Where/How do you store your cans?
Nov 17, 2001 at 5:07 PM Post #31 of 45
Hmmm...

I guess the thing I like best about my Sony MDR-V6s is the cinch-bag they came in. So I designed a similar bag, bought some pseudo-leather vinyl material, and asked my mother the seamstress if she'd sew it together for me. Came out nice.

Sennheiser HD580s -- in a homemade cinch bag. I put the HD580s in it upside-down so the connecting cords don't get pressed into the bottom of the bag.

Grado SR-80 -- in a smaller homemade cinch bag.

Sony MDR-V6 -- in the bag they came with.

Koss KSC-35s -- in the bag they came with, inside a Case Logic case that also holds about 20 CDs, my Panasonic SL-CT 570, my JMT Altoids amp, spare batteries, and connecting cords.

Koss Sportapros -- tossed on top of the bag they came with, sitting on my desk at work.

Sennheiser MX-400s -- inside their hard carrying case in my desk drawer at work.

Aiwa HP-CN5 noise cancelling headphones -- in the bag they came with, on a shelf in a closet. I bought them for air travel, used them on one trip, and haven't pulled them out of the closet since. Anyone want them? $35, I pay ground shipping in the U.S. They're like new -- worn on two airplanes. No more than 3 or 4 total hours on them.

Russ "The Peripatetic Audiophile"
 
Nov 17, 2001 at 5:18 PM Post #32 of 45
I hang the at home phones from the ends of the curtain rods in the living room. The not-at-home phones: portapro's in the glove compartment of the car, the Senn 490's are behind the seat of the car and the rat shack behind the heads that I use on construction sites are in tool box #1, with the sony portable radio.
 
Nov 18, 2001 at 3:39 AM Post #33 of 45
Store?! I can't get mine to come off!
biggrin.gif
 
Nov 19, 2001 at 3:19 AM Post #34 of 45
Quote:

Aiwa HP-CN5 noise cancelling headphones -- in the bag they came with, on a shelf in a closet. I bought them for air travel, used them on one trip, and haven't pulled them out of the closet since. Anyone want them? $35, I pay ground shipping in the U.S. They're like new -- worn on two airplanes. No more than 3 or 4 total hours on them.


How much isolation do they give, and how bad do they sound compared to the KSC-35s?
 
Nov 19, 2001 at 3:48 PM Post #36 of 45
Quote:

Uh oh. Now you all know where I hide my Grados!!
eek.gif


heh-heh-heh....and I know where you live!
very_evil_smiley.gif
 
Nov 19, 2001 at 8:04 PM Post #38 of 45
Quote:

Originally posted by wilbur
zip-lock bags...!
smily_headphones1.gif


Same here. Standard 1 lbs Baggies or Ziplocks work great. Just make sure you give them a good puff of air, and you can protect them from small impacts (as I carry them in my notebook bag, so they get banged around a little [Grado-SR-80s])
 
Nov 19, 2001 at 9:17 PM Post #39 of 45
Quote:

Originally posted by Xevion (referring to the Aiwa noise cancelling headphones I mentioned above)
How much isolation do they give, and how bad do they sound compared to the KSC-35s?


Sorry for the delay in replying -- I lost track of this thread.

Anyway -- they give isolation from low-frequency noise, like that produced by airplane engines. They don't give any isolation from midrange on up -- so if you have them on your head, activated, with no music playing, they block out something like 70% of the engine noise, while allowing you to hear midrange okay, like the captain's voice on the intercom and the flight attendants' questions.

Unfortunately some airplane engines produce significant noise in the midrange too, so if you're hoping for total isolation, these won't provide it like a nice set of foam expandable earplugs would. Also, a side-effect of the noise cancellation circuit is that they add noise to the mid/high frequencies -- sounds like tape hiss. Luckily, the hiss noise is fixed volume -- so if you're trying to listen to music, and the volume is high enough to compete with airplane noise, you won't hear the hiss. You will be able to hear the music at a significantly lower volume than if you turn the noise cancellation feature off.

As to the sound quality -- I didn't listen to them much with the noise cancellation off, so take these comments with a grain of salt. From memory (I don't have them with me) -- the bass is uneven, the midrange is clear but not terribly "musical" if you catch what I mean, and the treble is average. In other words, they're probably better than the headphones that came bundled with your portable CD player or walkman, but they're not as good as the headphones commonly recommended here on head-fi.

