of headsets and earbuds

Last night I was taking our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Raider, out for a walk and he slipped out of his collar and got away from me. Raid does that a lot. Eventually I was able to lead him back to our van and he jumped in when I opened the door like he always does. That's the best way to capture him when he gets away 'cause he thinks we're taking him to see his friends at Worthington Dog Park. That was the good part and the happy ending of the incident.


The bad part was in that in all my running after him (and Raid's fast) I lost my Altec Lansing Backbeats that I use for my iPod Nano, a relatively inexpensive set of earbuds you can get from Best Buy for about $30.

I had been pretty happy with them, but not as happy as I've been with 2 sets of relatively inexpensive headphones that I found some years ago. If you're not one of that group who Thomas J Stanley calls "the glittering rich" and are like most of us and on a budget, in my opinion, the best 2 low-priced headphones with the best audio fidelity are:

• the Koss Portapro

- These headphones are not the easiest on the eye, but they sound fantastic and you can grab them for about $35 on Amazon. Lower frequencies with the PortaPro's are particularly robust.

• the Sennheiser PX-100

It now appears that they are going for about $55 on Amazon.com and further that Sennheiser has replaced this model with the PX-100-II which I haven't used. But the sound on the PX-100s is very clean and the appearance is less ostentatious than the PortaPro's. However, the PortaPro has a more satisfying base sound.



While these are my two favorite budget headphones, I don't wear them much out in public, greatly preferring to wear earbuds, which are more subtle in appearance.

I've never found any pair of relatively inexpensive earbuds that I was thrilled with. Mostly I have used Sony's ubiquitous MDR-EX36V and, as I mentioned, more recently I've been using the Altec Lansing Backbeats. Both have a pretty good sound - certainly better than the stock set that comes with the iPod - sufficient but not overwhelming bass and crisp highs without sounding tinny (though I have noticed audible variability in the MDRs).

So after losing my Backbeats last night, I needed a new pair of earbuds and off to Best Buy I went. I had my Blackberry with me so that I could check cnet reviews as I reviewed what earbuds my local Columbia, MD store had in stock.

I noticed a new set of earbuds I hadn't really noticed before: UE (Ultimate Ears) Super.Fi 4

These retail for $129, but Best Buy had them on a discontinued sale for $35! !

Cnet gave them a "Very Good" rating and the price was right!! Plus Best Buy has a generous return policy so I knew I could return them if I wished.

The cnet review talks about the fact that the fit's iffy, even though UE provides a number of differently sized ear tips. Apparently in response to these kinds of complaints, UE now also provides 2 foam ear tips that allows for an even more snug a fit for some folks. I find the foam tips work best for me. Cnet says that these earbuds may be an issue with smaller ears but I didn't experience that. After wearing them for over an hour while exercising, I was a little concerned about the weight of the earbuds and comfort, but I don't think it's going to be a big issue. Moreover, UE recommends that in exercising or other high-movement situations, that the user put the cord over the ear. I had never tried this before but it works well.

The sound of these earbuds is the best I've ever heard and the $35 price tag makes these earbuds a real bargain. I tested them by listening to Fourplay, White Stripes, and Gorillaz and the music was very clean. The bases were solid and the highs were very clear. I was very happy with the sound.

Recommended.

In Search of the Perfect Spy Novel

Tonight I finished Daniel Silva's The Mark of the Assassin.

I'm on a rare fiction reading kick, having recently completed Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth and its sequel, World Without End. The Pillars of the Earth was particularly interesting because Follett's representation of the sincere faith of Prior Philip. What made that character even more interesting was Follett's own self-professed atheism.

Though Follett's two books are historical novels (and that also makes them unique in his corpus), reading these books prompted me to dive back into another genre of fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed when I was in my 20's: the spy thriller. And so, after finding an NPR piece on the best spy novels, I thought I would give Silva's sophomore effort a try.

I enjoyed Silva's second novel which was published in 1998 and, like his first book - The Unlikely Spy - was a New York Times Bestseller. Like Follett's Pillars and World Without End, it has too much gratuitous sex in my opinion, but it had an engaging plot and did an ok job at characterization. In terms of story, I did not find The Mark of the Assassin as interesting as almost any Robert Ludlum novel or Tom Clancy in his better Jack Ryan books. But it definitely kept my interest and I was intrigued that end turned out to be somewhat unpredictable and not all the loose ends were taken care of.

What I missed in Assassin was the moral/spiritual gravitas that was more evident in Pillars.

A number of years ago, I read an article in a journal dedicated to script writing that what made stories interesting was the degree to which they interacted with a strong moral center. That was what I missed in Silva's book.

And so tonight I continue my search for the perfect spy novel with Robert Littell's The Once and Future Spy, which was also mentioned in the NPR piece referenced above.