Slashdot Mirror
Headphones in Corporate Culture?
TheGreatOrangePeel asks: "In an ever increasing sea of white-earbuds in my office, I broke from the mainstream and recently purchased the iAudio X5 to help pass the downtime I experience behind cube walls. I've got a decent set of headphones, but recently I've discovered that being able to hear the rap-tap on the cube frame is sometimes a problem even with the volume cranked way down and considering how my current headphones are about ready for retirement anyway, I thought I would start shopping around for a new set. The problem is that most of mid priced headphones out there are designed to block out real world noise. The Sennheiser PX100 look like they may fit what I'm looking for, but I question the durability of folding headphones and I thought I would see what my peers on Slashdot prefer. What I'm looking for is a set of headphones with (1) good sound in a wide variety of music (2) in the $30-$99 range that (3) will let me hear the warnings of imminent attack at work by co-workers, and the alerts at my monthly LAN parties from allied gamers."
one of the people where I work has a mirror (similar to the one you would see on a bike) attached to her monitor..
He explicitly said he wanted headphones that did NOT block out all ambient noise.
It's only an insult if it's not true.
Grado SR-60s are the way to go for your requirements. They are, hands down, the best headphones available under $100. The only drawback is that they are open stage, so you can hear sounds around you, which is not so good for a metro or bus ride. But it sounds like that's an advantage rather than a drawback in your case. SR-60s will run you about $80 USD shipped. Oh, and don't succumb to the temptation to get the SR-80s just because they've got a higher model number. The 60s are far better for non-amp-driven listening.
I have a pair of senheizer HD-220s or somesuch (they're from the 200 series but I can't remember the specific number because they are at work where I am not).
They are semi-open back. They block out most ambient noise just by putting them on - the general chatter fades out. Talking in the next cube, rap-tap-tapping and the phone doesn't go.
Turn on some music and bam - nearly everything is gone. I play the music quietly all day and I don't have a problem. I can hear when people are talking to me or tapping on the cube, so it is cool.
I drink to make other people interesting!
My tactic is to leave one ear bud out and hidden away under my shirt. I've managed to convince everyone in the office that it is a hearing aid. Now even in the odd chance that I don't hear someone they just chalk it up to my bad hearing.
I have a pair of Sennheiser PX 100's, and they are great. They are quite durable, although they might not look that way. Mine have been through a lot and are still in perfect condition. They come with a case which is a pain to use, but protects them very well. Most of the parts on them can be replaced if need be, and they come with a two year warranty. I say go for the PX 100's.
I blame geof's speakers.
Not to mention, you won't be hearing any "warnings of imminent attack" with those.
Amen. My pair of Pro-35s has served me well for many years. The sound is adequate for casual listening, and the open-air design is more appropriate than blocking out the world. They're fairly light, reasonably durable, and very comfortable. Find 'em on sale for $20 more often than not.
:)
If you want to make a statement, get a pair of bluetooth headphones. Pair them and a regular bt headset to your computer. Velcro the headset to the wall of your cubicle with a sign saying "intercom". Set the computer to pipe music to the headphones until the intercom button is pushed.
Just plug a microphone in. Make sure it's sinsoid and not cartoid type, since sinsoid picks up sound in any direction.
Put on your headphones, then adjust the mic mix till you hear the desired amount of background noise.
You could also try some cube modding to find out when people are behind you!
The low-tech solution is to set up a rear-view mirror. But this is slashdot, so...
Write an app to lower your volume and/or play a sound when one of the following inputs are detected:
- your doorbell is pressed
- your touch-sensitive welcome mat is stood upon
- your door-mounted IR/laser beam is broken
- your cube-mounted microphone picks up an audio pattern that matches your "knock-knock" or "ahem" signature.
- your directional light sensor detects a shadow between it and a certain ceiling light above and outside of your door.
- your digital IR camera detects a body mass of close to 98.6 degrees fahrenheit standing in the doorway.
OK, so maybe ALL of these is overkill. But I haven't been snuck up on in years!!!
It's amazing how many people think that the cheap earbuds they wear can only be heard by the wearer. Sitting 3-4 feet away, I can often understand every word being sung, at least on those songs where the singer can be understood. With 2 or 3 such people around, I get a headache from the clash of noise.
In an office setting, with open-top cubicles, sound carries an incredible distance. Try not to irritate your co-workers. Try out the headphones you like, adjust the volume to what you like, then get someone else to wear them while you sit a few feet away and listen while doing other relatively quiet tasks like reading a web page, typing a slashdot post, or playing solitaire. If you can still hear the music, maybe these aren't the right headphones for you after all.
Edward Burr
Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.
Etymotics aren't noise cancelling, they are noise isolating - they physically seal your ear off from the ambient noise. Noise cancelling headphones, on the other hand, have a little pickup microphone for the outside noise, and circuitry to invert the waveform and inject it into the headphone signal. The inverted waveform and original noise waveform cancel each other inside the earpiece, leaving the music much more audible at lower volumes. Since the inverting circuitry works best against steady-state drones such as jet engines, refrigerators, computer hum, etc., the earlier post is correct that it may make it possible to hear things like raps on the cubicle or conversations.
I, for one, welcome our floating, invisible, cold-blooded, eavesdropping overlords.
Not to flame, but if the submitter is seriously considering Sennheiser cans, he subjectively won't like they reproduction of the $10 set from Best Buy. Sennheiser makes some of the best headphones in the business
Of course, this begs the question, "If quality reproduction is what you want, why are you sourceing from an MP3 Player?"
Now, to get back on topic, I have to wonder if submitter's little player really does have the juice to run a really good set of cans. I'd highly recommend that the submitter check out http://www.headphone.com/ and read up. Lots of great info there on headphones, a bit of the physics, and a *huge* selection of headphones and headphone amps.
EveryDNS. Use it. It works.
AC's need not reply