onhifi.com's 2003 Gift-Giving
Guide
If there's a single product I've
fallen hopelessly in love with this year, it's my 30GB iPod,
so I'm going to say, make it an iPod Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa.
The Apple iPod (10GB $299; 20GB $399; 40GB $499)
The Nomad Zen Xtra may actually sound better (I'm
still going back and forth on that one), but the iPod's total package is incredibly
attractive: the iTunes software is dead easy to use; the iPod's playlist-based playback
system is intuitive and easy enough to use when you're, oh say, running (I use mine at the
gym a lot); and the player's controls are elegantly simple.
As Stereophile's John Atkinson observes in his
"Editor's Choice" award to the iPod, you don't get any hardcore audiophile cred
for appreciating the iPod, but it's fun to use, plays uncompressed .AIF and .WAV files in
addition to MP3s, and it puts a whole lot of music in your hand.
The iPod's all about portability and accessibility. It
weighs just a tad over six ounces and can slip into a shirt pocket, so I think nothing of
taking mine on daily walks, errands, and those long subway rides into NYC. I wonder how I
ever did without it.
When I want to listen to music seriously, I still go to my
he-man stereo rig, but the iPod is a godsend in a world that seemingly conspires to shrink
the amount of time I can listen to music -- and the fact that it also serves as a musical
spam blocker is just gravy.
I know audiophiles who sneer at the whole category of MP3
players, but here's a clue that the iPod really is an audiophile toy: it has cool
accessories!
If you are looking for an appropriate gift for a music
lover who already has an iPod, here are a few suggestions.
Etymotic
ER-6 Isolator Earphones ($129)
The earphones supplied with the iPod are better than a lot
of their ilk, but buy a real pair of 'phones and you'll be amazed at what you can
hear. I like the Etymotic ER-6es because they're easy to drive (48-ohm impedance;
108dB/0.4V sensitivity) and because they have a warm bloom to the bottom end that makes
the most of the bass the iPod does output.
The ER-6es also block out beaucoup ambient noise --
probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 10dB, which can mean all the difference in the
world in high-noise environments. It's about three weeks before Christmas as I write this,
so I use my ER-6es to insulate me from the holiday music so recklessly pumped into every
store and street corner. The way I figure it, any day that I don't have to hear
"Little Drummer Boy" is a day worth living.
Audible.com (various prices)
When I got my iPod, the software CD-ROM that contained
iTunes also had a promotion for www.audible.com. I was eager to try as many different
options for the player as I could, so I signed up for a trial subscription with very low
expectations. I figured I'd find abridged readings of best sellers mostly and, as an avid
reader myself, I wasn't at all sure I'd enjoy being read to.
Boy, was I wrong! I love it. Listening to a
book is a very different experience from reading it. I still prefer to read for the
escape and stimulation it offers, but I also enjoy listening to books and look forward to
the half hour or so I spend listening to audible.com programs in the sauna every morning
after my workout. It's my reward. There have been a lot of chilly winter mornings when bed
seemed like a much preferable option to working out, but the added treat of hearing the
next chapter has gotten me up and out more than once.
Most of the programs I've downloaded from audible have been
superb -- Nigel Planer's masterful narrations of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are
delightful and Will Patton's reading of James Lee Burke's Sunset Limited emphasizes
that author's muscular poetry in a most compelling way. Then there are the authors who do
their own reading: Al Franken, Anthony Bourdain, and Molly Ivins have all proved to be
great company.
You can also buy subscriptions to radio programs such as This
American Life, Fresh Air, and Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!, not to
mention periodicals like The New York Times Audio Digest, Forbes, and Scientific
American.
Individually, these programs are pretty pricey, but
audible.com has monthly packages that offer two "audio programs" for $19.95. At
eight-to-ten hours per book, that means my subscription runs about half a novel ahead of
my consumption, which strikes me as about right.
If I didn't have an iPod, I'd base my MP3 player purchase
on whether or not the candidates supported audible.com. I consider it that essential.
Kimber Kable PBJ 6' mini-to-RCA cable ($89)
Even audiophiles get lazy sometimes and just want to listen
to a nice pre-programmed playlist on their real hi-fis. The iPod's docking cradle
allows you to output a signal uncorrupted by the player's volume control, but surely no
audiophile can feel good about using a cheesy little connecting cable. Kimber to the
rescue with a real he-man twisted pair covered in a solid Techflex sleeve.
It sounds good, too. Real good. And if the iPod has an
audiophile-approved cable, it's got to be for real, right?
Riiight!
May your holidays and your everydays be filled with music
this year and every year.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
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