What was your Ah ha! moment in becoming an Audiophile? | Had money to buy...

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Had money to buy a headphone.Decided to research on the best headphone I can find for 100$ and I found great companies like Grados and Sennheiser.Afterwards, I played with my mac amp and I fell in love with frequency responses.Some people saying that x headphone doesn't work with certain devices and then, I start caring about ohms and now, I am trying to understand what is harmonic redistribution and blah blah.I started to care about sound once I bought my first 300$ headphone.It was a pair of Urbanite XL.I need a good headset that can be powered by a mac and samsung s3.Before buying the phone, I have read lots of reviews on headphones and I have actually used the momentums before getting the urbanite xl so there was additional experience there.That was the time when I actually cared about the lows, mids and highs.I start to listen to other headphones.The M50X, QC35 and more.I see the different sound signatures and fell in love with headphones more but thanks to my urbanite xl burn in, I was able to listen to details I had never heard and listened to breaths by the singer that shocked me hard!I was very shocked when I saw saw the HD800.That headphones fascinates me and I would like to add the hd600 to my collection soon.I also started to fall in love with audio quality when I saw spotify premium's extreme quality option.I fell in love with amps and dacs when I wanted to know what it takes to power reference headphones like the HD600.

GUTB192Follow

RafiqueAudiophile

Get out of the mid-fi ghetto immediately. Forget the HD600, it's a veiled, slow, boring headphone and also mid-fi. If you want to get into hi-fi look into the Focal Elear, Fostex TH900, Audeze LCD-X, HiFiMan HE-6. The HD800 is one of the best but it's beaten by other top of the line products and requires expensive, careful amp matching to not suck. Forget all about the lo-fi shovelware amps and dacs on Massdrop. Your phone is going to output total garbage sound quality you need a DAC and an amp.

xELasOr1Follow

GUTB

Where you offended by his name?

GUTB192Follow

xELasOr

If I'm offended by anything, it's people who have never heard high end audio even once in thier lives trying to pretend they are "audiophiles". I'm not attacking the guy, he seems to have had an audiophile awakening so I wanted to be the lone voice of an actual audiophile around here to point him down the right path.

RafiqueAudiophile2Follow

GUTB

I am planning to get the Beyerdynamic A20 amp and ath vinyl playerYou think I haven't researched?I prefer the sennheiser sound

RafiqueAudiophile2Follow

GUTB

Oh shut it, I use a pair of 300$ urbanite xl wireless, 100$ iem momentum and Spotify premium 320kps audio source :)

SOULSIK845Follow

RafiqueAudiophile

LMAO 300$ urbanite xl "wireless" and 100$ iem momentum + spotify premium. damn son, you must be a real audiophile. I've never imagined a 100$ iem before !
My genuine suggestion to you is this: get off your urbanite xl "wireless" and find a pair of real audiophile headphones and then take your 100$ iems and put it in the trash like I did with my se215 long time ago. Lastly, take your phone, delete your spotify premium

TipsyMacScotchslurpen283Follow

GUTB

So you can't possibly be considered an audiophile until you've spent at least two grand on equipment? Guess I'll dump my Noble 3s and Sennheiser HD 650s and go back to Bose. If I'll never be one why bother even trying?

GUTB192Follow

TipsyMacScotchslurpen

It's about the sound, the cost is just an unfortunate side effect. So, yes, you should dump the HD650 because its one of the worst mid-fi headphones on the market and pick yourself up a TH900, LCD-3, HE-X, Elear, etc.

TipsyMacScotchslurpen283Follow

GUTB

OK, that's not the way life works. I live paycheck to paycheck on a fixed income that gives me less than the cost of the cheapest cans you just listed. Actually, at this point I can only assume you're trolling us. The HD 650 is one of the highest-regarded pairs of headphones of all time. You are basically telling us that head-fi.org is a worthless website and that 95% of the people who post there have no taste.
I'm sorry, but if that is true, then being an "audiophile" is nothing more than being a part of an exclusive club of people who have more money than "the rest of us", and that somehow having that money makes you more cultured and discerning. Seriously, the HD 650s are amazing. The Noble 3 IEMs are probably a little bit more amazing, in my opinion, but that would depend on the type of music you like and how important soundstage is versus frequency response.
You're welcome to your opinion, but you are squarely in the minority when it comes to the HD 600/650. To everyone else: even if the HD 600/650 turns out not to be your cup of tea, you owe it to yourself to at least demo one in a store. They may not be able to compete with a $1200 set of cans, but they are definitely one of (if not THE) best pairs of headphones able to be found for under $1k.

GUTB192Follow

TipsyMacScotchslurpen

The HD6x0 headphones are vieled, un-euphonic flat mid-fi sidegrade fodder. People invariably get bored of them and look for the next mid-fi sidegrade. They are universally recommended -- on Reddit and here of course. People will spend thousands on home theatre but for audio oh no. Don't look at it from a poor / class warfare perspective. Instead think about how you can swing for a hi-fi product and get out of the mid-fi ghetto.

