I use to travel with the Seinheisser PXC 450, which was an
excellent travel headset. They were big,
comfortable, and felt like you were wearing nothing at all. The noise cancelling system worked great, and
it had a talk-through button you could press so you could hear that outside
world without taking the headset off at all (great for ordering food). The plug could convert to a 8mm from a 3.5 to
fit a stereo, and the case had room for 2 batteries, each lasting 12 hours. If both batteries died you could still listen
to music passively (unlike Bose). In
short, they were quite amazing.
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PSB M4U 2 |
Imagine my annoyance when they went missing. I probably left it somewhere or it was taken,
though I’d like to believe that my sibling took it back home to another
country. They were very nice, and I
thought about getting the same one- afterall, it was still for sale. Seinheisser has released “improved
versions”, but the MX new ones with the talk through function are great, but
they look like a space age headset. It’s
not really something I’d want to be seen in, as it didn’t look professional
enough. The PXC450 was perfect in this
regard.
However, the price of those had not gone down. What to do?
They are just as expensive.
Searching the internet, I found that one of the best noise cancelling
headphones were from PSB, a Canadian company I had never heard of. Hmmm.. how good could they be? The reviews were stellar, and the sound was
suppose to be amazing.
Given that I needed a
new headset, I figured I might as well try a new one. The talk -through function was there, and the
best part was the microphone as well, so I could plug it in my computer on go
on conference calls if I needed (the PXC does not have this). Thought that was an added bonus that put me
over the edge.
Finding this headphone at a good price was tough. Couldn’t find London for a decent price, but
was travelling in the USA, and found it in the music store in San
Francisco.
The sound of the PSB M2U is amazing. My old MP3s sound richer, more amazing than
every before. Parts I didn’t know
existed were now easily heard. It really
was sound paradise. The speaker system
(talk through) worked fine (though a bit confusing to use at first), and the
speaker worked great for conference calls.
I didn’t like how it folded- the case was a bit too spherical for my
liking (harder to put in a bag or suitcase- I liked the Seinheisser case
because it was flat), but it came with extra ear muffs so I couldn’t complain
(more value!). Also the plug goes in
both sides of the headset, so you can choose which side is more
comfortable. Design wise they really did
give this device much thought.
The only thing that annoys me to no end is there is no
volume control. Yes the Seinheisser had
this, so I could control it no problem.
“Who cares?” you might ask. Well
I do- see the problem was that while normally I can control the volume on the
device, on my British Airways flight back I wanted to watch a movie. I plugged it in, but realized that the volume
was too loud. I then tried to lower the
volume on the BA TV screen, and it went lower…. to the last bar. Anything lower than that would render it
mute, and I couldn’t hear a thing. So I
had the choice of hurting my ears to no end, or not hearing anything at
all. In the end I gave up and used the
BA headset that allowed me to adjust the volume so I could watch the movie
without killing my eardrums.
In the end I have been quite happy with it, and would
probably get it again given there are no good competitors at this price
range. I have searched high and low for
a remote control that plugs in to adjust the volume (I’ve tried a belkin, some
others, to no avail), and I wish PSB
would release one. For some reason
its special and only certain plugs let the sound through, otherwise its just
mute, I don’t know why. But other than
that, it is an excellent travel companion, and great for blocking out noise
with or without music. They are
comfortable, and you don’t really want to take them off. Did I mention the bag has a caribiner on
it? You can hang the headset up (not
sure where, but hey maybe to your bag!)
So all that’s missing is the volume control, and then this device would
be perfect.
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