GPS works perfectly with LPB. Even though there was a fix with the broken GPS on LP6, it some how did not work for me. So LPB’s working GPS removed the big show-stopper for me.

Battery consumption under LPB is still not impressive. In fact, battery consumption on LP6 wasn’t good either. It’s another reason why I decided to revert.

However, after I returned back to my old ROM (KI3, the officially released Gingerbread stock ROM for Singapore), my battery life seem to be improved. Not by a huge margin, but significant enough to be noticed. Then, I realized, although the ROM is KI3, the modem was still at LP6. It’s not unexpected, since my Nandroid restore would not put back the old modem. So there was something nice about the KI3 code with LP6 modem though. That’s a good sign that, in principle, the LP6 modem is doing something very well.

I was hoping that LPB would be great too, in terms of battery longevity. But alas, it is still not impressive. I’m not sure if perhaps a battery calibration is needed. I’ll know it over the weekend when I get the opportunity to do a full drain and full charge.

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So it’s time for me to dip my feet into an ICS ROM. There’s already a ChainFire root for LP6, so rooting this ROM would be pretty trivial. In fact, flashing and rooting this ROM will be pretty familiar to anyone who has been flashing and rooting Gingerbread ROMs on the SGS2.

ICS is beautiful. The UI has been polished up quite a bit. The interface is fluid and smooth. Overall, using the ICS ROM is a fun experience. Part of the fun, though, is probably just because there’s some refreshing change to an interface that I’ve been using for so long.

There are a few quirks.

First up, Market would not work. When I launch it, it keeps throwing a “Server error”. Retrying doesn’t seem to get anywhere. Rebooting doesn’t help either. The trick, it seems, is to configure Wifi, leave Wifi on and reboot the phone. Then, fire up Market, and accept the Agreement. Thereafter, Market will work on Wifi or 3G just fine.

The next issue is about the Software Update notification. It’s trying to tell you to configure Software Update. But no matter how you try, the registration will not work. The solution? Disable the application. Go to Settings, Applications, All, hunt down Software Update, and disable it.

The last issue I have is with GPS. There’s a GPS fix available to put back a system library that Samsung had apparently forgotten to include in the LP6 ROM. I’ve done that, and verified the library is in place. However, GPS still doesn’t work for me though. When I launch an application like Google Maps or GPS Status, I can see in the GPS icon in the Status Bar. But the GPS never fixes. GPS Status barely shows one or two satellites visible, in exactly the same location where previously my Gingerbread SGS2 ROM has no trouble finding and fixing with 6 or so satellites.

There are a few other minor little issues. For example, when in the Dialer, there doesn’t seem to be a more direct way to get to your full Contact list. I don’t suppose this misfeature was intended. It’s not a big deal anyway, and while not perfect, it’s probably something I could live with.

GPS isn’t something I need on daily basis. But I’ve decided that it’s important enough for me at this time that I’ll go back to the Gingerbread ROM. I think, from reading the responses on the XDA forum, most people managed to get their GPS working. For me, I’ll have to wait to the next leaked ROM to try again, or figure out how else I can get this fixed. The ICS ROM is, otherwise, really very nice.

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The of the Water Dragon comes around tomorrow. It’s the 4709^th Lunar New Year. Every Chinese family is probably now busy one way or other preparing for the new year. In fact, for many of them, various sorts of celebrations would already have started. I just had my first lao yu sheng and reunion meal at lunch, and will have another one at dinner tonight. This is the customary gathering of family and relatives to reunite and celebrate the new year.

There will be many more of these meals to come. If people think Christmas and New Year celebrations make you grow fat, I think the Lunar New Year is much worse. The celebrations, customarily, lasts 15 days, and there are so many excuses to feast, and so much more that you can feast on.

