Guys, I’m new to this whole world. Also a poor student. Perfect combination, I know. Can you advise me where to start my journey in learning how music works and how should I listen to it?

Submitted by DogronDoWirdan t3_z6r6jb in headphones

I bought Meze 99 Classics last summer and was just on the second layer of heaven with the quality after never trying anything better than AirPods quality. In few months, I bought portable DAC for myself, and life was beautiful ever after.

However, how it happens with all addictions, I start to feel like it is not enough and my headphones sounds not as great as I thought. I started to notice sharp sounds in lyrics, missing details, kinda like “flat” sound in places and so on.

I started to worry that I was not careful with them enough and they simply don’t have the same quality anymore, but I don’t know how to check if that is the case.

Anyway, I have no idea how to read characteristics of headphones or portable audios (for this whole time i was using iPhone & apple music lossless to listen to music) to understand what do I need. Just to buy the most expensive option from those that I can afford seems like a stupid financial decision.

Maybe there are some courses for people who are “a bit audiophilish”? Or just general suggestions, what should I do?

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DPKingston t1_iy2vvs6 wrote

Buying advice

-Look for reviews and buyers guides(avoid most tech media sites as they bias towards selling you the headphone with the affliate links prominent in the review)

-Try to think what do you like and dont like about what your current headphones has, try to find something that better in ways you want or try to find something that complements your headphones

-More expensive doesnt mean better quality, a lot of people would call ksc75s or insert hyped trained budget chifi IEM 70-80% of what you could get from headphones 50x the price. There are also kilobuck or pricier headphones that are either plain out bad for the price or very polarizing much like your meze 99s, which at the height of its popularity had people fighting whether its good or not in this subreddit on the daily.

-Try to satiate your upgrade urge by trying something whether it is a different genre of music, using EQ,etc

General financial advice (as audio for most people being entertainment and hobby for us) - Only spend money for hobbies that wouldn't hurt your financial situation if you just burn the money spent cause every hobby has the potential to be a money sink

Also to learn more about headphones https://headphones.com/pages/measurements-and-frequency-response

They have other articles for their site and videos on their youtube channel

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DPKingston t1_iy2w20m wrote

Also shop used and/or sell what you don't like as much as other headphones you have

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chetta93 t1_iy2umke wrote

r/HeadphoneAdvice

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Tenchiboy t1_iy2w0ax wrote

Meze 99 did absolutely nothing for me even in that price range.

I would find a shop where you can trial tons of headphones. I have to take a speed train, usually spend a weekend out of the house, and travel a bit by local trains just to get to one, but I do it. It has informed all my buys.

I bought DT990s blind. If I had been able to compare to others across price ranges, I would have skipped.

Now very happy with my small collection.

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DogronDoWirdan OP t1_iy32vlh wrote

I tried a bunch of headphones in the story before buying Meze 99, and I liked them the most. Maybe I’m stupid, everyone seem to hate them for some reason on this sub.

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Tenchiboy t1_iy34idc wrote

Curious about what else you tried.

I just found the Meze 99s aethetically nice, but not built to really keep those aesthetics. The metal was tarnished and I did not like the looseness of the cups.

It's a journey, man.

Years ago, I got Grados SR225s after trialing them for a week from a friend. I then years later got DT990s blind because they have more bass. There's a whole world out there. I eventually wanted detail first and foremost. It's a bitch sometimes because you can hear overcompression so easily, but for a lot of stuff it's glorious.

My advice is to try as much as possible because you don't know what's out there or how comparable it is until you listen to it. Find your preferences. Listen to music and enjoy it!

You'll learn first hand why planars are different than dynamic drivers. Which you prefer. etc. Enjoy it.

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DogronDoWirdan OP t1_iy35lh3 wrote

I don’t really remember what else I tried sadly because that was more than a year ago and since then I never bothered with trying anything else.

I do think that after AirPods / cheap Sony headphones anything would sound godsend.

Now I do hear I think “problems” in sound of Meze’s.

In the new country where I live for 9 months now there are no musical shops almost at all, so I don’t have any choice to listen to something.

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consocmap t1_iy38lel wrote

I think you’re problem is your used to the sound of the Meze and, just my assumption, that your well-being is not good when listening. In my experience when I don’t feel well, the music seems to have a problem with it too. So I’ll try to recover and try again later. If your well-being is ok, then I suggest get a pair of cheap headphones, can be Apple earbuds, or chi-fi iems or earbuds (Nicehck EB2S) with good sound for its price, the point is to have yourself listen to worse/different setup or sound quality/signature(but still decent enough) in order to make your feel good when you get back to your Meze. This is my method and usually prevents me from spending more for the upgrade.

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RodRevenge t1_iy3e7qi wrote

Buy a few cheap headphones with different signature to see what you like, try to not fall for the hype trains, i know I did because most people like V shape but I don't and by the time I realized that I already had like 4 Vshaped headphones.

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MachineTeaching t1_iy416oz wrote

>I started to worry that I was not careful with them enough and they simply don’t have the same quality anymore, but I don’t know how to check if that is the case.

Headphones don't wear out. Not to any degree that matters. The only thing that does wear are the pads, and that's just through use. You should replace them periodically.

>However, how it happens with all addictions, I start to feel like it is not enough and my headphones sounds not as great as I thought. I started to notice sharp sounds in lyrics, missing details, kinda like “flat” sound in places and so on.

Step #1 would be to stop overanalyzing. Your listening experience can be influenced to a huge degree by your own perception. If you want to think there's something "wrong", you'll most likely find something, even if that something is entirely in your head. So try to chill out a bit on that front.

Beyond that, the biggest thing you're missing as a beginner is experience. You need some reference to know what stuff sounds like and what you personally enjoy. The easiest way to do that is to check out a hifi store near you if possible.

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high-low-fi t1_iy5n9zh wrote

Love my 99's and have mod'd them I love them so much. As others have said, keep several sets around. I like different sound signatures for certain moods and music genres. I have five sets of headphones in constant rotation currently. This keeps me from buying headphones every couple of months. My oldest, still one of my favorites is from mid 90's, replace the stock pads a couple of times.

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[deleted] t1_iy2y6v7 wrote

[removed]

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DogronDoWirdan OP t1_iy32sc6 wrote

No need to be so aggressive .. These were the best out of price range out of all I’ve tried in my local headphones shop. Not including open ones, because I obviously want to be able to listen to music on the street.

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No-Context5479 t1_iy4n45g wrote

Don't listen to that elitist... MF used a DT990 Treble cannon and has the audacity to talk

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DogronDoWirdan OP t1_iy4nhcd wrote

I don’t know man why people in this sub are so toxic. That’s just not cool. I visited it today for the first time and I know I’m a newbie why to shame me for buying headphones that I like?

That is already 3rd person

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No-Context5479 t1_iy4od60 wrote

As you said you tried these at your local shop and found the Meze to suit your music the best ... That is it then... No need to overthink stuff... Yes people get used to headphones after a while... Doesn't mean the headphones lost their ability to produce the frequencies they did some days into listening to them.

If you want to scratch the proverbial itch of FOMO... I'd suggest you either try IEMs it get a better headphone than the Meze... And the Meze in that price bracket is really good so the step up will be like maybe to $500+ if you want same bad but less boomy, more refined and better dynamics. But I feel you may not need a new set and your fear is irrational.

TLDR: Your headphones after fine... You're just in as psychological lull of wanting more

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