Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear : headphones

Father's Day Gift Ideas-- Part 1: iPod and accessories

Chad — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:05:00 GMT

As a father, I can attest that nothing makes a better gift than a good piece of electronics. And as a Crutchfield advisor, I'm often asked for gift ideas along those lines. One of my first questions is this: "Does your dad have an iPod® yet?" That's a...(read more)

Best holiday gifts? Sometimes it's the little things.

Gabrielle — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:05:00 GMT

When it comes to gifts, I'm not a gal who's into big extravagant gestures. Much as I'd enjoy a killer game system , or giant flat screen TV , I find that sort of present more overwhelming than endearing. I'd rather just do the research and buy my own...(read more)

Lonely For My Headphones, Part 3: Sony Headphones

Gabrielle — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:10:00 GMT

One Thing Leads To Another I've been auditioning a lot of headphones over the past several weeks, looking for a relatively inexpensive pair that would, nonetheless, give me great sound quality. I'm terrible at making shopping decisions, so I asked my...(read more)

Lonely For My Headphones, Part 2: Bose QuietComfort 2

Gabrielle — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:28:00 GMT

It Can't Come Quickly Enough There's nothing like having your favorite pair of headphones kick the bucket to make you realize just what a difference these devices can make to one's work. Since my beloved Shure earphones died, it's been harder to concentrate...(read more)

Lonely For My Headphones

Gabrielle — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:01:00 GMT

It's Over I'm in mourning. After a year and a half of almost continual use, an earsleeve post broke off my beloved Shure E3C portable earphones, and there's no way to fix it. Oh, I can still hear through them (kinda) but it's just no good any more. I...(read more)

Noise-Isolating Headphones Help Video Recording

JRS — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:34:00 GMT

I used to be a disc jockey at a local rock radio station here in Charlottesville, Virginia. The headphones of choice for many DJs on a budget were the Sony MDR-V600 . These were big, loud, rock and roll headphones. Their large vinyl ear cups did a pretty...(read more)

Selecting headphones? Consider the source.

Ralph — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:01:00 GMT

I recently had an opportunity to do some side-by-side comparisons of Shure's line of in-ear earbud headphones . But this post isn't about the headphones -- it's about the importance of sound file quality. We were doing the tests with an MP3 player, and...(read more)

Noise-cancelin' weed-trimmin' headphones

Ralph — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:27:00 GMT

Many travelers have found relief from airline engine drone with a good pair of noise-canceling headphones. But noise-canceling headphones can also handle engine noises a little closer to home, too. For a number of years I've used hearing protectors while...(read more)

Travel-friendly headphones

TaraW — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:20:00 GMT

When I travel, I'm surprised at the number of people on their cell phones, listening to MP3 players, and working on laptops. We live in a world of portable electronics that let us communicate, work, and enjoy music wherever we are. It's great that we can take our favorite music, movies, and TV shows with us, but it can be dangerous if we don't take the proper precautions for our hearing. I've been guilty of cranking up the volume when I want to tune out the rest of the world. At that moment, the volume doesn't seem too loud since there's so much other noise around me. Afterwards, I'll turn on my player in a quieter environment, and then I realize just how loud I was blasting my tunes.

In louder listening situations, a good pair of headphones can help you block background noise without sacrificing the safety of your ears. And some 'phones are designed for this specific purpose. So I set out to test a few sets of headphones in a very noisy environment — the cabin of a commuter jet. I wanted to see which headphones would let me comfortably hear my music without turning up the volume too high.

I'd already read Ralph Graves's article on safe use of portable players, and used his guidelines to help me decide which headphones to take. If you haven't read it yet, check it out — it's got a lot of tips for safe listening.

For my flight, I packed my trusty iPod®, the earbud headphones that came with my iPod, Shure's E3 in-ear headphones, and a pair of Bose QuietComfort® 3 on-ear headphones in my carry-on bag. I planned to listen to the same songs, selections from the Decemberists' The Crane Wife and Ray LaMontagne's Till the Sun Turns Black, with each pair of headphones.

My iPod came with these small earbud headphones.

Cruising altitude: music in the friendly skies

I started with the iPod earbuds. Immediately, I realized that these 'phones were made for casual use, and not intended for more challenging, noisy environments. Typically, I don't turn my iPod's volume up past 50%. With these small headphones, I had to turn it up past 80% to hear the music over the noise of the jet engines. The earbuds didn't fit snugly in or on my ear, so I heard a lot of background noise and found it difficult to concentrate on the songs. And my tunes didn't do so well with the high volume — the overall tone was flat and tinny, and the female vocals were muffled and distant. The mid-range passages were the exact opposite — they were loud and almost harsh. When I played a slower, softer song from Ray LaMontagne's album, the earbuds weren't able to produce the depth and detail that I normally hear in the track, even when I turned the volume up further. These 'phones work fine if I'm listening to music in a quiet environment, but for extended listening sessions in noisy environments, they probably aren't the best choice.

Shure's E3 headphones are small in-ear headphones, which makes them convenient for traveling.

Next up were the Shure E3 in-ear headphones. These small headphones fit just inside my ear canal, which helps them block out background noises. I was able to set the volume between 30% and 40%. I noticed one difference right away — I heard less noise from the jet engines. Songs were clear, and the female vocals complemented the mid-range sounds. These 'phones didn't produce a superior amount of bass, but it didn't take away from my listening experience — the melodies of my music came through smooth and clear. They do a great job for their small size, and would be ideal for people who want improved audio performance but don't want to carry around larger headphones.

The Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones fit comfortably on my ears — perfect for longer listening sessions.

Last on my list was the pair of QuietComfort 3 headphones. They have an active noise-cancelling feature that minimizes outside sounds. The QC3s are lightweight and rested comfortably on my ears. I set the volume to 40% and again noticed an improvement right away — they blocked most of the noise from the rumbling airplane. This was, by far, the clearest listening experience, and it closely mirrored my home listening environment. Without the whine of the jet engine to distract me, I was able to hear more detail and an improved range of sounds in the slower acoustic songs — from the rich, warm, vibrato-filled notes of the string instrumentals to the crisp, rhythmic chords of the acoustic guitar. These 'phones are marketed for travelers, and rightly so — they'd be really comfortable for extended listening sessions.

Conclusions

My best experience on the airplane came from the most expensive pair of headphones — shocking, right? Probably not. However, it is worth noting that almost any pair of noise-cancelling or in-ear headphones will provide a better, and safer, listening environment when you're in a noisy place since they're designed specifically for that purpose. The combination of being able to listen at lower volume levels and hear detailed, full-range sound has me convinced that noise-cancelling or in-ear 'phones are definitely the right choice for frequent fliers like me.

This post was originally written as a collection of tips for CrutchfieldAdvisor.com's "The Audio Files℠" column.