Headphone Mania

[SteveFord 1,131]

To drown out my bizarro coworkers, I just took the plunge and ordered a Beyerdynamic DT 235.

http://www.headphone.com/guide/by-manufacturer/beyerdynamic/beyerdynamic-dt-235-black.php

I was kind of leaning towards the Grado in this price range but like the Beyerdynamic DT880s so much that I decided to stick with the brand.

If you like headphones, this is a neat vendor - lots of good stuff. Shame they don't carry Stax but guess you can't have everything.

[BillD 239]

I've never liked closed backs since the Koss Pro 4AAs I had for years. My ears would sweat, but to drown out noisy co-workers, it is the way to go. I now have AKG 701s which let my ears breathe a little.

[SteveFord 1,131]

Bill,

You talked me into going with the Grados after all. Got enough problems without sweaty ears.

www.headphone.com/guide/by-manufacturer/grado/grado-sr-60i.php

[SteveFord 1,131]

The Grados showed up last night and for a $79 headphone, they sound great.  Kind of a 3/4 size AKG 701, recommended.

[Reese 52]

what sort of office do you guys work in that's so noisy?  I'm seriously curious...no BS.  

 

I never that kind of environment -- but I occasionally would put an earbud or two in for background music, but always had incoming calls or a visit in person to interrupt. 

[OBI56 23]

It doesn't take much in a "partition farm" full of open cubicles to get really noisy and any sort of personal privacy is all but impossible.  All it takes is one loudmouth on the phone and everyoen else has to raise their voices to make themselves heard on the phone and then things get really crazy.  It seems to be getting worse as time goes on and finding an partitionned office that is relatively quiet is all but impossible.

[SteveFord 1,131]

Unemployment Dept, maybe 100 people, open cubicles that you can look over.  Lots of people on the phone plus idiots who can't stop having conversations across the "hallways".

[elgrau 89]

No such problem where I work: most surrounding cubes are empty (co-workers "recalled" from program or sent packing!). Opposite problem: it's too quiet and "lonely". Great for getting stuff done tho! About the only conversations I have most of my workday is "over the wall" with my manager 1st thing in a.m. and maybe before leaving! Plus he is scheduled to get his 60 day notice this month! Sure glad I'm ready to get my severance package (one week of pay for every year of service up to 26 weeks pay - I have 33 years) and then retire. If I'm lucky I can stretch it out 'till I'm SS elliligble in ~ 17 months. I'm lucky to be one of the few remaining private sector employees who still gets some kind of pension of ~45-50% of current pay(although with no cola provision it will be inflated away to nothing in probably less than 10 years). And this is more than fair and adequate when coupled with 401k plan savings plus SS . But we all are required to support government employees 95% pensions with cola and retiree medical for them at ages as low as 50 (and work 'tll we are 62-65 in order to do this while they play away there days with our support)! What a neat slavery system we have!

[BillD 239]

Ed, that was how it was at my work before I retired.  I had an office, but the cube farm was so quiet, I thought I was alone in the building most of the time.  Spooky.  I think it was one of the factors that made me throw in the towel early.  At least I could retire with some dignity rather than being "downsized".

[elgrau 89]

Hear you about the "retire with dignity" thing, Bill. However, the preferred way to leave "The Borg" these days is to hang on 'till your number comes up and get the severance package (the max of 26 weeks pay for most folks close to retirement) and THEN retire. I coined a name for such folks who get their wish and get "downsized" under these circumstances: the "Grateful Dead"!   Since you can take this severance pay as a lump sum if you want, it does not preclude you collecting unemployment if you take it that way as well! It's just too much of a financial incentive to just "retire" and miss out on all that "free" money! They are basically phasing out most engineering work here in Huntington Beach anyway, so it's really just a matter of time before those who do not transfer to another division are axed anyway!

[BillD 239]

Well, ours was a little different, but I got the free money too.  You could "volunteer" to be downsized when there was a Lack of Work action about to be taken and then.  That's what I did.  You avoided the embarassment of getting called in and told, and the orientation meetings, etc.  They threw you a retirement party instead of having to leave persona non grata.  What you got was a week of pay for every year worked as a lump sum, plus you could collect unemployment and then retire and start collecting your pension (yes, we had one that was frozen some years back, but I did qualify.  Not much, but between a grand and two a month).  Because of health issues (ESRD) I was able to qualify for disability almost immediately  after I retired.  So, with my wife working at Mayo Clinic (I opted out of my work insurance to be covered by hers), I was all set.  She's now retired from Mayo, and we have her retiree benefits as well as my being on Medicare because of disability.