[Review] Looking for an i-pod

Grats on the purchase. Quick question about the sonys. How comfortable are they? I'm after a pair of new headphones for my Iriver (no regrets over purchasing, and at the time I did twas £40 odd cheaper than the equivalent Ipod)as the beyers 231 that I own are getting really uncomfortable to wear for long periods now. Thing is I've tried el cheapo (£10-15 etc) in ear phones before and couldnt stand em for long periods. So are these sonys any better or would I be better off looking at something else. Anything that blocks out noise would be welcome, as I'm in an office and want to block out a lot of the noise (scanner machines, telephones, women yacking ). I did think about coughing up for the Shures but thats a lot of money without auditioning first.

Cheers.

 

So far, no problems with them, easy to forget they're in, but I haven't worn them for extended periods yet (an hour at most). They come with 3 pairs of different buds, for different sized lugholes. I know some people just don't get on with things in their ears, but for £35 they're probably worth a punt before considering anything more expensive.

-- Ian

 

Nice one Ian .

You're now an official member of the "Pod People"; primed and ready to take on the Meadowlark Mafia should the 'Pod Signal' be blasted upon the night sky. Damn their Transmission lines !

 

David - I find the Sonys extremely comfortable. Have worn them on long transatlantic flights and been able to sleep with them in (I use the as earplugs to drown out the aeroplane noise). These are completely different from the normal in-ear phones (like the standard iPod ones) - they actually go IN your ear.



Michael.

 

Haven't heard the Sony's but can reccomend the sure EC2, they to are canal phones(ie right in yer ear) good enoufgh to drown out most noise even with no music, and others can't hear that annoying tinny music, unless their ears are touv=ching yours in a quiret room, about £50-60 if you shop around, was on small 18 seater beech prop plane the other day going to Isle of Man and they even drowned out the noise from the propellers, and with the right music the bass can make your head wobble, tracks like Underworlds river of bass for example, The sure's are also more discreet as the point up the way and cable wraps round yer lugs, very comfy for this wearer, some have said the sures have the edge on sound but they are more expensive, as I said I can't comment on the sony's, I use the silicon buds as they were better fit for me and don't need replacing so often.
FWIW some on headfi are using the earplugs from the sony's on entymotic 6's as the sony's are softer and the entymotic plugs aint that comfy, apparently.

 

When I was in NY last week I was so close to buying a pair of Etymotic 6's (only $129 over there) but in the end decided not to. Next time if I have more time I'm going to try and do a comparison with the Sony's. Bass on the Sony's is quite something .

Michael.

 

what's a good price for an iRiver hp120 (my walkman is dying and I need the tuner feature as well as the mp3 so ipod probably not for me)? cheapest on pricerunner is at Amazon for £202, which is better than eBay once delivery factored in, but maybe the sheds on Tott Court Rd are doing better.. And what is this OGG file format that it can handle? ...or maybe I should be waiting for the new competitor frolm Sony that's about to be released here, which has double the battery life? I have to say that I still think these things are horribly overpriced.. I need a replacement player to keep my commute bearable, but it'll be a bit of a grudge purchase..

 

Ogg Vorbis = open source audio compression codec: http://www.vorbis.com/

As for price, Tottenham Ct Rd, a pocketful of cash, and a talent for haggling will almost certainly get you one for under £200.

-- Ian

 

cheers. link looks a bit 'technobeardy' - I reckon Ogg Vorbis only plays folk music!!

 

Avoid the Sony product like the plague. About all that's good about it is the battery life. They've crippled it by only allowing it to use Sony's proprietary ATRAC3 format, which means you'll have to use their proprietary software to upload music to it it's bloody terrible.

Michael.

 

Looks like Sony has had a change of heart (or a common sense injection)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3682602.stm

 

I've ordered an iRiver 120 with the Sony fontopia headphones off Amazon. I was on a flight recently with a colleague who had a Creative Zen Nomad...and the remote...and a separate portable amplifier for it... and the etymotics . He was covered in wires and boxes . I asked him whether he was intending to eventually monobloc the amp and go for individual left and right headphones...

 

Speaking of the remote, my iPod came with the headphone cable remote but I ditched that almost straight away. For a start it makes the cable waaaay too long when used with my Sony EX70s and secondly, I really don't need it.

Michael.

 

anybody see the TV program about ''free ipods .com'' and ''free flatscreens .com''

If you LIVE IN THE USA and ARE PREPARED TO GET FIVE MATES TO FILL IN MARKETING SHITE then you can get a free Ipod.

Wish they'd do it in the UK! we could all sign up for each other!!

Chris

 

my iRiver and the Sonys arrived yesterday. Have to say I'm quite impressed - recording at 192, the quality is pretty good, and in my typical environment (ie passive listening on the train) you can't really notice much difference from CD. The Sony headphones are a major step up from any other portable types I've used before.

My one gripe was the user manual, which ain't exactly straightforward. Other than that I'm a happy bunny..