If the recent flood of cheap ChiFi headphones is anything to go by, tuning goes a long way in making cheap sound good

Im not trolling, but might sound like. My end game is reached and i never want to buy anything headphone related again.

I own a condo in another state. Used headphones to keep noise down. I moved, rented out my condo and rent an apartment. After about two years of living there, i learned i have no shared walls. Side goes to a hallway stairwell. Other side to the hallway, another to the outside, and last side out to a courtyard.

I bought 150 bucks of used avr, and a set of towers. For a tenth of the cost of my setup, i had so much better sound. I go to an edm festival or show almost every month, that is my baseline on what it is supposed to sound like.

I bought a good, used entry level used subwoofer for 100 bucks. Mind blown on what home sound should be like. My home system sounds better than my car now, i was shocked. Car factory system aint no slouch either, harmon kardon, 10 speakers, and a sub under each seat supposedly.

Bought black friday deal towers for $199 each, that msrp for over 700 when they were new, sold the original used stuff i bought for more than i bought it for. Sold subwoofer for better one, flipped it for even better one.

Literally havent put on my emu teaks since. I never ever want to put on headphones at home again. End game reached :)

I stopped buying when I realized I was chasing the next headphone and not just enjoying the music anymore.

What's your go to hesdphone? I'm a fellow symphonic metal lover. (just saw Nightwish last summer, missed Epica though in the autumn).

That's not a story the Jedi would tell you

Headphone journey just started, but audio has been going on for decades. Yes, eventually you'll just appreciate hearing differences and enjoying music, why most of my audio gear is probably "vintage" by now.

Headphones are so much cheaper by comparison, and will satisfy my lust for comparison, so will it end?? Probably not but there will be large lulls as I revisit former purchases

When I found the sound signatures and qualities that I like the most, my purchases increased.

Just like PC hardware, when you know more, you know what to get and essentially go out and get them.

I think this hobby has a few up and downs just like a stock market.

At first you start with nothing, so anything you buy you’re going up. But I’d argue you’re not fully satisfied with each purchase, but is finding out through elimination what fits you.

There’s a peak where you say, wow I know exactly the sound signature I like and relatively what gear I need. So you might start selling all the gear you’ve been through. This is where the graph trends downward. You’re losing gear yet you’re recuperating ❤️‍🩹 some investment.

Then there’s the big spikes. This is necessary as you’re finally making some big purchases left and right. You know you’ve gained success when the gear you suspect turns out to be what you were aiming for. You’ve developed YOUR very own price to happiness ratio.

I think afterwards might be some flat lining as you’ve reached $ to performance and is just cruising.

I just ran out of space 😂😂😂

Got the CF Andromedas in 2016 and those have been my endgame, no other audiophile headphones purchased after that. Only purchase after that was the Fiio UTWS5 for convenience.

It is a studio headphone.. emotionless ( It's one of my favorites). Maybe hifiman sundara would be better for you

I bought an Auteur last spring and haven't had the urge to buy anything else...except the Caldera.

I’m good with Susvara

I’ve stopped because I realized that I love music first and gear second, and the quest for better gear was keeping me from enjoying music.

In the quest for some kind of holy grail of perfection within my budget I realized I was always listening critically. I used to record in music studios and tracking and mixing was grueling — listening critically is taxing on the brain, saps enjoyment, and is fatiguing. Before I reached that place, when I listened my brain wasn’t really enjoying music, I was evaluating audio gear.

Don’t get me wrong! I am enough of a gear head to find that fun, for a while.

But deciding to be done where I was with the gear I had, and calling it “good enough” — with full knowledge that there is better gear out there — has allowed me to enjoy music again. And since I am a musician and music head first, and a gear head second, that is the right place for me.

yes. and even sell everything and just keep one bt cans.

Someday I'll do speakers. For now I have a Logitech speaker system and I tell myself I don't need to upgrade because "when I want good sound, I'll put on my headphones."

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I've been in this hobby for 15 years and I'm still rolling a lot. Sadly haha

Sure, as long as you’re not trying to make the driver do something it’s just not capable of doing (like flat subbass to 20hz on a Koss KSC75 or something) junky stuff can often be dramatically improved. It’s even kind of a fun thing to do, if you’re a weirdo like me.

90% of this hobby for me *is* shopping and buying new gear

Honestly, if you are happy with what you have uninstall Reddit and be happy with it

It's getting downvoted because suggesting that people avoid an entire brand based on certain types of music is asinine.

I love many types of music including dnb, hip-hop, dubstep, and electronica, and I'll take my various Sennheisers over some Beyer DTs any day of the week.

Calling the HD600s sharp is a new one, by the way - in terms of treble they're nowhere near as hot as the DT880 or DT990s. Maybe it's the upper mids you don't like? If so, that can mitigated with EQ.

Anyway, this hobby is largely subjective - what works for you won't work for others - so you're right in that it's more important to test out headphones for yourself rather than rely wholly on the advice of internet strangers.

My desktop headphone of choice is the Audeze LCD X. Most recent revision. Love these things. I pair them with the Fiio M17 being used as DAC with my PC. Usually listening through Qobuz. But I am always looking for something better

I am at endgame except for new products. Not interested in anything currently existing but waiting to see if better buys than what I have come out.

I was like this with the element II about 3 years ago.

Now I want speakers :(

I just got the IE 600s and i think they are the first expensive Audiophile Devices i will keep, maybe worth a listen for you? How do you like the 200? And what amp/dac do you use for the 660S?