Elladan
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2008
- Posts
- 127
- Likes
- 11
A few months back, a Head-Fier made a post in which he strongly suggested not travelling with a mint-tin cMoy amp. As a business traveler, I took it seriously, but experimentally continued to travel with my amp (my Headsix needs new faceplate screws, which I cannot locate). I never had the slightest bit of trouble with security, and in fact have found my used biosciencegeek cMoy BB 2.0 to be a great conversation piece. Young, cute flight attendants are fascinated by it.
I just posted the following tale as a note on my Facebook page, in a somewhat longer form. Here, I don't have to explain the whole idea behind headphone amplification, though with IEMs, the benefit is admittedly debatable in this auust forum. (ha!) It's kind of a long post, and I won't be offended if you don't read it, but I thought it was a pretty funny experience, and that many of you guys might appreciate it.
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I flew home from Chicago to Richmond last night (15Mar09, United flight 174). And of course, I listened to music through my amp during the flight. Flight attendants walked past me many times during the flight. I even ordered a cocktail while listening, with the amp and Zune 80 layed out on my tray table. When the request to turn off electronic devices came, I unplugged everything and started packing things away in my travel bag. I heard a thump when I leaned down to put the small bag inside my briefcase, so I checked the bag and saw it was zipped closed, so that nothing could have fallen out of it, and I relaxed. However, I had closed the bag without returning the amp to it, and the amp had fallen under the seat, there to await the cleaning crew. I blithely walked off the plane and out of the terminal, paid for parking, and came home, arriving at about 10:45 PM. I poured myself a drink and settled in to play a little Fable 2 before bed.
At 12:30 AM, my cell phone rang. It wasn't a number I knew, but it was an 804 area code and seemed to have too many digits. I was troubled, so I answered. A dude asked for me, and I said "this is he." He apparently couldn't hear me and said he'd call back on another line. I was thinking this must be some kind of scam, so when the phone rang again, I didn't answer. It rang a third time, though, and I did answer, since persistence kind of militates toward veracity. The tense-sounding voice on the other end of the line idenitifed itself as belonging to a member of the RIC airport police and asked if I had left anything on my plane. Based on his less-than-apt description, I first thought it was my headphones, but a check of my bag showed me that it was the amp. I told the guy that it was my headphone amp, answered his questions (did I build it myself? where did I get it? it's a what, again? what's the switch on the side for? have I flown with it -- i.e., carried it through security -- before?), gave details for how to find similar items on eBay, and apologized for leaving it on board, as I could easily imagine the furor it created. The guy told me that the device was "causing them some trouble" -- they had called the fire department and some "other folks," and asked if I would be at this number for a while. I assured him that I would, and hung up, chuckling to myself.
The next time the phone rang, at about 1:15 AM, it was a different -- and angry-sounding -- guy who identified himself as a member of the Henrico County police bomb squad. He asked the same questions the last guy had, but was much less polite, and seemed to be giving me the bad-cop routine. After a few minutes and a few answered questions, I suggested that he just test the damn thing, describing how to use it and suggesting that somebody there probably had an iPod that could be plugged in. Incredulous, he informed me that he wasn't about to plug it into ANYTHING. I said, "look, man, if you've looked at it, you know it's not any kind of explosive device." He replied that he hadn't even x-rayed the damned thing. He asked where I was now (at home). "Where's home?" (M******ville). By this point, his tone had started to irritate me, and I was answering his questions in the same spirit they were asked. The next one was expected: "How would you feel about coming down to the airport right now?" and I replied, "not too good, as it's after 1:00 AM, and I've been drinking." After a few minutes, he, too, verified that I'd be at this number for a while and got off the phone. By this point, I was wondering when the cops are going to show up and whether they're going to leave the red-and-blue lights on and wake up the neighbors when they surround my house and break the door down. I was also disappointed that my first encounter with a SWAT team was unlikely to end with me posing for a picture while holding some dude's submachinegun. But I was getting sleepy, and secure in my knowledge that I'd done nothing wrong, I decided to turn in. I did plug my phone in to charge by my bed and ensure that the phone-call ringer was on, though.
I had just climbed into bed when the phone rang again at 2:00 AM, and it was the first guy calling back. He verified my full name and asked for my SSN or driver's license number -- I provided the latter, of course -- and told me someone would probably be calling me tomorrow morning. He sounded a bit more relaxed, and I gathered based solely on his tone that the bomb squad had at least satisfied themselves that my headphone amp was not a weapon of mass destruction. I slept quite well, despite the prospect of never being able to get on a plane again in the US without a brutal cavity search.
It's about 3:15 now, and they haven't called me. I assume that's good news. I mean, they're probably a little sore at me and unlikely to ask me to come and reclaim my lost property after said property kept them up all night, right? But If I disappear, please inquire with Homeland Security, in the presumption that President Obama has reversed his stance on jailing enemy combatants. And if any of you guys are gifted as fund raisers, please speak to me immediately about volunteering with the Free C**** C******* Civic Action Group.