This Lunar New Year will be a little different though. The Wife will be staying home, with our new baby Isaac, and I’ll be left with shepherding the other two kids around Singapore. It’s actually not difficult to manage the two kids per se, except that we will be out long enough that they’ll probably be needing some nap time in-between. I’m not sure yet how exactly we’ll manage that, but they’re usually quite cooperative so I think they’ll be fine.

Vanessa’s asking if there’ll be school tomorrow. I suppose she still hasn’t understood the concept of Public Holidays. It’s just a day where we go places. In a few years, Lunar New Year will be a fun holiday. Then for adults like me, it’s actually getting quite tiring. I think there’s too much hype into these festival celebrations.

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Earlier parts of the series have introduced the different types of headphones, technical details, and a special focus on in-ear headphones. Sound quality is not less important than any of those. In fact, for many people, the ultimate choice of headphones will come down to sound quality, above anything else.

Sound quality, however, is probably the most difficult to write about, so I’ve saved it for the last. Oh yes, this will be the concluding instalment of this mini-series. I hope you’ve found this mini-series helpful. I’m sure the audiophiles already know everything, and much more, but for those who are trying to understand why some headphones can cost $2 a piece at Daiso, while others can cost well over a thousand dollars, I believe this will all be quite enlightening.

Sound Quality is Very Subjective

Good sound can mean different things to different people. The same sound can also mean different things to different people. What sounds good to me, you might disagree. Hence, it is very difficult to write about sound quality. The ultimate test for whether a pair of headphones sound good really depends on you hearing the sound yourself and deciding for yourself whether you like it or not.

Let me try to give an example, using a very specific narrow attribute, to illustrate how a tiny detail can mean different things to different people. I generally prefer to hear tight bass. This means the low bass frequencies produced by the headphone should start and stop quickly according to the audio signal. I don’t like warm reverberations added to the sound if they were not part of the original audio signal. But others may find the tight bass dry and harsh.

Why are there headphone reviews and why do you read them? Well, it helps you narrow down and shortlist candidates for further evaluation, saving you time and effort of trying every single headphone. So, remember that reviews serve as a guide, and you should try to hear the headphones for yourself.

Test Setup

A few quick pointers to note when testing headphones. First of all, test with the equipment that you’re going to use, or you plan to be using. If you are going to play from an MP3 player, test the headphones with that MP3 player. Don’t substitute some other piece of equipment. A pair of headphones may sound better with one MP3 player than another, but the performance with the MP3 players could be reversed when you try with another pair of headphones.

Test with your favourite music tracks, or at least those you’re very familiar with. You already know how the music is supposed to sound, or how they have been sounding with whatever you have been using. So now you can use that as a basis to compare if the music is clearer, are there new details you’re hearing, do the bass sound punchier, etc.

If you’re going to do comparison between several pairs of headphones, try to minimize differences in the test conditions. For example, always use the same MP3 player and the same music tracks.

I’ll take this opportunity to mention that the music source plays an important part in the headphone’s performance. The music source includes both the player as well as the digital recording. Some players play better than others, or they play better with some headphones than others. Many notebooks and desktop computers will often produce a “noisy” audio signal due to interference from the internals of the computer. A lousy digital recording may sound “okay” on a cheap pair of headphones, but sound horrid on a very good pair of headphones.

Quality Attributes

These are my personal preferences. Some attributes, such as clarity, is probably universally accepted as something desirable. But there are other attributes that may be subjective, an example being the tight bass I mentioned earlier. So just bear in mind that these are what I like.

First, I look for clarity in the sound. Details should pop out clearly and distinctly. Individual parts of the sound (e.g. different instruments, different voices) should be clear and separate, and not sound mashed up together. The tiniest details and nuances should be discernable.

I like a strong, punchy bass that extends all the way down to the lowest frequencies, without losing the oomph. I look for tight controlled bass, not something that sounds “boomy”. However, the bass should not be overwhelming or overbearing. I want to be able to feel the energy in the bass.

There is nothing exceptional I expect out of the mid frequencies, apart from clarity that I’ve already mentioned. The mids are important, and they need to be strong. But I don’t want them artificially emphasized.

