Sony headphones suck

So with the demise of my (not so) old* Sennheiser in the ear headphones last night I went headphone shopping, in of all places, Kingston. Big mistake, Sony, JVC, Phillips headphones everywhere but no Sennheisers.

So in fit of desperation I buy a pair of those expensive Sony earbud phones. BIG mistake - I bought some of those years ago, when hi-fi was not so fi and off a cassette walkman with no bass to call of, they were fine. But the audiomulching and headache-inspiring effect off an iPod made me not want to listen to music. They're great at blocking out noise, but sadly the fidelity of the mid-range is frankly not there, but you do get fuckloads of bass you don't want - even if you turn on Bass Reduction. Ouch.

I've found this with Sony gear - highly priced but apart from a few products really bad quality, or in the case of all their headphones a painful bias towards bass that I notice cos at home I use my mastering Sennheiser headphones so I KNOW how it's going to sound. What surprises me is people buy this shit - and more depressingly it's getting so that it's the only product you can buy in many places, along with Phillips or JVC. I wonder what sort of kickback deal they've done to get that. I used to buy the cheap Sony MDRs which are not so bad but still have some bass bias, so I used to be a customer of theirs until their headphone cables started giving in after a few months (!).

So I immediately went to HMV in Piccadilly and managed to find some MX550 Sennheisers....bliss. So I wasted 35 quid on a crap pair of phones....grr. Don't buy Sony headphones if you like music, unless all your music has no bass frequency...


* I tend to get through headphones quite quickly, they have a hard life...something the Sonys are not great at either.

Sony headphones suck

So with the demise of my (not so) old* Sennheiser in the ear headphones last night I went headphone shopping, in of all places, Kingston. Big mistake, Sony, JVC, Phillips headphones everywhere but no Sennheisers.

So in fit of desperation I buy a pair of those expensive Sony earbud phones. BIG mistake - I bought some of those years ago, when hi-fi was not so fi and off a cassette walkman with no bass to call of, they were fine. But the audiomulching and headache-inspiring effect off an iPod made me not want to listen to music. They're great at blocking out noise, but sadly the fidelity of the mid-range is frankly not there, but you do get fuckloads of bass you don't want - even if you turn on Bass Reduction. Ouch.

I've found this with Sony gear - highly priced but apart from a few products really bad quality, or in the case of all their headphones a painful bias towards bass that I notice cos at home I use my mastering Sennheiser headphones so I KNOW how it's going to sound. What surprises me is people buy this shit - and more depressingly it's getting so that it's the only product you can buy in many places, along with Phillips or JVC. I wonder what sort of kickback deal they've done to get that. I used to buy the cheap Sony MDRs which are not so bad but still have some bass bias, so I used to be a customer of theirs until their headphone cables started giving in after a few months (!).

So I immediately went to HMV in Piccadilly and managed to find some MX550 Sennheisers....bliss. So I wasted 35 quid on a crap pair of phones....grr. Don't buy Sony headphones if you like music, unless all your music has no bass frequency...


* I tend to get through headphones quite quickly, they have a hard life...something the Sonys are not great at either.

Sony headphones suck

So with the demise of my (not so) old* Sennheiser in the ear headphones last night I went headphone shopping, in of all places, Kingston. Big mistake, Sony, JVC, Phillips headphones everywhere but no Sennheisers.

So in fit of desperation I buy a pair of those expensive Sony earbud phones. BIG mistake - I bought some of those years ago, when hi-fi was not so fi and off a cassette walkman with no bass to call of, they were fine. But the audiomulching and headache-inspiring effect off an iPod made me not want to listen to music. They're great at blocking out noise, but sadly the fidelity of the mid-range is frankly not there, but you do get fuckloads of bass you don't want - even if you turn on Bass Reduction. Ouch.

I've found this with Sony gear - highly priced but apart from a few products really bad quality, or in the case of all their headphones a painful bias towards bass that I notice cos at home I use my mastering Sennheiser headphones so I KNOW how it's going to sound. What surprises me is people buy this shit - and more depressingly it's getting so that it's the only product you can buy in many places, along with Phillips or JVC. I wonder what sort of kickback deal they've done to get that. I used to buy the cheap Sony MDRs which are not so bad but still have some bass bias, so I used to be a customer of theirs until their headphone cables started giving in after a few months (!).