Fight the Power!
__________________________________________________ _____________
And also, for you Head Fi-ers -- DO think twice about air travel with your cMoy amp.
I just posted the following tale as a note on my Facebook page, in a somewhat longer form. Here, I don't have to explain the whole idea behind headphone amplification, though with IEMs, the benefit is admittedly debatable in this auust forum. (ha!) It's kind of a long post, and I won't be offended if you don't read it, but I thought it was a pretty funny experience, and that many of you guys might appreciate it.
__________________________________________________ ______________
I flew home from Chicago to Richmond last night (15Mar09, United flight 174). And of course, I listened to music through my amp during the flight. Flight attendants walked past me many times during the flight. I even ordered a cocktail while listening, with the amp and Zune 80 layed out on my tray table. When the request to turn off electronic devices came, I unplugged everything and started packing things away in my travel bag. I heard a thump when I leaned down to put the small bag inside my briefcase, so I checked the bag and saw it was zipped closed, so that nothing could have fallen out of it, and I relaxed. However, I had closed the bag without returning the amp to it, and the amp had fallen under the seat, there to await the cleaning crew. I blithely walked off the plane and out of the terminal, paid for parking, and came home, arriving at about 10:45 PM. I poured myself a drink and settled in to play a little Fable 2 before bed.
At 12:30 AM, my cell phone rang. It wasn't a number I knew, but it was an 804 area code and seemed to have too many digits. I was troubled, so I answered. A dude asked for me, and I said "this is he." He apparently couldn't hear me and said he'd call back on another line. I was thinking this must be some kind of scam, so when the phone rang again, I didn't answer. It rang a third time, though, and I did answer, since persistence kind of militates toward veracity. The tense-sounding voice on the other end of the line idenitifed itself as belonging to a member of the RIC airport police and asked if I had left anything on my plane. Based on his less-than-apt description, I first thought it was my headphones, but a check of my bag showed me that it was the amp. I told the guy that it was my headphone amp, answered his questions (did I build it myself? where did I get it? it's a what, again? what's the switch on the side for? have I flown with it -- i.e., carried it through security -- before?), gave details for how to find similar items on eBay, and apologized for leaving it on board, as I could easily imagine the furor it created. The guy told me that the device was "causing them some trouble" -- they had called the fire department and some "other folks," and asked if I would be at this number for a while. I assured him that I would, and hung up, chuckling to myself.
The next time the phone rang, at about 1:15 AM, it was a different -- and angry-sounding -- guy who identified himself as a member of the Henrico County police bomb squad. He asked the same questions the last guy had, but was much less polite, and seemed to be giving me the bad-cop routine. After a few minutes and a few answered questions, I suggested that he just test the damn thing, describing how to use it and suggesting that somebody there probably had an iPod that could be plugged in. Incredulous, he informed me that he wasn't about to plug it into ANYTHING. I said, "look, man, if you've looked at it, you know it's not any kind of explosive device." He replied that he hadn't even x-rayed the damned thing. He asked where I was now (at home). "Where's home?" (M******ville). By this point, his tone had started to irritate me, and I was answering his questions in the same spirit they were asked. The next one was expected: "How would you feel about coming down to the airport right now?" and I replied, "not too good, as it's after 1:00 AM, and I've been drinking." After a few minutes, he, too, verified that I'd be at this number for a while and got off the phone. By this point, I was wondering when the cops are going to show up and whether they're going to leave the red-and-blue lights on and wake up the neighbors when they surround my house and break the door down. I was also disappointed that my first encounter with a SWAT team was unlikely to end with me posing for a picture while holding some dude's submachinegun. But I was getting sleepy, and secure in my knowledge that I'd done nothing wrong, I decided to turn in. I did plug my phone in to charge by my bed and ensure that the phone-call ringer was on, though.
I had just climbed into bed when the phone rang again at 2:00 AM, and it was the first guy calling back. He verified my full name and asked for my SSN or driver's license number -- I provided the latter, of course -- and told me someone would probably be calling me tomorrow morning. He sounded a bit more relaxed, and I gathered based solely on his tone that the bomb squad had at least satisfied themselves that my headphone amp was not a weapon of mass destruction. I slept quite well, despite the prospect of never being able to get on a plane again in the US without a brutal cavity search.
It's about 3:15 now, and they haven't called me. I assume that's good news. I mean, they're probably a little sore at me and unlikely to ask me to come and reclaim my lost property after said property kept them up all night, right? But If I disappear, please inquire with Homeland Security, in the presumption that President Obama has reversed his stance on jailing enemy combatants. And if any of you guys are gifted as fund raisers, please speak to me immediately about volunteering with the Free C**** C******* Civic Action Group.
Fight the Power!
__________________________________________________ _____________
And also, for you Head Fi-ers -- DO think twice about air travel with your cMoy amp.
