Category — Home Entertainment

Brought to you by Amazon and Guinness.

What you are about to read is a real time review of the HD555 Open-Aire Professional Headphones with Sound Channeling from Sennheiser. I’m writing this in real time, because I thought it would be more entertaining. I mean, when it comes to headphones, its such a objective review from the get go, why not make it more fun. So here we go.

8:21PM – Just poured myself a Guinness, have to get those creative juices flowing. God damn, Guinness is so good.

8:23 – Just took the 555′s out of the shipping box. Looks like normal Sennheiser packaging, except for the little rip tag that says “Pull up to unlock” What? This is cool.

8:24 – I pulled up the tag, it the box folds open like a french door refrigerator. It looks like overly complicated packaging at first glance, but it really isn’t. I like it. You just pull the plastic “shell” off the headphones and you have got access to the goods.

8:27 – The headphones are pretty badass. They have a large plastic headband that almost looks like it should be soft plastic, but it isn’t. It reads SENNHEISER in large print. The ear cushions are velour. Very soft. Sennheiser says you can wear glasses with them on. I don’t have glasses, but I’m sure these countless hours of staring at LCD’s will soon do them in.

8:30 – I just inspected the cord. Looks like it is not removable like it is in other models. I’m not a fan of this. Damage the cord and you’re done. Boo.

8:31 – Ok enough of this, time to put these badboys on.

8:32 – Ok a little tight, but not uncomfortable.

8:33 – Plugging them in to my Yamaha receiver.

8:34 – Time to find some tunes. I’m drawn to the album, Black Light by Groove Armada – but I don’t know it all that well. Going to seek out something as sonically delightful, but more well known to me.

8:38 – Just pressed play on a track called “Shakedown” by Maximum Balloon. This is Andrew Sitek’s new band/side project. This is the guy from TV on the Radio. This album is solid. Check it out.

8:42 – My ears are being showered by the multilayered, synth-laden, R&B infused, downtempo beats of Sitek. This guy is great.

8:44 – The track is nearing its end. There is a sonic brilliance and fullness that is just unmatched by lesser cans. I’m about done with my Guinness.

8:45 – Intermission. Filling my glass. Be back soon.

8:52 – That took longer than expected. 555′s are back on.

8:54 – Time for a little Cee Lo Green. I think “Fuck You,” is in order. This song is hilarious. Although it is getting a little old now.

8:55 – Now, I should have technically zeroed out my EQ. Let me do that.

8:56 – So my EQ is now set to 0 dB for both bass and treble. Yamaha has done away with the “Loudness” setting, because lets be honest, that’s a bit lowbrow.

8:57 – Actually, I don’t know why they did away with it, but I have been a strictly Yamaha shop for some time now. And believe it or not (You’re not going to believe this) It was a fellow co-worker at Best Buy, back in 2003 who swayed me away from a Sony A/V receiver to Yamaha – and boy am I glad he did. I was such a noob when it came to home audio.

8:59 – So Fuck You ended. The next song that came on was Always Loved A Film, by Underworld. This is off their new CD entitled “Barking.” It’s pretty great. The headphones are still tight. I’m taking them off right now and going to see if I can stretch them or something.

9:03 – These things are really all plastic. There is no metal in their construction, except for the screws. An overnight stretching session will be in order if I really want to change their shape.

9:05 – I just started a track by the Radio Dept. called “Heaven’s on Fire.” You can instantly hear so much more of the song than when listening with lesser equipment. It’s just a beautiful thing to be able to treat your ears to such sonic bliss. This is how recorded music was meant to be heard.

9:08 – “Conversation 16″ by The National. Seems a little muffled. I don’t remember it sounding like this. By the way, the National are awesome. If you can see them live, do it. So I’m a bit disappointed by this track. It sounds better in my car. There is this massively low bass line that just sends chills down my spine… but I can’t hear it now.

9:10 – Brought the EQ back up to +4 Bass and +4 Treble. Much better. These things need some help to really shine.

9:11 – Time for some hypnotizing soft guitar sounds of Erlend Oye. “I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From.” Actually this is Kings of Convenience. The sound is warm and fills my head. Nice.

9:14 – For this last track, I think a little Brubeck is in order. Take Five? Why not.
Volume Up: -64dB
Oh, this is nice.
This album was recorded at a much lower record level than all the newer stuff. Turning the volume up even more.
The cymbals crashing over to the left and the subtle piano riff over to the right. The delicate balance of high versus low – the snare drum. Oh. This is great.

9:16 – I was just staring blankly at my display, just taking it all in. I love it when you can visualize music in your head. Like it is a painting in motion. I wish you could hear this.

9:17 – The sax just came in again. It sounds like its track is slightly off center, to the left. I wonder why they did that? Was it intentional?

9:18 – Take Five just ended. My god, that is music.

9:20 – Second Guinness is done. And so this is pseudo live-blog. Overall, I’m pleased with the Sennheiser 555′s. The highs are crisp, the lows are accurate – although a bit understated without the artificial enhancement brought on by the EQ.  A “real” audiophile may snub their nose at a sub-$100 set of cans… but For the price, you’re not going to find much better. They are definitely tight around my head though. I’m going to have to stretch them out over night on a stack of CDs or what not. And with that… happy listening.

Testing environment:
Yamaha HTR5640
MacBook Pro, optical output
320K MP3 encodes from CD, converted using iTunes

Last week, Elgato announced a new TV tuner/DVR solution for the Mac. It is called the EyeTV HD and pulls 720P HD cable content right from your set-top box. The device was born out of the need to get television shows and movies out of the living room and on to the multitude of devices people are using to get their daily fix.

I am in the process of working up a formal review to be posted on my Boston Tech Gear column, but I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts about the device. To start, I have yet to come across a more streamlined way to move content from cable box to computer. Total setup time is less than 15-minutes, and that includes cable connecting, IR blaster placement, and software installation. Once the device is fired up, all it takes the click of the mouse to schedule a recording.

Recording TV shows to a computer is nothing new, we Mac-wielding television enthusiasts have been doing it since the days of the Performa 638cd. What is new is what happens after the show has been recorded. By way of a simple preference selection or click of a button, the EyeTV software will automate the conversion of the raw H264 HD footage into the iPod, iPhone, and iPad friendly .m4v format. One-half hour of HD content morphs from a 3GB file into 1GB for the iPad and 250MB for the iPhone. The file is then automatically added into iTunes. Very cool.

I will get more into the specifics in my official review, but after a few days of use I am beginning to see some serious advantages to using a computer-powered DVR such as this. For anyone that regularly views movies and shows on their iPhone or iPad, this device could definitely make life a little bit easier. However, without giving too much more away, it isn’t all puppy dogs and rainbows (is that even a real saying?). You need a Core2Duo Mac for the EyeTV HD to really be happy. Also, that Mac needs to be within a few feet of a cable box, which is not all that common. But, for those serious about their television, these are small prices to pay.

Head over to my column at Examiner next week (June 1, 2010) to read the full review.