The high frequencies should have crystal clarity. They should sparkle just a little bit and sound bright, but there should not be a hint of sibilance (the sound produced by pronouncing words with the letter ’s’ that sometimes comes off too ’s’-ish).

The sound through the frequencies should be smooth and flat. Nothing that stands out stronger, and nothing that sounds recessed. Some people like to set V-shape equalizer settings. Or they like to emphasize the mids. I don’t like the equalizer to mess with my sound.

I want the sound to be natural, as if they were performed right before you, and you’re hearing the performance directly without something interfering with the sound. It’s like looking at a beautiful scenery through a window, and the window is so clear that it’s as if the window was not there at all.

There is an attribute known as soundstage. Close your eyes, and try to picture the sound. Does it come from inside your head? Just outside your head? Or do you see a huge expansive soundstage in front of you, on the left and on the right of you? This is soundstage. Soundstage should be wide, it should be deep.

Standard Test Tracks

Although I’ve said to audition headphones with your favourite music, it also helps to try out some demonstration tracks. One that comes to mind is Chesky Record’s “The Ultimate Demonstration Disc”. The tracks help you understand and identify what some of the qualities are that you can look out for.

There are also other test tracks available to, for example, listen to the reproduction capabilities of the headphones at various frequencies. How strong do the bass sound? How low does the bass extend to?

Final Words

I still haven’t covered all topics there are to cover. For example, I haven’t mentioned active noise cancelation. There are really plenty of things to know about headphones.

But, you already know enough and you’re ready to get started finding your ultimate pair of headphones. Just a quick summary of what we’ve covered in this mini-series:

• Find out what style of headphones you prefer, suit you better, or are more practical for the way you plan to listen to your music.
• Understand the pros and cons of sound isolation.
• Don’t get too caught up with technical specifications. They are useful to know, and they are fun to compare. (Imagine boasting about: “My headphone has more drivers than yours!”) But they don’t necessarily determine sound quality.
• Do your sound quality evaluation by auditioning the headphones yourself. There are several stores in Singapore where they are happy to let you try out their headphones without pressuring you to buy them. Or, you can borrow from a friend who has something you want.
• I would like to recommend in-ear headphones, but they aren’t necessarily right for everyone.

Enjoy your search, and your best headphones when you find them!

This post was originally written as part of my participation in Omy.sg’s K3003 / The Sound of Luxury blog. I’m now reposting some of those posts, with some minor edits, on my own blog.

In Search of the Best Headphones: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

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We’re back again at Thomson Medical Centre. Third time. By now quite experienced and familiar with the process. I found myself handling the baby with a lot more confidence than before. The first time you handle a newborn, the baby feels like a very fragile thingy that could fall apart any moment. By the third time, you just need to be careful handling the baby.

#3 sees to be most “on” to latch on, and easiest to handle and manage. Maybe it’s just that we’ve become more experienced and less anxious. The next month or so is going to be more challenging, but hopefully it will be more manageable than before.

It’s the Lunar New Year just around the corner. #3 qualifies to collect Ang Pows!

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In the early morning of Friday 13th, fire had broken out in the 2nd level of block S14 at the NUS Kent Ridge Campus. We didn’t know about that initially, of course. The fire wasn’t at our premises. Although the fire supposedly start at about 3am, our first hint of problems started later.

Our morning started with a NOC alarm at 4:17am about 2 link failures. The two fibre links had lost connectivity. It’s not a severe enough problem to cause any real service disruption. The entire network was still running perfectly normally.

Then at 5:23am, suddenly, we completely lost all connectivity from our main premises to a remote site. Hmm, that was extremely unusual. Theoretically, even in such scenarios, network services should not be significantly impacted, but unfortunately in this instance, we experienced some other problems.

Soon after, I heard from a colleague who manages our Unix server operations that even their SAN connectivity had been lost.

