Article Orange » iPods & MP3

There are headphones and then there is Skullcandy!

zenosubmi — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:01:47 +0000

For anyone who has been checking out what headphones to buy you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen Skullcandy.

As the name suggests, these are not your standard plain, black headphones.
In a wide range of colours and designs, Skullcandy really are a fashion statement. Aimed at the extreme sports market, skateboarding, skiing, surfing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, bmx, moto cross, basketball and motor rally, they really have the designs to suit the market they aim at.

Skullcandy recently announced the Snoop Dogg Skull Crusher, the only headphones with their own sub woofer. Their recent announcement of partnership with NBA will have basketball fans going wild. Available in December the headphones will carry the names and team logos of six of the NBA’s hottest players with plans to launch more in the coming months.

Another innovative idea from Skullcandy is the new iPhone app with a surf report, snow report/forecast, streaming music, Skullcandy videos and skatepark finder.

Skullcandy make every kind of headphones available and in every colour imaginable. They even make wooden bud earphones, the Holua. They also sell loads of merchandise from tee shirts to bandanas, stickers to sweatbands.
You can really go for the whole Skullcandy look.

So if you’re choosing headphones and you’re into extreme sport, there is only one – Skullcandy.

But don’t forget all you NBA fans, the best is yet to come.

Even if you’re not into the sports, there is a range of in ear, on ear and over ear headphones, all in terrific colours, you just have to pick the ones to suit your style.

om Jacobs is a consumer electronics writer and specialist. Tom has held a number of senior roles in the industry, before becoming a writer and adviser at ZenoStore.com

One of the hottest new MP3’s around

zenosubmi — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:34:16 +0000

The recent launch of the Creative Zen X-Fi2 challenges the Apple iPod Touch. More competitively priced but carrying most of the features it really is a stylish MP3.

The Zen X-Fi 2 is the first touch screen player of the Creative Zen set. It has a 3inch TFT LCD screen that you can just let your fingers stroke over to gain access to all the players’ features instantly. The player comes with a set of high quality earphones that really give great audio that would compete with high end stereo speakers. They are top of the range ear bud style that block out ambient sound and come with changeable ear tips so that you can have the ones that suit you best.

The Zen X-Fi2 supports multiple audio formats including the must have Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) which delivers audio without compromising on its original sound. It also supports iTunes.

The player comes in 3 capacities, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB but if you need more memory you can simply pop a microSD memory card into the built in slot. The Zen X-Fi 2 has video out where you can share your photos and videos on a big screen TV and it also supports offline RSS feeds.

The player has an X-Fi Crystallizer that allows you to experience the true quality of the music as it restores detail lost in the compression process.

Another feature is the accelerometer function which allows you to rotate the player to adjust the orientation of your photos. You can share your music out loud with the built in speaker or use the EP-630 in-ear earphones supplied with your player. You can tune in to 32 preset radio stations for the latest news. At only 75grams it’s easy to carry your Zen X-Fi 2 with you all the time. There is even a handy voice recorder built in to record a meeting or just a reminder. It also has an organiser with a built in alarm clock, calendar, tasks and contacts so you need never miss an appointment. The Zen X-Fi 2 even has a restrict volume feature that limits the maximum output for your safety.

All in all, the latest Creative Zen X-Fi 2 is a top of the range MP3 with astounding quality.

Zenostore.co.uk is a leading electronics retailer stocking over 6,500 products.For electronics, Zenostore – Online Shopping as You’d Expect………….
Tom Jacobsen is a writer for www.Zenostore.co.uk and has worked in the electronics industry for many years.

Which Headphones?

zenosubmi — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:22:36 +0000

How many of us listen to music with the Headphones supplied with our MP3 player? It is strange that at a time when music is listened to more and more and the variety of music there is, that we should opt to stay with the basic headphones.

The headphones that come with your MP3 player are often uncomfortable and don’t even reproduce the sound quality well. So, you think you might change them for something better and you start to look for headphones.

There is more choice in headphones than there is MP3 players. Maybe that alone is an indication of how important it is that you get this right. Some people prefer to go with something that is a bit of a fashion statement, you only have to check out the Skullcandy range to see what I mean. Others prefer to go for quality. Budget may often be a factor, some headphones run into the thousands!

Basically, headphones generally fall into three categories, in ear, on ear and over ear. They are all self explanatory. The in ear are often referred to as ear buds, they are tiny and fit inside your outer ear. Some people find them uncomfortable to wear but they can give great sound quality and eliminate a lot of ambient sound as well. They are also very discreet. On ear headphones are like the traditional headset type, not to big and quite comfortable. Over ear headphones are just that, they cover the whole of your ear and cut out ambient sound very well. They are probably better suited to listening in a static place rather than as portable MP3 headphones. This type is most often the top end of headphones giving excellent results with the quality of sound. These headphones are usually chosen for professional purposes such as DJ, the over ears are supplied with swivel ear pads for this purpose. You can also get over ears for gaming that give you the bass and surround sound to enhance your experience.

It really depends what type of music you listen to and how much you want to spend that will influence your choice of Headphones in the end.

Zenostore.com is a leading electronics retailer stocking over 6,500 products. For electronics, Zenostore is Online Shopping as You’d Expect………….
Tom Jacobsen is a writer for www.zenostore.com and has worked in the electronics industry for many years.

MP3 Media Players

zenosubmi — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:21:10 +0000

The must have, for most young people these days, seem to be the MP3 Media Players. They are an easy way to carry your music with you wherever you go. You can view videos, play games and even read books on them.

However, these are not just the forte of the young. MP3’s are used extensively in the gym, where you can work out to the beat of your own playlist. So if you prefer opera to hip hop it is your choice. All ages can be found in the local gym and most gym members will be tuned in to their own MP3.

Although MP3’s are commonly thought of as ‘music on the move’ this is not necessarily the case. With the use of a docking station you can listen to your MP3 in your living room and share your music with your family. With MP3 Media Players you can watch DVD on your TV screen through your docking station.

Another use, that is often overlooked, is audio books. There are loads of audio books available to download so you can listen to the latest best seller. This is a great aid to someone who is partially sighted. Instead of listening to music on your way to work you could listen to a book either through your car MP3 player or through the headphones. It is also a great distraction for a car sick child so they don’t have to read a book.

With the MP3 Media Players you can even read an e book or your newspaper. It is a really handy device that will do just about anything.

Of course it does have its limitations. The battery life can soon be sucked dry, especially when viewing videos. Transferring files onto it can sometimes take a long time. Picture quality when transferred to a larger screen can suffer.

Overall, MP3 Media Players offer you a wide variety of entertainment that you can take with you, but priced around £300 it is a relatively expensive gadget.