Life has been pretty busy for me over the last few weeks. I’m sure has been similarly busy for all of you as well, so you understand. For me it’s been travelling for work to pitch new business, renew contracts with current clients and work with new clients on how to best make things happen for them.
- One of the clients that has kept me busy is Southern Living magazine’s Idea House and the Escondido Golf and Lake Resort in Texas
Most people don’t know what I do for a living. In short I do marketing and public relations for companies and organizations. The majority of the people I work with are non-profits while others are luxury resorts. That’s not what this post is about though.
I wanted to give you guys an update on the gadgets and gizmos I have been playing around with for a while with intentions to review. In no particular order:
- Sennheiser HD600 headphones
- HeadRoom Total BitHead headphone amplifier and digital audio converter
- ZAGG Sparq portable gadget charger
- ZAGG InvisibleShield gadget protectors
- GenArts Sapphire Edge video effects
- Apple’s FinalCut Pro X professional video editing suite
- Timbuk2 bags (2)
- Klipsch Mode noise canceling headphones
- Etymotic Research headphones with the Custom Fit program
I have been meaning to review the Sennheiser HD600 headphones for ages. In short, they are the best headphones I have ever owned and worth every penny.
Even though they are not sold anymore (replaced by the HD650) I am going to review them. In every headphone review I refer to these but I recently realized I had never actually written up my thoughts on these guys. Hard to compare something else to an unknown right?
The HeadRoom Total BitHead is a digital audio converter (DAC) and headphone amplifier all built into one. It does triple duty.
- USB sound card for your computer with a higher quality digital audio converter and none of the noise the an onboard sound card can exhibit, especially for those listening via a laptop.
- Act as a desktop amplifier to bring out the best of your headphones with a higher quality amp that what is included in computers which can make a world of a difference.
- Takes AAA batteries to become a portable audio player amplifier to once again, provide a higher quality listening experience after you spent all that money on expensive headphones for your iPhone.
USB sound card for your computer with a higher quality digital audio converter and none of the noise the an onboard sound card can exhibit, especially for those listening via a laptop.
I bought Ryan a ZAGGSparq 2.0 portable battery recharging device to save him from an Android phone that sucks down power like nobody’s business. Seriously Google, let’s work on power optimization.
I didn’t want to review it right away since it is one of those products that might review great right off the bat and then die shortly after. Especially considering the ZAGGSparq 1.0’s torrid history.
Apparently there were major issues with the device losing it’s ability to charge itself, much less the devices it was supposed to be resurrecting from the battery-death graveyard.
My review of the ZAGG InvisibleShield is stemmed from my review of their ZAGG SmartBuds headphones which, as you might remember, wasn’t too favorable. To apologize for my experience, Zagg refunded my money spent on the headphones and sent me a box of Zagg goodies including a few different InvisibleShields.
The least I could do was review them. I have been a fan of InvisibleShield for a while now so why not review it? Besides, I have been using various screen protectors on my iPhones iPads for years. This review should stick (pun intended) for any of the ZAGG Invisible Shield products, of which there are many.
After reading my blog post about Red Giant Software, a wonderful employee at GenArts send me a message asking me if I would like to review their video effects software called Sapphire Edge.
Right now I only have access to their FinalCut Pro 7 version of the plugin which is unfortunate because my editing now lives exclusively in FinalCut Pro X. So this will actually be a two part review as I get beta or release access to the plugin. I have had limited time to play around with it but it seems cool. Think Instagram for video, only much better.
Everyone shits on FinalCut Pro X and maybe for good reason. But I’ll leave that verdict to my full review, which as you can probably surmise, is going to be favorable to the dramatically different, professional video editing software package.
As a photography, MacBook Pro lugger and iPad addict, I have some special needs. I purchased two Timbuk2 messenger-style bags to review. I might even throw in a few Crumpler reviews but don’t hold your breathe.
The (personally) most exciting review is of Klipsch’s latest headphones, the Klipsch Mode noise-canceling headphones. The specs on these things are pretty impressive and we already know how Klipsch has made inroads into the headphone market that competes head-to-head with guys that have been in the arena for decades.
I really cannot wait for these headphones and am going to do my best to work with whoever I must to get an early release of them. If I do, they will move to the front of the review line. My preview post about these headphones was retweeted and shared over 520 times and for weeks was the number one post on my blog. Insanity. Obviously people are anxious to learn more about these headphones.
And finally, another headphone review that will happen if, and only if, Etymotic Research can work with me about getting a set of their ER•4 MicroPro Series and/or hf3 headset + earphones with Custom Fit, which is the key to me in the review(s).
Custom Fit is an earbud tip that is, as expected, custom-made for your ear canal. This should, in theory, provide far superior noise isolation and bass response than traditional in-ear headphones. We’re talking a seriously huge increase in noise isolation. Etymotic is already one of my favorite headphone companies, I just have never reviewed their products.
So that is what is on the agenda. Once I get these reviews out I can start looking at other products to review. If you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comments below! And now you know what has been and will be keeping me busy for the next few weeks.
@JustinCoMo looking forward to it!
@JustinCoMo looking forward to it!