This seems like a very severe problem. The most logical explanation based on these observed symptoms is that there must have been some sort of catastrophic even that has completely damaged all our fibre optic cables. It is not a scenario was like to imagine. Recovering from such an event would be very difficult. But this would be the simplest explanation.

Then, some news start to trickle in. Two fire trucks and a police car were sighted at S15/S14. Sounds like a fire. We have fibre optic cables running through those buildings. Perhaps a fire had catastrophically damaged our cables.

So for the next few hours in the morning, I spent ascertaining exactly what had happened, and exactly where it happened. We met with many people, mobilized our own staff, and drafted out several courses of action depending on how the situation pans out. Bear in mind that at that early point in the morning, we were still unsure of many things.

As more details were confirmed through the morning, we were able to fix up our recovery plans. I think the most significant “breakthrough” was when we were able to assess the nature and extent of damage. It was so completely gutted that we figured there was no way we were able to carry out any repair of the cable at the damage site itself. The most reasonably workable solution was to cut, splice and reroute our fibre optic cables around the entire damage zone. It will be a costly affair. Emergency repairs are always going to be costly.

We are still resuming our service recovery today.

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I’ve been very excited to review the K3003. I shared my first impressions much earlier on, but subsequently decided to review the Q350, K518LE, and Q460 first, saving the flagship K3003 for the last. If your experiences with headphones have been limited to the free earbuds included with your mobile phone, music player or other mobile gadget, be prepared to be totally awed. You’ve probably never heard music so real, so present, so engaging, so pure.

The K3003 is packaged inside a premium gray box which features a magnetic closure on the lid. Nothing fancy, just simple and functional. Open the box, remove the cleaning cloth, and the exquisite gems are revealed.

In the box, apart from the K3003 itself, there is also a premium genuine leather carrying pouch, two pairs of acoustic filters (in addition to the pair already on the K3003), 6 pairs of ear sleeves (2 pairs each for small, medium and large sizes), a flight adapter, and a TRRS-to-TRS audio adapter cable.

The K3003 is individually handmade, and each one bears a serial number. The brushed stainless steel shells are chiselled out of a single block of stainless steel metal. The skin of the cables from the headphones leading down to the Y-junction are made from a silicone material. The cables from the Y-junction to the 3.5 mm plug are covered in a fabric material.

The iPhone-compatible inline mic and remote are found down the right-side earpiece. It is steel-skinned, and together with the similar skinned Y-junction and stainless steel plug, complete the exquisite bling-bling look of the K3003.

The leather carrying pouch is a nice touch. There are cutouts to hold the K3003 and the flight adapter, and the cables of the K3003 can be wound around the edge of the case. It provides the necessary protection for a gadget as prized as the K3003.

Comfort and Fit

The K3003 is very small. At 10 g, it is also very light, considering that the shell is made out of stainless steel. Not aluminum, mind you, but stainless steel. The material and manufacturing method gives it a very robust and solid feel. Being both small and light means that the K3003 fits into your ear almost as if it wasn’t even there.

As an in-ear headphone, the K3003, with the attached ear sleeves, fit directly into your ear canals. Earbud headphones just sit in your outer ear. In-ear headphones go into your ear canals, while the sleeves provide the seal and isolation between the hard parts of the headphone itself and the walls of your ear canal. The seal is important because it blocks out external noises so that you can hear your pure music without distraction from unwanted sounds. The sound isolation also means you don’t have to push up your music volume to overcome the external noises, ultimately saving your own ears from damage.

The sound isolation on the K3003, however, was not superb. Sure, it did mute out external sounds, just not as much as I’d have expected.

The ear sleeves are made from hypoallergenic latex-free materials. They are available in three sizes to so that you can choose the best fit for your ears. I would personally have preferred Comply-type foams, and the good news is that you can buy the T-400 or TX-400 foams for the K3003 as well. I tried those on too, like you see below.

