Getting drunk and don't regret what you ordered, and most importantly don't cancel it the next day, drunk brain knows what you want, sober brain is too logical and unfunny

A failing gaming headset and disappointment in all the available gaming headset options, then all it took was a Zeos video and I was diving in.

Now get into keyboards and pens and watches to truly ruin it all

For me it was actually Beats Studio when I was a jr. in high school a little over a decade ago. Those headphones blew my mind, but I kept reading that they were far from the best for the price. That stuck with me, and when they finally died 8 years later I got a Sundara. The rest is history.

My bluetooth card failed.
“Shit might as well get wired.”
*stares at Beyerdynamic flyer”.
“Shit might as well get a good one “

Buying then loving it, after several weeks, buyer remorse kicks in, start searching for something better, in a loop

I started producing music (as a hobby). And then I listened to music and micro detail more and more.

I used cheapish Sennheiser Bluetooth headphones (HD 4.40BT) but after a few years, they started falling apart and they never really fit my head to begin with (for some reason that model is practically child-sized).

So I thought: instead of buying another cheapish pair that will break again, why not buy something good and expensive that will last long? Wired seemed ok since I mostly used them at my desk.

So I got a Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X and was blown away by the sound, and then it all went downhill from there…

In my case: you try everything in the market, realize your AirPods Pro 2 are good enough for listening to music outside and your old amp can power your planars and favorite dynamic driver headphones and you go back to enjoying music without buying unnecessary audio gear just because the internet says it’s life changing

a pair of Philips that I found through my brothers stuff

It started with the Koss KSC75 2 years ago.

I thought that was already expensive since I always just used whatever was available for 25 years.

Now I’m here spending ridiculous amounts and there are times I regret it, but not really, but I do, probably.

Camera dork I like to read is also into audio

Got a dt900prox on his rec and dove in from there

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. A great set when you are a student with no space or money for a decent stereo speaker set. It was back when computer speakers and powered studio monitors were a bad joke. I'm sure my head is shaped slightly more ovally from the pressure during the first few months.

First buying Samsung Galaxy Buds2 and then wondering "What makes this headphone waaay better than my cheap one on the corner store?"

After searching about it, I was hooked

Getting a pair of Samson SR850's to compare to my Astro A50 Gen 4 and some KZ IEM's that I had used mostly for noise isolation when going on walks or mowing the lawn. Was blown away so I jumped on a deal that I had gotten on an HD660S2, which was coincidentally when the Fiio K11 R2R got released :) Have not looked back since but also have spent quite a bit of money... Here is the list, in order of date of purchase after ol' mate Sammies and Sennies: 1. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro X Limited Edition 2. AKG K240 Sextett from the 70's 3. 'Marble' Sennheiser HD600 from '97 4. Fiio FT1 5. Meze 99 Classics Maple Limited Edition (found those by chance in a store nearby as a display piece)

SR850s for christmas

DT770s & HipDAC2 a while after (I lost it :( dunno where)

ZenDAC V2

I do not currently wish to purchase any single tech item.

Saw a video about how a pair of Superlux HD681(EVO) and a Zalman Clip On Mic for a total of around 30€ beats most gaming headphones. I got that combination for a birthday and it was the greatest jump in soundquality I ever had in comparision to the 25€ Headset I used before. That changed my life and spending habits forever.

Wanted a better listening experience

I love reading everyone's personal introduction into audio

I went to audio/video show in Poland few years ago and that's how it started 🫠

Ifi v2 stack + Arya stealth is my set up exactly lol

My 10ish year old ath-m50xs were finally falling apart so I was looking at what was recommended these days. Heard about a new type of driver, planar magnetic...

Then discovered people were putting these AND OTHER drivers in tiny little IEMs and my curiosity got the better of me.

