From time to time, when I try to pretend to be a noob user, I find myself having to complain about Linux. The user experience, in my opinion, is just not there yet. Over a decade ago, when I was interviewed about whether Linux was ready for prime time, my answer was that it wasn’t, but but that it was getting there. Every other year or so, when I ask myself again this question, my answer has invariably been the…
It’s almost like Samsung is officially leaking out ROMs when the date of the next leak can be so accurately forecasted on the XDA forums. I’m not complaining, of course. The previous LP6 ROM was pretty good, mostly working, just some show stoppers for me. I was expecting that LPB would work out pretty well. So when the links to the LPB download started showing up, I quickly got my hands on the files and flashed into my SGS2 in…
ROMs of the latest Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) have been leaking for the Samsung Galaxy S II (SGS2) for some time. The leaks started coming back in December. I’ve been tempted to try the ROMs, but some usability problems were reported, so I held back. I wanted a ROM that was mostly workable for daily use. The leaks continued to come, and right now, the latest available is LP6, released 17th January. Going by reports on XDA, it…
How do you evaluate sound quality in headphones? What do you look out for? How do you compare between headphones? Well, we’ve finally arrived at this topic in this part of my series on Ultimate Listening – In Search of the Best Headphones. 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…
AKG’s latest flagship headphone, the K3003, clearly sets a new standard in ultimate headphone listening experience. Launched at IFA 2011, AKG describes the K3003 as the world’s smallest true three-way reference-quality in-ear headphones. It’s really an absolutely astounding headphone, not least because of its price tag, at $1599, which will almost certainly be out of reach of most except the most discerning music listeners who are willing to pay for premium quality. The K3003 has quickly become a much talked…
In-ear headphones are, to me, the best type of headphones. They strike the best balance of portability, sound isolation, comfort, and sound quality. I’ve been looking forward to writing this part in my series on Ultimate Listening – In Search of the Best Headphones. 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…
Apple yesterday launched its one-day Red Friday sale in Asian markets such as Singapore. It’s the Asian equivalent of the U.S. Black Friday sale. In the U.S., Black Friday marks the starts of the Christmas holiday shopping season. Red Friday sort of marks the season before the Lunar New Year. The shopping reasons here are different though. We don’t give or exchange gifts on Lunar New Year. The closest to giving that we do are “red packets”. But it doesn’t…
The AKG Q460 is the second of three models in the AKG Quincy Jones Signature Line of headphones. It is a smart-looking lightweight on-the-ear headphone that joins the Q350 (my review here) and the Q701 to be endorsed by Quincy Jones. 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…
Even before you start looking at sound quality, there are several more things about headphones that you need to know about. In the first instalment of this series of posts, you heard about the different types of headphones available. Continuing from there, this post will look at some technical aspects of headphones. Do technical specifications matter? What are drivers? Do the number of drivers matter? How about the N-way (number-of-ways) crossovers? What about frequency range? Well, let’s find out more about them!…
The first time I put on the AKG K518LE (Limited Edition) DJ headphones, I was immediately struck by the deep fat punchy bass. It was simply awesome. If you’re a bass head, you’re probably going to like these headphones a lot. It’s surprisingly good for a headphone in its price category. Thanks to Omy.sg, IMS Marketing and AKG, I was provided with this pair of K518LE on-the-ears headphones, the Q350 in-ear headphones (read my review), the Q460 on-the-ear headphones (review…
