Tech Purchase: Ultimate Ears Super fi 3 headphones.

My Shure E2c ear-canal headphones finally gave out after about 5 years. The right ear kept cutting out with movement. I narrowed the problem to the area of the 1/8" connector and tried unsuccessfully to solder a new one on... well I was successful, but lost all bass response for some reason.

So the search started for sub-$100 headphones. After checking numerous reviews I settled on the Ultimate Ears Super fi 3, a company I honestly never heard of until I did a little digging. Apparently they're more well known in the music business than to consumers. A steal on Amazon currently for $60 (retails $90ish).. I'm a little worried about bass output from some reviews.. but I'll initially chalk that up to bad earplug fit and see how it goes when they arrive.

Tech Purchase: Apple Ipod Shuffle

I needed to find a replacement for holding the sweaty brick which is my Zen Sleek Photo while running. This seems perfect. It's extremely small (a little larger than a quarter) and clips onto a sleeve, pocket, whatever. It only has 1GB of storage, but this should be enough for my greatest "motivational high energy music" - currently new-school Electro and old Italo disco stuff. The controls are extremely limited.. shuffle or straight-play and the transport buttons. But again, perfectly acceptable for jogging purposes. I can't complain, bought it from Amazon for $50 (had a $25 off coupon).