the cranberries “lost”

Posted on by writh

The Cranberries “lost”

I hadn’t really listened to The Cranberries last Album, In the End. They were in the process of recording it when Delores O’Riordan died, and they were able to piece together her recordings to make the album and release it posthumously. The Cranberries have a really special place in my heart. I remember listening to Zombie while I was sitting on my older sister Jeni’s bed. She was folding laundry and putting it in her dresser. The sound of it was beyond anything that I had ever heard. To my six or seven year old ears, it was so haunting and dark. I didn’t understand its message. I heard about zombies and tanks and bombs. The instruments were visceral. Delores’ voice was melodic, and yet it had so much character. That is one of the most formative memories I have of music.

Later, I remember, in my teens, sitting on my best friend Rory’s bed and listening to it again. We talked about how magical it was. We wanted to cover it with our terrible band that we were trying to put together. Thankfully we never did, but I remember it taking me back again to being a child and Delores’ voice opening the world of music, and more particularly rock music, up before me. My taste in music has been forever shaped by that song.

Cut to me in my thirties, working from home in my living room. Spotify suggested The Cranberries last album, In the End, to me. I had been in a bit of a retrospective mood for the last few days. That generally meant a journey from Joy Division, to The Smiths, to Thursday, to La Dispute. Somewhere between The Smiths and Thursday, I started listening to In the End. “All Over Now” was good. I liked it, but it didn’t really pull me in. Then “Lost” came on. It was transporting. It took me back to Rory’s room, talking music, then back to Jeni’s room, watching her fold laundry while discovering music for the first time. 

Delores’ voice is haunting in the song. I am not sure if it would be, had she not died in 2018. Its hard to say. I may be bringing more to it than it deserves, but I don’t think that I am. “Lost” is a fitting goodbye to Delores. Its subject matter is troubled. It talks about a world passing us by and feeling unmoored from reality.  Delores’ signature pitch bending, quasi-yodel is here, and it brings me right back to “Zombie.” “I’m lost with you, I’m lost without you.” Meaning derived from another person being the thing that tethers us to life is tenuous at best. “Bring in the night” is the refrain from the chorus. Take it inside and feel lost in, and part of, the dark.

I highly recomend listening to In the End. The whole album is worth your time. It is a beautiful and worthy goodbye to Delores O’Riordan.

 

The Cranberries

 

Audio: Apple Airpods Max

Posted on by writh

Apple Airpods Max on a Desk

 

 

Apple Airpods Max: 

Feel the Premium

As a quick update for the Jabra Elite 85h’s, they let me down. They stopped pairing one day, out of the blue. Fortunately, Jabra took them back. So since then, I have been in the market for a new pair of premium over-ear Bluetooth headphones. I tried a few pairs of earbuds. I liked the Galaxy Buds+. Had they been made with ANC, I might have just decided to forgo a new set of cans. I tried the Airpods Pro. My only gripe with them was that they had trouble staying in my ears. They would fall out regularly. I was constantly adjusting them. I even tried a set of expanding foam ear tips. They did help, but not to the point that I was satisfied. Plus having to roll them between my fingers before inserting them in my ears every time got annoying.

It was during this time that Apple announced the Airpods Max. I immediately took notice. I am an iPhone user (I just upgraded from the iPhone XS Max to the 12 Pro Max), so the headphones not being platform-agnostic was not a deal breaker for me. If you are an Android user, I would suggest looking at another pair. I pre-ordered the Airpods Max and eagerly awaited their delivery.
I ended up getting them in silver and white. I would have preferred Space-Gray, but that color was already sold-out. They arrived this morning. I have been using them non-stop for the past two hours.

My thoughts:

ANC: 
They sound excellent. The ANC is superb. If I had a pair of Sony WH-X1000XM4’s to side by side compare them, I might be able to tell which has better ANC. As I don’t have them on hand, I am not able to tell definitively, but these are the only other pair of headphones that I have ever used that can compete with the Sony’s for ANC.