The K3003 is easy to fit on. With the silicone sleeves, you just push the headphones into your ears. No need to fiddle around. Since the cables are designed to run straight down (as opposed to over your ears), there’s no inconvenience to position the cables.

The cable length, at 1.2 m, is what I’d consider to be just right to connect the K3003 to a gadget in your pant’s pocket. The cable is somewhat free from microphonics, and it is largely tangle-free. Unfortunately, the cable is not replaceable. This is always a concern with expensive headphones.

Sound Quality

I’m quite particular about comfort and fit. But ultimately, how good the comfort and fit becomes completely irrelevant if a pair of headphones cannot deliver quality sound. I’m pleased to say that the K3003 does not disappoint.

First, a few words on the technical aspects. The K3003 is a three-way three driver headphone. One dynamic driver delivers the bass frequencies, two balanced armature drivers deliver each of the mid and high frequencies. This hybrid driver design draws on the best qualities of dynamic and balanced armature drivers to deliver the reference quality sound of the K3003.

To suit individual preferences, because everyone is different, the K3003 has three types of acoustic filters. The standard reference filter gives you the most natural sounds. The other two filters are the bass-boost and high-boost filters.

So, finally, what about sound quality?

The thing that hits me immediately is the immense clarity and detail in the mid and high frequencies. When you play your favourite music, the K3003 could almost review new parts that you’ve not heard before.

I was originally not terribly impressed with the bass performance of the K3003. I had, at that time, been driving the K3003 from a Cowon J3. The bass extension was clearly evident, but there just wasn’t enough punch. It seemed like the K3003 lost steam going down to the lowest frequencies.

Later, I paired the K3003 with the Fiio E10 DAC/amplifier, and the sound was quite noticeably improved. I’m quite surprised, because the K3003 isn’t, at least according to the specifications, supposed to be difficult to drive. So going on forward with the E10, I found the bass neither too tight nor boomy. It is about the right balance to suit most genres of music. I would still have preferred more punch, more tightness, and more articulation.

The mids and highs, are simply amazing in their clarity, detail and transparency. It’s almost like pure sweetness was pouring out of the K3003. Vocals come across with outstanding realism. While there is no discernable sibilance, I found the highs to be a little too bright.

The soundstage of the K3003 is decent. Not as good as I’d like to have, but certainly acceptable for an in-ear headphone.

I was curious if the bass boost filter would help with my preference for a punchier bass. It didn’t. All the bass boost filter did was to cloud the music. I’d say, just stick to the standard reference filter.

Conclusion

Is the K3003 worth its price? That’s not a simple question to answer. Is an Aston Martin worth its price? At $1599, the K3003 is going to be out of reach of some listeners. For others seeking the ultimate in listening experience, the K3003 is certainly a very worth consideration.

My review of the K3003 may have been a little more critical than average. That’s because of the price category that the K3003 has put itself in. You’d certainly expect a whole lot more from the K3003 than a pair of headphones that cost under $100.

With that in mind, I’d still say the K3003 is plenty good. Its sound is about the best you’d ever get from any pair of universal in-ear headphone. The overall sound quality is outstanding, and if you’re coming from free headphones or others that cost under $100, the K3003 will open your ears to the world of luxury listening and hear music from headphones like you’ve never heard before.

Words can only describe so much. The ultimate test is for you to listen to the headphones for yourself. You can audition the K3003 at Stereo, located at Plaza Singapura (#04-06) and Ion Orchard (B4-23/24). Technical specifications are available here.

Pros:

• Overall astounding balanced sound
• Very detailed, very good clarity through the mids and highs
• Very good build
• Small, lightweight, easy to fit on

Cons:

• Non-replaceable cable
• Sound isolation could be better

This post was originally written as part of my participation in Omy.sg’s K3003 / The Sound of Luxury blog. I’m now reposting some of those posts, with some minor edits, on my own blog.

