[ajzepp]

Hello again...

So I came up with a theory accidentally. There is one main reason why I love Magnepan speakers. It's because back in 2005 I was coming off a divorce, as well as the sale of all my Paradigm Studio gear and my SVS subwoofer, and pretty much starting over financially. I had around $500 to buy new speakers and I took a chance on Magnepans MMG factory direct program. Although they were the least expensive Maggies and the speakers I had just gotten rid of were nearly four times their cost, I fell deeply and madly in love.

As some of you know, I've been getting into the headphone thing lately and trying to soak up as much info as I can. Well, it sort of hit me this past weekend when Amazon wasn't able to cancel an order in time for me. Maybe I need to take the same approach with headphones as I did with speakers? If a company can convey to me that they know how to approach sound reproduction in the manner that best suits my ears with their most entry level transducer, it's likely their higher quality products will be more of a good thing. Well, today, lightening struck for a second time. I had my second Magnepan MMG moment, except this time it wasn't Maggies....it was the Grado SR80i's.

It almost seemed meant to be, because the day after I had already placed the order for them, and the day before I actually received them, Steve Ford suggested the Grado SR60i's. Steve is a fellow Maggie lover, so this recommendation was one that resonated with me. I opened up the pizza box packaging, fired them up, and it was *exactly* the type of sound that I was looking for. The phones are nice and light, they bass is FAR more crisp and punchy than the Sennheiser 518s I've been playing with, and they had that open, airy sense about them that I love. I could barely even tell I had them on, and it was much more like being in a room where music was playing as opposed to having drivers stuck next to my ears. In short, they spoke to me loud and clear!

So this brings me to you guys...while I continue along my journey into headphones, I was wondering what some of your "headphone moments" were. What cans were you wearing when you first heard a pair that you connected with? Have any of you become brand-loyal because of your experience?

Do tell! 

[charmerci]

OMG!  They still make the first headphones I ever bought!

http://www.amazon.com/Koss-Pro-4AA-Studio-Quality-Headphones/dp/B00004Z7G9

Well, now it's the Pro 4AA instead of the just the 4AA. My older brother got me into buying stereo equipment and got me to buy these things over 30 years ago. Can't wear them for hours on end. They're heavy and can make you sweat.

[ajzepp]

OMG!  They still make the first headphones I ever bought!

http://www.amazon.com/Koss-Pro-4AA-Studio-Quality-Headphones/dp/B00004Z7G9

Well, now it's the Pro 4AA instead of the just the 4AA. My older brother got me into buying stereo equipment and got me to buy these things over 30 years ago. Can't wear them for hours on end. They're heavy and can make you sweat.

   Were those also the first ones you fell for? Or did you find something else that you loved more?

And I'm sorry, but it has to be said...those are FUGLY!!!! 

[Elizabeth]

My first headphones were Koss Pro4
They had giant green cups, with a big aluminum knob off one earcup.
I bought them back in 1965...
Now I have two pair:
Beyerdynamic DH990 Which I have had for something like 20 years.
And a pair of Sennheiser HD800 (with a Rudistor RPX-33mk2 headamp)

[mhconley]

For me they were the Sennheiser HD400 I owned in the late 70's / early 80's.


Fondly recalling their sound was one of the reasons I chose the Sennheiser HD598 I received yesterday.

Martin

[mcgsxr]

1.  Christmas 1984.  Koss Porta Pro headpones.  I soon discovered that if I pressed them to my ears, the bass got much better.  I immediately wanted that bass all the time...

2.  Winter 2011.  Alessandro MS1i.  I bought them on a lark, for a desktop system.  It lead to significant amounts of time being spent on Head Fi, and the eventual purchase of some SR60i's that I modded.

3.  Spring 2011.  Audeze LCD-2's.  At a local Head Fi meet with some uber rare Hawaii amp or something.  WOW was that good.  The price for the combo was somewhere around a new car however!

I stuck with the modded SR60i's and am still happy.

[eclein]

Zepp- mine was last year I guess when I heard my first SR60's, I did like mcgsxr and went all in, modded mine and continue to play with them, but I lately have been checking the IEM's out and some other types...but the one constant is everytime I put the Grado's back on its like I'm home!!!

[dB Cooper]

My first headphones were Sennheiser 414s, which I have still never found surpassed in comfort (although definitely in sound.) I have also had 424s, 580s, 485s, PX100s,555s and probably a couple others. Long time fan of the brand, most have had really good sound and hold up long term.

Not so successful experiment early on was the Koss Pro 4AA, the classic two-teacups-in-a-vise cans. Weigh a ton and didn't like having to take them off every so often to drain the sweat. These probably created my lifelong strong bias towards open air designs.

I am aware of the Grados' reputation and devoted following, and liked the sound of the SR125s I auditioned briefly but found them to fall far short in the comfort department. I believe they may have improved their ear cushion design since.

I like the definition and coherence of good headphones; if I m listening solo that's my usual choice.I use an app on my Mac (actually an Audio Unit plugin) called Canz 3D which is a digital-domain crossfeed processor that creates a virtual room that you have fine grained control over. They have some demo ogg files on their website. It reduces the all-inside-your-head stereo imaging that some dislike from headphones. Best $15 I ever spent on audio.

