go go gadgets and gizmos.
hm, i know this makes me either a selfish kid or a geeky dink but i've been wanting some new accessories for my personal use... such as new headphones... i saw a nice model down at the Sony Store the other day while i was browsing. Sony's MDRNC6 Noise Cancelling Headphones, pretty decent, has insane world-blocking-out capabilities, after testing them out. only thing is, 80 bucks. and that's a little too much too be blowing on a whim. i mean, that money could go to much more worthwhile causes. and i certainly don't want to be a hypocrite, considering my previous rant about the government of USA's retardation. speaking of USA, the NASA launch that took place yesterday went by without much disturbances, which is good, even though NASA is a plague on that nation's budget. now i sounds really geeky. but it's true. the only reason NASA is there is because it's a national symbol, nothing more. i mean, if space wasn't privatized, NASA would crumble due to horrible wastes of funding (straight out of tax payers' pockets) and the swarm of private companies that plan on commercializing space travel sometime in the future, making NASA obsolete. but we can't have that, now can we? oh well.
anyway, back to the headphones... i've been wanting new ones, but the question is, do i need them? well i think no, i don't need them... i wouldn't have such a hesitant spirit towards making a purchase such as this if it didn't cost so much for something so seclusive and specialized as personal music experience. i mean, i think of the people who don't even have food and i just kinda die, a little. on the inside. but i dunno. i think i'll put it off for now. i think i'll get mine from Hong Kong, but supposely this kind of stuff is, nowadays, pretty standard everywhere when it comes to cost. i hope to defy that.
while i'm on the "techy" topics, i hope my dad gets that new camera he's been wanting, 7 or 8 mega-pixels i believe. very nice. i think he said it's only $400 too, which is cool. and once he gets that, i'll steal the older one for personal photo frenzies across my school and church settings and whatnot.
Thoughts:
A few years ago, when I was looking for a NetMD, I looked around on the internets for opinions. Many of the people who hang out at Minidisc forums are audiophiles. These are people who mess around with their EQs and buy $100 earphones like Sony MDR-E888s or EX-71s. These are also people who don't like the iPod because of its lacking sound quality and go to lengths debating over whether the bass is quality or not. They also talk about treble as well.
earphones? no. i'm not looking for another pair of things with which to mate with my ears, yet fail to block out the noise of my bus/subway rides to and from places. and since the said forms of transport are used frequently by i, you can see my concern.
dont worry.. i only think youre a giant nerd because i know nothing of that stuff.
i just dont know much. hah
They also talk about headphones that cost a lot too. Like the famous Sony MDR-D66SL Eggos, which are only available from Japan and cost $90 US. So they import headphones from Japan.
Anyway, I heard that those EX-71 earbuds are like the master of noise cancelling.
i was checking out a couple models, and looking around for reviews...
there's the Sennheiser PX 100, if i'm looking for bang for buck (not noise cancelling). and they're pretty cheap too ($40 US?). apparently, they've got great sound and they are nifty in that they fold up into a neat little hard case for portability. these (supposedly) have excellent sound and oomphy bass as well, perfect for my mp3 player.
and then there are the Sennheiser PXC 250. noise cancelling, audiophile sound quality (NOT normal for noise cancelling sets) and not that bad to look at. these fold up too. this one, however, is a little more than double the price. with these, i could very well feed all my audio needs (bus rides w/ my mp3 player, home theater, etc...).
in between these two is the PX 200, which is partly closed to the outside, for some noise isolation. a review warns, however, that since this pair are 'closed' and it is somewhat tricky to get a good seal around the ears (due to their design), you may get crummy bass and whatnot if you don't position them on your ears just so. since these three are from the same series, i'm guessing the others are tricky to position too, but i don't think that'll be a problem, given i take the extra, what, 5 seconds to adjust them to fit my liking. i dunno about comfort though.
i looked at Panasonic's RPHJE50S, which i must say, are looking pretty good. i mean, $40 according to BestBuy since i won't go ordering stuff from all over. these are earplugs, not buds, plugs. like the EX71's that tim mentioned, they are passive sound isolators. that means they simply block out external sounds, rather than counteract them (i.e. noise cancelling). independent critics say that they are just as comfortable and effective as Sony's, but half the price. and since, as much as i'd like to think my ears are as picky as sonarmen's, they're not. so a little less sound quality (expected of earplugs/buds) is no biggie. however, these ARE supposed to be quite responsive, without overkilling bass like the EX71's. hm...
the noise cancelling/isolation effects are worth extra consideration, to protect my ear drums. i mean, the other alternative is to just pump up the volume to mask ext. noises, which is neither efficient nor healthy. and since i spend close to one hour commuting from school to home everyday of the school year, i think it'll be a good investment. i dunno. 100+ is a little pricey but, i guess if i take good care of them (like i do with all my comparatively higher-end purchases) then i don't see any reason for me to get new headphones again. that is IF i get the PX Whatevers. unless these, like, blow up or something. i may just settle on the panasonics...
browsing is fun.
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