beer planet

Updated: November 19th, 2007

Received this set today from Amazon. This is the review I wrote:

Well, what can I say… this is hands down the best pair of earphones that I've tried so far. I went through:

- (of course) the ipod cheapies that are horrible at everything except for giving you pain,
- the ER-6i, which sucked so bad, they had to be returned to Amazon. They basically touched parts of my brain, literally, that's how deep they went in. I experienced pain and headaches almost instantly,
- the Sony MDR-EX71SL, which was actually quite decent for the price ($29.99 on Amazon). They were much better than ER-6i and sounded great, until they fell apart completely due to the worst cord design imaginable. It actually stretches, rips and its surface has such high friction that I'm surprized it lasted these 3-4 months.

---

So finally, it was time for something new. After reading a bunch of reviews, I decided that Super.fi 5 Pro are going to fit me best in all parameters: bass, sound, and comfort. From the moment I unpacked them and put them on, I instantly knew they were for me.I'm going to compare mostly to EX71SLs because I liked those the most before .fi.

The build: first of all, replaceable cord. How ingenious is that? I looked it up, it costs $20 for a new one. I've actually got to replace one and it's as easy as snapping off the whole cord up to the ear buds and plugging in a new one. All done in under a minute. Great, now the build itself. Very sturdy, much sturdier than the EX71SL, no comparison. Also, the fit is great, even with the default earpieces. I can't hear the wind like I did with EX71SLs, and they don't echo as much into the ears when I knock on the cord.

The sound: dual drivers in each piece, they sounded like an orchestra that started playing in my ears. The sound is rich and very… surround. So far, I tried rock, trance, hip hop, and flamenco. It was most impressive with flamenco, when audience started to cheer and during guitar solos.

The bass: is great as well, I think it's perfect.

Overall: I'm very impressed with what I received. 6 out of 5 stars. Buy it, especially if you have tried EX71SL before and want the absolute best.

Update 04/05/2007: I've been using these bad boys for about half a year now, and they're still as good as the day I got them. The cable survives daily trips in my computer bag and pretty brutal action from time to time, but it's so thick that I feel I wouldn't even be able to rip it if I tried. After seeing how good these earphones are and hearing me rave about them every day, 2 of my friends got themselves a pair and a 3rd one is considering. UE earned my business for life.

Update 11/19/2007: UE did it again. After more than a year of very heavy use and no problems (the earphones have a 2 year warranty), the sound in one ear started interrupting. Thinking it was the cord, I called up Ultimate Ears customer support. No messages, nothing, a live person picked up the phone. I've explained the problem and 4 days later I had a free replacement cord at my door (I even asked for a black one to match the color of the buds). It gets better.

Turned out the cord wasn't the problem. Instead, one of the ear buds had some internal damage that became apparent after I pulled off the existing cord. Another call to UE and no problem - a week later I had a brand spanking new pair in my hands. That is what customer service should be like. At this point UE earned mine AND my friends' business for life.

Can you go this long?

Updated: October 27th, 2006

Here's Weird Al's funny nerdy parody on a famous rap song. Listen right in the page:

Update: and now a video to go with the mp3:

White & Nerdy
————
Parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire
New lyrics by Al Yankovic

They see me mowin'
My front lawn
I know they're all thinking I'm so white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Can't you see I'm white and nerdy?
Look at me, I'm white and nerdy
I wanna roll with
The gangstas
But so far they all think I'm too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
I'm just too white and nerdy.
Really really white and nerdy.

First in my class here at MIT
Got skills, I'm a champion at D&D
MC Escher - that's my favorite MC
Keep your 40, I'll just have an Earl Grey tea
My rims never spin, to the contrary
You'll find that they're quite stationary
All of my action figures are cherry
Steven Hawking's in my library
My MySpace page is all totally pimped out
Got people beggin' for my top eight spaces
Yo, I know pi to a thousand places
Ain't got no grills but I still wear braces
I order all of my sandwiches with mayonnaise
I'm a whiz at Minesweeper - I could play for days
Once you see my sweet moves you're gonna stay amazed
My fingers' movin' so fast I'll set the place ablaze
There's no killer app I haven't run
At Pascal, well I'm number one
Do vector calculus just for fun
I ain't got a gat but I got a soldering gun
Happy Days is my favorite theme song
I could sure kick your butt in a game of ping pong
I'll ace any trivia quiz you bring on
I'm fluent in JavaScript as well as Klingon

They see me roll on
My Segway
I know in my heart they think I'm white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Can't you see I'm white and nerdy
Look at me, I'm white and nerdy
I'd like to roll with
The gangstas
Although it's apparent I'm too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
I'm just too white and nerdy
How'd I get so white and nerdy

I've been browsin', inspectin'
X-Men comics, you know I collect 'em
The pens in my pocket, I must protect 'em
My ergonomic keyboard never leaves me bored
Shopping online for deals on some writable media
I edit Wikipedia
I memorized Holy Grail really well
I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL
I got a business doing websites
When my friends need some code, who do they call?
I do HTML for 'em all
Even made a homepage for my dog
Yo, I got myself a fanny pack
They were havin' a sale down at The Gap
Spend my nights with a roll of bubble wrap
Pop, pop, hope no one sees me
Gettin' freaky
I'm nerdy in the extreme
And whiter than sour cream
I was in AV Club and Glee Club and even the Chess Team
Only question I
Ever thought was hard
Was do I like Kirk
Or do I like Picard
Spend every weekend at the Renaissance Fair
Got my name on my underwear

They see me strollin'
They laughin'
And rollin' their eyes 'cause I'm so white and nerdy
Just because I'm white and nerdy
Just because I'm white and nerdy
All because I'm white and nerdy
Holy cow, I'm white and nerdy
I wanna bowl with
The gangstas
But, oh well, it's obvious I'm white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
I'm just too white and nerdy
Look at me, I'm white and nerdy.