Which headphone/amp/DAC got you into this nonsense?

Discussion in 'General Audio Discussion' started by rhythmdevils, Aug 11, 2022.

  1. Ksaurav402

    Ksaurav402 Friend

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    I still have Cowon J3 that I bought in 2010. It was upgrade for me from IPod touch. Battery still goes for 30hrs and works fine with JVC IEM
    After getting Cowon, I got into digital EQ with crossfeed, Q setting etc.
     
  2. Aklegal

    Aklegal Friend

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    The rabbit hole began with a pair of Senn HD 555s. But....

    Monarchy NM 24 -->Woo Audio 6 --> K501 or HD650.

    I think I could have been rescued before hearing this combo. Instead, here I am 14 years later.
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2022
  3. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    UE Triplefi 10... later found out that it was insanely bright. It was my first, so I thought it was normal.
     
  4. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    Alessandro MS-1!
     
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  5. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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  6. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    For so many years, I dreamed of a Sony Walkman Professional. Then I spotted a good deal and bought it. Nagra for people who can't afford Nagra! But still, far from cheap.

    Then, within weeks, I got a mini-disc player --- and finished with cassette for portable audio for ever.

    The Walkman professional still had a place in the stack: it was at least as good, if not better, than my full-size cassette deck.
     
  7. m.i.c.k.e.y

    m.i.c.k.e.y Facebook Friend

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    Aside from the regular walkmans, discmans, early adlib/soundblaster sound cards. I think my first dive in HiRes audio is this Indigo IO (pcmcia) from Echo Audio I bought back in 2007? as my "mobile" setup paired with a Senn HD-25. This card will output 24/96.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2022
  8. tsd13

    tsd13 New

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    Godparents got me sennheiser HD201. had those for awhile until the earpads started falling apart. Went to replace the earpads, found out they weren't made for that. I started doing more research, found some forums and got sony mdr-v6
     
  9. ductrung3993

    ductrung3993 Facebook Friend

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    I started with plain AD700 plugged into the laptop (listened a friend Px200 before). The first “system” that make me realize synergy is a thing is Yuin Pk1 + Nuforce udac
     
  10. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    Modi 1 and HD650's.

    I mean, in high school (the 90's) had MDR-V6's...so I knew where this was going all along, lol.
     
  11. GuySmiley'sMonkey

    GuySmiley'sMonkey Almost "Made"

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    What started my love affair with recorded music?
    A cheap (non-Sony) Walkman with the included on-ear, orange-foam-covered, tiny, tinny earphone thingies (1987)

    What brought me close to the edge?
    Asus Xonar Essence STX > Audio Technica ATH-AD900 (2010)

    What pushed me over the edge to committed (ie asylum level committed)?
    Cambridge Audio CD Player > Meier Audio Corda Concerto > LCD 2.1 (2011)
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2022
  12. Jh4db536

    Jh4db536 Friend

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    i gave up on this hobby after i realized that i was doing everything wrong, only to come back when i heard The Light or Possibility. it's like being reborn with a new purpose in life. It happened to me first with Amplifiers then maybe 8 years later DACs.

    my sole purpose became not to only Acquire something like this, but to be able to Create it myself to my own liking
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2022
  13. GuySmiley'sMonkey

    GuySmiley'sMonkey Almost "Made"

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    Sounds like a religious experience.
     
  14. TamHo

    TamHo New

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    I used to have the J3 in 2010 too:) Changing UI theme and EQ on it was a fun. Paired with a hype iem at that time: Vsonic GR07. The J3 sounded piercing and had no weight to the sound that was why I sold it soon. Thought it sounded much better than the Zune and Samsung's pmps. Nice memory:)
     
  15. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Gosh, whatever happened to pcmcia!

    ISTR that I had a pcmcia sound card. Well, I know I did, but I can't recall the details. This was when I first moved to India in 2005 and my only source was a laptop. Connected to the audio system still-in-England was a PC with an RME soundcard in it.

    Maybe there were separate DACs and ADCs in studios, back then, but otherwise we didn't think about DACs, because it was assumed that if you wanted to output sound, you would want to input it to. I have not really recorded/ripped/whatever sound for five or seven years now, but continued to have both I and O in the box.
     
  16. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Holy crap, I had the Echo Indigo DJ version of this (basically dual output but no input) and thought it was fantastic, enough so that I bought the Echo 2 USB when my new laptop did not have the pcmcia slot. Sadly, the Echo2USB did not work once I moved to Windows 10 on the yet next laptop, because if it did I think I'd still be using it. The RME Babyface Pro FS that replaced it was ok, but there was something to the Echo that I liked more, and it was more compact overall.
     
  17. m.i.c.k.e.y

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    Very nice that little volume control heh! Had the IO since I wanted to to experiment some home recording...Mine still working on my old laptop.
     
  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    OK, I know, Laptop size reduction made it look like an industrial tool.

    For many years, my DAC/ADC was an Echo Audio Audiofire. I still have it
     
  19. bobboxbody

    bobboxbody Friend

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    My Dad got me a tape Walkman in the late 80's/early 90's and I used it forever, great for skateboarding and walking to school. I stuck with tapes until the 1st gen iPod came out, at which point someone convinced me to try premium headphones and I dropped an outrageous amount of money on a pair of Grado SR80's(I think $79), that combo really blew me away, but I didn't believe in outboard dacs until I heard a friend's Modi multibit, then bought one here, then commence rabbit hole.
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2022
  20. poohlikehoney

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    This is going way back but my very first mp3 player the Samsung Yepp TP-T5H with stock earbuds and subsequently an unspecified Sony clip on earphone. Spent countless hours listening throughout my early-mid teens and was likely my most used gadget. In some ways I've had way more fun with the small cube shape mp3 with a measly 128mb containing no more than 30 highly processed files at a time. Things were a lot simpler back then.

    Courtesy of Crutchfield - https://www.crutchfield.com/S-8bPtntNwtkL/p_305YPT5H/Samsung-YP-T5H.html
    [​IMG]
     

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