Hi everyone!
I got into this hobby quite by chance - I did not pay much attention to headphones for most of my life and was generally happy with my ignorance and klipsch s4i driven out of my iphone. Early last year I started doing some research for a better gaming headset to replace my Sony Pulse Elites. At the time my only headphones were my Sony Pulse Elites and Bose Noise Cancelling headphones I received as a gift. I found their bass extremely bloated... fun for a short time but I could only listen to music for 15 minutes or so. The Pulse Elites even had some gimmick called "Bass impact" that actually RUMBLED the headset in response to bass in a game... pretty ridiculous.
Anyway, as I was about to move to China for work, I knew I wanted to do some research and invest in a better pair of headphones - I looked up some gaming headset reviews and everyone praised the Astro A50's for some reason. So what the heck! I bought some used off of Ebays and put on those expensive cans with anticipation... and my jaw dropped. But definitely for the wrong reason. Those headphones were pure crap and somehow sounded even worse than my Sony Pulse Elites!
I did some more research and found MLE's gaming headphone thread on Head-Fi, and well... that was the beginning of the end for me, haha. I talked to some very helpful head-fi members and I eventually purchased a Soundblaster Omni and Soundmagic HP100. The bass was still a bit bloated but I really enjoyed the headphone. However, MLE's thread definitely got me interested in taking my music and listening much more seriously.
I felt the SB Omni wasn't doing a great job, and I had several hundreds in Amazon credit that I needed to use before I left for China (unfortunately the credit doesn't transfer to Amazon China...). I read incredible things about Schiit, so I first tried an Asgard 2 - unfortunately it came with a busted gain switch, and it really ran WAY too hot. Like I felt I could actually burn myself by touching it for more than 5 seconds. I did enjoy the class A sound but I couldn't stand the heat. After some more research, I read that the Burson Soloist SL was also a class A amp but didn't get very hot. So I bit and sure enough, it never got more than moderately warm
I moved to China last August and had the great blessing of trying some of the first production HE-400i's available in Beijing (along with HE-560, HE-6, and some Audeze cans). I loved the 400i sound and instantly purchased it with a free stand. Unfortunately, this would be the last time I had ever auditioned any headphones since I soon moved to a much smaller city in China - about the only headphones they sell here are Beats knockoffs
(Common reply at the electronics market here:
Me: "Where can I find some headphones?"
Vendor: "Do you want the cheap fake Beats, the medium priced fake Beats, or the premium Beats?"
Me: "Um... are the premium Beats even real?"
Vendor: "No, they're still fake. But they sound the same.")
During my audition, I could tell the 560 was technically better (much more clarity and soundstage in my opinion with slightly better bass extension) but I couldn't justify the $400 premium over the 400i.
While I like my 400i's, my biggest complaint is the sometimes "muddied" sound compared to what I heard with the 560, and the very noticeable lack of soundstage. After some more conversations on head-fi via PMs, I realized my weak link was my DAC (still using the Omni). So I was able to get a
second hand Concero DAC delivered to a friend in the US who soon visited me. This definitely added some more body and soundstage to the 400i and I was happy... for a year, haha.
Now I have the upgrade itch again. I replaced my Concero and Soloist SL with the Oppo HA-1, but I am still unsure about an upgrade over the 400i. To be honest, I am not even sure any current flagships check all the boxes I want in an upgrade (clarity, wide soundstage with good imaging, microdetails, good bass impact and extension, and most importantly COMFORT... I could not wear the Audeze cans or HE-500 for more than 15 minutes).
As I started reading reviews during my quest for an upgrade, I noticed that some reviewers and websites pretty much treated every new piece of gear as the Holy Grail. Even when they gave a "negative" review, the gear would still get 4/5 stars or something similar, often without robust comparisons. Though I had been suspicious for a while, this is when I really realized that some reviewers were complete shills and I couldn't trust someone just because they were popular.
Enter changstar
While I still enjoy browsing through head-fi, I find most of my information via PMs with some of the more objective and helpful members in that community. It's sad that most of their criticism needs to be relegated to PM though, which is why I like these forums much better.
Anyways, that was quite a long introduction, but I look forward to learning a lot from you all!
