Readers of this blog know that I’ve been on a quest to bring more music into my life this year. I’ve documented that quest on this blog and have enjoyed every minute of it. While listening to a recent purchase, Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, on my Crosley turntable I thought, “Is there a way to make ‘this’ more of an intimate experience?”

I haven’t owned let alone used a pair of over-ear, wired headphones in at least a decade. My turntable has capacity to use wired headphones so I decided to purchase a pair; Over Ear Headphone, Wired Premium Stereo Sound Headsets with 50mm Driver, Foldable Comfortable Headphones with Protein Earmuffs and Shareport for Recording Monitoring Podcast PC TV- with Mic (Silver) from One Odio. This has to be the best money I have spent since I’ve started my “bring more music into my life” quest! After making this purchase I had to decide what album/artist I was going to test these headphones on.

After the Gold Rush by Neil Young was my choice. I’m so glad I decided on this album. The first thing I noticed, when I put the headphones on, was how incredibly comfortable they were. The ear pads are huge, made of “premium foam protein leather.” Once I dropped the needle to side 1 of the album I realized I was in for an amazing sonic experience. Not only are the ear pads comfortable, they provide a noise-cancelling effect that just cannot be replicated; even with my much more expensive, in-ear AirPods Pro. The only thing you hear is the music and WOW; does it sound good! As the opening track “Tell Me Why” started I felt as though I were in the room with Neil Young which brought back memories of the spiritual experience I had when I saw him at Desert Trip. There were moments, on and off while listening to the rest of the album, that I heard things I hadn’t heard in these songs before; at least that’s what my brain was communicating to me. It may be more of an affect; the result of slowing down, plugging the headphones in, mindfully dropping that needle, sitting cross legged on the floor, and really focusing on the listening experience. If that’s the case, $42.99 is a small price to pay for the feelings I had listening to this album with these headphones on! And now...off to listen to more music!