Headphone thoughts

I recently (well, almost half a year ago) got myself a big pair of Sony studio headphones. I listen to my iPod with these things when I have a backpack on me–the things are too huge to carry around otherwise. They are also not much good to me during the summer, when the closed spaces make my ears sweat. (!)

I also have a little pair of Sony earbud things that come with a rubber cover sort of like the nipple on a baby bottle. This pokes into my ear and deadens outside noise, making the music sound that much louder and clearer. These are what I use in the summer, and when I want to be able to wind up the gear and stick it in a pocket. I like the sound of them, but recently I have learned about new options out there . . .

I read in one of Joi Ito’s blog entries about headphones made by Shure. He was using the E2c model, and he recently moved up to the E5c phones, which cost a mind-boggling five hundred dollars. I’d love to try those out . . . but in-the-ear headphones aren’t really the kind of thing you can check out in the Akihabara stores, usually, since that gets ear wax all over them and leads to the transmission of who knows what kind of waxy germs. I might go for that mid-range model when it’s time to get a new pair, though.

In addition to Shure there’s a company called Etymotic that makes similar high-end in-the-ear phones, with a similarly high-end price. So much to study here . . . What should I listen to next? (I mean, besides an iPod mini!)

01/13/2004 | tech | Comments

Comments are closed for this entry.