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The first instalment had focused on the different type of headphones, and the continuing Part 2 discussed some technical aspects of headphones.

The choice of headphones type as much a personal preference as it is the type of use case. So, although I like to write more in-depth about in-ear headphones, I’m not necessarily saying that they are the best for you. In-ear headphones are no doubt more portable compared with full-sized headphones, no argument here, but perhaps in the area of comfort, it may be possible that some people may disagree.

What are In-Ear Headphones?

First off, what exactly are in-ear headphones?

In-ear headphones are tiny headphones that stick directly into your ear canals. They deliver sound directly into your ear canal, and at the same time, provide some sort of isolation or seal against outside sounds, so that you hear your music more clearly and without the distraction from outside sounds.

Many people are familiar with earbud headphones. These are the type that are usually included free with your mobile phone, music player or other mobile gadget. Earbud headphones are not the same as in-ear headphones. The former sit in your outer ear, and don’t actually stick into your ear canal. The AKG K3003 and Q350 are in-ear headphones. The headphones that come with the Apple iPhone, even the latest iPhone 4S, are earbud headphones.

In-ear headphones are often also casually referred to as in-ear monitors. They aren’t, technically, the same thing. In-ear monitors are meant to refer to in-ear headphones with a wireless remote receiver, carried by stage performers, so that they can receive audio feedback from the sound mixing desk. Many people, however, just use the terms interchangeably.

Advantages of In-Ear Headphones

A key feature of in-ear headphones is that they sit inside your ear canal, and they deliver sound directly into your ear canals. They don’t go that deep inside your ear canal, so don’t worry about that. At the same time, in-ear headphones provide a seal against outside sounds, usually by using silicone ear sleeves or memory foam, which bridge the gap between the tip of the headphone that goes into your ear canal, and the walls of your ear canal.

The direct delivery of sound and sound isolation has several important advantages. Firstly, it is easier for the drivers to deliver the sound. There will be less interference and distraction from outside sounds. Music will sound cleaner and purer. The superior isolation will enable bass frequencies, in particular, to be more easily heard. You will also be less likely to push up the music volume in order to drown out any outside sounds.

In fact, because the music is so much clearer and more easily heard, you don’t have to play at high volumes. Ultimately, this will save your hearing. However, just bear in mind that good sound isolation is not always the best thing, because in some instances, you need to be aware of your surroundings.

Depending on your personal preference, in-ear headphones can also be more comfortable than, say, full-sized headphones. For example, I dislike full-sized headphones because of the headband that goes over my head. Some full-sized headphones also grip the head too tight. Others might slip out of position if you move around your head too much or too suddenly. Even earbud headphones can be prone to slipping out of your ears.

In-ear headphones, on the other hand, don’t easily fall out of your ear canals. I also feel they are more comfortable, because they are light, and the seals that hold the headphones in your ear canals are soft and flexible.

Universals and Customs

There are two types of in-ear headphones: universals and customs. Universals are ones that you can buy off the shelf. They are standard in make. So far, most of what I’ve written about refer to universals. Customs, while mostly similar to the universals, have some important differences.

Custom in-ear headphones are custom made to fit your ears specifically. Instead of having a standard headphone design, then using different sizes of ear sleeves or memory form to fit your ear canals, customs are made specifically to the size and shape of your ear canals. To make custom in-ear headphones, you’ve got to make an ear impression, then send the mould to the headphone manufacturer for them to custom make the headphone for you. The custom in-ear headphones you finally receive will fit your onto your outer ear and into your ear canals perfectly.

The perfect fit offered by custom in-ear headphones is a big advantage. They are often more comfortable to wear for long hours. Customs usually also provide good isolation, on par with silicone ear sleeves, although perhaps not as good as memory foam. There is some debate, however, whether any of these are true. Your mileage may vary.

The biggest hurdle with customs is that they sound great only when they fit your ears perfectly, so how do you audition such headphones? Before you buy it, there is nothing for you to try. In order to try, you’ve got to buy one.

