Years ago, a close friend of mine named Clyde told me that I had a sissy audio setup. For some reason, it was a big blow to my ego. I felt he was riding me a little hard over something as unimportant as headphones, but he was absolutely right. Had I been under a hypnotic spell of ignorance all these years?
As a working professional, I know from experience that not having headphones can be a very bad thing. I remember that there were days when I would be working from home and other people were around. I would be wearing headphones all day long and, needless to say, I deserved better than the weak dribbles of sissy audio dripping from my my limp and emaciated headphones. The clamor of the colorless world around me provided me with a cacophony of chaos and confusion. That is, until I got ahold of a decent pair of headphones! Ever since, I’ve been a bit of a snob when it comes to having the best (reasonably) priced audio equipment I can buy.
So allow me to make the case for why you’re making a big mistake by continuing to use a pair of yucky earbuds that came with your laptop, or the $20 pair of headphones you picked up at Walmart when your room-mates finally got tired of hearing the sounds from all the weird videos you watch.
Break free from the hypnosis of your sissy audio…
If you’re like me and listen to music all day while you work, do yourself a favor and pick up a pair of high quality headphones that bring you joy. The kind of headphones that get you excited and pumped-up to start your day.
For an audiophile, this can be a tricky question. The market is flooded with expensive products, but not all of them are worth checking out. You don’t need a fetishistic level of obsession with headphones, but I recommend spending a few hours browsing the various headphone related sub-Reddits to get an idea of what’s available at the various price points. After that, you can either get your aural testing in at the local electronics or headphones shop, or order a few pairs online and return the ones you don’t like. Read reviews, ask around, and do your own research, but don’t jump the gun, because the perfect pair of headphones is out there for you… if you can find them!
If this embarrasses you a bit, that’s a normal feeling, but I promise you that people do this all the time. It’s just very unlikely that you’re going to get it right on the first try.
Just as it takes time to figure out what you like putting in your mouth for food, drink, and otherwise, you’ll need at least a few days to break from your audio sissification that developed over so many years, leaving you in a place where you actually got used to your crummy headphones.
Save your pennies, embrace the audiophile community, and your ears will thank you. Life is too short for the sissy audio you’re punishing yourself with right now.
