I’ve found myself not listening to my iPod as much over the past year or so, even though I love it and it has done more to preserve my sanity at work than any three other gizmos, and I lay the blame on headphones. I disliked the original iPod earbuds (uncomfortable, crappy); my over-the-ear, fold-up replacements sounded great and traveled well, but were painful to wear with glasses (which is to say, they were always uncomfortable), and the wire flaked out last spring; the series of cheap earbuds that followed were both uncomfortable and flaked out quickly. I won’t do the gigantic, over-the-top-of-my-head style headphones because they either don’t fit well, don’t sound good, or are too expensive (*cough*Bose*cough*)–plus I’m more than a bit sensitive about my hair, and I hate things that squish it.
So Liz wins first prize this Christmas for dropping a pair of new headphones in my stocking. I’ve been dubious of in-ear headphones for a while, but I have to admit that these have really surprised me with how much I’m enjoying them. They sound great, and the bass is shockingly full. They seal out the exterior world quite nicely–I find the office’s white noise to be almost deafening when I remove them to head off to a meeting–and I’m able to turn the volume way down and still enjoy listening. They’re comfortable enough that I can wear them for most of a day and not feel any fatigue or discomfort. Plus, Target had them for a price far lower than what’s suggested on Sony’s online store.
As a consequence, I have been listening like a fiend this past week; highlights include:
The Signal, a podcast about “Firefly”/Serenity that I’ve subscribed to but haven’t listened to for several months. If you’re turning into as much of a “Firefly” geek as I am, then you’ll probably enjoy this–news, interviews, music bits, episode reviews, and even lessons on useful Chinese phrases (such as “the explosive diahrrea of an elephant“). And it’s strangely shiny to have my usual mish-mash of NIN and VNV Nation interrupted by an hour of sci-fi geekery.
Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions. Seu Jorge, from the cast of The Life Aquatic, covers David Bowie songs, translated into Portuguese, and plays acoustic guitar. Yeah, exactly. This is a transcendantly interesting record, its excellent novelty value far surpassed by how downright good it is.
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan. Every now and then, I break down and pick up something “popular” and “mainstream,” and this is one of those occasions. I must confess, I hadn’t even heard the White Stripes until their recent “Daily Show” appearance. This album is warm, bluesy, raw, and a damn lot of fun, and I never expected a glockenspiel to rock so hard.
VNV Nation - Pastperfect. Okay, so this hasn’t left my iPod since I originally fell for it, but the live version of “Electronaut” came around on shuffle play on Friday afternoon, and with the deep bass and sealed-in feeling I get from the new headphones, it was mindblowingly awesome at a level only second to being at the live show last summer. This track sounded so good that when I closed my eyes, I was transported to a place of serious ass-kicking goodness, a sort of glorious EBM nirvana. Most excellent!
Okay, enough for now — I have to get up early for jury duty in the morning (whee!).
- Mood:rockin’ in the free world
Tags: christmas firefly liz music science-fiction serenity vnv-nation4 CommentsPrint This Post
4 responses so far ↓
I got these recently for walking the dog and the gym. At work I have some over the ear low-end Sennheisers, which are fairly insulated and seal out noise but feel weird when you take them off because how well they sit over the ear (Sennheiser HD201). But then I can keep the volume a bit lower in the office than running or walking the dog. That is of course something like Black Metallic comes on but what are we going to do.
I’m somewhat motivated by avoiding hearing loss in getting some of these for the gym and stuff. I’ve avoided a pair for work thusfar.
Then again I have a Scion xB with the stock 160 watt stereo which is REALLY FREAKING LOUD. I’ll go deaf just driving somewhere.
Elephant by The White Stripes is one of the best rock albums in recent memory. Highly recommended. If you like this album, get Elephant.
yeah, i had to replace the ipod earbuds about a year ago. i bought a similar pair of sony’s in-ear, and love them! i love that they come with 3 different sized ear pieces. not everyone’s ears are the same size!
and yeah, i was quite surprised by how strong the bass was. it does seem to be missing a little from the the higher range, but that’s ok by me. i don’t have to blast my eardrums just to hear my music while i’m on the bus!
I like the phrase for “Holy mother of God and all her wacky Nephews”.
Yeah, I do miss that little eensy bit at the high end, but I otherwise can’t complain, as the comfort factor is bowling me over so much. The three sizes of ear insert is definitely a nice touch (luckily I am “average” and don’t need to fuss with them).