Senheiser HD218 Review

After lots of deciding on which headphones to go for finally I decided to go for HD218. I have tested it with iPod Touch and HP DV5 notebook.

The specifications go as below:

Frequency response (headphones)	19 – 21000 Hz
Cable length	1.4 m
Impedance	16 Ω
Sound pressure level (SPL)	108 dB
THD, total harmonic distortion	<0.5% (1kHz/100dB)
Ear coupling	Supraaural
Transducer principle	Dynamic, closed
Jack plug	3.5 mm straight plug

Below are some of the advantages:

1) Comfort: The ear caps are really comfortable. The design is similar to high-end Bose headphones. I tried wearing these for like hours and it didn’t hurt my ears, the fit was perfect.

2) Bass: The bass is soft. I didn’t get to try HD228 but the 218 offers a very natural bass.

3) Foldable Construction: The ear caps rotate making it easier to stuff it in your bag while travelling.

4) Noise Cancellation: Yes, these do a bit of noise cancellation too. Once you start music you will hear very less (almost no) noise.

5) Cable Length (1.4m): Most of them say that the length is small, but the primary purpose of the headphones is for portable media players. Considering this I think the length is appropriate.

6) Overall Sound Quality: The soft bass and treble make up for a good sound. Also the volume level is pretty high.

Some of the things that could have been better are:

1) Treble: Its way high. Even though this helps in giving crisp clear sound, I wished that the treble would have been a bit low. Anyways I think this is a trademark sound for Senheiser. If you don’t like much treble consider Sony or Bose.

2) Bass: It’s a bit low. Anyways I think for the bass freaks Senheiser has taken care of by giving an option HD228.

Conclusion:

HD218 provide a very descent sound at a very low cost. If you are looking for the same, you can go ahead and grab these. If you need a higher bass go for HD228. The most important thing, if you don’t like much treble in the music, will recommend going for Sony, Skullcandy or Bose.

Few other options which I considered before buying these go as below:

1) Senheiser HD228: Higher cost version of HD218, offering powerful bass with same design. High cost kept me away from these.

2) Senheiser HD222: The reviews were really good for these, but being fully closed and considering portability I rejected this.

3) SkullCancy Uprock/Lowrider: Didn’t get to try this, so avoided to take the risk. Also the reviews said that the bass was not that good.

4) Sony MDR-XD200: If you don’t mind the size, these provide a good sound at reasonable price.

5) Bose: If you don’t mind spending lots of money and your aim is for the best sound, nothing beats the Bose quality.

Not just another day at work

1st October 2011

I got up early in the morning at 0400 Hrs and I knew that today was going to be special. So with great enthusiasm I tied the lace of my Adidas shoes and grabbed my iPod (Loyal Companions) and left out. The combination of these was supposed to keep me going for the day. It was still dark. I had to walk a nice 2.5 Km to catch the bus which was supposed to come at 0540 Hrs. Unsurprisingly the bus was late which came at around 0600 Hrs.

So then the journey started, picking up others on the route. Soon the morning sun came out and there was some light. Slowly the bus left out the city with the buildings initially becoming scarce and then only smaller ones were seen with the green fields increasing on the other hand. The bus was taking me to a route (NH4) which I have like travelled for past one and a half year more than fifty times, but had never travelled it during daytime. I was travelling a long distance during daytime after years. We had breakfast in the bus itself, and then made a short stop for tea. we travelled on NH4 till 1100 and then took a left(instead of my usual right to village). We were in Karad. Our destination was Vita some 40 Kms from here. On the way I found a signboard to Bijapur. It said 100 km. This was the place where I spent some of my early childhood days.

So we reached Vita, got the message that the second bus was broken down, so instead of two volunteers in a class it would be one. It didn’t actually matter to me much. Having taken such sessions for three classes previously, I was pretty much confident this time. The only anxiety was about which class I would be getting. I always prefer higher classes, since they understand bit easily and pay more attention. This time a  Engineering College was chosen, where students from nearby school would be attending it. We were as always welcomed like celebrities in the college. Each one of us was given a rose by an engineering student.

As I entered the class, there was a pindrop silence. Well I expected atleast a Good Morning Sir or something like that. Anyways, I kept my bag and Rose on the chair. I took a nervous look at the class, took a deep breath and started. Immediately I noticed that the class consisted only of girls. No doubt there was so much of silence. The uniform they wore was red Salwar Kameez. Unlike my other rural visits these students were looking much well-mannered and well-dressed.