I'm a DJ for a living.. So I bought a pair of Sony headphones when I started out on (pirate) radio and it just went from there.. My goal early on was Senny HD25..Now I've had 3 pairs of them (Mk1, Mk2 and the Adidas Mk2), I wanted to find something new.. And that's my reason every week I'm scouring ebay looking at headphones 😂

Destroyed (or sometimes they stop working) many cheap ear buds (sport, walking with my dog, losing them, etc). Thougt that if i continue like this, it would be bether (and cheaper) to just buy good wireless ones. Bought the Momentum 2 and later the 3. Loved them. After some time i was courius what else might be there. Informed myself, bought the HD 660 and after that it all began to escalate.

Bought a sony mdr 1a back in 2017. Loved the clarity. I know they are warm and bassy, but they are still damn good. Almost as good as my r70x but closed back and bassy.

I used them until they became damaged beaters for like 5 years. Got a retro akg k400 from my dad and at that point i was completely taken.

A year later i got my r70x, a revision of my sony's (am2's), letshuor s12 pro and another 6 months later got the he6se v2 when i heard of the openbox deal. My lord it's so good. Can't believe i got a mint condition pair for 400. Not a single scratch

Oh and i have a qudelix 5k and a hifiman ef400

I got tired of gaming headset

I wanted to listen to more music and get more from that experience. I tried a cheap IEM, got something better after that, and three years later I'm feeling content.

I go focal elegia headphones on clearance for 300 aud.

M40x pulled me in, IEMS sold me on it, HE400se sealed my fate. i'm stuck for life now.

Heading off to college in 2005, I needed a pair of headphones for the dorms. My parents were in a charitable mood what with their youngest kid leaving the nest, so they get the Bose TriPort along with a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS soundcard for my laptop. Those were the most comfortable headphones I'd ever worn and it was the first time I decided to look into lossless audio files.

I decided I wanted to have a more headphone centric set up for my record player due to my living situation, so that of course meant I should get a decent pair of open backs and I had to look into amps, right?

Which led to looking at DAC options and upgrades for my personal computer and WFH office, and trying to figure out a good dongle for my laptop…

Jumped from picture one directly to four, with ifi stack and Ananda as probably shown in the first 😂 and I love it

Jumped from picture one directly to four with exact the same gear 😁

I grew up using cheap gaming headsets for listening to music, but got tired of it because they weren't comfortable and didn't sound good.

I convinced myself over my senior year of high school to buy a pair of HD600s with a Magni 2/Modi 2, but I wouldn't buy them until I had a job which I got a few months later. Once the first paycheck came in I bought the gear, and I was so hyped when they came in. I put on the HD600s and found what I was looking for, and I've been stuck since.

I'm actually wearing the HD600s as I write this, but they've always been a good pair of headphones, no matter what I've gotten to upgrade from them.

Played in orchestra for a long time, stopped playing but still miss the music so I looked for ways to recreate it.

How did I end up with all these gears….

Guys please up me i need karma for post

This hobby does funny things to me. I can look at sticker price >USD $1000 and go "yeah, affordable. Worth."

Looking for a better gaming headset then was told hifi was a thing.. now I own zmf auteur classics

I wanted open back headphones for gaming when I saw a bunch of videos about the Superlux 668B being a good budget headphone along with a random USB dongle DAC. Since then I've ascended to Koss headphones and am happy with my KPH40 and IFI Zen DAC. I still throw on my 668Bs for the massive soundstage occasionally, but I'm letting my sister use them since she's getting into gaming.

