I have complained about headphones versus buns
before, and now I will do it again!
But first: A rant
One of the things that really bugs me is when people replace things because they want the newest model in something.
Especially when people replace a functional item with "
Ultra green eco friendly eco-eco-eco-green-whatever item" and then argue it's better for the environment. No, you were just tricked into consuming something that you otherwise wouldn't have bought by a unscrupulous company. And you are a slacktivist of the worst kind too.
Consume something when it needs replacement or the next model has a function you want, don't replace something just to have a newer model. Or, buy what you want, when you want, but don't lie to yourself and others about it.
Basically, this:
Mr Igor an I were actually the last people I know of who had an old fashioned fat screen TV. It worked, and we weren't missing any functions, so why should we replace it? Eventually Mr Igor's mother took offense to it and bought us a plasma TV because apparently she couldn't stand the thought that we had such an old fashioned TV. Meh.
Anyways.
I love good headphones. I spend quite a long time during my workdays on public transportation trying to drown out other people's noises and I want good sound on my music. I also can't stand having the headphones resting on my ears, so I want good, noise-cancelling around the ear headphones. My headphones get a lot of use, and a lot of wear and tear from weather and going in and out of backpacks. So I want to spend a good amount of money on quality ones.
But, since everything seems to break the day after the two year warranty goes out, it puts a limit to how much I want to spend. So I usually buy the high, but not very high end models. I like Sennheiser, V Moda and Bang & Olufsen.
But wanting my headphones big enough to
not rest on my ears creates a problem with space: Especially braided Chinese buns are a problem, but basically any bun that is nice and flat will have to compete for space on my head.
For some years I have wanted to switch to Bluetooth MP3 players, but since both my wired MP3 player and headphones have worked perfectly, I haven't decided to switch. But then my wired Sennheiser headphones died in the left ear, and left me with two options:
1) Replace the wired Sennheiser with another wired headphone or
2) Replace both the wired MP3 player and wired headphones
Although I dislike replacing the functioning MP3-player (See rant above), I decided to go with option #2.
Since I was trying something new, I fell for an in-ear headset just for the design: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H5.
Unfortunately they immediately proved why I prefer the massive around-the-ear models. They just don't fit into my ears and end up slipping out slowly. I ended up bringing them to work where they function as my "
Go away, I'm busy"-signal.
And here is a fun and unexpected function of a hair fork: They can be used to anchor earphones in place:
When you leave the connecting wire to the earphones to rest on your shoulders, it seems to create more interference with the fit. "Lifting" it off the shoulders limits the problem.
So, that was a bit of a fail and I went back to look for the big around-the-ear models. The next headphones I got was Bose QuietComfort 35 QC35 II.
This model won a bunch of awards for the sound and felt really comfortable in the store. No contact with my ears and felt very soft.
Since I was in the middle of my little "picky fit", I also fell for the wireless V Moda Crossfade II Codex Edition.
I really like V Moda. They are super comfortable and there is something about the designs that I really like. And they have previously proven to be just as tough as they advertise them to be.
If I had a family shield or a cool blogger logo or something, I would get it engraved on the
headphone shields!
But how about the space-issue with my buns?
My old V Modas were the same size, and also left me with
issues with some updos.
Comparing the Bose QuietComfort 35 QC35 II with my old gold standard, the Sennheiser around-ear model PXC 480:
The Sennheisers are 10,5 cm long, 7,5 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20-25 mm wide.
The Bose are 10 cm long, 8 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20 mm wide.
The Bose model is noticeably rounder, where the Sennheiser has an almost triangular shape.
The wireless V Moda Crossfade II Codex Edition looks awesome. Just the box it comes with feels so much more study and interesting than the Bose.
Comparing the V Moda Crossfade II Codex Edition with the Sennheiser around-ear model PXC 480:
The Sennheisers are 10,5 cm long, 7,5 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20-25 mm wide.
The V Moda are 9 cm long, 7,5 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20 mm wide.
The V Moda model has the hexagonal shape like all of the models, where the Sennheiser has an almost triangular shape.
Comparing some measurements
Sennheiser: 10,5 cm long earcups
Bose: 10 cm long
V Moda: 9 cm
The length is not really an issue when it comes to having room for my updos, but it is interesting that there is such a difference between the brands.
Sennheiser: 7,5 cm wide earcups
Bose: 8 cm wide
V Moda: 7,5 cm
The Bose model feels noticeably wider than the Sennheiser and V Moda, but I think it's more the difference in shape than the actual measurements? The Sennheiser has an almost triangular shape and the V Moda has the brands hexagonal shape, where the Bose is oval. Without knowing anything about ear anatomy, I think the most logical shape belongs to Sennheiser, since I think most ears are slightly egg shaped and wider near the top? Also kind of interesting that there is so little difference in width of the earcups when there is 1,5 cm difference in the length,
Sennheiser: 2-2,5 cm wide foam earcups
Bose: 2 cm wide
V Moda: 2 cm
I think the Sennheiser being wider is probably more to do with being worn and the cushion getting squished with wear?
Sennheiser: 230 g weight
Bose: 240 g
V Moda: 315 g
It's crazy how much heavier the V Moda feels even though it's just 85 g heavier than the Sennheiser which was the lightest model. But of course this is 37% heavier, so I guess that's the noticeable part?
Also a fun little comparison:
Bang & Olufsen is a Danish company and was founded in 1925, so it's the oldest company of them at a grand old 94 years old.
Sennheiser is a German company and was founded in 1945, so it's 74 years old.
Bose is an American company and was founded in 1964, so it's 55 years old.
V Moda is an American company was founded in 2004, so it's the youngest company of them at just 15 years old.
The V Moda's in action on my way to work. It feels a little like "cheating" because my hair is in two vertically stacked braided buns, which is one of the more narrow updos in my repertoire. But maybe this proves my point since this is such a narrow updo and it still doesn't leave a whole lot of space.
