“They all sound a little different and I like their sound” Also, I generally have a way harder time when people ask what the fuck is the BTR5 I’m always carrying around.

I don’t go the multiple headphone route, for the most part: I have three pairs for specific use cases (main, travel/OTG/, and exercise).

However, when it comes to cost, I justify it by arguing it’ll make more sense in the long-run. You make the big purchases looking ahead 5-10 years, by which time it’ll have paid off.

I just tell it like it is, I’m a fucking addict ¯\(ツ)/¯

Some people collect shoes, I collect anime merch headphones

Usually people that ask me this aren’t asking in good faith, and don’t want to actually hear my reasons, so usually I just say “Because I like it. Do we need a reason to have hobbies?”.

If they are asking because they’re genuinely interested I say something along the lines of “I love music, and listening to it is one of my favorite experiences. Think of each headphone I have as a different listening experience. The reason I have multiple is because I want to experience music in many different ways. …also I like having cool things lol”

Just throw my 800S on their ears and they understand. Not ahrd.

To anybody who actually cares (and whose opinion I care about enough to warrant explanation), I just explain how each pair has a different use and why that pair is better for that use than any of the other ones.

I honestly don’t have many other hobbies. The other things I do enjoy don’t really cost me much money. Most of my money aside from audio stuff goes to bills, food and nights out.

I am pretty grateful that my gf notices that as well, and tells me I really don’t buy anything for myself often. Makes me feel less bad about just purchasing a used Focal Utopia. I do also try to buy used to get a good deal when I can.

Different uses route. I try not to double up styles too much though to help

I find it’s pretty simple once you connect with one of their sensory hobbies. My wife isn’t an audiophile, but we’re both foodies, so she understands my comparing of headphones in the same way she compares the French fries that we get at different restaurants. One restaurant has thick-cut fries, another has thin fries, a third fries them twice for that extra crunch, a fourth has normal fries, but a really good curry dipping sauce (Brasserie Beck in Washington DC, for those curious). Just like she loves evaluating the fries at restaurants and compares their flavors and textures, she understands that headphones are objects - or experiences - that I evaluate in a similar way.

For other people, it’s like keyboards. One of my friends really got into mechanical keyboards and built a whole bunch, many for himself, but also some as gifts for friends. He’s all about the sound and the feel, the clack or thock, the resistance or springiness of each key. I never really got into keyboards in the same way, I’m fine with a Topre for work and a tactile gaming keyboard for play, but we understand each other’s hobbies because we both understand the appeal of the underlying sensory experience.

I’ve never held a gun in my life, but from talking with people who have used guns, recreational shooting can be a similar sort of experience. Each gun has its own sound, its own recoil feel when fired, and its own action. Then there’s also ammunition and lots of different aspects to the experience of shooting.

Yet others enjoy the feel of driving. I’m not one of those people, but I can understand how people enjoy the experience of controlling a fast-moving machine, making it stop and go, and directing its motion using your hands and feet. Once you compare the sounds of different headphones to the different driving feels of different cars, they can understand more easily.

I think the vast majority of people have some sensory experience that they enjoy and can discern quality in. Food, alcohol, cast iron pans, coffee, keyboards, cars, films, the list goes on and on. I think reasonable people can understand that headphones and audio are the sensory experiences that you enjoy and discern even if they don’t discern them in the same way.

You don’t, you hide it like a drug addiction. Deception. Lies. Smoke and mirrors. Blackmail.

Don’t display them. If you buy pairs that look similar they’ll rarely notice. If a romantic partner questions where the money is going, say you have a sick relative that used to work for Sennheiser or Focal you’re giving money for surgeries and medication to that repays you in headphones. If someone finds out your secret, silence them by obtaining damning evidence of their own unsavory conduct and threaten to expose them if they tell anyone you’ve purchased 120 pairs of headphones in the last six months.

“I just really like music.”

I don’t… I’m a grown ass person and I can do what I want with my $$… unless you’re my wife… then I just come up with the most convoluted reasons

It’s my money and my hobby 🎧, it may seem harsh but i don’t owe anyone explanations 😄

I only buy things that have different uses so I have to justify it to myself before I even think of buying it. I like to try new stuff but I tend to sell/trade/return them if I don’t see a use for it. I got all of these for a cheap price used.

For exercise (Sony WF-1000XM4), for travel with strong ANC (Bose QC35 ll), for sound quality (Drop JVC HA-FDX1), for games/movies/shows (ATH R70x). I use the Sennheiser Momentum 3 as the default option as it fits my preferences.