The Koss PortaPro’s feature a “Comfort Zone” that places an additional pad above your ear where it can be set to transfer most of the “clamping” feeling from your ears up to the side of your head. This makes the PortaPro the most comfortable open, over the head headphones I’ve ever used. Ear discomfort is gone and I’m able to wear them for extended periods.

Along with being comfortable, they sound great. In fact I think I like how they sound better than the PX100′s. The PortaPro’s pump out some very nice low end while staying balanced and clear. The PX100′s are a little more laid back and sound darker. The PortaPro’s just have that extra bit of punch.

As of this writing the PortaPro’s are $32 at Amazon while the PX100′s are $50. Between the comfort, price and sound quality of the PortaPro’s they are easily my favorite headphones now. They definitely get my sound geek stamp of approval.

Koss PortaPro Headphones at Amazon

19999. Slick Shoes – Tired Of You
20000. Motion City Soundtrack – This Is For Real
20001. The Presidents of the United States of America – Last Girl on Earth

Noticed Paddy is coming up on 20k scrobbles too and we only share 1 Top 15 Artist yet our compatibility is VERY HIGH.

There were a couple things I wanted on the replacement stereo: black face and red backlighting to match the rest of the dash and a front auxiliary input for easy and cheap iPod integration. The Kenwood KDC-MP208 matched this pretty good and the price was hard to pass up, $59 shipped from one of the third party sellers at Amazon. If you are hooking an iPod up to an auxiliary input I highly suggest a cable that gives you a line level output like this Cables To Go – 4ft iPod Dock Connector to 3.5mm Cable.

Type-S Owners: If you own a Type-S with the premium stereo (no pocket, like this) you will need to get a replacement dash kit to accept either a single or double DIN aftermarket stereo. This Scosche installation kit allows for either single or double DIN and comes with the pocket if you go with a single DIN unit.

Installing Double DIN unit: If you want to install a double DIN unit then you’ll need the Ssosche kit linked above.

Head Unit: This JVC unit looks interesting as it has built in HD radio and customizable colors: JVC KD-HDR50. These units look like good matches to the RSX’s red/orange backlighting too: Kenwood KDC-MP142, Sony CDXGT430U, and Sony CDX-GT330. I got the Kenwood KDC-MP208 but it is no longer available at Amazon.

Wire Harness: Scosche HA08B Power Speaker Connector for 1998-Up Honda

Installation Steps

1. Pull off bottom plastic dash cover that houses the power adapter plug. There are little tabs on the side to get a screwdriver in. Pop one side out and firmly work the rest of it out. It might be tough at the end, just give it a good tug straight out and it will give.
2. Unplug power adapter to get it out of the way
3. Using a small ratcheting wrench with 8mm socket or stubby Philips screwdriver, unscrew the two screws going up towards the stereo. They’re at a funky angle and there’s not a whole lot of room to work. Might be a good job for someone with smaller hands. I loosened the screws and backed them out by hand to avoid the risk of dropping them into the bowels of the dash.
4. Once the screws are out the whole stereo and hazards section will slide out with a little force. Grab the back of the stereo mount through the dash and give it a real good pull. Mine had never been removed and it took some pretty good yanking to get it to budge. I used a screwdriver to pop a clip on the top right corner above the hazards switch. Slide it out a few inches and disconnect the hazards wiring harness and then the stereo’s harness.
5. Unscrew the stock stereo from the bracket and replace it with the new unit. Plug it in with your prepared wiring harness and test to make sure everything is working. Pan to each of the channels to verify the speakers are connected correctly.
6. Plug the hazards harness back in or your turn signals won’t work. Wonder how I know that?
7. Slide the whole thing back into the dash while trying to keep all the new wires on top of the stereo so they don’t get smashed behind it
8. Replace the 2 screws and pop the dash cover back on. That’s it.

I’m really happy with the results. The sound on the inexpensive Kenwood unit is much better than the stock stereo. The bottom end was very lacking before, but now it is more than adequate with the stock speakers. Radio reception is good and overall this is a nice cheap way to get your MP3 player hooked up in an RSX.

Sigur Ros – Gobbledigook:

Any bands or songs that you’ve come across that you were surprised you liked?

Fat City Reprise – Long Gone from Cesar Kuriyama on Vimeo.

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

Paramore – Riot!

The New Pornographers – Challengers

The Fratellis – Costello Music

Fountains of Wayne – Traffic and Weather

Presidents of the United States – These Are the Good Times People

These have all been added to my favorite albums playlist and I have no problem listening to them multiple times. That’s a big indication of a good album to me; if I can enjoy the whole thing without getting bored and skipping songs then it is a keeper. If you are adverse to profanity I think track 2, “Oxford Comma”, on Vampire Weekend drops the f-bomb a couple times, but everything else above should be pretty clean. Have you discovered any good tunes lately?

