do you hear what i hear

Before I get on to my main post,
just thought of posting a little reply to previous comments.
Thanks for the comments, and yes, i do read them. =)

Anon: Erm, yes, thanks, very funny.
Don’t know who you are, but i’m guessing u’re one of my friends,
trying to play yet another prank on me.
Can’t be bothered guessing who you are, but, hur hur hur.

Marcus: Hey dude! Haven’t talked to you or seen you in ages.
Hope to catch up with you soon!

Tania: Heyyy. Glad u’re still hanging in there!
Take care, and don’t worry… I’ll still be right here when u’re free.
Don’t drive yourself too nuts studying and all yea?

And on to the music stuff. =)

Was out with the dia guys, sal, and sansamp on saturday.
Went to check out this hidden audio playground at The Adelphi.
It’s a small shop tucked at one of the corners at the top level,
and looks just like some hardware repair shop.
The owner is a very very nice guy,
with a vast knowledge of audio stuff.
He also does harddisk recovery, and that was his initial business.
Awesome service, and it’s almost like a chillout place for audio enthusiasts.
You can test almost any pair of high-end earphones there.
The Shures (E2C, E3C etc.), The Westone UM1 and UM2, Ultimate Ears, Sennheisers, Beyer Dynamic, Etymotic…
shiok man.
Dream come true for anyone who’s into high-end headphones/earphones.
I got to test out 2 of the Grados (one of which really stands out for vocals-based stuff, and the other of which is more general purpose, and would suit rock stuff better.)

Got to finally test out the Westone UM1 and UM2.
Wow.
They would give my pair of B&O A8s a tough fight man.
The UM1 costs about $200+ less than the UM2, so it’s a good buy.
But I’m quite happy with my B&O A8s for now,
unless i have more moolah and get the iPod Nano. heh
Then i would seriously consider getting a pair of those UM1s.

But they seriously sound verrrrryyyy good.
The UM2s, spectacular.
Sound clarify, depth, presence, everything’s there.
Strong bass too.
U can feel the kick drum in your hear. literally. haha

I would highly recommend that place if you want to get a pair of really good headphones. And if your ears are fussier, it’s definitely a good idea to get a pair of solid earphones. So, for those iPod owners, who rip their songs at higher qualities…
Please do the music justice and invest in a pair of quality earphones.
It’s like buying a good car and putting on crappy rims and tyres.
That’s my analogy to getting a good MP3 player with good songs..
And using the the apple stock earphones. Heh

But some people, well, I don’t know what they are hearing.
There are seriously cases where people try out high end earphones,
such as the Shures or the B&Os or the Westones,
and then conclude that the iPod stock ones sounds as good.

Well, i guess it all boils down to one’s ear.
I, unfortunately, have pretty fussy ears.
And need to hear the nuances in the music that I listen to.
For my ears, i definitely hear a huuuugeee difference when I plug in the apple stock earphones and when i plug in the B&O A8s. It’s like a music revelation. =)

So, after all that talk, here’s the name of that shop.
You’ll probably step out of that shop learning 1 or 2 new things about headphones, sound and music. And the shop owner sure does enjoy his music too. CD which we used to compare the sound differences – Jeff Buckley’s Grace.
Now i so have to get that album.

The shop is called Jaben Network.
1 Coleman Street, #04-16
The Adelphi, Singapore
Tel: 6337-0809

Oh, and for you drummers out there,
he also carries the etymotic earplugs.
Highly recommended for the performing and jamming drummer.
I’ve been using them for a long time, and it is definitely a worthwhile investment to protect your hearing. These musician’s earplugs very effectively reduces the decibel levels entering your ear, while not trimming out any of the frequencies.
So basically all the noise levels are brought down evenly.
Excellent for jamming and drummers, so that you can hear everything clearly,
and all more softly at that.

Enough music talk for tonight.
Gotta sleep… Back to work in a few hours.