Blog 2.1

I have a love-hate relationship with my iPod at times. I love the fact that I can put my entire CD collection in my pocket and bring it with me anywhere I like. The audio snob in me, however, has always had issues with digital and portable music players… basically any music that has touched a computer since production.

This situation has put my audio interests in constant conflict ever since I started working an office job; I want to bring my albums with me to work but (since I listen to my iPod for about six hours a day at work) I don’t want to sacrifice sound quality. Today, however, I stumbled upon what I think will reconcile my ears to my iPod.

HeadRoom has been manufacturing audiophile-quality headphone equipment for years, and their entry-level Total BitHead headphone amplifier seems to fit my needs perfectly. To spare you all the details about exactly what this nifty little device does, let’s just say it takes the music coming out of your computer or iPod and makes it sound much, much better. (Keep in mind, this opinion if coming from someone who cringes when listening to mp3s in an environment other than an already noisy car.) With this little device attached to my iPod (and some new headphones) at work, I’ll be on an audio vacation. Plugged into my MacBook at home, I’ll finally get the quality of sound I want from my audio system and the convenience of managing my collection from my laptop. I have a feeling my CD player is going to start feeling very neglected soon.

Of course, this “little” upgrade is going to involve more than just an inconspicuous little black box. I’m going to have to invest in a new pair of headphones that can take full advantage of this little wonder, an external hard drive to house my album collection (which I plan on re-ripping soon using Apple’s lossless encoding), and probably a new 80-gig iPod to accommodate those big audio files (or I could just start bringing my MacBook and the external drive to work). Considering the fact that my iPod seems to be my constant companion these days, either in its dock in my Golf or sitting next to me on my desk at work, I think this nifty little contraption will be a good investment.