Three of the Best Audio Purchases I’ve Ever Made

When I used to run a record label I got really into audio products. Almost to the point of being a full blown Audiophile. I did gain some valuable insight in to the world of audio from my experience. I now respect quality sound. Nice deep bass, proper treble that isn’t “tinny” and overall a product that is visual appealing is usually the icing on the cake. Though I may enjoy quality sound there’s no way in hell I’m going to spend thousands of dollars on a speaker for general listening. That in mind, here are a few purchases I’ve made over the last three years that have literally changed my audio consumption habits and boosted my audio listening pleasure immensely. 

 

JVC HAFX1X Xtreme Xplosives in Ear Earbuds – $28 

 

I did a lot of research into ear buds and headphones. I needed a portable pair of great sounding earbuds/headphones for when I work at a coworking location, in a coffee shop or when the kids are just bouncing off the walls in my  house (while I work in my home office). I originally looked up the Beats by Dre headphones and earbuds but found that after some digging the quality of the headphones for the price is an absolute rip off. Long story short – Beats by Dre headphone and earbuds are WAYYYY over priced and overhyped. Unfortunately the mass market has bought into them and they’re super popular.

The problem I have with earbuds in general is that they can get lost easily and I’m not about to spend $100+ dollars on some headphones or earbuds I may end up losing. I found these JVC’s and tried them out. Whoa. Super impressed for around $28 dollars. I like these earbuds so much that I bought two more pair and stuffed them into my closet in case they stopped making them (so I had some back ups when these wore out). 

From music to conference calls (there is no inline mic, so I’m using my MacBooks mic) and everything in between these sound great in all areas. I recommend them to everyone who looking for a pair of cheap headphones, especially for teenage children who seem to lose everything. 🙂 

 

 

Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker – $199

 

I’ll be honest, I had a very hard time purchasing this. To me, $199 for a blue tooth speaker is insane. But I did a bunch of research and found that this thing out performs the Jambox and many others in the same price range. I decided to close my eyes and click the purchase button. I’m glad I did. The Bose SoundLink Mini unit sits on a charging doc (when in use or not) so its always charged when I need it. I just pick it up and move it when I need it and put it back – no plugging in cords/etc. While thats not a huge deal, its a huge convenience and I’ve never seen it without power since I’ve had it. How many times have you forgot to plug something in? Yeah… exactly. Not with this thing, put it down and its charging on the dock.

I use this thing while at my desk to listen to podcasts from my phone, books from Audible and various other things. While at clients or in a meeting I can pull it out and put it on the table and now we have a instant conference call speaker through my phone with the SoundLink Mini. Awesome. I also use it for when we go out in the back and go swimming in the pool. Bring it out, put on some music and just relax. I’ve been in the backyard swimming and enjoying family time for over 6 hours without this thing going dead. 

The sound quality is superb and I’m very happy with this purchase. 

 

 

Sonos Play 5 – $399

 

Cant leave out the Sonos. Great for the home, office or anywhere with an always on internet connection. This is another one I had a hard time buying because of the price. However, a co-working spot I used to frequent had one and I fell in love with it so I decided to pick one up for my family. My wife nearly wanted to strangle me after buying this but very soon after she fell in love with it and now she can’t live without it. I think she likes it more than I do. 🙂

We play radio stations through TuneIn or IHeartRadio and use music services such as Pandora, Sirius/XM, Google Music, Spotify, etc. You name it, they have it, or its in their “Labs” area. Its fantastic. We put it on top of our refrigerator and we listen to music all the time. I may end up picking up a Sonos 1 for the master bedroom/bathroom soon because we love it so much. 

 

 

There you have it, those are my top three audio purchases over the last few years. I use all of these devices daily and if you’re looking for something to up your audio consumption quality, check out one of the items above.