I'm turning 30 in two weeks and I feeling nostalgic or something. This forum exists for posts such as these so I figured I'd write for something to do. It probably won't be of much interest to anyone, but whatever.
I first became interested in music around the age of about 12 or so. We'd always had a full hi-fi stack (which may have comprised of stolen goods that my father purchased from a co-worker in 1989), but it was never really used. The reasons for its disuse are many: it lived in the living room where people were watching TV, my autistic sister would object to the loud noise (she still does—yeah, I am 29-year-old in Canada who still lives with his parents—so my current setup doesn't see much use either), et cetera. Around this time (roughly 2002) Napster was a thing and I received some kind Sony MiniDisc player. I loaded that bad-mother-effer up with Linkin Park and all that good stuff. I also used the most compression available so it would fit more songs. Even at the time I thought it sounded terrible, but I didn't particularly care.
Around the age of 14 someone introduced to me to Dream Theater and I became interested in metal more generally. I had my own computer at the time. I was aware that super compressed .mp3s were not ideal so I took to ripping my CDs as images and then mounting those for playback. I then learned that FLAC was a thing and started using that instead. Some of those FLAC files I ripped all those years ago are still kicking around. I need to update my digital collection. I've obviously bought some CDs since I was teenager, but I haven't bothered to rip many of them. In order to not annoy people I got myself a pair of refurbished Sony enclosed headphones.
Sometime around 2008 just before I started university was mother was given an iPod along with a Bose dock as part some kind of promotion. My mother is an optometrist and Essilor gave it her because she sold a certain number of lenses or something. I recall being annoyed because the iPod did not support FLAC and it didn't have an adjustable EQ (only garbage presets). I also hated the stupid wheel which didn't actually rotate. I wanted to get a Rio Karma (if someone has one kicking around let me know) because that had 5-band EQ and it supported FLAC. It wouldn't have worked with dock though. I also got a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones. They were a huge improvement over cheap Sony ones I was using. They're still around somewhere, but I am pretty they sound like crap. The construction quality was also not good (the ear pads actually wore out and I didn't even use them that much).
I took my iPod, dock, and headphones with me to university. There they saw some use (I used to drink in my dorm room and play Tom Waits). Unfortunately the iPod was stolen by roommate's buddy. Fun fact: my roommate actually sold cocaine and his thieving friend later ended up in prison a few years later. Anyways that pretty much ended my "audiophile" life for the next few years.
Around 2011 I got my first girlfriend and my first encounter with vinyl records. She had a collection of LPs (for some reason) but no turntable. It was stuff I consider to be lame "white people" music (Belle and Sebastian, Amanda Palmer, et cetera). For her birthday I bought what was probably an LP60 from The Source (rebranded Canadian Radio Shack). I got a deal on it because it was the floor model. Someone had actually stolen the stylus off it and I (being ignorant) bought a whole new cartridge for the princely sum of $35 or so (I guess they didn't have just the stylus in stock or something). Well, I put that sucker on the table and hooked to up some computer speakers and the thing produced what approximated music. Thinking back to how naive I was at the time makes me cringe.
I eventually broke up with that girlfriend (which is probably for the best because she has been with my replacement since then and she never bothered to get a better turntable—obviously her taste is quite suspect), but I did go out get myself a turntable of my own. Being slightly more educated I went and purchased a used Dual CS-515 from an actual audio store (the store was called Natural Sound as is located in Kitchener, Ontario). I then pressed the disused hi-fi stack my father had bought in 1989 into service. The original drivers belonging to the Boston Acoustic bookshelf speaker we owned had long since rotted away and were replaced with drivers that didn't match at all. It was still the best thing I had heard at the time (I've never listened to anyone else's hi-fi system even to this day). I am still not sure why I purchased it. I've never thought that vinyl records were superior to digital formats at any point. I guess I just wanted a spinny thing.
I got new girlfriend, broke up with her, broke the Dual, and moved to new apartment a few years later (2015). I retired the Harmon/Kardon receiver in favour of a Pioneer SX-3800 which I found in the collection for electronics recycling. It is still in use currently. I got a new Dual turntable (a 1225 which idler driven). I also acquired a LaserDisc player. I hooked the TV my roommate had up to the receiver and watched plenty of movies in glorious stereo (on my speakers with mismatched drivers). I was seeing a woman around that time who was fairly mentally ill (I am too so I can't judge). During a manic episode (she was hospitalized for an extended period of time a few days later) she started playing the OST to Apocalypse Now on my turntable/stereo. My roommate was not pleased.
I eventually graduated university and moved back home. I acquired a set of Realistic Mach One (1024a) speakers were a significant improvement over the bookshelf speakers I had earlier. I'm probably going to using them for a long to come unless I somehow manage to get my life together and get a job (currently wasting my life on government disability). I have dreams of one day passing them down to someone (I am not sure who). I also purchased a Sony PS-X800, a Pioneer C-90 and Denon DL-103 (I am not a smart person) all of which I very much like. My poor Harmon/Kardon HD201 CD player that was stolen from someone in 1989 and then subsequently purchased by father is no longer in service. It doesn't like to read discs anymore and drawer behave erratically for some reason. I am currently looking for a replacement.
Well I think that is it for the story of my "audiophile" life. It was probably pretty boring and not useful, but I have nothing to do so I sat down and made this post.
