Hello! This is Jason. Since everyone seems to be caught up with my relationship, I would like to talk today about one of my passions/hobbies.

Ever since I can remember I have been interested in Hi-Fi. (High Fidelity) I think it’s been a passion of mine nearly as long as my love of music. When I was a kid, one of my most favorite things was to listen to my music on a really nice stereo. Playing my records on such a setup compared to what I normally listened to them on was such a special treat. There were subtle ambient sounds I never could hear on my much cheaper age appropriate record player. When I was four my parents bought me a real stereo for my birthday. It was an all in one piece popular in the 1970’s with a record player on top, radio tuner, and built in 8-Track Player. Pretty cool stuff in 1979 I thought. Pretty much for the next 5 years, I asked for Christmas some kind of upgrade be it speakers, etc. I remember in 1982 seeing a news report from The Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas about a new music format called the Compact Disc (CD). I was in awe. I wanted this so badly, but it was too expensive at the time, so I waited. Finally in 1987 when I was 12 I had saved up enough money to finally buy one myself. I remember my Step-Father telling me not to waste my money as it was a passing fad. I bought it anyway and for years to come I would tease him about his words since he finally broke down and invested in it too a few years later.

When I got to high school I started working a part-time job. This is normal for many high school students in The U.S. I saved all my money to buy more Hi-Fi items like nicer amps and receivers as well as speakers etc. Back then I would lay on my bed listening to whatever music I was in the mood for at the moment while reading the current issue of Stereo Review Magazine (now called Sound And Vision) day dreaming about equipment that is still out of my financial reach today. Over the 1990’s I made some modest upgrades like a Dolby Digital receiver as well as a DVD player for movies, a 5.1 speaker setup, etc.

In the 2000s I started listening to music more on my PC as it was where I spent a lot of my time. I had purchased Klipsch Promedia 4.1 speakers for it. This was fantastic as it made PC sound a real option for listening to music. In 2008 I decided I was going to move to Japan, so I had to sell all my hi-fi stuff since we didn’t have any room for it in our new place here in Tokyo. It was sad, but it was something that had to be done. C’est la vie right? I did however bring my PCs and all my CDs, so it was ok.

Now a few short years later after the move those same Klipsch speakers decided to up and die right in the middle of me enjoying a new album I had been waiting for a long time for. That’s how it goes though I guess, but a good excuse to buy something new! I ended up purchasing the Swans M50W speakers. I have yet to receive them as I had to order them from The U.S. since there isn’t any store that sells them in Japan. Since these speakers don’t have a place to plug in headphones, I decided to buy new headphones as well and to purchase a USB DAC. (Digital to Analog Converter) That’s basically a really nice sound card, but it is external from the PC. I ended up buying the O2+ODAC headphone amp and DAC combo. Good stuff!

What kind of headphones you say? Well, seeing as I haven’t bought serious listening headphones since I was in high school, I was a bit out of the loop on what has changed with headphones since then. After researching them online, I made a list of possible headphones and found all of them at Yodabashi Camera in Akihabara. I ended up buying the brand AKG from Austria. The model K550 was exactly what I wanted. The bass was there, but not dominating. The mid range displayed voices very clearly without any coloration and the highs were very crisp without being overly bright.

As any married man can guess, my wife wasn’t overly happy with all the new purchases, but I don’t do it all the time, so every once in a while is ok right? Right!

I am still without a completely full stereo, but with nice speakers, headphones, and new DAC I think I can survive for now. Until then I can keep daydreaming about what I would love to buy to listen to my music.