Topic: Wireless Headphones

[Pugnate]

So I am looking to buy a pair. Anyone own a pair? Recommendations?

[Quemaqua]

We actually just got a hand-me-down pair from my father in law, because of our neighbors.  Julia always tries to watch TV and has to have volume battles with them, so she thought she'd try them.  I don't even know what kind they are (Sony, I think, and pretty old), but they work... okay.  The main problem is when tuning it's very hard to get the signal just right, and when you hear the right volume level, you usually get some whining along with it.  Unfortunately it isn't a correctable problem as it has nothing to do with the volume level of the TV or whatever.  Might be interference from something else, but I haven't found what if that's the case.  Other headphones probably don't suffer from this so much, but I don't really know.  Still, they do work.

But if anyone has any great suggestions of some awesome ones that don't cost that much, I'd be interested in hearing about them too.

[Pugnate]

Well, I actually wanted a pair for my computer. We have an hour of load shedding (rolling blackout) a day, every day. And while the UPS kicks in fine etc, I don't want to put the extra load of my 5.1 Altec Lansings on them as well.

I bought a generator a year ago, but have been too lazy to have it installed. Well, actually, I took a couple of appointments with the electrician, but something else always came up. Besides, the three UPSs (they are really heavy duty [http://www.overwritten.net/forum/index.php?topic=3790.0]) are enough to power the important parts of the house...

So ummm... yea I just want to use my wireless headphones when I don't have power. It isn't that I am too lazy to plug in regular headphones to the mobo (well that too), but wireless will give me enough range to get some work done as well.

I did some research and came across these:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-980397-0403-Wireless-Headphones-iPod/dp/B0009N5MDI

CNet liked them, though they said the range kinda sucks.

What worries me is that they have a tendency to snap in half over time, if the user has an above average sized head!

Julia always tries to watch TV and has to have volume battles with them

Man, that's one of the few advantages of living in this part of the world; the houses are made of cement. They are just more sound proof that way. Still, there has to be some sort of a solution here! I mean, watching TV is one of the basic activities for most people. Can't you a) Move the TV to another room b) Kill your neighbors c) Both?

Do you have surround sound with sub woofers or something? Being unable to do something as basic as that must be frustrating.

I don't even know what kind they are (Sony, I think, and pretty old), but they work... okay.  The main problem is when tuning it's very hard to get the signal just right, and when you hear the right volume level, you usually get some whining along with it.  Unfortunately it isn't a correctable problem as it has nothing to do with the volume level of the TV or whatever.  Might be interference from something else, but I haven't found what if that's the case.  Other headphones probably don't suffer from this so much, but I don't really know.  Still, they do work.

As a kid, I used to go to my aunts house a lot, and she'd let me watch TV while she slept in the afternoon. I think it was a Sony, and it came with a pair of wireless headphones. They are pretty neat, and didn't have any interference.

I am sure you can find a cheap pair that does the job for you. Still, what if you want to watch together?

Is this neighbor thing a problem, because Julia likes to watch TV late? Or are these guys being dicks in general?

[scottws]

One of my friends has a somewhat similar neighbor problem.  They have lived in the top floor of a two family home for several years now.  Well, they got a new downstairs neighbor about six months ago and it has just been hell.  The problem isn't that it's punk kids who just don't give a shit and blast loud, bass-filled music at odd hours.  No, it's a woman in her 50's or 60's.  The problem is that she has never lived in an apartment, condo, or dorm, ever.  She always lived in a house with her family.  So has never experienced hearing strangers watching TV and walking around upstairs and things like that.  This lady literally expects to hear no sound coming from my friend's apartment.

The lady is the biggest coward as well.  She leaves Post-it notes on my friend's door all the time, almost every day.  She either sneaks up their stairs and does it while they are there or just does it while they are gone.  Not once did she come knock on the door.  The notes say things like "I heard your daughter jumping up and down.  Please tell her not to do that," or "One of you is very loud when you walk, please try to step more softly."  She hides behind the notes.  She also complains to the landlord all of the time.

My friend got tired of the notes and calls from the landlord so he went directly to her to try to find some sort of compromise, understanding, or solution.  In person, the lady acted like it wasn't that big of a deal, and just mentioned off-hand that they should just remember someone lives downstairs and try to be conscious of that.  But then the notes and everything continued.  They've tried to talk to her directly several times and every time she acts like it's not a big issue.  And when they think they have some sort of understanding, they get another note or call.

One thing that's totally bullshit is that my friends have a dog.  They had permission from the landlord well before the current tennant moved in.  Well I guess the dog would bark when the lady came home and she didn't like that and started calling the landlord to complain.  They have caught the lady a few times poking or hitting her ceiling with something, and then the dog would start barking.  A few minutes later the landlord would call them to say the lady was complaining about their dog barking.  Now, either one of them stays home with the dog at all times, or if they all have to leave they find someone to watch it.

It's pretty bad.  The landlord even called and left a nasty message once that said they had to get rid of the dog immediately.  When my friend's wife called him back, he started crying on the phone and saying how much the lady is stressing him out and that they didn't have to get rid of the dog but he didn't know what to do anymore and was at the end of his rope.

I told my friend and his wife they should keep all the notes and then one day just paste them all over her door along with their own note that says "Look at all of this.  You are ridiculous."  They said it would just make things worse, and maybe they are right.

Edit:  Regarding the original topic... I got nothing.  I've got a nice Klipsch sound system and to wear headphones instead is just a travesty.

[Quemaqua]

I'm pretty unreasonable when it comes to my neighbors, too, just because they now have me so hyper-sensitive to the noise because they acted like utter dicks when they moved in, I can no longer operate on normal principles.  I hear even slight noise and my immediate reaction is an urge to disembowel.

