Musing About "Endgame"

I needed 4 different headphones to get to endgame. I rotate them to keep things fresh, fortunately they all sound fabulous on the Stratus.

Actually, if I didn't listen to classical, I would be fine with 3 headphones (HD 800 is still unbeatable for classical IMO).

 

@E_Schaaf nails it for me. Endgame kind of just happens when you find that zen spot. Some will never find it because the pursuit is all that matters. Others won't find it because they couldn't give a shit about doing so (lucky wallets!) I am happy that Schiit and Nitsch finally introduced me to my endgame where I both don't desire more, and know that I won't pay any more to find out (OK, I am still thinking about an Yggdrasil, but the general sentiment holds). It would still be nice to have a one headphone to rule them all, but a little variety keeps me sane, so my core 3 are here to stay. Now, I just need to organize myself and sell off all my accumulated audio stuff and feed my other hobbies.

 

You and me both - once you guys at rhythmdevils audio are in a position to mod my LCD-4!

 

Endgame for me was when other life priorities took over.

 

This is the interesting aspect about "endgame". Once you do come to a realization or at a stopping point, you naturally think...well what now? It does get boring in a sense that the chase to something is gone. At which point, people will either set more lofty goals and start chasing again or find different ways to keep engaging the hobby (or find a new one altogether).

I agree with @E_Schaaf that endgame is coming from a place where you are at peace with your choices.

 

I'd like to hear a HD800 someday, as of now I still have 6 pairs of of headphones and a pair of IEMs ...

 

Seriously, having assembled several systems that produce great satisfaction for my personal preferences and thus achieving a high level of auditory zen, I have my reference systems. To these I now compare combinations of other components in my lab collection, seeking combinations that provide nearly the same level of satisfaction at lower cost of ownership, smaller footprints or both.

 

There's a James Hoffman video where he says, among other things, to drink bad coffee. "If everything you drink is special, nothing is special." I find this easily applied to audio as well. While I absolutely love to sit down and listen to music on my two-channel system at home, I also listen to music in the car, on the train, on my wireless earbuds, on the smart speakers, etc. The mediocre/bad stuff just adds value to the experience of settling in, spinning a record, and hearing completely different things in the same tracks; it keeps it special.

 

Wise words.

 

Endgame has little to do, I think, with audio perfection even though it is presumably why this forum, and others like it, exist. If I feel the need to get up and dance to it; that is probably good enough acoustically and that has happened many, many times at this point and that should be endgame.

I think we keep looking for either curiosity or friendship. For example: I have never heard a 300b setup and will always be curious about that until I do. Does not matter if it is worse or better than what I have heard before. That would be curiosity because there is such mystique about it in this hobby and would be the same if you never heard a NOS dac or planar headphone.

As for friendship I know a lot of people here legitimately know each other because of forums like this and I imagine a lot of people keep posting well past the point where they have something technical to say simply because they want to be a part of that. I get that too and that is probably the coolest part. So maybe community is the endgame.

I realize how corny this post is but I deal with technical stuff at work almost exclusively and if forums existed only to answer questions and solve specific problems then we would all have like ten total posts.

 

Damn, I love that. You just spurred my mind to look back on all the cool conversations and technical discussions I've been a part of, and it's overwhelming! Connecting with others in the love of music and the love of finding the gear that honors the music is the real reward. There's so much evidence of that, it's not corny at all

 

Endgame is relative and sometimes you just get bored and want to play with stuff.

I let my system stay the same for awhile and then I get some idea I have to test, and sometimes that makes me change my system if the idea makes it better.

But even when my system doesn't change for years, we still get the crew together to listen to and talk about things. And sometimes we do more hanging out than critical listening, and that's just peachy because it really is about the friends you make along the way.

But also if you stay in the hobby and just enjoy great sound, as you learn more these little questions and ideas will keep nagging at you and eventually you find yourself buying something wild that you don't need just because you have to hear it in your system, it improves your system, and boom you have accidentally upgraded your system.

Enjoying music is an active thing for me. I prefer the times when my system has reached endgame and I can just sit back and enjoy. But when those nagging thoughts turn into ideas and something ends up improving, I'm cool with that as well because the end result is the musical enjoyment goes up. That's the goal.

All this to say, just relax and enjoy and let it flow. Improvements will happen along the way even if by accident. I have friends who constantly like to tweak their systems and that gives them happiness I guess? I appreciate their service in moving things forward for those of us who just want to chill and relax.

But just enjoy. That's what this whole thing is for anyway, right? Build something nice and enjoy your music. Learn a few things along the way that help you gain more enjoyment from your system. Don't sweat the small shit and it's all small shit.

 

End game is when wisdom and experience kills idealism and romance.

A woman I met recently told me she couldn't continue dating me because despite how much she liked me she knew herself too well. She couldn't fool herself on where it was all going to end and I was a mistake she'd only have been willing to make again when she was younger, but after six years in therapy she knew her triggers.

Sheez, that sounded too Mickey Spillane. But all that pretty much applies to audio too, you mugs.

I don't entertain other options because I am aware of roughly what is out there and also the downsides of most of those choices.

I stick with what I have not because it is the hottest shit I've ever heard but because I believe I know how much betterer better can be (and worserer) and don't see that juice as worth the squeeze.

 

Love this analogy. This is why I've drawn the line at tube amps because I know if I get into those, I'll always be chasing upgrades. I've found a SS amp that's wonderful and that's enough!

 

End game = I can totally listen to music and love it whenever/wherever I want.
Home, office, working out, traveling.
Different moods/music, quietly or out loud.
When I am chasing resolution or fat tone.

AND/OR: (as some have alluded to…)

End game = get great stuff, then just hang out for the community/camaraderie. Community-fi?

 

I'm down with community-fi (he says while comparing DACs)!

 

There's a story of the turntable guy who thinks he'll finally get that deck he dreamt of in his youth, but couldn't afford. Only to find that he still can't afford it!

And never mind the exotic, I'm sitting here glancing at my Fosi Audio amplifier. Financial end game for me. (And, actually perfectly fine.)



... I'm being a bit disingenuous here: I've actually spent far more on photography over the past few years than I ever did on audio!

 

Same. I'm good on audio but photography end game eludes me.

 

I love my system and I love to try new gear. Cannot see that changing, so maybe endgame with an open question of possibilities.

 

Best way. Happiness at home, with ability to enjoy other, even better stuff, without being discontent.

Simply having what I "need" escapes me at the moment.

I was all good with my Sony APS-C set up. Then I went and "upgraded" to full-frame. That shifted all the lens requirements. To bigger, heavier, more expensive. That I now have to save up for.