Battleangel | Personal

Sennheiser HD-280 Pro for the HTPC and AKG K414P for portable music. I just got fed up with the wireless system I was using for the HTPC. Incidentally a pair of wireless headphones also made by Sennheiser. The hissing, the breakups, the constant changing of batteries and having another bloody power brick stealing energy. The horror, the horror. Plus the HD-280 is in another class altogether. The audio quality is crisp and superb and it is a sealed / closed headphone so no more disturbances during the summer months with the windows open.

The K414P is a semi-sealed design or whatever, but it’s enough to cut off a few dB of outside interference. It also has a much lower impedance (32 ohm) compared to my old Koss Porta Pro (60 ohm). And that saves quite a bit of battery time. Even the HD 280 Pro is only rated at 64 ohm and with a sealed design one rarely has to crank up the volume as far. Plus the Porta Pro cushions become mushy, filthy after a couple of years. And I was only able to find replacements for the actual ear cushions. Not the rectangular "spacers". So it’s an early retirement for the Porta Pro.

I also took the opportunity to replace my old MS Optical mouse with a Microsoft SideWinder gaming mouse. So far I’ve been very pleased with the model. The dpi switch comes in very handy in certain games as well as in certain applications, like Photoshop. Once again I purposely chose a wired product over a wireless. I have become far more restrictive when it comes to wireless communication over the years. Mostly because it either doesn’t work, runs on batteries or consumes far too much power in standby or while operating. Plus the poorly researched health issues. Plus possibly interference between devices. Some devices need to be wireless so it is unnecessary to squander the airwaves unless you really have to.

The mouse also came bundled with a SteelPad QcK+ Gaming pad.