Kurt Johnson

A few months ago I decided to try out some noise cancelling headphones for the time I spend on airplanes. After looking around at the conventional over-the-ear designs which are too big for me to lug around and too expensive for what they are ($300 for the Bose model) I stumbled across an alternative headphone design that fits in the ear canal like an earplug. It’s relatively cheap ($80 for pretty good quality sound to $500 for top of the line), no larger than a standard set of ear buds, and I can objectively say it’s way more effective that the over-the ear models.

Besides the benefit of totally blocking out all of the audio going on around me, I love these headphones because I can enjoy music played at a relatively low volume since I’m not turning up the volume to overpower airplane engines, kids screaming, or coworkers chatting. I recommend these to pretty much anyone who likes listening to music in places with ambient noise; everyone I know who has them loves them. The only reservation that some people have might be with the sensation of having something in the ear canal; if you think this might be an issue you should buy from a vendor who guarantees satisfaction and allows returns.

The two vendors that make these headphones are Etymotics and Shure. Both brands have a product range from ~$80-500 and both have excellent reputations. I went with the Shure E2/E2c because it was reputed to be more comfortable, easier to insert/remove frequently, and better optimized for bass response (with a slight tradeoff vs the Etymotics in the clarity of mids and highs). I’d post some links to vendors I don’t have internet access as I’m writing this.

P.S.; since the headphones are small and efficient they will make any noise in your audio system very obvious; I had to give up playing music via my laptop/desktop since their audio feeds had too much signal noise. I bought an Ipod and have not regretted paying the premium for the design of the Ipod over the cheaper competitors.

I’d like a soapbox – someplace to post ideas that I think are worth discussing, to give my two cents about some product I’ve been using, or just to rant (not that I ever rant – ever). I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of the internet by using Google to search for other people’s thoughts, answers, and product review so I feel like it’s time to contribute something back to the internet community.

I find myself spending quite a bit of time on the internet looking at other people’s pages and reading the thoughts they’ve published. There are some very sharp, passionate people who put high quality writing on line. Reading their work all day and never writing anything is like watching pro sports all day but never getting off the couch to actually exercise; I’m going to try and actually exercise myself a little rather than just watching other people work out.

Finally, I like the idea of having a journal that I can use as an aide-de-memoir; something to look back on to remember where I was at a point in time.

You can post comments on anything I write or email me directly:
kurt@kurtjohnson.net