Some people never forget their first time. That time that you first caressed someone you really cared about. That time you hit your first home run. But what struck me was the first time I had real headphones, something I could really immerse myself in. For the first time, I could hear sound clearly, complete with bass, clarity, and actual fidelity, as opposed to those cheap, waxy ear buds.
We met at J and R music center at 23 Park Row. It was a beautiful, cool summer day in 2009. I had just finished being an extra in a movie filmed on Governor’s Island called “Isle of the Dead” a zombie art film about a group of the undead obsessed with nostalgic art movements of the 1960s. Together we say “summer of 69” in zombie voices for the delightful art collective Bruce High Quality Foundation (very much worth exploring their weird, Dadaist take on the art world).
Anyway, I walked into J and R records with zombie makeup still on and eating multi-grain Cheerios out of a large box. Had my friends not accompanied me, I might have been escorted out for looking ‘too insane’.
As my friends searched for various audio jacks, I found it. My headphones hung there, hanging on the protruding pole like a two-bit whore, awaiting any taker. Looking at the price, I realized I could afford this, but might want it cheaper online.
The Sony MDR-XB500 felt like little pillows wrapped around my head. I gave them to my friends, who nodded with approval. My heart started beating rapidly; I had found the headphones which could complete me and my IPOD. Frequencies long ignored by me, like bass, could be felt, rather than imagined. Immediately Dub Reggae made sense to me on a physical rather than simply abstract level.
Online I got them for about $35 from Amazon. Putting them with my IPOD, it looked at home. For the first few weeks of receiving them, I had to get used to the volume controls. And since they were noise canceling, I ended up being a bit limited in where I could bring them, since I wanted to avoid being that guy who wore them around his neck like some douche bag DJ.
At work my coworkers didn’t understand. They mocked me, saying that I had just completed my shift at JFK directly air traffic. During lunch I would put them on as I found a quiet place to eat. So upon my arrival back into the office I’d put on something deliberately triumphant, in order to make it feel like all those perfectly arranged office lights were there for a reason. And the taunts didn’t bother me; it is not as if you need excellent audio quality to listen to Nickelback or Linkin Park.
It has been over a full year since I got them. Sure, I might have been able to afford something more expensive, but these feel like home to me. I hope someday everyone will be able to toss away those little waxy IPOD headphones and find something that suits them. In other words, find your own sound.