I’ve been listening to music on my computer at work. My old headphones started doing this really annoying loud-soft-loud left-right-left thing so I decided it was time to get new ones.
I’m not an audiophile. Expensive Bang & Olufsen or Sennheiser would be wasted on me (give them to Daniel or his mum instead). So I wandered into JB Hi-fi one lunch time and bought myself a pair of earphones that cost less than lunch. No point buying anything decent just for listening to compressed music on a computer, eh.
They were completely dissatisfactory. As soon as I plugged them into the computer, my brain was assaulted by loud buzzing. I hadn’t even turned up the volume.
A friend listened to my tale of woe and convinced me to take the earphones back to the store. I was reluctant; it seemed unfair to expect the store to accept the earphones once I had ripped them out of their packaging and put them in my ears. But, as they say, I had nothing to lose.
So I went back yesterday. I was very clever. I timed my visit to be the day following the Melbourne Cup holiday and arrived when the store opened at 10 AM. I figured the shop assistants would be well rested and in good moods.
They were very amiable. They gave me credit for the failed earphones and I used it to upgrade to something that is just expensive enough for me to know that they’ll work. They’ve got to be all right; they come with a one year warranty (which isn’t valid in Australia).
I like these earphones. They’re comfortable. Interestingly, there are three sizes of earpieces. I’m using the small ones. The packaging warns, “Ensure that earpieces are firmly attached to earphones otherwise they may be left in ears.”
I now have only two problems.
Firstly, the earphones are white. Someone once told me that there are people out there who buy white earphones just to pretend they have iPods.
Finally, although lessened, there is still buzzing in my ears when I listen to music on the computer. It has become apparent that computers are not audio devices. I am starting to think I’ll have to buy an iPod or similar before long.
1) Never buy headphones which cost less than $20. They’re all worthless. I think the Phillips ones which cost around $20 are pretty good value.
2) The sound quality of computers is extremely variable. Sound cards range from crappy little things built into the motherboard (which is probably what’s on your work computer – hey, you’re meant to use it for working, not listening to music 🙂 up to multi hundred dollar beasts which support all the new surround sound standards, hardware mixing etc. I’d say you’re lucky you even have a sound card in your work computer 🙂
Joan no complaining, my work computer plays music 1. too fast and 2. too high. Chipmunk high. All men now sound like castratos.
I also have in ear headphones… I LOVE them! The contact the little ear-sticking-in piece has with the ear canal makes the sound so much better. I spent $60 on it though… got them shipped from Hong Kong because they cost $70 here. Even with a tip for my friend it still cost less to get them sent ^_^
(Please excuse the awful spelling)
The sounds is definitely better with these new-fangled ear-sticking-in pieces. But I find that because they’re so snug, when you move, it makes an audible contact sound in your ears. I hope I get used to it.