So I immediately went to HMV in Piccadilly and managed to find some MX550 Sennheisers....bliss. So I wasted 35 quid on a crap pair of phones....grr. Don't buy Sony headphones if you like music, unless all your music has no bass frequency...


* I tend to get through headphones quite quickly, they have a hard life...something the Sonys are not great at either.

Sony headphones suck

So with the demise of my (not so) old* Sennheiser in the ear headphones last night I went headphone shopping, in of all places, Kingston. Big mistake, Sony, JVC, Phillips headphones everywhere but no Sennheisers.

So in fit of desperation I buy a pair of those expensive Sony earbud phones. BIG mistake - I bought some of those years ago, when hi-fi was not so fi and off a cassette walkman with no bass to call of, they were fine. But the audiomulching and headache-inspiring effect off an iPod made me not want to listen to music. They're great at blocking out noise, but sadly the fidelity of the mid-range is frankly not there, but you do get fuckloads of bass you don't want - even if you turn on Bass Reduction. Ouch.

I've found this with Sony gear - highly priced but apart from a few products really bad quality, or in the case of all their headphones a painful bias towards bass that I notice cos at home I use my mastering Sennheiser headphones so I KNOW how it's going to sound. What surprises me is people buy this shit - and more depressingly it's getting so that it's the only product you can buy in many places, along with Phillips or JVC. I wonder what sort of kickback deal they've done to get that. I used to buy the cheap Sony MDRs which are not so bad but still have some bass bias, so I used to be a customer of theirs until their headphone cables started giving in after a few months (!).

So I immediately went to HMV in Piccadilly and managed to find some MX550 Sennheisers....bliss. So I wasted 35 quid on a crap pair of phones....grr. Don't buy Sony headphones if you like music, unless all your music has no bass frequency...


* I tend to get through headphones quite quickly, they have a hard life...something the Sonys are not great at either.

a glowing shiny coat and bright eyes...

OK it looks like cos I'm organising this Mutant thing, after avoiding dressing up for Halloween my entire life I've finally got to do it.

So I've decided to dress up as a Male Witch (Wizard for those pagan-phobic scots amongst you, but it's a derogatory term :-P) and want to put something in my beard and eyebrows to make them sparkle or look 'magical'.

Can you do this (assuming you can get spray sparkley stuff or glue glitter there) or stuff that glows that won't give me cancer, AND more importantly get it out afterwards? Preferably at the event, so it washes easily out.

I don't want to go to SF looking like Hagrid's younger and smaller brother...

a glowing shiny coat and bright eyes...

OK it looks like cos I'm organising this Mutant thing, after avoiding dressing up for Halloween my entire life I've finally got to do it.

So I've decided to dress up as a Male Witch (Wizard for those pagan-phobic scots amongst you, but it's a derogatory term :-P) and want to put something in my beard and eyebrows to make them sparkle or look 'magical'.

Can you do this (assuming you can get spray sparkley stuff or glue glitter there) or stuff that glows that won't give me cancer, AND more importantly get it out afterwards? Preferably at the event, so it washes easily out.

I don't want to go to SF looking like Hagrid's younger and smaller brother...

a glowing shiny coat and bright eyes...

OK it looks like cos I'm organising this Mutant thing, after avoiding dressing up for Halloween my entire life I've finally got to do it.

So I've decided to dress up as a Male Witch (Wizard for those pagan-phobic scots amongst you, but it's a derogatory term :-P) and want to put something in my beard and eyebrows to make them sparkle or look 'magical'.

Can you do this (assuming you can get spray sparkley stuff or glue glitter there) or stuff that glows that won't give me cancer, AND more importantly get it out afterwards? Preferably at the event, so it washes easily out.

I don't want to go to SF looking like Hagrid's younger and smaller brother...

a glowing shiny coat and bright eyes...

OK it looks like cos I'm organising this Mutant thing, after avoiding dressing up for Halloween my entire life I've finally got to do it.

So I've decided to dress up as a Male Witch (Wizard for those pagan-phobic scots amongst you, but it's a derogatory term :-P) and want to put something in my beard and eyebrows to make them sparkle or look 'magical'.

Can you do this (assuming you can get spray sparkley stuff or glue glitter there) or stuff that glows that won't give me cancer, AND more importantly get it out afterwards? Preferably at the event, so it washes easily out.

I don't want to go to SF looking like Hagrid's younger and smaller brother...