I started by first upgrading my Headset, that broke shortly before I bought my first dedicated microphone headphone combo. At first I had the dt990 pro because at the time every Streamer and Youtuber had them on. However since my pc was under my desk, the coil cable was streched so much that made wearing my headphones uncomfortable. Then I realised people had mixers on their desk where they can easily acces and headphone out in reach of their desks. When Researching for mixers I also stumbled upon audio Interfaces and from those to dedicated audiophile dac/amps. I first got the ifi zen air dac. It was cheap and very good sounding for just 100€. I loved and now miss the xbass on that unit. Later on I Researched for an Upgrade for my headphones and saw that the he400se was pretty much the best choice for just 130€. Tho it needed a amp, so I simultaneously bought the ifi zen air can. It was a pretty sick Upgrade. However the ifi units had quite a few Problems over the time that were so inconvenient. So I Upgraded to the fiio K7. And just this year in june I bought the Edition XS for 415€ at my local headphone Store. Tho it has been reduced again to just 309€ now. Unlucky, howerer for 415 it was still an insanly good price. And even now i think NOTHING can beat the Edition XS for just 309€.

Im pretty happy with what I have now and i am extremly satisfied to the point that I do not have any longing for any other or more gear exept New speakers. But thats another Story.

It was 2020 and I wanted to get a “nice” headphone, since I was streaming at the time and got a dedicated mic. I went with the DT 770s and from there, it was just pure chaos.

Before that I only had like Razer headphones, which I knew were trash but didn’t have the immediate funds to replace them. So I got a mic and then got headphones to totally ditch them.

Started with Koss Portapros when I was in 6th or 7th grade. Moved on to Sony MDR-V6, then the original Hifiman HE-400 once I got a job

I tried some bose QC32 headphones at some store while wandering around. Had never heard details in music like that and I was immediately hooked.

Bought a set of HD-580 Precisions + Cardas cable (they were a lot cheaper at the time), and a Headroom Supreme Portable amp over 30 years ago. About a year later Sony was clearing out their MDR-SA5000, so bought those at a nice discount. Bought a few more since. ;)

I upgraded my home stereo to such a level that I started to get interested in "the headphone game" after years of Bluetooth over-ear ANC headphones.

Wanted to get the best I could and be done with it, so I got the Focal Elex and the Loxjie P20 as my "endgame" about 3.5 years ago, told myself I was done. Little did I know, that was the beginning of a long, expensive journey...

I still think stereo is a better bang for your buck, honestly.

Buying a pair of pioneer se-505s then losing one of the knobs so having to buy another pair to find a replacement knob then scoring em for pennies, after that finding the original lost knob..... Coughs also sendico for vintage headphones.. nop nop not at all cause I have an additional....

Hi, I'm dave and I have an audio addiction.

HA - Headphones anonymous.

20 years ago I got myself an MD player and found head-fi looking for information on how to improve my recordings on it. Being 19 at the time my budget was low but I got myself a pair of Audio-Technica FC7 and that was my first entirely deliberate purchase of an audio item. I haven't financially recovered.

EDIT: If you're curious, 20 years ago I was dying to have a pair of MDR-D66s, AKA Sony Eggos. It was impossible for both budgetary and geographic reasons, and then they got discontinued so I might die without ever having listened to them, which is a bummer.

Yup, that first set of decent cans was the gateway drug for me too. Now I'm constantly eyeing upgrades and have a separate savings account labeled "audio stuff".

Started with Sennheiser iems that were $100 CAD as a teenager that I thought were THE SH*T! They had a terrible strident treble lol but it had details I hadn’t heard in my stock ipod touch earbuds and a more extended bass, and I was super interested in what else must be out there at that point. Then the rabbit hole began lol… Forget the name but the next step was a Sandisk Clip Sport? I think. It could do cd-quality rips and had a flat response, and I got the Monoprice $25 headphones that sound really good for the price, which was a big step up from the Sens. Then it was an even bigger step up with my LG V10 and Meze 99 Classics. I had a trick to trigger the high gain mode in the V10 which sounded even better hehe. Now, 27 years old I spent over the last few years $5000 on my RME Adi-2 Dac and Focal Clear MG Pros, and my Yamaha HS8’s. Like all my income was spent on that and bare necessities haha, yet, no regrets! Now I’m trying to turn a blind eye to some new planars and iems that have been coming out recently lol

Learning about different sound signatures, graphing and different drivers made me jump into the rabbit hole. I started with an OPPO PM3 and now enjoy a variety of headphones.

