HE 2006

After experiencing Shure's Push-to-Hear control switch, I was in a headphone kind of mood, so I walked on over to HeadRoom's aptly named Headphone Heaven. I imagine that this heavenly set-up will serve as a much-needed respite for many weary showgoers. I found smiling faces, comfy lounge chairs, happy flowers, and lots of sunshine. Everything in the room begged, "Try Me!"

I was soon greeted by HeadRoom's Tyll Hertsens who led me into a private room where I had my way with his Max balanced amp ($4000) driving two sets of headphones — Sennheiser's HD650s and AKGs very attractive K 701s.

I reached for the 650s and pressed play on "Incinerate," the best song on Sonic Youth's new one, Rather Ripped. Again, I was immediately impressed by how comfortable and light the cans were; they seemed to almost caress my head as the guitars churned.

After listening for awhile, I tried switching back and forth between the Sennheisers and AKGs, having somewhat of a difficult time discerning any obvious differences. In the end, I decided that what I could call the AKGs' warmth was really the Sennheisers' detail. Or vise versa. I preferred whichever pair was on my head at the time. I don't know. The AKGs look cooler.

I haven't mentioned the amp. What is there to say? It did what it was supposed to do and I forgot it was even there. Tyll walked into the room for the briefest moment, probably to impart some fascinating bit of knowledge, but noticed that I was completely lost in the music, and, with a flutter of the fingertips and a polite smile, quietly dismissed himself.

Heaven, indeed.