That’s not all, even though customs are supposed to provide a perfect fit, it cannot be guaranteed. Maybe the ear impressions you supplied were not well made. Or perhaps the headphone manufacturer did not do a good job. You don’t know, until you’ve paid and received the final product. Worst yet, even if everything did get manufactured properly and the customs do fit you perfectly, what if the sound wasn’t quite what you were hoping for after all? There’s no refund or resale, since the customs are not going to fit anyone else.

As a result, some music listeners prefer to stay with universal in-ear headphones. Universals can also deliver superb performance. You can test these headphones before you buy them. Furthermore, you know exactly how they’ll sound like after you bought them, because it’s exactly the same thing as the one you tested.

Next Instalment

So we’ve just covered in-ear headphones. There’s really a lot more to know about them, but I decided not to go into too many details. I just wanted to get your interest in in-ear headphones, and if you like to know more, you know you can Google around for additional information.

My next instalment of this series will be on evaluating sound quality. This is the most difficult, most subjective, topic. It is also about the most important. So stay tuned. Please vote for me too, if you like what I’ve been writing!

This post was originally written as part of my participation in Omy.sg’s K3003 / The Sound of Luxury blog. I’m now reposting some of those posts, with some minor edits, on my own blog.

In Search of the Best Headphones: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

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But it doesn’t matter. It’s just a reason to shop, and shoppers just love having sales and discounts. It’s not quite the right time to buy any Apple hardware, though, because we’re all expecting refreshes coming up not too far away. There’s the iPad 3 and the rumoured slimmer MacBook Pro (or some reorganization of the MacBook Air/Pro product lines). So, actually, Red Friday wasn’t all that exciting. There were good discounts, however, if you happened to be already needing to buy something right away. MacBook Airs, for example, were going for S$120 less.

Something did catch my attention though. The Parrot AR.Drone. It’s now back to the original S$449 price, but it was going for about S$368 (almost 20% discount).

What is the AR.Drone? It’s a remote-controlled quadricopter. Yeah, you’ve seen those toy RC helicopters, and those are plenty cheap. This Parrot AR.Drone is rather expensive eh?

Well, it’s quite a different toy. This is remote-controlled over Wifi from a free iPhone or Android application. The gadget has four propellers, hence being called a quadricopter. It has two video cameras, one forward facing and the other downward facing, and live video can be streamed to the iPhone or Android application. It also has a bunch of sensors to help it automatically stabilize itself, hover over a fixed position, automatically maintain vertical separation from ground obstacles, etc.

The drone runs Linux, and Parrot provides a SDK so that you can build interesting applications with the AR.Drone. I had this pet project idea before: Build a robot guard that can patrol an area while providing video surveillance. This AR.Drone can almost be that platform to build such a solution. The “problem” with the AR.Drone, however, is its battery life. The AR.Drone’s specifications list its flight time as about 15 minutes on a single charge, although some independent reviewers have reported longer times, albeit only slightly.

Now, if someone could build some sort of inductive charging circuitry to recharge the AR.Drone’s battery… that would be awesome.

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Thanks to Omy.sg, IMS Marketing and AKG, I was provided with this pair of Q460 headphones for review. This is my third AKG headphone review, after the Q350 andK518LE. There is also the flagship K3003, the review of which I’ve saved for the last, although I’ve been already shared my first impressions here.

We’ll find out in this review if the Q460 headphones live up to the reputation of the legend whose name it bears.

Like the Q350, the Q460 is packaged inside a nice cardboard box, with a clear plastic window letting you have a peak at the Q460 in it. A photo of Quincy Jones is featured on the front of the box. Apart from the white colour version you see here, the Q460 is also available in green and black colours.

