Whats your most expensive hobby?

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Actually they dropped it off at my job. :gun1:
 
Another addition to the audio mania.

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Probably gonna unload a knife or two if I decide to keep them.
 
Am always skeptical about claims like a "wider stereo field", as if the normal(and correct) width is "too narrow".
However, can't remember ever coming across a pair of headphones with wooden housings, so that seems quite interesting.
Hope you will report back how they fare. For the money they better sound really effing nice.

Lars
 
Well some cheap headphones make the sound seem very compact with close to no separation between instruments. Others make the music very spacious. The old and new Denon headphones have wooden cups, as do some Audeze models. I don't think it affects the sound much at all, but it sure looks nice.

Regarding the sound quality, it's going to be a definite upgrade from my LCD-2, which are going on sale.

Fostex makes some really beautiful cups with urushi lacquer and platinum foil logo finish.
[video=youtube;NtKXGbsA94E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtKXGbsA94E[/video]
 
Interesting. Here in the US Fostex isn't exactly thought of as an upscale brand. It is good to see they are at the high end as well, as that likely helps keep improving the stuff we typically see here.
 
When I got my first gig as a recording engineer in the late 90's, the studio was running two synced up Fostex 1/2 inch 16 track tape machines and even though they were pretty cheap compared to the 1 inch 24 track machines the big boys were running they sounded really good. So I have some positive nostalgia regarding Fostex.

Lars
 
Fostex were the OEM producer of Denon's original AH-D series of headphones. If you are talking about Japanese high-end personal audio, Stax and Fostex are at the top of the list.

Fostex is of course a branch of Foster Electric Company and they do all kinds of stuff.
 
my current fones are fostex t50rp mk3, theyre quite good. do they make a higher end studio one? as in pro audio marketed ones, not audiophile like that lacquered crap that just drives up the price for no good reason.
 
panda said:
my current fones are fostex t50rp mk3, theyre quite good. do they make a higher end studio one? as in pro audio marketed ones, not audiophile like that lacquered crap that just drives up the price for no good reason.
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Ah, you want something from the Fostex Murry Carter line of 'phones!
 
Yeah, with them sitting on my head right now, they really are pieces of crap, I do certainly agree.
 
DamageInc said:
Well some cheap headphones make the sound seem very compact with close to no separation between instruments. Others make the music very spacious. The old and new Denon headphones have wooden cups, as do some Audeze models. I don't think it affects the sound much at all, but it sure looks nice.

Regarding the sound quality, it's going to be a definite upgrade from my LCD-2, which are going on sale.

Fostex makes some really beautiful cups with urushi lacquer and platinum foil logo finish.
[video=youtube;NtKXGbsA94E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtKXGbsA94E[/video]
Click to expand...

I bought a pair of Meze Classics 99 which are wood cups and gorgeous. A lot of sound for the money as well.
5.2.jpg
 
Other than that I spend way too much on wine. A lot of Champagne, Loire, Rhone and Cali. Ethnographic art, mostly South Pacific war clubs and African masks. Watches but there I'm only looking for 2-3 more and the collection is done, it's just the last ones are the most expensive and I don't really want to sell any of the others...
 
Rehabbing vintage collectible sewing machines. Currently @15. Most were relatively filthy and frozen w old, dried out grease and missing parts or attachments when I got them. Each one is now complete and sewing beautifully. They all have at least a full set of the original attachments or an aftermarket one or two when the originals were impossible to find. Often, original attachments came close to or exceeded the cost of the non-functional machine w no attachments. I'm very pleased because I learned to repair or rebuild by scouring the forums and collecting and reading old service manuals /repair books. This was necessitated by sloppy repairs by repair shops or they said the machines were worthless while they had crack dream prices on the ones they had in their windows. Gives me hope I can learn to sharpen knives.
 
Don't really have an expensive hobby per se, but I have a few that add up to be cumulatively expensive if I don't keep a check on them. That mostly means I buy a lot of music and DVDs/Blu-Rays/Kitchen stuff. I'm constantly asking myself: "Do I REALLY need this?" Probably not. But then I buy it anyway:bashhead:
 
Just finished our video from my last phototrip to South Africa. Shot with combo of Canon 5d mkiv, Sony A7rII, Gopro Hero 5, DJI Osmo and DJI Drone...may not necessarily safe for viewing at work depending on coworkers feelings on bikini shots, lol

https://youtu.be/uPoTwTz-bMI
 
mille162 said:
Just finished our video from my last phototrip to South Africa. Shot with combo of Canon 5d mkiv, Sony A7rII, Gopro Hero 5, DJI Osmo and DJI Drone...may not necessarily safe for viewing at work depending on coworkers feelings on bikini shots, lol

https://youtu.be/uPoTwTz-bMI
Click to expand...

Awesome vid!! Looks like you guys had a fantastic time here! Not too blessed by the weather though! We usually have a lot more sunshine!! Which lodge did you go too? Looks like Kruger?
 
