Re: (not so) Cheap pretty good noise-canceling headphones

On Sun, 17 Nov 2002, Olivier Thereaux wrote:

> I'm not an audiophile, but I listen to music all day every day, and I
> love music. And yes I'm impressed and drooling when I listen to some
> great audio gear in a wonderful listening room, not because of the
> price tag or the shiny tubes, but because the music is clear and
> detailed (many people say they don't make any difference, but when you
> can ear distinctly each instrument in a band, or hear and locate every
> instrument in an orchestra, you understand what this is all about...
> but enough digression already...). And that's what these phones give :
> ~20-25 dB of phonic isolation, thanks to the good seal (note that the
> best noise cancelling phone are around 10-15dB...), and an oh-my-god
> great sound.

Usually people that say "having glowing tubes is just snobbish" are people
that never heard a real system. Every people that heard a real system,
even when they were complete newbies heard the BIG difference from having
some sound coming from square boxes and having  a music scene floating
around you with distinct position for the instruments and instruments that
sound what they are supposed to.
The pleasure of hearing music that way is not only to hear something
pleasing to the ear, and far less tiring and aggressive than regular music
systems, but you also discover far more things, little hidden details and
improvements to the feelings expressed by the music.

> The sound is incredible, too. Ugly at first, I must say, but once the
> transducers started breaking-in (a few hours), it became wonderful.I

breaking-in time is also mandatory for any good sound system, it took me
200 hours+ to have really something decent.

> Bottom line? Tiny, incredible sound, incredible noise cancellation.
> Price tag? ah, well, yes, they're not so cheap. They're sold around
> 250$. That's the price for top-of-the-line phones, except that with
> these ones, you get great noise-cancelling phones at no expense
> (neither price, space, or sound...).

Olivier was kind enough to let me test his headphones. They are actually
pretty good. The fact that the external noise level is low is very
helpful. However it doesn't match what I have at home (but can't carry),
as the detail and texture of the sound does not come only from the
loudspeakers/headphones.
By testing Strange Little Girls from Tori Amos, it was clear that the song
lacked the good and tight bass that is the base of the music, and the fact
that the frequency range is limited (but almost all headphones are) is
also not helping.

However for the price tag, and the size of the beast, and the fact that it
also reduce external noise by a huge factor. I can also recommend it.
A real test would be to compare it with a pair or stax or Jecklin Float,
but the use is completely different.

Also I have a subscription open to raise fund to buy Genesis II.5
loudspeakers. Any donation welcomed :)

--
~~Yves