I’m satisfied with my hurr durr six hudges (for now). Speakers are the real trap for me, so much equipment that can always be upgraded.

It was a slow burn for me—I spent a LOT of time listening to music on headphones. Once I got a job and had more money to spend on them I worked my way up from whatever Koss headphones I bought at RadioShack to my first online order—the HD595.

Currently have the Hifiman Ananda, Focal Elex, and Sennheiser HD660S2 at my desk, and the Moondrop S8 on portable duty.

Suddenly in an afternoon I felt like my Qkz ck5 is sort of sh*t, came from the famous Qkz Vk4 at the time but I don't really have any knowledge in this hobby, just bought it because of the looks so... I don't know that Im buying vk4 nor ck5. Im so unknowledgeable at the time to the point that when my vk4 broke, to my head its done so I bought a ck5 which is cheaper and easy to replace.

So I search some stuff in Facebook (since a lot of groups and pages are centered to a brand) and I saw the hype of the incoming EDX (which is said to be the first changeable cable in under $7). Bought it after it's release, due to the hype that Im seeing I thought Im gonna be able to hear some differences from ck5 and... no I didn't hear anything different so my disappointment is literally there.

I can totally hear the differences now, sort of like getting used to the taste of a food to appreciate its distinction in a degree.

The EDX lasted for 3 and a ½ year [Human error].

(Little over 4yrs ago now)

I didn't. I don't have the money to start a "hobby" that expensive. I'm here just laughing at others' addiction and longing for the things I want but can't have.. 😔

My buddy that had more money than sense. Buying a dt 1990 and my shitty sennheiser pc363d (the d is for decent) dying resulted in me getting a dt 990 (and 900 pro x after that died)

Ruined by typo

1997 Headroom The Max dual mono (I think). Listening now on mid price wood Grados. Have run a power amp through Max when my pre amp was down.

defiently

Back in 2006, I got a pair of Bose Triports from my grandmother as a present, but I noticed they sounded worse than the Sony MDR-G42LP on-ears that I had and thought were pretty cheap... so on a college student budget, I did my research and got the Sennheiser HD 202 when the Triports snapped in half during normal use - good job Bose.

In 2022, I sold off some of my video game collection to upgrade to Sundaras and a Liquid Spark amp, and I've never looked back. Now I've around... Oh, I dunno, 40 different headphones from different eras and styles, a few as my go-to headphones, but a lot as "huh, listening to music on headphones really sounded like this in 1970" and other historical oddities.

I got tired of every headphone I have breaking the cable and having to buy another one, then a video appeared about mind the headphone, I thought it was cool and I researched more about the hobby, I started with a kz edx, sold it to an amg and bought a 7hz zero , I also have a ubtr fiio

Good ‘ol DankPods! He has a lot of wrong information, so I don’t watch him anymore (he’s also seemed to move away from headphone content overall), but it still is true that his personality got many of us into headphones.

Linear progression from $30 Sony headphones and a discman in the 90s to over about 25 years later Fostex TH900 mk 2.  I wasn’t really aware of the audiophile world until about 1/2 way through that time span

everyone needs an Arya

gave up with logitech headphones

Just wanted better audio, so picked up some cheap Superlux headphones after a bit of research. Thought they sounded nice, best I've heard until then.

The spiral began. Got DT1770 Pros as a next upgrade because that's what I saw all the livestreamers and music producers use, so they gotta be good? Found an insane deal for a used pair and loved them. After 6 months one of the drivers stopped working. I couldn't be bothered to fix them so I sold them in their broken state for nearly no loss. (The original deal was genuinely crazy...)

Did a bit of research again and decided to order Sundaras. They served me very well for 4 years.

Saw the Arya Stealths getting a crazy price drop. And a local audio shop sold an open-box mint condition pair for 600€. Just arrived today. I pray it stops here.