New toy

[MTalley]

OK, so I've been debating buying a smallish MP3 player for a while now. I splurged last year and bought a Dell DJ 15GB unit, but was sorely disappointed when, after only about 4 months of very light usage, the HD failed. I was more disappointed in trying to wade through Dell's technical support. I'm trying to avoid ranting here, so I won't.

Anyway, as soon as the refurb unit arrived from Dell, it instantly was listed, and sold, on Ebay. Wiped my hands clean of that one. Ironically, I had also purchased two identical units for my teenage children that are both running fine, even with their much more rigorous usage.

So, I'm in Circuit City picking up a CD (a rare treat for myself) and decide to check out the MP3 players. I decided that if I buy another player, it'll be a flash-based unit. No more HD failures for me. I've always like iPods. Sleek, sexy, and oh, so expensive. Tremendous aftermarket for them, though.

Anyway, I decide to take the plunge on a Sandisk-branded 512MB unit, with FM Tuner (bonus, but I'd probably never use that part), on sale for $69.99. While waiting for someone to come back with a key for the locked glass case, and waiting, and waiting (CC isn't always known for it's speed), I'm browsing all up and down the case, looking at the other units I wouldn't buy.

Lo and behold, there is an open box special on an iPod Shuffle, 512MB unit. New, they were selling them for $99.99. The open box special lacked only the actual outside box and was marked at $49.95. So now I'm listening to it in the hotel room. What a bargain. Glad that the store staff was so slow in waiting on me now.

Also, downloaded the CD I went there to purchase from the iTunes site for $10 instead of $14 for the CD.

[KevC]

Awesome! I have a shuffle (still in box, don't use it. got it free from a promotion) and a 3G 15GB iPod. The Shuffle has the best sound quality of them all! (not sure if you're into that)

The stock iBuds aren't very good and definitely don't do it justice. If you enjoy music, consider buying something nicer to listen through!

(www.head-fi.org <- very knowledgable people... but you have to be careful because headphones can be an expensive hobby!)

[MTalley]

In reading a few reviews (post-purchase) on the Shuffle, they were all in agreement that the Shuffle, ironically, has the best sound quality of all the iPods.

As for something nicer to listen through, I'm still using my old Sony earbuds. Talk about being around the block, these earbuds came with the ill-fated MiniDisc player that I first purchased (in 2003) as a music player. When that unit died, I replaced it with the Dell and immediately threw the Dell earbuds in a drawer. Been using the same Sony earbuds since then with my laptop and, after briefly trying the Apple earbuds, I immediately plugged the Sonys in instead.

I dread the day the Sony earbuds die. I haven't seen a comparable set sold as a separate unit.

I'm rarely in a situation where full cup headphones are practical (since I use my music most at work and have to be able to hear the phone ring). If I were, I'd probably drop a wad on a nice pair of Senneheisers (sp?).

[KevC]

Sennheisers have a nice sound. The HD580/600/650 are the best value (if you like that kinda sound) as they scale extremely well from unamped to thousand dollar amps!

Sennheisers have more of a laid back, relaxing, smooth sound.

I prefer an AKG sound myself. Highly detailed, more closer to the music than Senns. Not like Grados though, Grados don't have ANY soundstage but you're right up with the band, the kinda phones that want you to get up and dance! Then there's Beyerdynamic which are very groovy and dark =) Bassy!

Anyway, on a student budget I couldn't afford much so I've got the best sounding phones for the EXTREMELY limited budget.

Koss KSC-35s are quite possibly the funnest sounding phones for the measily $25. They also, surprisingly, scale very well to amps.

I plug these in to a Pocketamp 2 V2. This was a project by a Ryerson engineering student which got REALLY popular. Very cheap ($70) amp that brings new life to headphones! You really have the hear the difference, it's hard to explain. More resolution, more life to the music. And they run off rechargable AAs! Comes with AC adapter too!

My study phones are the Sennheiser HD201. For $19.99, they're awesome. Not as detailed as the Koss, but actually have a soundstage and a relaxing sound. (classic Senn touch). These are closed, unlike the Koss which are completely open. Don't want to disturb or be disturbed!

Lastly the Panasonic RP-HJE50 are my travel phones. These "earbud" like canal phones. They're not true canal phones like the Etymotic Research or Shures that you can get (I had a pair of Etys, they were really nice sounding but I really didn't like the idea of having something so far jammed into my head!). They isolate better than normal earbuds and sound very nice and crisp!

Anyway, that's my schpeal on headphones. It's sorta a hobby of mine, but I'd rather spend money on photography than this! (I sold my AKG K501s, the perfect phone for me, for cash to spend on a lens I believe!... couldn't afford an amp nice enough to drive them!)

Just remember, there's a lot more to headphones than most people think! WHen you want to buy headphones, keep in mind what kind of music you listen to, where you'd be listening to, and make a smart decision hehe.