TipsyMacScotchslurpen283Follow

GUTB

Look, audiophiles are always side-grading. That's why the people who can afford to dump thousands inevitably dump all the cans that you listed for each other or for the next new thing on the market. Acting like the HD-6X0's are bad just because people "side-grade" is silly. If that is true, then the headphones you listed are no better for the same reason.
The thing is, you aren't ever going to duplicate a live performance in ANY pair of head-/earphones. Each pair of headphones has its pros and cons depending on genre and what kind of sonic character the music has. I have overall really enjoyed my music a thousand times more since I got my HD-650s. Maybe if I had a $60k/yr or better job I could afford to dabble above them, and I'm sure I could find something that is better, but chasing "better" is something you aren't going to force on me, and the idea that you are wasting your time if you don't spend at least a grand on your headphones (and then spend, what, $2k?...$3k? on the source and another 5 grand on an amp and then $700 on cables...oh and then buy a power cord that is made of solid 10AWG silver...) then you aren't allowed to call yourself an audiophile. That is just arrogance.
I say that anyone who is in love with music and wants to find a way to bring the visceral experiance of a live performance to their home, no matter what their means, is an audiophile. I don't even think you have to own any equipment, yet... it is a state of mind, not a dollar amount. You can recommend the headphones and sources, amps and DACs that you enjoy, but I'm not going to have you tell me that I need to dump a pair of headphones that give me the feeling I get from my HD-650s just because there might be something better out there. One day I might be able to save up for one of those sets of cans, but right now I can get pretty damn close to the band on stage or a dance floor right up next to the DJ booth (or wait, maybe I'm not listening to the right music to qualify?).
I'm done with this conversation. Peace.

DutchTexan85Follow

GUTB

What music do you listen to? What media medium/program do you use? Do you ever pay for DSD tracks/albums?

DutchTexan85Follow

SOULSIK

What music do you listen to? What media medium/program do you use? Do you ever pay for DSD tracks/albums?

SOULSIK845Follow

DutchTexan

I was just joking about my comment cuz i thought GUTB was also joking. still dont know he is or not. But personally i think everyone should start somewhere. To answer your question, I mainly use Tidal hifi for just streaming and then if i love a music I buy it either in 24 bit or dsd or whatever highest quality i can get my hands on tbh. for desktop i use JRiver & foobar, VPI Prime for just serious lost listening, and on the go I use HA 2 SE & Song NW zx2

DutchTexan85Follow

SOULSIK

Thanks! I am noob.
It seems like everyone uses foobar2000 for PC. What would you recommend for a Windows 10 machine? I've been here: https://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/ a lot to listen to samples, haha
I had a friend talking about a vpi avenger one time, I had no idea what she was talking about! Interesting, now that I have connected the dots. Why is vinyl so, um, how do I say, always for serious harmonic escapes? I was under the impression it was dead, like Nokia. I guess it never died or is coming back to life, like Nokia :1

SOULSIK845Follow

DutchTexan

I am also using foobar for windows10. i recommend it since its easy to customize to your liking, but i also like the jriver, which is why i have both... but i prob will get rid of one or the other tbh. vinyl is basically the most lossless format you can get and very detailed, just the way the producer wanted you to hear, personally to me its a different experience

ElectronicVices1118Follow

SOULSIK

I hope to at least some level that GUTB is joking as the law of diminishing returns has already full on kicked in by HD650. I own two statement products (Beyer T1 and Senn IE800) and about a brand new Honda Civics worth of other audio gear. I will be the first to say "It's not for everyone!" words like "have to" "must" and "ghetto" only serve to further the notion that audiophiles are snobs who look down on other people. This is why I fully shun the term and prefer Audio Enthusiast because for me it IS about the MUSIC.
Edited to add that I greatly prefer JRiver Media Center to Foobar. Took 20 years to find an audio program I liked more than Winamp (that didn't crash/lag while loading my library). IMO easier than Foobar to configure and more enjoyable base UI. It's not free but if you catch them during a development period they will slash the cost by 50% or more.

TiffanyPoodleslide1072Follow

12w

ElectronicVices

so....
not all of us audiophiles are snobs. I think the snobby ones are people who would use ANYTHING as a platform of perceived superiority from which to be snobs, even if audio gear wasn't a "thing". It's just that audio gear is really easy to use for one-upmanship. Like the guy in the Jag who sneers at my Subaru. But my Subaru handles better in the snow......
I think it's like anything else. there will be snobs and elitists no matter where you go.
There will also always be newbies. I was a newbie once... somebody helped me, now I try to help other folks with it. I try to use my audiophile-ness to the advantage of other folks, maybe help save them spending piles of cash that they might not have, or need to spend, were somebody willing to help and share experiences. The snobs are the ones who forget that they were newbie once, just like everybody else.

I like that term "Enthusiast". As much as " 'phile". ....but I really think they mean the same thing. It's just what somebody does with it.
You can be as enthusiastic at the 15 dollar level as you can at the $2000. No set entry fee, after all.

p.s. if I am coming across as a snob in any way, I'm not really trying to be that, just so's ya know. ;)
p.p.s. GUTB IS A SNOB.

ElectronicVices1118Follow

12w

TiffanyPoodleslide

Well said, the term audiophile has been somewhat reclaimed by the more reasonable masses in the last few years but when I first got into stereo gear it symbolized people who thought the type of tree used for their "isolation blocks" made a significant impact to the sound of their gear. This site is a good example of why I still can't adopt "Audiophile" as a moniker. http://www.mapleshadestore.com/airdriedmapleplatforms.php