My set of Sony MDR-EX71SL had stopped working in one ear. The insulation on those seem poor to me. It has a rubbery texture that over time just wore out. I did use them everyday for a few months, but I figured they should have lasted longer. I use my ear buds with my iPod Nano as well as my iPod Shuffle. I went back to using the standard Apple ear buds for a little while, but they really sounded poor and realized that I was one of the iPod users that turn the volume up really loud when the outside noise gets louder. After reading more about some of the hearing loss lawsuits against Apple I decided I should try to save my ears and invest in another pair of ear buds that would cancel out some of the noise. I purchased a few pairs of the Sony ear buds and they broke too easily so I was open to trying something new. I figured there was quite a few I could choose from, but since I have the tendency to break them since I’m not too careful I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a pair of Shure or Etymotics. I searched the Internet and found the BassBuds from Chwang Yi. The price of $29 seemed reasonable to and if I didn’t like them they offered a money back guarantee within one year. It was worth the risk and even if I didn’t like them it was a small price to pay if I didn’t like them.

I carry my iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle with me daily and I was looking for some ear buds to replace the standard white Apple ear buds. Since I carry them around with me daily and use them almost any chance I get, the ear buds take quite a beating and a little more than usual wear and tear. I was looking for some white ear buds to match the iPod. I don’t know I guess I’m one of those Apple people that need the matching accessory. In any case I didn’t want to spend too much money on something I tend to break within a few months. I decided to go with the Sony MDR-EX71SL ear buds in white. I had bought my original pair a few years ago from Japan since they did not sell the white ones here in the states. My second pair, I was able to pick them up online at Amazon for about $30.

I’ve always been interested in ways of getting my large music collection off my computer and into a decent component stereo setup. Throughout college it was consisted of running a 20 foot mini jack to RCA’s cable from my sound card to the stereo inputs. After college the mini jack to RCA cable just didn’t cut it when I had a real office with the computer and a real living room with the stereo setup. Enter the need for a music streaming device. After a short period of research I selected the Roku setup. It seemed to support everything I wanted to do and was capable of running digital outs along with the standard RCA. I did like the concept of Sonos, especially their color remote. Unfortunately their setup did not include any digital outs (even at the time of writing this article).