A pair of Koss KSC-35s are definitely better in non-noisy environments. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend them to someone who just wants a nice listening set of cans. They're ideally suited to environments with lots of low-frequency noise, like an airplane in flight. And they're best-suited to LARGE airplanes, where most of the noise is in the low frequencies. Smaller planes (especially turboprops) produce a lot more noise in the midrange, and you're sitting closer to the engines too. For turboprops I recommend foam earplugs -- don't even bother trying to listen to music.

I hope that gives you a clear idea of what you'd be getting if you decide to buy them. I don't want to represent these things as something they're not. They come with two adapters -- one is an airplane adapter, to plug them into the non-standard ports you find in the armrest on planes. The second adapter is for planes with no volume control, that sound too loud -- it cuts the volume by a significant percentage. (It's NOT a volume control; it has only one setting -- when it's installed, the volume is reduced.) I can't find the 1/4" adapter -- I lost it at some point, but it's a standard 1/4" adapter like you could buy for $1-$3 almost anywhere. Honestly there's never really a need for it on an airplane. And they come with the Aiwa cinch-style vinyl carrying bag.

To summarize -- if you're just looking for some good-sounding headphones, there are better choices out there for less money (like the KSC-35s). But the Aiwas sound better than most of the bundled headphones that come with portable players, and the only type of headphones that would be better on airplanes would be canalphones like the Etymotics.

Russ "The Peripatetic Audiophile"
 
Nov 20, 2001 at 1:47 AM Post #40 of 45
Okay, I pulled out the Aiwas and made an A/B/C comparison with the KSC-35/Aiwa HP-CN5/Panasonic headphones that came with my SL-CT570. I wanted to see whether the statement I made in my last post about the relative quality of the Aiwas compared with the KSC-35 and "typical bundled portable headphones" was correct.

The Panasonic headphones sounded dark, and muddled, with poor separation between the sounds I know are supposed to be distinct. It's surprising to me that they would sell a well-regarded PCDP with headphones that make it sound so bad.

The Aiwas with noise cancelling off sounded bass heavy and... and... slightly off. Sorry, I'm having a hard time describing it. They definitely sound better than the Panasonic headphones, and they definitely sound worse than the KSC-35s. The midrange is most prominent, but in a slightly unnatural way.

The Aiwas with noise cancelling turned on sounded basically the same, though a tiny bit brighter than with NC off. Still not great.

Of course, the Aiwas are clearly the best of the three if listening on a plane. So if you're doing a lot of travelling, and don't already have Etys, here's your chance.

So, the offer still stands. $35 for the Aiwa noise cancelling cans, and I pay ground shipping in the U.S. But after the review I just gave, I doubt I'll get many takers...
frown.gif
smily_headphones1.gif
??

Russ "The Peripatetic Audiophile"
 
Nov 20, 2001 at 11:45 PM Post #41 of 45
Aiwa X815 & HD535's on a shelf in the guest room.
HD600's on a hook beside my desk, in my computer travel case, or on my head.

rolleyes.gif
 
Nov 21, 2001 at 12:28 AM Post #42 of 45
I just moved my entire audio setup to a nice little "thingie" - lots of shelves.......has sides......planks for back.........fairly small (4 feet tall?)........has some nice books. all my CDs, my rig, and my clarinet.......which I haven't played in band for two years - and don't intend to go back unless I have to - I'm a very happy first chair Tenor Sax, thank you
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Nov 22, 2001 at 4:47 AM Post #43 of 45
Russ: You might want to post in the For Sale forum.

As for Ety storage, I use the little baggie-not the draw-string one, but the 'corrugated' velcro-top one. I wrap them around 3 fingers, pretty loosely, and they fit nicely. I also make sure to say goodnight
biggrin.gif
 
Nov 23, 2001 at 1:08 AM Post #44 of 45
My Hd600 stays in the nice case it came with when I am not using it
smily_headphones1.gif


Tides
 
Nov 26, 2001 at 7:55 PM Post #45 of 45
my senn hd580s are resting on my nightstand, connected to my cmoy, which is connected to the <pause> MD player! yay!!!! Lets sing and dance!!!

And mx500s are right there, ready to take on the md player.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top