Sunday, June 7, 2009

i wonder if anyone else has the same luck as me when it comes to headphones. it seems like I'm always buying new ones. since the days of Walkmans, i was always looking for that perfect pair that would cost enough to ensure that it was actually a working pair, but not too much that I'd be wasting money, because inevitably they got stepped, crushed, left on a bus somewhere, or thrown out. even once i bought my ipod i was still cursed to continue hunting for headphones forever. the apple headphones are not very comfortable, especially when you go to sleep wearing them. i had to hide them from the pillaging hands of brother2 who never seemed to be able to hang onto his own headphones-I'm going to interject a completely different thought here; don't all ipods come with the cord to connect it to a computer? so why does mine always disappear, only to reappear in a different room in the house, connected to a strange ipod? and why does my wall docker never come back attached to the cord?-then my friend stepped on my headphones, and felt really bad about it (they were on floor because when she "returned" them, she missed my bed as she tossed them) so she gave me hers which were only slightly broken. that means that both earbuds were working, but the left one was hanging together by a single wire. after about a year, the left earbud stopped working, and i slept with only one piece in my ear. 

then i finally broke down and bought new headphones. the college bookstore had a pair for eleven dollars, which falls out slightly above my headphone price range, but the guy who worked there swore they were good. but then again, all he knows is that he has to sell everything behind the counter, so he probably wasn't such a great judge of quantity.

anyway, these headphones are great. they're comfortable and provide great sound quality. except one morning i woke up to find the black rubber piece that goes on the end of the earbud was missing. i looked all over for it and it was gone. so i asked sister1 if i could look around in her headphones graveyard to find a spare part. she hates to throw anything out, and this extends to non-working headphones. I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of saving them is. maybe she's waiting for The Second Coming of Headphones or something. in any event, I'm glad she saves everything, because i found a black rubber piece that fit over my headphones. it's a little too loose and it falls off quite often, but i always seem to manage to find it. it's uncanny. if i wake up in the morning and it's not on the headphones, i know it's somewhere under my  pillow. if i take my ipod out of my bag and it's not attached, i know it's somewhere in my bag (although it will take me a good fifteen minutes to find it because my bag is huge). if all else fails, i check the floor of my car and it somehow shows up there too. yesterday I'd thought I'd lost it for real and then sister1 told me she'd found it and stuck it in my bag. 

so far, it looks like I've found The One. the Perfect Pair. but I'm holding my breath. 

9 comments:

G6 said...

One day you're gonna wake up, the world will sound sorta muffled, and you'll find the errant piece lodged in your ear.....
Don't come crying to me with tweezers......

frumcollegegirl said...

ha, that actually happened. i was listening to music, and then pulled the plugs out of my ears and wandered down the hall. in the next room everyone looked at me funny and my aunt asked me if i was wearing earplugs or something. i put my finger in my ear and there was my missing rubber piece!

Anonymous said...

so you never found the originals that came with headphones to start with? I wonder why if the ones that always fall off keep showing back up?
And I will only say once... It can't be safe to sleep all night with headphones attached to your ears!!!! the music isn;t really good for your hearing and the cord isn't good for your neck. (Just looking out for you)

FBB said...

FCG,

I am not anonymous, but she stole my comment!

(plus, I thought you might think that was me).

Mikeinmidwood said...

what type of rubber piece are you talking about?

Anonymous said...

You're right that usable products start about ten bucks, but that's usable--not enjoyable. I chose to spend more so I'd have incentive to keep track of my headphones.

If you're only looking for in-ear audio, I have no suggestions from comparison experiences but did bookmark a list of in-ear phones when I went shopping for a pair. Based on other people's recommendations I'd choose a marshmallow-style model if I ever replace the (low-cost) plastic plug style pair I now have.

If you'd consider headphones, then I suggest visiting an audiophile store with your intended player (or just favorite CD) to try headphones about the price points of $20 - $40 - $70 - $120. The Headphone.com guide breaks down the options by intended use (and mixing in a little education the last time I read through). I chose a folding pair of on-ear phones which cost enough that instead of losing them I paid the manufacturer for replacement foam pads (and split the shipping cost between myself and a friend).

Anonymous said...

wow apparently everything to be said has been said. im almost speechless. so about losing the cords-the only way to do it is to keep it wit ur comp and never let anybody else touch it.
or just steal ur siblings' :)
and needless to say, the previous anonymous was NOT me

daughtersintheparsha said...

never mind that it could strangle your ear, I think it is just not healthy for good sleep patterns

%Shocked% said...

Just to add something that has not yet been added (contrary to anon2's beliefs), I will risk the wrath of all of you with a halacha. That is, besides the issue of strangling oneself and therefore sakonos nefashos. It's assur to listen to music when going to sleep and waking up. I'm not preaching, far from it. Just something interesting. I'm not exactly sure what the reason is, in fact, I vaguely recall learning/hearing that David Hamelech used to do such a thing. Anyway, something to think about it. :P