Headphones and Ipods

Two separate questions:

1. I'm looking for the best value in headphones. Not necessarily the best headphones -- I'm not willing to spend $300 for Bose -- but the best value at a price of, say, under $150. I use them mostly on planes, so I'd like to hear from people with the same experience. Do in-ear buds do a good enough job of drowning out the outside noise, or should I limit myself to full ear coverage? My one requirement for that type of phones is that the ear cups fold flat for convenient storage.

B. As to the Ipod, my battery is beginning to crap out and it may be time for a new model (my current one is one of the originals -- it pre-dates the click-wheel version). Pardon my Ipodignorance, but how do I transfer my music library, playlists and all, to a new model?

Thanks in advance for all replies.

FOS

 

Assuming you have iTunes on your computer, that's where you mp3 (or mp4) library, playlists et all is stored. When you plug in a new iPod, it will immediately transfer all those things to your new iPod. For what it's worth, I was walking through WalMart the other day and saw they had 30 gig iPods avaliable for 240 bucks. I too had one of the original 10 gig iPods (first model Apple put out) and paid $425 for it. Damn.

I have a set of Bose noise canceling headphones (they cover my whole ear) that I got for $150, and they were great (although a bit larger than I'd like) but one of the ear speakers blew out shortly after the warrenty expired, so now I'm screwed. Everything I've heard says earbuds are a better way to go anyway.

 

S

Cheap earbuds are better than $150 headphones?

 

Based on a similar noise-canceling headphone query I put out on flyertalk -- where they know a thing or two about jet engine noise -- I just spent $85 on Sennheiser PXC 250 from Amazon. I haven't gotten them yet to report firsthand, though.

Everyone on that board agrees that Bose is best and worth it if you can afford it.

 

i don't agree bose is the best, nor will most audiophiles

i think the best value is the shure 2c -- i used to have them, they got lost in a move. i have the shure e3 now, but don't think there's enough difference to justify the extra money from 2 to 3

 

1. I also have the Shure 2c, and will echo the praise.

2. As long as you still have your music library on your computer, all you'll have to do is plug the new iPod into the computer and transfer it. If you don't have that library on iTunes anymore it will be more complicated.

 

I have the Bose noise-cancelling headphones, and I'm not a big spender (then again, while the Triport headphones sound pretty good, my large cranium broke four of the headbands on those models ... yeah, shaddap!).

I did find some good headphones for my mother, whose job requires travel and whose bags are usually full. The PXC150 is a good price/quality/space idea, retails for roughly $130.

Disagree about earbuds being any better. More convenient? Yes. Handier if you use your music for workout purposes in public? Yes. But sound quality or noise cancellation on flights? Both a resounding no.

Good luck with the search.

EDIT: More broken plastic ... maybe the thread is bad karma or something. Another pair bites the dust. My head is too big for these silly things. (Yes, I know what I just said ... look for fun with the quote function ... )

 

Wow... what have you been reading?

Ear buds allow tons of leaking ambient noise, causing you to ratchet up the volume to compensate.

 

I love my 2cs. They're incredibly convenient and allow me to ignore the guy on the bus who sings all the way to campus.

 

Hate earbuds. Love my Sennheisers, which I got for $35 on Amazon. Go search there.

 

Here's another vote for the Shure 2c. Great sound quality, great at blocking the outside noise, perfect for the airplane. I used to lug around a big pair of studio headphones on plane trips, but now I just carry along my Shures and save a ton of space in my computer bag. It might take you a while to experiment with the different sizes of foam/plastic ear thingies that come with them, but once you find the right fit, they'll become the best earphones you've ever had.