As a near decade long thread I believe we can elevate this to the level of Frankenthread, it has taken on a life of it's own.
More people DO LOVE AUDIO and now more than ever before are falling into our beloved hobby, poor bastards. How did it happen? Because they downloaded every music file in sight and when reviewing their ill gained booty they realized that each music file had a certain individual sonic quality. Some good some bad some extraordinarily good. This led them towards the first step, they upgraded their ear buds. And before anyone dismisses ear buds as a viable step towards audiophileism I would admonish them to audition a set of $500 and up ear buds. I own a couple of sets and my best set of SUREs are damn near as good as my GRADO SR325s.
Now we have to all agree here that the path that leads an individual into this sickness we all share differs for everyone. It only takes a small step to fall off the cliff and more people are taking that small step than ever before. Headphones have ALWAYS been the poor man's way into High End (pun intended). A great source fed into a quality headphone amp can be a step towards a life on this merry go round we all ride.
And while we are at it don't discount the effect of kids downloading and listening to a HUGE variety of music. It's going to make a difference. Will it translate into people developing a greater understanding of higher quality audio components? Who knows? But when there is interest there usually is movement. It might just be that the movement is in the direction of computers streaming FLAC files through quality DACs into headphone amps and then into $2000+ headphones or ear buds. I can't say which direction this hobby will turn but it WILL TURN and probably in a direction that will surprise us all.
And yes I'll still be clinging to my tube gear and my vinyl, watching, drooling, and planning that next perfect purchase that will finally bring me true sonic nirvana.....
More people DO LOVE AUDIO and now more than ever before are falling into our beloved hobby, poor bastards. How did it happen? Because they downloaded every music file in sight and when reviewing their ill gained booty they realized that each music file had a certain individual sonic quality. Some good some bad some extraordinarily good. This led them towards the first step, they upgraded their ear buds. And before anyone dismisses ear buds as a viable step towards audiophileism I would admonish them to audition a set of $500 and up ear buds. I own a couple of sets and my best set of SUREs are damn near as good as my GRADO SR325s.
Now we have to all agree here that the path that leads an individual into this sickness we all share differs for everyone. It only takes a small step to fall off the cliff and more people are taking that small step than ever before. Headphones have ALWAYS been the poor man's way into High End (pun intended). A great source fed into a quality headphone amp can be a step towards a life on this merry go round we all ride.
And while we are at it don't discount the effect of kids downloading and listening to a HUGE variety of music. It's going to make a difference. Will it translate into people developing a greater understanding of higher quality audio components? Who knows? But when there is interest there usually is movement. It might just be that the movement is in the direction of computers streaming FLAC files through quality DACs into headphone amps and then into $2000+ headphones or ear buds. I can't say which direction this hobby will turn but it WILL TURN and probably in a direction that will surprise us all.
And yes I'll still be clinging to my tube gear and my vinyl, watching, drooling, and planning that next perfect purchase that will finally bring me true sonic nirvana.....