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bob23

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Right, but this plugs into the bottom port of my ipod, not the headphone jack. The ipod's internal volume is irrelevant.

I've been in other people's cars that had something hooked up to the headphone jack of their ipod, and you had to leave the ipod itself at about half volume and then control from the car or it got all distorted.

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I've been in other people's cars that had something hooked up to the headphone jack of their ipod, and you had to leave the ipod itself at about half volume and then control from the car or it got all distorted.

That's they way my setup worked before it broke: the car speakers operate as a super-sized set of headphones. I normally keep the iPod at full volume in that case, but sometimes have to back it off a bit or it clips. But you're right, iPods are either so inherently quiet that they and the car speakers must be blasted to be audible, or else my car is so inherently noisy and its sound system is so good at attenuating the signal, that I lose clarity.

If I use an FM transmitter, then I definitely have to back the volume off because it will clip. I have only bought cheap transmitters -- which eat batteries and sound terribly static-y -- as a quick fix for traveling in cars that don't have any kind of aux input or a tape deck, in which case the tape adapters still work great. They do make FM transmitters that cost over $100 but for that money, I'd rather upgrade the box inside the dashboard.

My next upgrade will have something iPod friendly. A dedicated hookup with control on the steering wheel would be amazing.

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I don't use my iPod anymore. I use my 6 disc CD player in the car. At home I listen through my desktop speakers. On a plane I'll dust off my noise-cancelling Sony's.

I use my ipod 100% of the time while I'm in my car now. I have a thing in my car that charges it and takes it output from the bottom and goes right into the Aux-In that my car has, and I can also control it via a remote that's attached the my steering wheel. It's awesome.

Jason,

Is the device/CD player your talking about a Pioneer? We recently replaced our CD player in our car and got a Pioneer. It does have an Aux-In plug but it also has a USB plug that you can plug an iPhone/iPhone into it. It'll even charge the device when it's plugged into the CD player. It's a lot more convenient than having to haul around a bunch of CD-Rs with you.

Edit: Jason ignore my message my bad...I didn't see your previous message.

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I use the Kensington Liquid Aux device. I just have the stock radio that came with my Mazda

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Right, but this plugs into the bottom port of my ipod, not the headphone jack. The ipod's internal volume is irrelevant.

I've been in other people's cars that had something hooked up to the headphone jack of their ipod, and you had to leave the ipod itself at about half volume and then control from the car or it got all distorted.

Haven't seen one of those before. Typically all you need is an aux cable to connect to the headphone jack.

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Yes but this is better because it keeps its charge, it grabs perfect line-out quality, and allows the remote you strap to the wheel to work. See the pic I posted above

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Good question. Very little - not so much that weight seems relevant to me.

They have two problems: The plastic paddings on the ear bracket thingies get loose after a while and start dangling behind your ears a little. And the cable retractor hold wears off and will try to always retract the cable that goes to the plug. I solved that bit by making a knot into it, since I always use the headphones with my stereo bluetooth headset anyway, so the cable only has to be long enough to reach my neck. Sound is ok, obviously not spectacular but perfectly fine for office use and when on the bike, and I the ear pieces let through outer sounds with no problems, so they're good for wearing in traffic.

The main problem is: They're hardly available anywhere anymore. I got them a few years ago for €20 and still kick myself for not getting a spare pair right away. As far as I could find out, Sony never made a replacement model, and hardly anyone else produces something comparable. Especially with the retractable cables - even with the knot I have to make to balance the broken stopper, that's still a very helpful feature and effectively avoids tangled cables.

Ah yes, in case it helps: The name is Sony Q68.

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I have decided to buy a new head unit for my car that can control an iPod, and I would also like to splurge on Bluetooth functionality for hands-free cell phone usage and HD radio.

I know what Darth LeBlanc uses, and it looks ok as long as you have a good input jack; my car does not.

Does anyone have any recommendation on good after-market brands and models, or does everyone just use the stock radio that came with their vehicle?

I think I have it down to the Pioneer DEH-P8400BH versus Kenwood KDC-BT752HD, but opinions are welcome.

