Listening to Music

I have hours every week to do nothing but listen to music and read... Ok, it's my "commute" as I travel from my home is Orem, UT to whatever city I happen to be working in.

I usually try to leave the house two hours before my flight time. This leave me 15 minutes to be late, 45 minutes to drive to SLC, time to drop of my cases at the Sky Cap, time to park in long-term parking, time to ride the bus back to the terminal, time to get through security, and time to be at the gate a couple of minutes before they start boarding the first class seats (30 minutes prior to takeoff)...

Then anywhere from a short 90 minute flight, to over 20 hours of flying, depending on where I'm going.

Then waiting for the baggage, schlepping my cases to the rental car shuttle, checking in at the rental agency, loading up the car, driving to my destination, checking in the hotel, unpacking my stuff, calling home, setting up laptop to check e-mail, then going to bed...

This process repeats it self most weeks of the year. Well, at least those weeks when I want to get paid.

Thus, after a long drawn out explanation, I return to the premise of this blog entry... I have hours every week to do nothing but listen to music and read...

Because of which, I like to have good music, intelligent, entertaining reading available to me to fill those hours with something I enjoy.

To help, I like to use technology. For the reading, the Amazon Kindle has been a wonderful piece of kit to allow me to bring hundreds of books with me, so I can always find something to read that fits my mood at the moment.

For music, my iPhone is filled with all sorts of an eclectic mix of tunes. From Rap, R&B to Vocal Jazz and classical music. On the Sunday flights I have a mix of religious tunes to keep me in the spirit of the day.

I used to use the Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones. First the QC1's then later the QC2's. These noise canceling headphones were able to get rid of most of the airplane noise and allow me to listen better to the music.Then I came across the Dr. Dre 'Beats' headphones by Monster. In spite of their Rap-like name... these are by far the best sound quality I've ever heard. They are pretty expensive (but so are the Bose) - but the auditory experience is something you'll have to experience.The highs are bright and crisp, voice frequencies not muddy, and the bass beats... well, they are called 'Beats' for a reason. I've heard things in my music that I've never heard before. Some of the subtle nuances in the original tracks can finally be appreciated. I can't say enough good about the sound these re-produce.Plus they come with a cable that lets me make and receive phone calls on my iPhone while listening. The iPhone slowly drops the volume of the music, the call takes place (using the built-in microphone in the headphone cable), and when the call is finished, the music slowly fades back up to its initial volume.

These headphones sound best when there is no ambient noise. (like in a quiet room) - but still do a very respectable job even on a loud airplane.

Highly recommended!