I started with my brief introduction and the sponsors intro(Infosys). I had to speak in Marathi. There are some advantages in taking such sessions in Marathi. The students are less frightened of us and it helps to reduce the barrier between the teacher and the student very quickly. I decided to start with some ice-breaker questions. As to what is Computer etc. No one answered anything. Given a class of girls and an unknown person(ME) asking questions, that was expected. I went on ahead explaining about computers. An electronic device used to do mathematical calculations accurately and quickly. Followed were some examples of bank, library, shops etc. I explained them exactly how using computers in such fields is not only time saving but also efficient. I explained the parts of computers viz. Input and Output devices. Now I asked questions and the students answered. I started to feel much more confident.

The task here was not to give bookish definitions to the students, but to make them understand and tell them exactly how much fun it is to understand and use computers. I then started to explain the idea of Internet. And as I explained it I could see the anxiety in the eyes of the students. Mostly they were thinking like “Whoa, A thing like this also exists.” I asked them if they have heard anything like google.com or rediff.com or yahoo.com and the answer was no. So it was another task to explain them this.

Whenver I ask a student to answer my question, I ask him/her to say his name aloud to the class. This is a great morale booster. As the students started answering, I noticed those were the ones who came out of their comfort zones and started asking me questions. In short MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! I answered some queries of the stuedents. Even though it was late for lunch break they were still listning with patience.

The lunch was great. Actually the arrangement was pretty good too. So after lunch, we were supposed to give students the hands on session. The agenda was Microsoft Word, Excel, Paint etc. Its really bad to see the expression of the students who dont get a chance to do a hands on session. So I have requested the organizing committee that next time we have two PC in a class instead of one. When you see students asking for a chance you can’t deny them too.

At the end of the day, the feedback from the students goes as follows.. Almost 40+ Thank You, 30+ You teach really well, 10+ Do come to our school once. I was almost at tears with the last statement. Such a day never I will forget. Nor the faces of the students.

Sorry for the late posting.

How to turn your laptop into a Wi-Fi hotspot

In this world of ever increasing Wi-Fi devices, I think this post will be very helpful.

Method 1 (Very easy)

Download and install connectify (About 3MB) from the below mentioned link

http://cnet.co/nCDNkJ

Using connectify:

http://bit.ly/nJy1Bo

If the above method does not work, you can go for the below method:

Method 2 (The Geeky Method)

This will work only if u have an icon consisting of two PCs to connect to internet like in case of “BSNL Broadband”.

Windows 7:

First open “Network and Sharing Center”->”Change adapter settings”

Right click the icon u use to connect to net, BSNL in my case -> Properties -> Sharing -> Check allow other network users to connect bla bla . and select wireless network connection from the drop down list (if applicable) . Click apply.

Open Start Menu and type wireless box Search, Then Manage wireless networks :

Press Add add wireless networking to start :

Next, select Create an ad hoc network … :

You will receive notification and instructions for creating introducing ad hoc networks as follows , select Next :

Named to the newly created network , security selection methods if necessary , check Save this network if you intend to regularly use this network model . Set security measures must also depend on the ability of wireless devices :

Then wait a bit to create the network are :

Message window networks have been successfully created and ready for use :

Check the entire wireless network by clicking the icon in the system tray, if successful you will see the network created above is ready and waiting to connect to others :

Next, switch to computer remainder ( client) , select the icon to see all the wireless signals of the network , then connect to the newly created ad hoc network :

On the server – the host , you’ll see the signal from another computer just to connect to ad hoc system

Once you start this connection u will be able to select it on ur mobile device. Connect and enjoy net 🙂

Had spent some time to discover the second method.

Windows XP:

1. Make sure the wireless card is on

Before trying anything, you should make sure the wireless card is on.

Wireless Network Icon

If your wireless card is on, you should see an icon like this one in your task bar.

2. Create a wireless network

First of all you need to create the wireless network where your computer will appear as an HotSpot.

1. Right click on the Wireless Network Icon and select “Status”

   

   Once you see this dialog, press the button “Properties”.

2. Select the tab “Wireless Networks” and

   

   press the button “Add…”.

3. You’ll see the following dialog.

   

4. Enter a name for the network (SSID), e.g. MMN.
5. Protect your network with encription via the WEP key.
6. Make sure it is you, and not the computer to provide the Network key.
7. Enter your Network key, it must be 10 figures exadecimal number, e.g. “abcdeabcde”.

Press the button “OK” and you should see the following dialog and

press the button “OK” to close it.

3. Start -> Run -> Type “ncpa.cpl” in the text-box and  press enter.

4. Right click the icon you use to connect to Internet; ‘BSNL’ in my case and select properties

Move on to the advanced tab and make sure the following option is checked

                                                                

5. Select the earlier created network in step 2 on your mobile device and you are ready to go.

I have tried to make the post as simple as possible.

If you are still facing any issues I will be happy to hear them in the comments section.