate to have had a really great friend bring me into the hobby in that way.
The Sennheiser HD 598 that were on a nice discount. The beauty of high-end audiophile stuff is fascinating. The precision, the quality, the moving parts… it’s like a watch & luxury car. You can always learn more, there is no end
I love the finesse in the audiophile world! I mean it’s pretty interesting to watch what crazy stuff people come up with in terms of technology
I grew up always loving music and listened any chance I got, while reading, playing games, car rides, falling asleep. Then around 6 years ago I started hanging out with my sister and a few of her friends, one of which’s grandfather had a massive record collection. Listening to vinyl made me realize how good music can really sound, realized I didn’t get bored of the music but the awful quality files I had. Started collecting records myself and one day came across @ZeosPantera’s M50x video since I had a pair, then promptly got HM5 pads like he recommended if you already had them but that just made me want more / better.
3 or so years ago I treated myself for my birthday to a pair of T50RP’s, they gave me the first taste of really good detail from my music (without pain, thanks m50x) now I haven’t been able to look back, only how can I get better.
Now I feel set for a good while with what I’ve collected over these years (Koss trio, 4xx, t2, bl05, geshelli archel pro, smsl 10thmkII, mackie mr524) but I know the day will come when it won’t be enough as always.
When I was a youngin I wasn’t into music. I am a gamer and the only music I listened to were videogame soundtracks and weeb music on the Youtubes. I like many others, bought and used mainly gaming headsets. It wasn’t until I came across one article and youtube video that talked about an EQ setting for my Logitech G633 that made it somewhat decent for music that I got somewhat interested in audio. That lead into me looking for actual headphones that are good for gaming and music and I bought the HD 598 SR. The 598s gave me the “what the fuck have I been listening to!?!” moment, “opened my ears”, and got me listening other more diverse music and ultimately got me into this hobby.
In time, I will find a way to have my little brothers get into this hobby of ours. I just hope they will realize with hi-fi audio, they can finally hear their shitty music much clearer.
Someone always had a “system” growing up in the home/car. parents got a premade setup (think it was kenwood) cabinet turntable dual tapedeck cd player tuner amp and pair of 3-way floorstanders, remember those? Thing sat there in the livingroom nobody messed it aside from me . Now with floorspace figured id piece a system of my own.
Remember?!?! My uncle had one of those Kenwood stacks. It had turntable, 6 disc changer, dual well cassette player, equalizer, and yeah separate amp and preamp. I asked him how much power it had. “200 watts!” he beemed. I asked him how much it cost. He said something like “the price was ‘buy it before you get married.’” (it was funny back then, the joke hasn’t aged well.)
Had one of those uncles too, remember he had a trick 70s setup. That kenwood went with me through my apartment era, each move a component got abandoned by the dumpster. Come to think of it still might have the equalizer tuner and speakers buried in storage somewhere.
I got interested in audio gear first (microphones, audio interfaces etc.) when started recording some podcasts and videos for YT. The audio side of things got me interested more than video side and after a while I needed better headphones for tracking, then for mixing…
~50 headphones later, here I am lol
. Now with floorspace figured id piece a system of my own.