Headphone users juggle silence and sound SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) =97 Headphones that use sound waves to cancel out=20 ambient noise have been used by airline pilots for more than a decade to=20 help combat the fatigue and stress that comes from constant flying. Back in= =20 the cabin, noise-canceling headsets have now become a hot gadget for=20 frequent flyers and others longing for the sounds of silence and willing to= =20 pay $300 or more for the pleasure. Bose Corp., Sennheiser Electronic Corp.,= =20 Jensen International Inc. and Sony Corp. all sell noise-canceling headsets= =20 that use an amplifier to zero out bothersome noise by emitting sound waves= =20 opposite to the waves produced by such things as jet engines, or crying=20 babies. Numerous Web reviewers rave about Bose's high-end headsets. Among=20 them is Macworld magazine product reviewer Peter Cohen, who in December=20 recommended them for video game aficionados who don't want their play=20 interrupted and for whom "money is no object." Some noise-canceling headphone users say they knock out all outside noise,= =20 but others say they let in what they want to hear. Nevertheless, they agree= =20 that the noise-canceling function allows them to listen to music at much=20 lower volume since they're no longer trying to drown out outside noise.=20 While noise-canceling technology has created a buzz among corporate=20 travelers, some audiophiles say the headsets are packed with expensive=20 technology that clutters up the listening experience. "It changed the sound= =20 of some of the stuff I listened to and added a little of its own flavor,"=20 said Patrick Kane, a Chicago-area information security consultant and=20 self-described audiophile. "It's not that they don't work =97 they do cut=20 down a lot of noise," said Kane, who added that he also grew tired of=20 lugging around batteries to power his old noise-canceling headphones. The=20 technology behind such earphones is not new. Privately held Bose, based in= =20 Framingham, Massachusetts, released its first acoustic noise-canceling=20 headphones for pilots in 1989. Since then factory and construction workers= =20 have used the technology. American Airlines now offers the newest version=20 to first-class and business-class travelers on some flights. Bose also=20 sells the headsets via in-flight magazines. A less-expensive model that=20 uses noise-cancellation is the Sennheiser 280, which can be found for under= =20 $100. Ease and sound Tyll Hertsens, founder of Bozeman, Montana-based headphone store HeadRoom,= =20 doesn't like noise-canceling headphones and his shop doesn't sell Bose=20 products. Instead, he and other hard-core audiophiles prefer models that=20 isolate noise rather than canceling it out with sound waves, letting=20 nothing get between the listener and the music, they say. Hertsens=20 recommends Etymotic Research's ER-4 model, which fits in the listener's=20 ears and sells for about $300. The technology behind the ER-4 isolates=20 sound rather than canceling it =97 an approach generally favored by sound=20 recording engineers and performers. Wearers of Etymotic's headphones get higher quality sound without extra=20 volume or electronics, Hertsens said. And, there are no batteries required.= =20 But users beware: "You have these things on and you can't hear the phone=20 ring; you can't hear kids drowning in the toilet bowl," Hertsens said.=20 While putting headphones deeply in the ears is not appealing to some=20 people, the approach taken by Etymotic =97 also a maker of high-end hearing= =20 aids =97 has caught the interest of rivals. "Now we're starting to see= others=20 make knock-offs," said Hertsens, who said Sony and sound equipment maker=20 Shure Inc. are getting on the bandwagon. For people who really want to keep= =20 it simple, Hertsens recommends headphones that seal around the ears. That=20 no-tech method eliminates about 75% of outside noise, he said. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************