possiblyothers

“Den professionella journalistikens snabba analys är problematisk på flera sätt. Den mest självklara knepigheten är att det är ungefär lika smakfullt att medierna själva fäller domen om deras arbete överträtt några gränser eller inte som om politikerna skulle ges ensamrätt att bedöma om de fifflat.” - Uträknad med medielogik - Kultur & Nöjen - Sydsvenskan

Sennheiser has outdone themselves with the higher-end sibling to the HD 280 Pro.

I’ve written often on this site about how happy I am with the pair of 280s that I’ve had, going strong, since 2005. They’ve always been my office headphones, staying at work through three different jobs, affixed to my head for many hours per day. They passively block outside sound very well, and my coworkers can’t hear my music because the 280s are not “open”. Coworkers have always been so impressed by my 280s that many of them have bought their own. Whenever I fly somewhere, I bring the 280s, even though they’re huge and have a big, coiled, unwieldy cord, because they’re so comfortable for long periods and block out the plane noise so well.

But recently, Sennheiser quietly released a higher-end model: the HD 380 Pro. (Well, it was released two years ago. In the world of headphones, that’s “recently”.) I wasn’t motivated to try them since my 280s were going strong and I could never find the 380s in a store to test. But I recently got them as a gift (thanks, Mom!). And I’m sure glad I did.

I knew it would be difficult to surpass my love for the 280s, and I wasn’t sure if the 380s were worth almost twice as much money:

• HD 280 Pro (usually $75-99)
• HD 380 Pro (usually $145-199)

In short: the 380s are completely worth it.

Headphones are difficult to compare objectively, and different listeners have different preferences, especially regarding comfort. But they’re remarkably better than the 280s:

• They sound much better. The new angled speaker design makes the soundstage (sorry) seem much wider and more open than the 280s. It’s a completely different and better sound, not just an incremental improvement. The 380s are the best-sounding closed headphones I’ve ever heard.
• They’re slightly lighter and apply less pressure to your head, making them even more comfortable for long listening periods than the 280s (and that’s saying a lot).
• They fold flatter than the 280s and come with a semi-hard case that’s not too bulky.

I’d love an option to replace the heavy, coiled cable with a shorter, straight one. (The cable is replaceable, but I don’t know of any alternatives to replace it with.) Otherwise, I have no complaints.

If you’re looking for a great pair of closed headphones for mostly stationary use, I can’t recommend these two models enough. The 280s are great. The 380s are greater. And neither are very expensive, as good headphones go.

If you already have the 280s and wonder whether it’s worth upgrading, it depends. How much do you use your headphones? How much do you care about these differences? And how much will you miss the money?

I wear my big headphones constantly while working, and if they’re anything like the 280s, it’s probably safe to assume that these 380s will outlast at least my next four computers. An extra $80 for a significant upgrade on such a long-lasting, heavily used product is an easy sell for me.

Highly recommended.

If you’d like to buy a pair of 380s, I’ll get a small commission if you use this Amazon link. Thanks.

Photo by: http://dailymotionproject.com

for those who don’t read Korean. My name is on the top under music. 

buy tickets on 

http://ticket.interpark.com/Ticket/Goods/GoodsInfo.asp?GoodsCode=12001415

january 28

The L.A. Times reports:

Under a new deal between the two companies, Netflix users won’t just have to wait 56 days to rent Warner Bros. movies on DVD. They’ll have to wait 28 days to add the movies to their queues.

This just reeks of greedy desperation to attempt to boost DVD sales. Unfortunately for Warner Brothers, it won’t work.

If I’m adding a movie to my Netflix queue, I’ve already decided not to buy the DVD. I’m adding it because it looks mildly interesting and I’d like to watch it sometime. If I can’t add it to Netflix, I’ll just forget about it and probably never see it.

Maybe the studios’ problem isn’t that people can rent movies. Maybe there are just fewer people motivated to buy and keep their own copies of the studios’ decreasingly interesting movies on plastic discs of hostility.

Read Matt Drance’s post on this, too.

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James B. Stewart at the New York Times:

So with all the focus on tax rates, I sat down with my 2010 returns, calculator in hand. I’m still reeling from the results.

I paid 24 percent of my adjusted gross income in federal taxes and 37 percent in combined federal, state and local income taxes.

I just did the same calculation on my 2010 returns. While they’re not quite as high as Stewart’s, my numbers really make me wish for Romney’s tax rate.

Equally rankling to many is New York City’s unincorporated business tax, which is “charged to every individual or unincorporated entity carrying on a trade, business or profession — in whole or part — in New York City,” according to the New York City Department of Finance. “I despise it,” Mr. Willens said. (As head of his own firm, Robert Willens L.L.C. in New York City, he pays the tax.) “You’ve already paid federal, state and local income tax on the same income. It’s double taxation. It’s odious. I hate it. The self-employed are supposed to be the backbone of the economy. They’re treated very harshly. I guess there’s no organized lobby for the self-employed.”

This is one of the (many) reasons I live just above New York City, not in it. New York State already imposes a large tax burden, but New York City makes it much worse.

New York City’s additional taxes effectively tell self-employed people to live somewhere else.

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Evelyn

- Vissa veckor springer man i cirklar, jobbar från olika håll in mot mitten, inte alltid så effktivt men kanske nödvändigt, det är vad man får säga till sig själv när man når målet på konstiga avigvägar men har haft det härligt på vägen…

Viktiga saker, ett: läs den här listan som lillasyrri mailade som fick mig att gråta och skratta och bli fullkomligt förtvivlad samtidigt…. Mediahypen att 2012 ska bli “tjejernas” år kom av sig när det ena efter det andra kulturella evenemanget gått av stapeln och män som vanligt nominerar, hypar och röstar på män, så TRÖTT på detta. Så trött på att vara kvinna och kreatör i en fucking mans world men jag knyter handen, inte i fickan utan tydligt så att alla kan se och fightas vidare, jag rekomenderar alla som är för ett jämlikt samhälle att gör detsamma. KÄMPA!

Två, Eriks och mitt underbara projekt med svartlabbet verkar rycka närmere launchdate å snart kommer hemsida, info å blogg där ni kan läsa om oss och hur ni gör om ni vill lämna in film för framkallning och scanning till oss.

Bästa helgen nu till er alla, jag ska soffbordsjaga, åka långfärdsskriller å kramas med en massa kompisar hela helgen, sjukt VÄRT!