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Old 2009.04.11, 08:30 AM   #11
ShinjiPG
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$50 isn't moderately priced? Some headphones prices are up to $200 or more.
Of course you don't just go to the store to buy some apples and yogurt and bring some $50 headphones along, unless you're rich or something. But it's easier to invest on them than other good headphones.

RETRO-EDIT: I didn't mean "bringing the headphones while doing grocery shopping". I meant buying 50$ headphones as if they could be equivalent to buying apples, yogurts, gum, a magazine, etc etc...

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Old 2009.04.11, 09:21 AM   #12
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I consider $100-$400 to be "moderately priced". That's most of the Grados, most of the fully-cupped Sonys, and most of the fully-cupped Sennheisers.

I've walked around town with $200 Sonys for all my daily activities before, including grocery shopping. But you have to understand that I live at least 45 minutes away from the nearest law enforcement holding cells, even though we have enough local schools within a shorter distance to support at least ten thousand children. I'm not even talking about the prisons you get locked away in for longterm, but just the holding cells for overnight - like if you get pulled over for drunk driving or you got in a bar fight. Full prisons are at least as far away as that. This should all give you some idea of how low the local crime rates are, and how care-free the people here are. For a country with so many mass-shootings, there really isn't anywhere near as much danger as the media would have you believe - especially not in the rural nontrailerpark sections of the blue states.

Why would anyone invest in a $200+ player (and go through life buying multiple players), but never spend more than $50 on headphones? The headphones don't go down in price anywhere near as rapidly as the players do. In fact some of them go up in price. My particular Sonys were $160 when I bought them. I can't find the same model for cheaper than $220 anymore. My headphones are still working just as great today, as they were like 5 years ago when I bought them. They're designed to take plenty of physical and electronic abuse. There's no structural or audible indication that these headphones have been stepped on once or twice, and yet for how durable they are, they're still quite comfortable to wear.

I could spend over $300 on the latest-and-greatest iPod with a massive hard drive that ends up breaking (or a very modest amount of flash storage), then next year a player with twice the storage (or all these bells & whistles like wifi connectivity) comes out for the same price. Why not spend $200 on headphones that are gonna last you over 5 years? The more hours you spend listening to them, the better an investment it is.

I asked my stepdad once, about why he was spending so much money on an extra-comfortable new bed mattress (which has ended up lasting well over 10 years). His answer: you spend at least a quarter of your life in bed. When you start thinking about things in those kind of scopes, you realize that most people don't have their priorities straight.
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Old 2009.04.11, 12:19 PM   #13
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I've said it before but it's worth repeating. Transducers affect sound quality far more than electronics. My home headphones cost $1200 25 years ago, and were one of my best investments.

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Old 2009.04.12, 01:17 AM   #14
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;;shrinks away in fear;; this thread is intense. this reminds me of when I was in photo school and we would measure our dicks by our largest focal stop. I would always win that game, thank you Nikon FM2N. seriously, look at that equipment, I bet you get the chicks that way...
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Old 2009.04.12, 01:32 AM   #15
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I was actually happy just mentioning $50 iGrados, but things escalated...
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Old 2009.04.12, 01:46 AM   #16
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lol, yeah. well I agree with everything in this thread, I just have to drawn the line at a certain point so I can afford to live, like most people. but I do however make it a note to have good headphones. I have moved a lot domestically and internationally and so it doesn't make sense to build a really nice system, so I just really make sure I have a good portable set up that works for me. and part of that is etymotic headphones, which are sweeeet. my only complaint is that the chord is a bit long and it snags if your on the go a lot like me, gets stuck on something and rips it right out of your ear. one time it fucked up the chord, got scratched for like a 4 inch section, didn't reach the inner wires, so it was totally fine, but I sent it in and etymotic completely replaced the entire chord for me and paid for overnight UPS shipping for free. and I didn't even need to provide my warranty info. the customer service was awesome. my only complaints with the set is that they are a bit too honest so if are using an mp3 player, say an iPod, and you aren't ripping your music correctly, it is VERY noticeable. but the benefit is that it sounds amazingly organic and life like, so if you have good studio records, its crystal clear. listening to properly recorded live on them is AWESOME.
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Old 2009.04.12, 04:09 AM   #17
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If noise isolation was a priority, I would definitely buy a pair of Etymotic ER-4s. They only cost about $175 at Amazon. But in the city I don't like being isolated from my environment. Too many speeding emergency vehicles, crazy cab drivers and people on bicycles who are running red lights or riding the wrong way up one way streets. Missing important subway announcements would be a real drag too.

Before this thread piqued my interest in them again, I thought they were $300-400, but $175 is really quite reasonable. I will probably eventually get some for those times when I would like to block noise effectively and also enjoy excellent sound, like when I am on planes and trains. Much cheaper, better sounding and far more practical than those bulky noise-canceling Bose headphones.
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Old 2009.04.12, 05:15 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by TeslaGuy View Post
Before this thread piqued my interest in them again, I thought they were $300-400, but $175 is really quite reasonable. I will probably eventually get some for those times when I would like to block noise effectively and also enjoy excellent sound, like when I am on planes and trains. Much cheaper, better sounding and far more practical than those bulky noise-canceling Bose headphones.
Btw, can you tell me if those types of headphones make more or less noise outside? I know the question isn't very correct, but I can't formulate it otherwise. What I mean is that with normal earplugs, most people around me can listen to what it's supposed to be a private listening, so I wonder if with something like the iGrados that doesn't occur.
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Old 2009.04.12, 01:31 PM   #19
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I don't have the noise cancelling ones, I have the standards, but if you look at the specs and the little graphs that compare the models they sell, the regular ones are come away with far and above the best performance quality, so they are actually more expensive than noise reduction. Maybe slightly over 200?

edit: actually, I checked, they run at 299. if you look at the comparison chart on the site its really helpful. the ER-4, if you use them with the portable jack and not the stereo, have an accuracy reading of 92 percent, which is 10% higher than the other models. The noise reducing ones are about 84%.

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Old 2009.04.12, 07:47 PM   #20
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Suggested retail is $299, but market price is $175-180 if you shop around. I wasn't referring to active noise canceling, just the attenuation inherent to the in-ear design (I actually did spend time at their site before posting).

iGrado's bleed like crazy. It is a result of their vented diaphragm, open air design (which happens to be one of the reasons they sound so incredibly good). I imagine that the Etymotics are essentially silent.
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