Hi everyone!
My name is Marci, I'm from Hungary.
My headphone journey started with the Sennheiser HD 565, it was my first serious headphone. It was one step below the HD 580 in the Senn hierarchy, back when the 580 was the flagship dynamic in their range. I still have it, it sounds similar to the 580/600 phones.
This was in the early nineties, when internet headphone communities didn’t exist yet and headphone amping was in its infancy. I just used the 565 from the headphone out of my Pioneer integrated amp. This was my setup for many years.
In the 2000s I’ve discovered Head-Fi, learned about amps, and bought an entry level Meier Corda amp. The hype machine for the Senn HD 595 (which is basically the same as the current 598 afaik) was in full swing on the forums, so I’ve bought one to retire the old 565. To my surprise it wasn’t an improvement, but clearly inferior to the 565. I’ve sold it soon after. Bought a Beyer 990, but didn’t like that either, it was boomy, “V-shaped”, sold that too. Then I’ve got a HD 600, which I still have, and still love.
My current setup is: foobar (wasapi) - ODAC - Meier Corda Aria - HD 600
I can’t really afford more expensive gear so this will stay for the foreseeable future.