I'm a geek and a music junkie. That can be an expensive combination. Not only do I love listening to and making music. I also love all the great toys and gadgets that can be involved. Sometimes I get so hung up on the toys, I forget the simple joy of playing or listening to music. But I digress...
Every time I travel for work, I spend quite a bit of time listening to music on the plane, in the airport, etc. And, every time I sit there with my iPod earbuds cranked so I can hear them over the jet noise, I think I really need to get some noise canceling headphones so I can actually hear the music over the jet noise. I always figured part of the fatigue that comes with jet travel must be created by listening to that loud roar for extended periods.
Of course, being a geek, I had to do copious amounts of research before just going out and buying the ubiquitous Bose QuietComfort headphones. As I was researching I started reading about ear canal headphones from the likes of Shure, Etymotic, Ultimate Ears, and the like. These don't use active noise cancelling technology. Rather, they isolate you from the outside noise by creating a seal between your ear and the rest of the world.
After hunting all over, reading reviews, and checking prices, I found myself reading the HeadRoom site and looking at the Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Studio earphones. They were on sale for $54.99 and I figured I couldn't go too wrong there. Then, I noticed a set on their B-stock page for $44.99 and called them up to place the order. That night I got to reading more reviews and started to worry that I might miss the lower bass on the super.fi 3s. As fate would have it, there was a problem with my credit card and my order didn't ship right away. I called HeadRoom the next day and got the problem straightened out. Then, I called back five minutes later and, after apologizing for being an obsessive geek, asked Jeremy's (awesome HeadRoom salesman btw) opinion of the super.fi 3 Studios vs. the super.fi 5 Pros. I had noticed a set of the 5 Pros show up on the B-stock page for "only" $135.99 and, although Jeremy didn't really push me, I ended up changing my order to the super.fi 5 Pros. Somehow my geek brain processed this as an incremental price increase rather than "it costs three times as much!" :-)
The super.fi 5 Pros are similar in design to the 3 Studios except they use two armature drivers for each ear instead of one. One driver for bass and the other for mids and highs.
Anyway, the super.fi 5 Pros arrived last Friday. Since, of course, I'd already read the manual and watched the fitting video on the Ultimate Ears site, I sat right down to give them a listen. What was my first song choice you might ask? Of course it was Boston's "More Than a Feeling." As the first words played...
I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away
...I truly did slip away. I couldn't help but think: Yes. This is why I love music. Music is SO much better when you can actually hear it. Duh!
Anyway, first couple days, I have listened to several familiar songs to get an idea of how well the little guys work. Every song is like I'm listening to it for the first time.
--Cut forward one week--
Here I sit in the Portland airport preparing for my first trip with these earphones. I'm listening to Mark Knopfler and enjoying free wifi in PDX. Honestly, if I don't look up, it's easy to forget I'm sitting in the airport. I'm in my own little musical world here. If they announce anything important about my flight, I'm screwed. :-)
I have a whole playlist prepared for my travels. I'll report back during or after the trip with some more opinions on
