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

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.

Ever see a golfer with one club in their bag? No, because you don’t drive with a putter, and in the sand you’re going to reach for your wedge, not your driver.

Crystal Method - I’m going with Empire Ears bass cannons. Neko Case - a sweet mid tuned Oriolus or Tanchjin.

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.

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

I let them try my IEMs if they want. They either get it, or they don’t. So far, most have got it - but I think I have an easier time converting people who like bass.

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

I don’t, I just tell them it’s a waste of money 😂