[meyner]

I don't recall having a single audiophile friend, family, or acquintence. Never really listened to expensive headphones before either but one day just for the heck of it decided to buy a pair of grado 225i. A lot of my friends and my bro thought i was crazy since it was $200 and frankly i thought i was too at the time but it was prolly one of the best decisions i've made since it made me realize how amazing music could sound. now my grados are long gone since i have a pair of denon d2000 thats been recabled and fitted (stock cables twist too much) with d7000 cups and HE-500 but i was wondering how any of you guys got into headphones and became a audiophile? (if you care to share) Was it from auditioning? impulse buy? gift? friends?

 

[aeroG1]

While playing Persona 3, a JRPG, I noticed that I really liked the main character's headphones, which I looked into and found out were the Ath-EM7. These cans were discontinued and rare, so I sought after another pair and ended up becoming an AKG fanboy.

 

[meyner]

no one else has interesting/good stories to tell?

 

[BillsonChang007]

Hello!

My dad shows a little bit of interest on floor standing speakers. There's ones(3-5 years back), he was looking for an upgrade so yeah, we headed to the only speaker shop which is now closed. We actually stand there for the whole morning just to figure out which speaker to get. From there, I listened to more than 10 types speakers until I was able to distinguish the sound.

There I learnt higher-end speaker does make a different. Then a year back, my family and I travelled to Europe. I tested another tones of headphones there including the very popular Beats. There I learned lows mids, highs etc.

Billson

 

[TheBrutux168]

While playing Persona 3, a JRPG, I noticed that I really liked the main character's headphones, which I looked into and found out were the Ath-EM7. These cans were discontinued and rare, so I sought after another pair and ended up becoming an AKG fanboy.

I have a similar story except I was interested in one of the main characters headphones in Persona 4. I still haven't figured out what they are

 

[meyner]

lol. how nostalgic. persona 3 and 4 were both good games. Did the main character wear headphones in persona 4? was it not some other character?

 

[Schokolade bar]

When I was in high school I was watching Ghost in the Shell. Then I started watching the series in 03 I think and the opening song "Inner Universe" was like a trance and got me into foreign music. To this day Ghost in the Shell has probably my favorite soundtrack. 

 

[autoteleology]

Somebody let me listen to their XB-500 after a state test in my sophomore year of high school.

 

[wolfetan44]

My friends brother let me try his SR-225i and I purchased a SR-80i. And here I am

 

[Fearless1]

When I was younger(15-17) I worked in a friend's car audio shop installing high end car audio systems. With his help and guidance,  I won a national SQ competition (not a bass race) in car audio. I then gravitated towards a home theater room when we bought our first house............................then came the babies and headphones and here I am!

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Nice. 

 
For me, it started when I was 15 also. I cut grass for two summers to save enough money to buy my first "system." The receiver that I choose was the Pioneer sx-650. The first purchase is what kept me interested in audio all these years. 
 
Now, 33 years later, I've just two weeks ago purchased the very same Pioneer sx-650 which just happens to be a stupidly good headphone amp. 

 

[KingStyles]

I was trying to get an advantage while gaming and started looking into headphones.......I am not sure what happened after that.

 

[egokun]

I bought my first iPod in 2004, or 2005, don't remember now.

Soon I was into forums, reading suggestions for better-fitting earphones (can't keep the iBuds in my ears if my life depended on it).

I started my voyage with the Shure E3c. Good, indeed. But then I discovered Head-Fi, and since then, good has never been good enough

Every once in a while I'm back into buying new gear, looking for the end-all and be-all of headphones. All the while being haunted by the nagging knowledge that this road has no end

 

[MohawkUS]

I was trying to find some good gaming headphones on Amazon and ended up reading a ton of reviews that 'stereo headphones are superior to surround sound headphones. Get music headphones as they throw a better sound stage. Open headphones have the best imaging' So at that point I decided to look up the most expensive headphones to see what the 'good brands' were(silly way to do it I know). I ended up with a list: Sennheiser, Grado, AKG, Beyerdynamic. But like a moron I took a friend's advice and bought the Skullcandy Hesh. They were beyond bad, they were the first pair of headphones I'd ever listened to(beyond the hearing test things at school and the apple earbuds a friend had) but I knew immediately they were bad. The sound was muddy beyond belief. And I couldn't wear them for more than 5 minutes without pain. I tried sending them back but Skullcandy gave me the runaround, even denying my return a few times after I submitted for RMA. I probably lost as much shipping them back as I paid for them and I never got a refund. So I went back to the beginning....

I was intending to spend about $300-400 at that point as in my eyes '$50 headphones suck' so I was reading through the various reviews and someone commented on the SR-325i that 'thunder sounds likelike with these because of their treble' so I figured that would transition over well to gunshots in games. A few minutes after placing the order though I had doubts so I cancelled it and ordered the SR-80i instead "Headphones for more than $100? What am I a fool?" I also ordered an ASUS Essence STX soundcard which was good but maybe not the ideal pairing(it's a very bright soundcard) Still it was my first taste of good sound.

And despite everything you'd find here on Head-Fi the Grados with Dolby Headphones were amazing for gaming. I ended up in a 1v1 match of Crysis multiplayer against some guy and we got to a point where the guy was trying to hide cloaked to get away from me. But no matter where he hid I always found him because of the slight buzzing sound the cloaking device gives off! I was able to trace him all around the map like a bloodhound with that noise, which you probably wouldn't even hear with most headphones. My friends felt the same way, whenever they'd come over we'd be fighting over the headphones. I'd be playing something on the PC and they'd usually be playing COD on the Xbox. Though they all complained about the lack of bass and always told me to turn down the volume before I hurt my ears(None of them had heard of open headphones before)

It was probably at that point that I decided that these headphones were so good that 'they must have a forum dedicated to these'. I ended up looking up 'Grado forum' and that's how I got here. And It's kinda funny, as many headphones as I've gone through I've always missed my Grados. All of the headphones I like are known to be 'Grado like'(AKG K81, STAX SR-5NB), I really don't know why I haven't bought another Grado yet. I'm even one of the few who prefer Grado's comfort to the usual suspects(can't stand Velour or thick headbands). If only they had a larger soundstage and more sub-bass they'd be the perfect headphones.

 

[meyner]

As much as i enjoyed grados i remember it was very uncomfortable for me cause of my glasses. (If i didn't have glasses i prolly would've gotten used to them comfort wise) I also found some of the songs to be way too bright for me when using those headphones. (some of the female vocals)  I remember when i first started out i bought the grados 225i and bose qc15 in the beginning of my journey but my grados came in first. Listening to the bose a few days after was the most disappointing experience ever