[Russell Dawkins]

1953. Newly arrived in Canada from England. 9 years old. Mounted a conical "horn" made of rolled up paper on the little flesh-colored cheap plastic piezo-electric earphone (singular) that came with my crystal set, in accordance with my father's guidance (he did similar in India for the men in the barracks to hear short wave news from Holland on his Philips Skyscraper radio).

Lo and behold, you could hear the output on the far side of the attic! I repeated the trick later in the classroom. Teacher was not impressed.

Totally analog, only two or three parts (one being the cat's whisker) between the antenna and the earphone. Still not exactly hi-fi!

As a result, when asked how long I have been "into" sound, it is tempting to cite this experiment!

[nathanm]

I remember visiting the Koss factory store on more than a few occasions back in the day.  I can't remember the model I first bought, but later on I did buy a pair of Pro 4AA for the sheer dorky-mechanical-metal-cool factor.  They just don't sound very good is all.  The glossy vinyl(?) earcups are not pleasant.  I still have them on hand for recording voiceovers at work, though.

My headphone moment was getting Sennhesier HD600s. Wow!  Suddenly headphones sounded clear and crispy instead of muffly and closed-in.  But I won't deny missing the 'artificial' low end from other headphones.

Even more of a headphone moment was not necessarily due to headphone alone, but rather the "Schoeps sphere" demo track on some Stereophile CD or some such.  100% brain fooled, reality altered.  Very cool stuff.  Then you have to begrudingly go back to listening to actual music and not hi-fi stunts and wishing in vain that records people actually buy had that much cool ass spatial stuff going on. *sigh*

[milford3]

The Koss HV-1.  I still have them and they work perfectly.

[randytsuch]

Not long after my first kid, I started looking into "real" headphones.

I saw this review
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/akg/k1000_1.html

and they went on sale at headroom a little while after, so I guess it was meant to be

I still have them, although I am not using them at the moment, don't have a good amp to power them with.  Trying to rectify that.

Randy

[charmerci]

Or did you find something else that you loved more?

And I'm sorry, but it has to be said...those are FUGLY!!!! 

I listened to a few in the early 80's and loved the AKG K240's but they were pretty expensive for a poor student so I bought the K141's in '82 I think.

This was back before I discovered Stereophile and other high end stereo equipment. No AC back then! 

[Russell Dawkins]

Not long after my first kid, I started looking into "real" headphones.

I saw this review
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/akg/k1000_1.html

and they went on sale at headroom a little while after, so I guess it was meant to be

I still have them, although I am not using them at the moment, don't have a good amp to power them with.  Trying to rectify that.

Randy

I dedicate a Tripath Sonic Impact to the task, and leave my K1000s permanently hooked up to it. It works very nicely.

charmerci - I think that now that you are no longer a poor student you should try again to get a listen to the 600ohm AKG 240DFs if you can. I think they fly under most people's radar, but are one of the lowest distortion, tonally truest headphones out there and they beat all the other AKG models I've heard, even to date.

[Mark Korda]

The year was 1968 give or take a year.Light My Fire had just come out by the Doors.My freind Jim Honan and I were heading down the stairs to go out and play soft ball.My older sister was listening to a pair of Radio Shack headphones connected to a Heathkit AA-32 my pop built.She had an extention cord joined to the regular cord.Like Oliver Hardy I looked at Jim,much smaller and unplugged the cord as my sister was sitting on the stairway blocking us from moving.She took a swipe at my face and I had to go to school with red gashes on my face that rivaled Bruce Lee's that he had on his chest in Enter the Dragon.Happy listening....Mark Korda

[eclein]

I always wanted some Koss HV-1's.....Milford how do they sound compared to todays stuff??

[SteveFord]

I lusted after Koss headphones as a kid but the first set of headphones that I ever purchased were these fugly things which I bought from an ad in the back of Stereo Review:



which I still have and they're still my favorite headphones.
I'm happy to say that I'm not the model in the photo.

The Grados do sound a lot like MMGs, don't they? 

[ajzepp]

I lusted after Koss headphones as a kid but the first set of headphones that I ever purchased were these fugly things which I bought from an ad in the back of Stereo Review:



which I still have and they're still my favorite headphones.
I'm happy to say that I'm not the model in the photo.

The Grados do sound a lot like MMGs, don't they?

   Nice!

And yes, the Grados TOTALLY reminded me of the MMGs...it was weird, cause I usually don't get that sort of experience with a dynamic driver, but they were very similar in certain areas. One of my favorite aspects of Maggies is their transparency. Sure, this quality can allow poor recordings to sound like asss, but well recorded material sounds FANTASTIC. That's one thing I was realizing with the Grados. Even though they were the lower end model, the better quality music I was listening to just REALLY sounded good. Some of my other stuff sounded slightly harsh, but in this case that was a good thing. Once I get some tubes in the signal path that will soften up a bit, but yep, the Grados have qualities that the MMGs have for sure and I love it

Keep the stories coming guys, this is interesting....and a lot of fun  

[milford3]

Eclein, I must dust these "Stereophones" off and get back to you.  Interesting to hook these cans up to the Schiit amp.  Ohm's not withstanding.  I love this hobby.


eclein

[ajzepp]

  I love this hobby.

I'm really starting to understand why you guys love it so much....I can't believe I went this long without ever even taking a look at what the headphone world has to offer. It was the weirdest feeling today, but I found myself actually getting excited about charging up the battery in my Fiio E11     I was happy to give it some juice so I could make sure it was available for some Grado time tonight