A few years ago I came across the Koss SportaPro headphones and was very impressed with their sound and comfort level. I handed those down to the wife to work out with and looked for another pair to use at work (programming requires good tunes). My requirements weren’t too strict:

• Reasonably priced (under $50)
• Good sound quality
• On ear pads to allow in ambient noise (to avoid startling taps on the shoulder)
• Comfortable and easy to put on and remove

These few parameters helped eliminate a lot of products. I eventually ended up looking at the Sennheiser PX 100′s, another pair of SportaPro’s, and Grado SR60′s (pricier and bulkier than I wanted). This review at Dan’s Data finally sold me on the Sennheisers and I couldn’t be happier.

In the 2-3 years I’ve had the PX 100′s I estimate I’ve put 1500-2000 hours of music through them. The best way to describe how they sound is that they don’t sound like headphones. They’re clear and fairly detailed without being fatiguing in the high end and quite possibly pump out the perfect amount of bass. I highly recommend the Sennheiser PX 100′s if you are looking for a good moderately priced pair of cans.

Sennheiser PX 100 at Amazon

If it had been a traditional plain old rock concert with outrageously loud Marshal stacks and little interaction with the audience then my overall impression would not be so ecstatic. The acoustic setup allowed the band to double in size to keep a fuller sound and add something new. They added on one more guitarist, original band member Pat Smear, a keyboard/organ/accordion player, full time percussionist and Petra Haden on violin/mandolin/vocals. The extended band added a very enjoyable dimension.

When it came down to it though, the show just totally rocked. The Pantages is a pretty small venue for a band of this size and our seats were in the orchestra, 11 rows back, barely off center, couldn’t ask for better seats. Dave Grohl was interacting with the crowd and actually responding to shouted comments which made the performers feel much more accessible. At one point Grohl was telling how he joined Nirvana and was staying in Curt Cobain’s apartment and paused at a point in the story and someone yelled out that “the rest was history” and Grohl went with it.

From a production standpoint things were done pretty well. Lighting was spot on and I couldn’t find anything to complain about with the mix. They were filming for a DVD so we might very well have shot of us since we were right on the aisle and they kept panning by us.

We saw Wicked at the Orange County Performance Arts Center a couple weeks ago so if I keep this up I might be in danger of becoming “cultured”.

Video from concert with pretty good video but clipped audio (I guess tiny digital cameras aren’t designed to handle sound levels over 100 dB SPL). I’ll post another clip if a better one shows up.

I wouldn’t even consider an FM transmitter and would only resort to tape at last resort.

The best option is to plug directly into your car’s head unit through an auxiliary input. Even with stock car stereos there is a chance an adapter is available. And if not, I’d try a FM modulator (different from transmitters, they plug directly into antennae on the stereo to minimize interference).

I use to have a Kenwood head unit in my old truck and I got the adapter that plugs into the cd changer port and it worked great. Just ran the RCA cable out from under the dash and up to the center console and plugged straight in.

The best list of available adapters I’ve found is at Installer.com.

So in summary:

• FM transmitters (the cheap toys you get at Radio Shack) – avoid like the plague.
• Tape Adapters – Final resort if you are strapped for cash and you actually have a tape player (which is becoming quite rare on newer cars and head units).
• FM modulator – plugs directly inline with your car’s antennae, final resort if you value sound quality.
• Auxiliary input – Stereo manufacturers are finally catching on and Aux inputs are becoming more widespread. They offer the least amount of sound quality loss and depending on your setup can be pretty affordable.

I think a lot of people view hooking up their Mp3 player the same as the headphones they use, they simply see no reason to upgrade. After dropping $200-300 on a very capable Mp3 player, most people will not spend the extra money to upgrade their headphones. This is why you see the trendy Ipod masses on college campuses walking around with their white earbuds stuffed in their ears. Spend another $35 on something like these Sennheiser PX 100‘s and increase the quality of your music, unless looking trendy and “cool” matters more.

The same goes with hooking your Mp3 player up in the car, don’t spend $15 on the FM crap emitter, invest a little more and get a higher quality signal with less hassle. I look at it this way, how much is it worth to not have to listen to crappy radio music and commercials? Stick it to the man and hook your mp3 player up to your car stereo.

I’m a big fan of comedy and they just seem to click for me. I’m a fan for sure now and hope to see more of them. Here’s their clips from HBO’s One Night Stand which is going to be re-run Saturday night. Check out the rest of the special with the two 15 minute clips. Their set is pretty clean, one f-bomb in their last song of Part 2, but overall probably not suitable for kids. The embedded clip is their parody on rap/hip-hop.

HBO Special: Part 1
HBO Special: Part 2
Conan O’Brien: Business Time