Sennheiser HD 218i On Ear Headphones Review

Howdy!

Ear buds are the most convenient way to take your sound with you, but they are usually uncomfortable, especially for extended trips. But there are some nice options for lightweight over the ear headphones, such as the industry standard Koss Portapros. I recently picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD 218i phone, and they are working out to be a good compromise for travel. I already own a few pairs of Sennheiser headphones – the HD 228, HD 299, HD 280 and HD 380 models, and they are really a phenomenal value.

The HD 218i headphones have a compact over-the-ear design, and fold flat to make them a little more portable for travel. They are only available in black (as far as I can tell), and come with a 1/8-inch (3.5mm) Apple-style jack on the end of a 4 foot (1.2-meter) single-sided cable. It does not look like the cable or the vinyl ear pieces are replaceable, so these will probably not last for the rest of your life.

These cans are very lightweight (under 4 ounces), and with the padded headband and swiveling ear cups they are super comfortable. They are springy enough to stay on at the gym or while walking, but not so tight that they hurt. I have worn these for hours on end (including a few 10 hour flights) with no problems.

Neodymium magnets are used for higher output, and specs-wise, there is nothing unusual going on with these dynamic headphones. They have a frequency response of 19,000 to 21,000 Hz and they are capable of putting out 108 dB. Total harmonic distortion is supposed to be less than 0.5% with 100 dB at 1000Hz. These phones have 32 Ω of resistance, so they are loud enough for travel, (32 ohms is as high as I would want to go with headphones for an iPod).

The biggest difference between these and the other low-end Sennheiser headphone is that these are designed for use with Apple products. There is a module built into the cable that has a microphone and controls for volume, play/pause, and skipping to the next track. It works very well, and I have used it with iPods, my iPhone, and my newer Macbook Pro with no problems at all. Pretty much none of these features will work on an Android phone, so keep that in mind.

I have burned them in for around 100 hours, and they loosened up quite a bit and sound much better than they did out of the box. I use them or traveling on planes and at the gym, and though they do not have big ear cups, they provide pretty good isolation and not much leakage to annoy my neighbors.

Sennheiser says that the HD 229 phones “bombastic bass-driven stereo sound” and are “optimized for iPod, iPhone, MP3 and CD players.” Well, they sound good with my iPhone and my laptop, but I would not say the bass performance is excellent. I did try them with a few different headphone amplifiers and they really perked up, but that is not really the sort of use these phones were designed for.

They do, however, have a nice crisp tone with good enough bass. I hear some mid-range resonance, and they are not nearly as good as any of my over the ear Sennheisers, but they were never supposed to be as good. The HD 218i are cheaper, more portable phones so I did not expect miracles. All-in-all, they are a good value.

The Sennheiser HD 218i headphones have a list price of $64.95 and they sell for around 30 bucks on Amazon. For the price range and portability they are very good, but if you want heavy sound, spend another 50 bucks and get a pair of HD 228 Pro headphones (but they will be bigger). But, if you crave portability and comfort, these are a great value.

Mahalo!

Review: Apogee JAM Guitar Input for iPad, iPhone and Mac

Greetings!

I recently had to lay down a couple of quick guitar lines for a voiceover track I was working on (long story), and it turned out to be no big deal. When you need to add a little guitar to a digital track, and there are plenty of ways to do it (the worst way being the built-in microphone on your computer), but one of the easiest has to be using an Apogee JAM to directly throw the sound into the Garageband program of your Mac.

This has to be one of the simplest devices I have run into. When you open the box you fill find the JAM (made in the USA!) and USB, Apple 30-pin and Apple Lighting connectors. The JAM itself has a ¼-inch input, a US output, an LED and a gain control. The gain is easy to use: if the LED is green, you are ok, and if it is red, turn it down a little bit. There are no batteries involved, it is powered by whatever you plug it into, which would be your computer, iPhone, or iPad.

When plugging it into my computer or iPad, no set-up was needed, Garageband immediately recognized the JAM and I could start hacking around right away. Supposedly it will also work with Logic and Mainstage, but I do not have those so I could not verify if this is true. It is optimized for guitar and bass, and it did not have any trouble with any of my passive or active instruments; even the 18-volt preamps worked with no overloading. There is no mention in their literature about keyboards or mics, but I do not see why they would not work pretty well too.

This is a digital unit, and the sound is very good through all registers. There is no noise added to the singal, and it does a good job of delivering a clean signal to the device of your choice. By the way, the JAM gave me the opportunity to finally screw around with the amplifier emulations in Garageband, which is a fantastic way to lose all track of time!

At $99, the Apogee JAM is not the cheapest interface out there, and it is not even the best now that there the a newer product on the market – the more sophisticated Apogee JAM 96k (for $129). But it is simple and effective and mine is not going anywhere anytime soon. Check one out for yourself and see what you think!

Mahalo!

Ludwig Metronome iPhone App Review

Aloha!

If you are a studio rat and squirrel yourself away practicing all day, you had better get yourself a metronome. You can spend anywhere between $9.99 and $160 to get a dedicated metronome, or…if you have an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, you can download a free app that does the job just as well.

Lately I have been using the Ludwig Metronome app by Steinway Musical Instruments. Since when did Steinway buy Ludwig?

Anyway, the app downloaded quickly enough for me, and should work on any of the aforementioned Apple products as long as they are updated with at least iOS 4.2 or later. I used my iPhone initially, but have since put it on my iPad too. It seems to work about the same either way.

It took just a few seconds to figure out how to use it, and it does exactly what it is supposed to, which is help keep time. It makes the usual “tick, tick” noises, but it is customizable in a lot of other useful ways. It can be set up so that the downbeat has a different sound, and in one of nine different common time signatures (or none at all, hmm).

As you use the imaginary tempo wheel on the main screen to change the speed, the app will let you know the name of the time signature, and then the difference between allegro and presto becomes crystal clear.

You can set up the Ludwig Metronome app so that it flashes too (in one of seven colors) – and you can modify it so that it flashes on every beat, on just the downbeats, or on every beat with a different color downbeat. It can also be used with no flashes at all.

And the last thing in the function department is that you can tap in your own tempo (maybe for that Metallica song you are learning), and then hit the play icon so it will motor along at your selected speed. This is a surprisingly handy function when learning new music.

There are a few other fun features too, like the option of using new of vintage Ludwig logos, or selecting nifty Ludwig drum wraps as the decoration for your app. Of course there is a Ludwig dealer locater that is built in too – you have to expect that from a free app…

The Ludwig drum wrap is a stone cold awesome deal, and if you are looking for a metronome, you have nothing to lose by giving it a try. Check it out!

Mahalo