I fucking hate apartments like you can't even understand.  Too bad I'll never be able to afford a house as long as I live.

And Pug, this shit has been going on for over a year now.  Our neighbors were super noisy with loud music and shit when they moved in, and now it's just a constant battle of wills.  Our apartment has paper-thin walls and floors, so we hear everything from them talking in the kitchen, to people sneezing, to the dude snoring at night.  They probably aren't even doing anything that terrible anymore, but it drives us insane anyway because we've gone so mad over it.  It's frustrating trying to watch a quiet movie or TV when you've got "mmmwaaahmmmmumwahum" going on in the background constantly.  It isn't that loud, it's just obnoxious and incessant.

But uh... seriously, why don't you just get some headphones?  What are you doing with your PC that you need wireless for?  It's really kind of a pain in the ass.  The things either need to recharge at intervals or take batteries, and if you're at your PC you aren't really going anywhere.  What's wrong with a wire?  I'm actually trying to hook up some regular headphones to our TV (no headphone jack, have to get a connector that'll split it to two RCAs so I can go around back) because wireless is a hassle and annoyance to me more than a benefit.

[Pugnate]

One of my friends has a somewhat similar neighbor problem.  They have lived in the top floor of a two family home for several years now.  Well, they got a new downstairs neighbor about six months ago and it has just been hell.  The problem isn't that it's punk kids who just don't give a shit and blast loud, bass-filled music at odd hours.  No, it's a woman in her 50's or 60's.  The problem is that she has never lived in an apartment, condo, or dorm, ever.  She always lived in a house with her family.  So has never experienced hearing strangers watching TV and walking around upstairs and things like that.  This lady literally expects to hear no sound coming from my friend's apartment.

The lady is the biggest coward as well.  She leaves Post-it notes on my friend's door all the time, almost every day.  She either sneaks up their stairs and does it while they are there or just does it while they are gone.  Not once did she come knock on the door.  The notes say things like "I heard your daughter jumping up and down.  Please tell her not to do that," or "One of you is very loud when you walk, please try to step more softly."  She hides behind the notes.  She also complains to the landlord all of the time.

My friend got tired of the notes and calls from the landlord so he went directly to her to try to find some sort of compromise, understanding, or solution.  In person, the lady acted like it wasn't that big of a deal, and just mentioned off-hand that they should just remember someone lives downstairs and try to be conscious of that.  But then the notes and everything continued.  They've tried to talk to her directly several times and every time she acts like it's not a big issue.  And when they think they have some sort of understanding, they get another note or call.

One thing that's totally bullshit is that my friends have a dog.  They had permission from the landlord well before the current tennant moved in.  Well I guess the dog would bark when the lady came home and she didn't like that and started calling the landlord to complain.  They have caught the lady a few times poking or hitting her ceiling with something, and then the dog would start barking.  A few minutes later the landlord would call them to say the lady was complaining about their dog barking.  Now, either one of them stays home with the dog at all times, or if they all have to leave they find someone to watch it.

It's pretty bad.  The landlord even called and left a nasty message once that said they had to get rid of the dog immediately.  When my friend's wife called him back, he started crying on the phone and saying how much the lady is stressing him out and that they didn't have to get rid of the dog but he didn't know what to do anymore and was at the end of his rope.

I told my friend and his wife they should keep all the notes and then one day just paste them all over her door along with their own note that says "Look at all of this.  You are ridiculous."  They said it would just make things worse, and maybe they are right.

Edit:  Regarding the original topic... I got nothing.  I've got a nice Klipsch sound system and to wear headphones instead is just a travesty.

Holy shit dude! What a story. I can't believe the landlord started crying on the phone. I bet that old lady is really stressing him out. How old was the landlord? Poor guy.

Yea when you get used to the noise, then it isn't a problem, but for an old lady, that sound is probably amplified because of her age, and plus, it is worse because she isn't used to it. I think since she is probably living alone, the noise probably spooks her more than anything.

I'm pretty unreasonable when it comes to my neighbors, too, just because they now have me so hyper-sensitive to the noise because they acted like utter dicks when they moved in, I can no longer operate on normal principles.  I hear even slight noise and my immediate reaction is an urge to disembowel.

I fucking hate apartments like you can't even understand.  Too bad I'll never be able to afford a house as long as I live.

And Pug, this shit has been going on for over a year now.  Our neighbors were super noisy with loud music and shit when they moved in, and now it's just a constant battle of wills.  Our apartment has paper-thin walls and floors, so we hear everything from them talking in the kitchen, to people sneezing, to the dude snoring at night.  They probably aren't even doing anything that terrible anymore, but it drives us insane anyway because we've gone so mad over it.  It's frustrating trying to watch a quiet movie or TV when you've got "mmmwaaahmmmmumwahum" going on in the background constantly.  It isn't that loud, it's just obnoxious and incessant.

But uh... seriously, why don't you just get some headphones?  What are you doing with your PC that you need wireless for?  It's really kind of a pain in the ass.  The things either need to recharge at intervals or take batteries, and if you're at your PC you aren't really going anywhere.  What's wrong with a wire?  I'm actually trying to hook up some regular headphones to our TV (no headphone jack, have to get a connector that'll split it to two RCAs so I can go around back) because wireless is a hassle and annoyance to me more than a benefit.

That's crazy stuff. I noticed that sorta thing with a lot of apartments in Canada as well. I guess they all just cut corners when it comes to building.

I do have normal headphones, but the cord isn't long enough to go from my computer to my work desk.