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I use that device because my car came with an aux-in port. That doesn't matter if you're replacing the head unit; You can buy a head unit with its own aux-in! But yea, you can also buy one that controls the ipod as well. I used to have one of those actually in my old car (It was a Pioneer but I don't remember which model). It was nice because the ipod wire went into the glove box, so I'd just hook it up, leave my ipod in the glove box, and control it from the head unit. Only problem is limited functionality - basically just Next Track, Previous Track, and maybe turn shuffle on (I don't remember). It displayed the song titles on the head unit too. I actually prefer what I have now though; I prefer using the actual ipod to control it what songs I wanna hear rather than trying to find them through the head unit (If I remember you could cycle throught artists but it displayed them one line at a time)

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One primary difference that I'm seeing between the Pioneer and Kenwood models that I mentioned is the placement of the USB cord. The Pioneer's is in the rear of the head unit, while the Kenwood's in the rear. The rear would allow the device to live in the glove box without any cords showing, but the front offers greater flexibility in terms of devices that use USB, such as a thumb drive full of music if I'm going someplace I don't want to take my iPod.

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You should invest in 225i, the upgrade was huge for me. I think it's better to take the leap to that model than anything in between the 60 and 225

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The 225i is the same size as the sr60i. Well all the Grado models are a slightly wider rear cup now (like old sr 60vs sr60i...)

The cord on the 225 is thicker but shorter than the 60( uses larger gauge wiring). It's less prone to twisting but I taped a little plastic stopper so the earcups don't rotate 360 degree. But yeah I still hate the cord going to both earcups, but that's the only drawback

Originally when I wanted to upgrade my earphones, a 1 cord design was my main priority (like seinheiser HD598 or similar), but after trying a few things, sound eventually took over as main priority and upgrade Grado was the way to go as you get the same basic sound + the noticeable improvements as you go upwards in the line (3D soundstage + bass presence). That is up to 225 because 325 sounded too metallic to me.

Oh I almost forgot, you need to replace the stock earcups of the 225 with the softpads (same ones as on the SR60) because the stock ones are really uncomfortable

I'm always blown away by the sound each time I use them. Beautiful musical and detailed sound but never harsh

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Looks expensive...but does it sound any good?

It's very expensive (279 Euro). I couldn't get a good idea about the sound (terrible dance music) but it's getting really good professional and amateur reviews. It became the main headphones for the guy who reviewed it at head-fi.

I'm interested but only if I can find it at half the price.

http://www.head-fi.o...ciation-updated

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Well, you only really know if you buy it and try it out for a while

So the best advise is buy somewhere you can return or exchange

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That's not possible in me country. You can't return stuff once it's opened. I have to bring my own player and hook it up in the store. For now the phones are nice to hold in your hands (because of the materials used), they feel good on the head and it's getting very good reviews. Still, looking at the price, it reeks a little bit of Apple snobism.

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That's not possible in me country. You can't return stuff once it's opened.

If KM is to be believed you can just buy, use and return stuff in Kanadia. Does that even go for CD's and DVD/Blu-rays?

[OPINION]

Granted, I don't live in the land of mounties and mooses, but still, many places will allow you to return optical media if it is defective. Whether they believe you depends on how persuasive you are (cry a little and stomp your feet like a petulant little girl), whether they actually try to reproduce your "error" (nerds may), or how subtly you can damage the item yourself (devious...I like that). But this transaction is an exchange for another copy of the same item. You can't buy Slapshot, watch or copy it, and then try to exchange it for Mighty Ducks. You can only return it for a new copy of Slapshot, i.e. a replacement of the original item. Now that you have a new copy, you can return it anywhere. Hopefully you'll get cash but some places only give store credit because they're onto this kind of subtle scamming.

It sometimes helps to have a receipt from the original purchase if you're trying to stay honest, but you can always say it was a gift. Crummy places like Walmart don't care. You can take a half-eaten box of Cheetos back to Walmart saying it's stale, and they'll give you your money back. They don't care.

[/OPINION]

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Of course you can return something when it's defective. Defective isn't the issue. The issue is that someone can buy a video camera, shoot a movie with, and then before the 3 months are over, he can change his mind and ask the shop to give him back his money.