The Q460 comes with plenty of things inside the box. That was the first thing that came across my mind when I pulled out the contents, particularly when I saw the wires and connecting accessories. You get:

• The headphone itself
• A semi-hard carrying case
• 1 m long detachable headphone wire with iPhone-compatible mic and remote
• 60 cm long detachable headphone wire (without mic and remote)
• 3.5 mm to 6.3 mm adapter
• 3.5 mm to 2.5 mm adapter (with a short wire)
• Several pieces of printed materials, including warranty and a brochure on the Quincy Jones Signature Line

It looks like plenty of things because, well, headphone wires are usually not detachable, and you get a selection of wires with and without iPhone-compatible mic and remote. Furthermore, it isn’t common to find a 3.5 mm to 2.5 mm adapter. Most headphone jacks are 3.5 mm, the 2.5 mm appeared with some mobile phones at one time but they didn’t seem to catch on.

The semi-hard carrying case is a nice touch. It’s covered in fabric material. Inside, there are two mesh pockets on one side. You can keep a small music player in one of the pockets, and whichever of the two detachable wire you prefer in the other. The Q460 headphones are designed to fit into the other side. As you can see from the photo, the Q460 can be folded into a pretty compact form. There are depressions on the side of the carrying case to fit the folded Q460 perfectly. It’s pretty convenient for carrying both your headphone and music player together.

Comfort and Fit

The Q460 fits quite comfortably over my head and onto my ears. As you might recall from my review of the K518LE, I was a little apprehensive if this tight grip was a signature feature AKG headphones. Fortunately, it isn’t. At least not with the Q460 anyway.

The Q460’s ear cups are smaller than average, so they aren’t going to cover the ears very well. As a result, isolation against outside noise isn’t all that great. The ear cups are pretty maneuverable, so they are quite easy to put on, and put on right.

The cushions on the ear cups are soft, very comfortable. Combined with a not-too-tight grip, these are the type of headphones that you can wear for hours and hours on end and drown yourself in your music bliss.

The wires are too short! Okay, the one with the iPhone-compatible mic and remote measure 1 m, a length that I feel is just barely sufficient. I would have preferred more slack. But if you choose to go with the wire without the mic and remote, that one measures only 60 cm long. That’s just far too short to attach it to a gadget carried, say, in your pant’s pockets.

I like the idea of detachable wires. I assume that AKG will sell replacements, reasonably priced, so you don’t have to throw a whole set of headphones away simply because of a problem with the wires.

Sound Quality

I was sadly disappointed with the sound quality. Perhaps I held too much expectations given its endorsement by Quincy Jones. But everyone hears sound differently, and each of us have different preferences, so certainly you may feel differently from me about the Q460.

The Q460’s bass doesn’t impress. Although I don’t consider myself a bass head, I do like to hear a strong tight accurate bass. Given the right source material, I think the Q460 might deliver decent bass, but overall, this is not its strong point.

The midrange, on the other hand, is unusually strong. There’s a lot of punch to vocals, delivered with clarity and assertiveness. Vocals are important, but I felt that they were overbearing.

Soundstage on the Q460 felt narrow, but I’ll concede that there is overall balance and clarity in its sound.

As you will find out in a later part of my series on Ultimate Listening – In Search of the Best Headphones, we all have different preferences in the say we want to hear our music. Try out the Q460 yourself. You might pretty much disagree with me.

Conclusion

The Q460 is a good-looking, lightweight, compact-sized headphone. The detachable wires with option for having the inline iPhone-compatible mic and remote, or not, is a nice touch.

I’m not a fan with the sound, but your mileage may vary.

The Q460 retails $219.90, and you can find them at retail shops such as Stereo.

Pros:

• Lightweight, can be folded into very compact-size for portability
• Comfortable to wear
• Detachable wires, option to have mic and remote, or not

Cons:

• Wires are too short, particularly if you choose to go with the wire without mic/remote
• Isolation isn’t great

This post was originally written as part of my participation in Omy.sg’s K3003 / The Sound of Luxury blog. I’m now reposting some of those posts, with some minor edits, on my own blog.

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