FoRdLaz said:
Awesome vid!! Looks like you guys had a fantastic time here! Not too blessed by the weather though! We usually have a lot more sunshine!! Which lodge did you go too? Looks like Kruger?
Click to expand...

We were there Feb '17 and it was record rainfall...roads washed away and stuff. We were in Johannesburg area, started at Ukutula Lodge and after spending 2 nights there discovered they were really raising the lions for hunts and for circus/zoos. We left the next day and ended up spending a week at Cradle Moon Lodge (Cradle of Man area) and the owner Andy couldn't have been any nicer or more hospitable. He has a lodge and a bunch of land in Kruger but we didn't have time to go out this trip. Looking to go back in May and will def. be going to Kruger as well as spending more time in Capetown.

With this trip (the models and guest photos paid to attend), my "expensive hobby" of photography gear actually paid for itself and has now transitioned to "unprofitable side-business" lol.
 
fenix%20wood.jpg


would rebel against calling it a 'hobby', which can mean narrowly that you don't make money from it, but usually that you're not serious about it. But serious money suck....
 
Rob_Sutherland said:
I bought a pair of Meze Classics 99 which are wood cups and gorgeous. A lot of sound for the money as well.
5.2.jpg
Click to expand...

Love good headphones. Have a bunch. spent silly money on them last year after becoming resigned to the fact that in this city apt, I can't play loudly at all with my speakers, and so I have to make my own music when listening to headphones, usually. Have some really nice Mr Speakers, and focal headphones among others. Great for both my own music, and great TV shows....
 
Which Focals do you have? I am looking at picking up something to replace some 30-year-old AKGs. Will be hooked up to an Oppo player that will decode stored digital music (HDD) and also want to play with streaming Tidal through my home desktop (likely using a Dragonfly as a DAC initially).
 
RonB said:
Wildlife photography is a real $$ sucker. For many years, my camera gear was worth more the the truck I drove... :rolleyes2:
Click to expand...

That was me, early on. Did a few books on wildlife and nature in Central and South America. Then I got into advertising photography because nature wasn't paying the rent. At the peak of the biz, my lighting equipment was worth more than the cameras and the Chevy Suburban I drove around in. Serious location lighting is a money pit. What a rat race, and ad agencies are the worst clients to work for. Happily retired now.

Nice bear, btw! Wildlife shots take massive patience and time in the field, or sheer luck. And either way you have to be prepared.

My most expensive hobby used to be sailboats, but I can't afford that now. I play music and have some money tied up in instruments (guitars mostly, and my wife's piano), but nothing like the money sink of the boat hobby. You need to be either seriously wealthy, or else throw away everything else you care about and live on the boat.
 
WildBoar said:
Which Focals do you have? I am looking at picking up something to replace some 30-year-old AKGs. Will be hooked up to an Oppo player that will decode stored digital music (HDD) and also want to play with streaming Tidal through my home desktop (likely using a Dragonfly as a DAC initially).
Click to expand...

i'm embarassed to say that I have the Utopias. pretty amazing, actually.
 
those look cool as hell. was it worth the 3 grand for you? yikes why embarrassed?
i'm still chugging along with fostex t50rp mk iii, used to be into fones but lost interest over the years as i rarely use them. previous favorite were alessandro ms-pro. still have headfone amp but its in storage as i just use the built in amp stage in my dac.

i'm not aware of any of the newer fones out there, if i were to pursue it again i'd probably look into audio technica ad2000
 
I know its not quite audiophile level but I just bought some Sony WH-1000 M2s. Bluetooth but with the new LDAC bluetooth codec.

I was initially a little disappointed with the fuzzy baseline. I compared very carefully to my old wired Bose QCs and thought that I could actually be hearing the fuzziness in the MP3s. Tried a FLAC and it was much better. I'm now in the process of ripping everything interesting to FLAC. I guess I'll be wanting a pair of audiophile phones soon. Then a good amp. Then an aftermarket DSP.

Could get as exxie as kitchen knives....
 
Nelson_Baboon said:
i'm embarassed to say that I have the Utopias. pretty amazing, actually.
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Don't be embarrassed. I got the Fostex TH900 mk2 with a nice amp and dac setup plus a pair of seriously high end speakers. If you want the sound, you gotta pay the price.

Happy with the Utopias? I've yet to demo them.
 
Nelson_Baboon said:
i'm embarassed to say that I have the Utopias. pretty amazing, actually.
Click to expand...
Nothing to be embarrassed about whatsoever. In my younger days (i.e., when I had time to sit and listen uninterrupted by a little kid) I would have considered trying those out. And also watching the kid drop a set of headphone onto the wood floor the other night kinda reinforced the need for me to be a bit cost-conscious on this. I just read the other night about the newest Focal model, which is a little less then half the cost of the Utopias -- those are on my radar if I can stay away from purchasing knives and watches for a couple months.
 
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