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If it's in otherwise good shape and he says it was a gift he opened two days ago and he didn't want it or claims it to be defective, yup, that's totally acceptable.

Of course, when I see a table of open box merchandise, I walk the other way.

I understand your consternation if it's a pair of headphones, and what you buy is stained with second-hand sweat, has dandruff or gives you ear herpes. Nasty. But legal.

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So how can you be certain some dude didn't wear your headphones for 2 or 3 months?

Most big electronic stores have a 1 months return/exchange policy even on open items (EXCEPT DVD's/games...) .If your return it they sell the item as "open box" a bit discounted.

Now the smaller boutiques you have to deal. Where I bought my SR225's I only had a few days and could only have exchanged them (no straight return or refund). So I was 99% certain when I bought them

(Big box stores don't sell Grados)

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Alex,

Who cares if someone did wear for a month or two? You're getting open box pricing on virtually new hardware. In most of the Western world fleas, the consumption, and smallpox have been eradicated. And unless you have severe open wounds AND a crippled immune system, it's no more likely to kill you than sitting your pristine and healthy ass down on a public toilet.

That said, just wipe whatever it is down with some rubbing alcohol. Lysol wipes if you are a germaphobe and need disinfection instead of sanitization.

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You're getting open box pricing on virtually new hardware.

If it's cheaper than I have no problem with it. Something that is used or demo'd should not be sold as new. Then again, salesmen are never to be trusted. They will try to sell it as new, if they think they can get away with it.

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Most retailers I've seen in the U.S., physical or online are fairly honest about open box. Though I have not been to "Joe's Redneck TechShack"

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Well one thing I wouldn't buy open box is an LCD TV. It was probably returned because of dead pixels or another problem

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I did take a chance on my first ipod Nano. It had been used a few hours and returned the same day. It looked perfect so I bought open box. I got a free extended warranty which I remember using to fix the scroll wheel 2 years later

Good headphones are made to last for years and the reason the person returned it is because he didn't like the sound so I think it would be ok to buy open box

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  • 1 month later...

I use iGrado for workouts. They're ugly as all hell and can become downright painful after an hour or so of wearing them. But damn do they sound good. I need to find a way to make these more comfortable. Why in God's name does something that sound so good have to be so uncomfortable to wear?

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  • 3 weeks later...

http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-1030110-Noise-Blocking-Earmuff/dp/B004U4A5RU/ref=cm_rdp_product

I got a pair of these for work, on a whim. I like them. They aren't perfect. They get uncomfortable after a while. As I wore them throughout the day, they eventually stopped blocking the outside sound as well (sweat=bad). But I was impressed with their ability for the price. They sound a bit like Grado headphones. Bright and loaded with detail. Very good for JW music. They also don't deafen me. I mostly use them to block out the sounds of a couple machines and they do it pretty well. With the sound off, it's not much different than with ear plugs. For like 20 bucks, I can now listen to scores on and off while working in the warehouse, so cool. Plus, they don't sound like crap.

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Koss KSC75 are excellent clip-ons as well, especially given the dirt cheap price.

I just got these, after my Sony clip ons finally died. Can't compare them directly (for obvious reasons), but they do sound fine. Not as comfy though as the Sonys. And I miss the Sonys' cable retraction mechanism. But then, that's what ultimately killed them.

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Koss KSC75 are excellent clip-ons as well, especially given the dirt cheap price.

I just got these, after my Sony clip ons finally died. Can't compare them directly (for obvious reasons), but they do sound fine. Not as comfy though as the Sonys. And I miss the Sonys' cable retraction mechanism. But then, that's what ultimately killed them.

Sweet. Glad you like them. You could always buy some cheap cable with a retractor off Amazon, take out the original cable, and stick the headphone cable in and reassemble.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.co...cable retractor

Surely there must be something similar on Amazon Österreich

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I use iGrado for workouts. They're ugly as all hell

Indeed. I kinda like the retro look of the classic Grados but the iGrado didn't turn out very attractive, I must say. This is a no-go for me.

Alex

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