Why own more than one headphone for the same use case ?

[jhm]

I'm trying to understand why someone (and it seems like a lot of people) have more than one headphone for the same use case ?

For myself so far, I've ended up with the following:

* Open back headphone - home

* Lightweight headphone - out and out or on holiday

* In-ear monitors with noise isolation - plane

* Bluetooth closed back headphones with noise cancellation - office or plane

* Pocket size Bluetooth headphones - always on me

I appreciate that people end up with different headphones because they get them over a period of time.

Apart from that, do people purchase different types of headphone for the same use case because of different characteristics (e.g. a better bass response; or a dynamic and then a planar or electrostatic) ? If so, do you switch between them depending on what you are listening to ?

 

[Jimbob54]

I am one of those terrible people.

All I can say is...

Try a Grado, then an Audeze LCD, then a pair of Sennheiser HD800.

They are very very different beasts. Think of them as 3 different hi-fi set ups, but I can swap system without needing/ moving rooms. (OK, so I really mean swapping speakers, but you take my point)

I like experiencing different sonic characteristics. Sometimes mood dependent, more likely just want a slightly different window on my music than I had yesterday.

EDIT- I also have lots of headamps. I could create a stronger argument for only having one of them. But I wont.

 

[MRC01]

I'm trying to understand why someone (and it seems like a lot of people) have more than one headphone for the same use case ?
...
* Open back headphone - home
...
* In-ear monitors with noise isolation - plane

These 2 are the only reasons I care about. The IEMs are also for buses, cars or any other noisy environment. Noise isolation not only sounds better but saves our hearing since it (A) reduces ambient noise and (B) enables us to listen quieter.

...Apart from that, do people purchase different types of headphone for the same use case because of different characteristics (e.g. a better bass response; or a dynamic and then a planar or electrostatic) ? ...

Years ago this may have been a reason, but no longer since DSP has advanced to the point where EQ is transparent, meaning the side effects are negligible. Now we have the luxury of choosing a single headphone that sounds best overall, then use DSP tune to accommodate imperfect recordings, different genres of music, mood or the whims of fancy. Having just 1 means one can invest in something better, rather than splitting the budget across several.

 

[BillG]

I know of some people that own multiple headphones per genre because they appreciate the different presentations of each. Personally I think it's excessive, as I'd use different EQ profiles instead for that, but it's their money.

In writing the above, I will sheepishly admit that I do own multiple ones as well. However, the headphones that I've owned since '96, Sony MDR 7506, I've essentially retired due their bulk, although I do take them out for the occasional listen maybe three times a year. In their place, I've a collection of five relatively inexpensive, but nice sounding, IEMs that I quite enjoy. I wound up with five as I went through a phase of auditioning them because I was new to IEMs, and I had the cash to spare. Three of them I actually listen to frequently on rotation, but not due to their differing frequency responses, but rather their sensitivity as one of them is very sensitive and easier to push to higher volumes when connected to a smartphone. Since I've tuned them all to produce a similar frequency response via EQ, loosely based on the Harman IEM 2019 target, the differences in their sonic presentations are subtle at best. The other two are just spares at this point, although I might eventually gift them to friends.

I think I'll just shut up now after confessing to owning six different headphones, and referring to others that own multiples as "excessive"...