I regret nothing.

I like big headphones. I think it’s a style thing. When I see someone wearing big headphones, my first impression is a kind of reverent appreciation, like a nerdy version of guys showing off their cars (iPod earbuds, on the other hand, scream “hipster” to me. How judgmental am I?). I don’t know. I just think that big headphones make a person look cool, I guess. It’s like a form of Batesian DJ Mimicry – I’m tricked by appearances into thinking people are cooler than they actually are.

I used to wear Bose Around-ear headphones. but they weren’t very comfortable and I always thought I was going to break them. Also the cord was like, six feet long. A cord that long is really more of a pain than anything, you know? I don’t need six feet of cable dangling everywhere and getting caught on things for when I’m carrying my iPod ON ME.

The sound quality of the Bose set was good, although I admit that I am not much of an audiophile. I’m sure there are people out there that will tell you they sound like garbage. Then again there are audiophiles that pay nearly $3,000 for a set of three-foot speaker wires, or nearly $1,000 for a “cable cooker.” Because of crap like that, my guideline will always be: “Does it sound good to me? Yes? Then I’m in.” Everyone else can go bollocks.

While I was in the market for headphones, I saw an entry at Fort 90 entitled “Fake Girls and Real Headphones”. Long story short(er), I ended up getting the Panasonic RP-HTX7s in green for Christmas. And they’re just plain awesome.

They’re incredibly comfortable, for one thing. I don’t feel like my head is caught in a plush vice grip. The cups are actually elongated slightly, which feels like a better fit on my ears. And the headband is fine – only slightly padded, but definitely comfortable. Truth be told, comfort is my number one priority in a pair of headphones – I like to wear them (like most everyone does) on trips, walking around the city, etc., and I found that my Bose headphones actually gave me a slight headache if I wore them around in normal use.

They’ve also got great sound quality, especially for the price point. As I said before, I’m not an audiophile. I could start ranting here about “mids” and “presence” and how “dynamic” the “bass” is. But that would be a complete sham. Mostly, I listen to electronic music and host of colors is diverse, and (in my opinion) the retro design just screams cool. And like I said, I can’t diminish the coolness factor, here. I want my headphones to look good. I want them to catch peoples’ eyes. Is that stupid and shallow? Probably. But no more than any other way in which we pick our accessories – I also pick my t-shirts based on their coolness factor.

Only complaint I’ve had so far? For the span of a few hours, I think something got loose in my left ear cup – it sounded like a small ball bearing or something was rattling around in there. It completely disrupted my ability to listen to music – it was a loud rattling right in my ear. Panasonic’s support was amazing, though – even after admitting that I hadn’t registered them online, and that I’d thrown away the packaging to save space during my holiday travels, they were perfectly willing to repair them. Thing is, they didn’t need to – overnight, with literally no action on my part, the issue cleared itself up. Even violent shaking has not reproduced the noise, which leads me to believe one thing:

Panasonic has an army of ninjas that roam the country, servicing products in the middle of the night.

(Highly recommended)