I first became interested in music around the age of about 12 or so. We'd always had a full hi-fi stack (which may have comprised of stolen goods that my father purchased from a co-worker in 1989), but it was never really used. The reasons for its disuse are many: it lived in the living room where people were watching TV, my autistic sister would object to the loud noise (she still does—yeah, I am 29-year-old in Canada who still lives with his parents—so my current setup doesn't see much use either), et cetera. Around this time (roughly 2002) Napster was a thing and I received some kind Sony MiniDisc player. I loaded that bad-mother-effer up with Linkin Park and all that good stuff. I also used the most compression available so it would fit more songs. Even at the time I thought it sounded terrible, but I didn't particularly care.
Around the age of 14 someone introduced to me to Dream Theater and I became interested in metal more generally. I had my own computer at the time. I was aware that super compressed .mp3s were not ideal so I took to ripping my CDs as images and then mounting those for playback. I then learned that FLAC was a thing and started using that instead. Some of those FLAC files I ripped all those years ago are still kicking around. I need to update my digital collection. I've obviously bought some CDs since I was teenager, but I haven't bothered to rip many of them. In order to not annoy people I got myself a pair of refurbished Sony enclosed headphones.
Sometime around 2008 just before I started university was mother was given an iPod along with a Bose dock as part some kind of promotion. My mother is an optometrist and Essilor gave it her because she sold a certain number of lenses or something. I recall being annoyed because the iPod did not support FLAC and it didn't have an adjustable EQ (only garbage presets). I also hated the stupid wheel which didn't actually rotate. I wanted to get a Rio Karma (if someone has one kicking around let me know) because that had 5-band EQ and it supported FLAC. It wouldn't have worked with dock though. I also got a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones. They were a huge improvement over cheap Sony ones I was using. They're still around somewhere, but I am pretty they sound like crap. The construction quality was also not good (the ear pads actually wore out and I didn't even use them that much).
I took my iPod, dock, and headphones with me to university. There they saw some use (I used to drink in my dorm room and play Tom Waits). Unfortunately the iPod was stolen by roommate's buddy. Fun fact: my roommate actually sold cocaine and his thieving friend later ended up in prison a few years later. Anyways that pretty much ended my "audiophile" life for the next few years.
Around 2011 I got my first girlfriend and my first encounter with vinyl records. She had a collection of LPs (for some reason) but no turntable. It was stuff I consider to be lame "white people" music (Belle and Sebastian, Amanda Palmer, et cetera). For her birthday I bought what was probably an LP60 from The Source (rebranded Canadian Radio Shack). I got a deal on it because it was the floor model. Someone had actually stolen the stylus off it and I (being ignorant) bought a whole new cartridge for the princely sum of $35 or so (I guess they didn't have just the stylus in stock or something). Well, I put that sucker on the table and hooked to up some computer speakers and the thing produced what approximated music. Thinking back to how naive I was at the time makes me cringe.
I eventually broke up with that girlfriend (which is probably for the best because she has been with my replacement since then and she never bothered to get a better turntable—obviously her taste is quite suspect), but I did go out get myself a turntable of my own. Being slightly more educated I went and purchased a used Dual CS-515 from an actual audio store (the store was called Natural Sound as is located in Kitchener, Ontario). I then pressed the disused hi-fi stack my father had bought in 1989 into service. The original drivers belonging to the Boston Acoustic bookshelf speaker we owned had long since rotted away and were replaced with drivers that didn't match at all. It was still the best thing I had heard at the time (I've never listened to anyone else's hi-fi system even to this day). I am still not sure why I purchased it. I've never thought that vinyl records were superior to digital formats at any point. I guess I just wanted a spinny thing.
I got new girlfriend, broke up with her, broke the Dual, and moved to new apartment a few years later (2015). I retired the Harmon/Kardon receiver in favour of a Pioneer SX-3800 which I found in the collection for electronics recycling. It is still in use currently. I got a new Dual turntable (a 1225 which idler driven). I also acquired a LaserDisc player. I hooked the TV my roommate had up to the receiver and watched plenty of movies in glorious stereo (on my speakers with mismatched drivers). I was seeing a woman around that time who was fairly mentally ill (I am too so I can't judge). During a manic episode (she was hospitalized for an extended period of time a few days later) she started playing the OST to Apocalypse Now on my turntable/stereo. My roommate was not pleased.
I eventually graduated university and moved back home. I acquired a set of Realistic Mach One (1024a) speakers were a significant improvement over the bookshelf speakers I had earlier. I'm probably going to using them for a long to come unless I somehow manage to get my life together and get a job (currently wasting my life on government disability). I have dreams of one day passing them down to someone (I am not sure who). I also purchased a Sony PS-X800, a Pioneer C-90 and Denon DL-103 (I am not a smart person) all of which I very much like. My poor Harmon/Kardon HD201 CD player that was stolen from someone in 1989 and then subsequently purchased by father is no longer in service. It doesn't like to read discs anymore and drawer behave erratically for some reason. I am currently looking for a replacement.
Well I think that is it for the story of my "audiophile" life. It was probably pretty boring and not useful, but I have nothing to do so I sat down and made this post.
I became an audiophile around the same age as you. But decades before!