Connectivity:
If you have an iPhone or a Mac, they are simply the easiest headphones to connect. If you are connecting to an Android phone or a Windows PC, they are just like any other pair of Bluetooth headphones. They connect to a Mac, iPad, and iPhone and can hot-swap between them. If you need to connect to an iPhone and a Windows PC (as I do for work) you have to disconnect from one to connect to the other, as with any other pair of headphones. They have a rock-solid connection. I was able to leave my phone on my desk and walk into my kitchen to refill my water bottle without any degradation of sound or loss of connectivity.

Sound:
Here is where the Airpods Max shine. The sound quality from these headphones easily eclipse their nearest competitor the afore mentioned Sony’s. I would not compare them to any other consumer grade ANC Bluetooth over ear headphones. They are more accurately compared to audiophile level headphones. They have a surprisingly open soundstage for closed back headphones. They lean toward a warmer, more bass-rich sound. They are not neutral reference cans, but they are accurate and enjoyable to listen to.

Comfort:
I have only been using them for a couple of hours, but I can already tell that they are among the most comfortable over-ear headphones I have ever worn. My ears do not touch the drivers on the inside. The earcups distribute the pressure around them evenly, and do not apply pressure to any single area. The mesh covered memory foam earcups are cooler than leather or pleather that come on many headphones. The headband sits so comfortably that I can’t feel it. In all, I would say that the only headphones more comfortable than these that I have worn are the Philips Audio Fidelio X2HR’s.

Looks:
The headphones themselves look superb. I could not ask for better. They are clean, sleek, and would not look out of place in a professional setting. I won’t address the case’s looks here. Its been memed about, talked about, and mocked sufficiently. Lets just say that I don’t think it was their best styling choice. Functionally, I don’t think the case was a good choice either. It is not protective for traveling. I think that Apple let themselves down with the case. I am hopeful that third parties will rise to the occasion and put our a case that has the magnets in it to allow the deep sleep functionality without the awful looks of the smart case.

Scores (out of 10):
ANC: 9
Connectivity: 8
Sound: 10
Comfort: 10
Looks: Headphones: 10 Case: -2
Price: $549.99

Audio: Jabra Elite 85H Review

Posted on by writh

Jabra Elite 85h review

 

A jack of all trades and the supreme master of connectivity. 

If you are looking for a pair of higher end Bluetooth over-ear head phones, might I suggest the Jabra Elite 85h? They are not the absolute best in any traditional headphone category. They are not the most comfortable headphones that I have ever worn (those would be the Philips Fidelio X2’s). They don’t have the best ANC that I have tried (those would be the Sony WH1000XM4). They don’t have the best sound-stage (again, the Fidelio X2’s [unfortunately this is because they are wired, open backed headphones, which makes them a poor choice for everyday/at the office use]). The thing that makes The 85H’s worthy of consideration is their Bluetooth pairing combined with their top 5 performance in every other category.

Jabra 85H Headphones on a desk

The 85H’s pair very easily. Unfolding the headphones turns them on and makes them attempt to pair with your device. The first time you do this when you turn them on, they go into pairing mode without needing to press any buttons. You just go to the bluetooth menu on your phone and select them from the list. Their app is also first rate. It has a fully customizable EQ and ANC mode menu. This can also be set to judge the type of noise around you and select the ANC mode it deems most useful. For instance, if someone comes up to you and speaks to you, it will detect that the voice is aimed at you and put the ANC in “hear-through” mode that passes external sound to you via the microphones.

The best feature though, for me, is the seamless way that they will connect to 2 devices. Many sets of headphones claim to do this, but they don’t do it well. These are literally the first headphones that I have tried (I have tried a lot of headphones) that actually do it well. You simply pair it to a second device like you do the first, and it just works. You get media from the one you most recently told to play media. So if I am listening to Audible on my phone, then sit down to work at my computer, I press play on Spotify on my computer so that I can focus on my work, and it pauses the media on my phone and plays the media from my computer. You get notification sounds from both. If I am listening to something via my phone and I get a Teams call on my laptop, I answer it on my laptop and it pauses the media on my phone for the duration of my call on my computer, then when the call is over, it resumes the media on my phone. When you take off the headphones and fold them, they turn off. Then when you put them back on, they turn on and attempt to connect to the two most recent devices that are in range. For me, this has quickly become an essential part of my work and home life.

Our of 10:

Comfort: 8
Sound: 8
ANC: 7
Connectivity: 13
Phone call quality: 10

Price: $249.99