Friends and their History

When I was around 11 or 12 years old I got my first digital music player from Santa Clause, an RCA Lyra. Following that it only took about a year for me to discover cheap in ear monitors from the average electronics store. These sorts of cheap earbuds served me for a few years and I enjoyed the noise isolation they provided.

Around 2009 I found out about head-fi, and it was just before or maybe just after this, that I found out about the Sennheiser HD800. Despite the praises of Grados and the Beyerdynamics, I instantly fell in love with the HD800's space-age aesthetics and innovative design, and the descriptions of it's highly detailed sound entranced my ninth-grade mind. However it wasn't long before I totally forgot about head-fi and settled on some low end budget cans. I was a high-school junior after all. For a long time I forgot about audio, since I did not audition or have the funds to buy anything considered "hi-fi."

Fast forward a few years and I find myself with a dead driver on the left side of my Bose QC25, circa late 2015. I began to search for a replacement, and having made some money now I felt it was time to go for a serious audiophile can. I ended up beginning my ascent out of low-end audio with the Oppo PM-3 planar magnetic headphones and HA-2 portable amplifier. It was from then on that I was hooked. Following that I had a frightening experience where I decided to "upgrade," to the Audeze EL-8. After three failed drivers leading to warranty replacements through my dealer, I finally switched up for a set of HE-560. The experience almost put me off hifi headphones for good, I'm glad it did not.

Only a couple years later, here I am, and I feel I have just about reached the furthest end of my head-fi journey as can practically be. It's been a great ride, and from the first experience with my RCA Lyra - in fact long before even then - I have never ceased in unearthing an amazing collection of music and sound.

Actually, wait, that RCA Lyra wasn't my first portable player. That honour goes to a Walkman tape player passed onto me from my father. Thanks to his tape collection, I had the distinct pleasure of discovering works that would influence me all the way to the present day. ELO, Jean-Michel Jarre, Dire Straits, Kitaro, Yanni, Abba, Mahler, Tupac, freakin' The Offspring... many more all sorts of early influences thanks to my parents and my (superbestaudio) friends, it kickstarted me on a great journey. I am blessed.