As you all know after my Roxy/ JBL earbuds saga I asked around for some new ones to test out.  Within 1 day I had 2 new pairs AKG K340 and AKG K321 but they were both the silicon ear pads which I typically do not like.  The first ones I tested out fully were the AKG K340.  The box was a nice sleek black box and once I opened the box they were nicely laid out.  The photos and specifications are listed below. 

I think I am developing a complex with the size of my ear canals because both pair would not stay in.  In order to make sure it was not a user error I took them to appetizers where I was meeting my friend Lauren. When I arrived at the restaurant I asked her to try them on and sure enough she had the same issue. We do look darn cute though with them on!  Annoyed I came home and asked my husband to try them on.  Of course they fit H-I-M.  It was at that point that I decided I either needed to have huge man ears, ears the size of Dumbos, or that BOTH Lauren and my ear canals were smaller then the average bear. 

I am not a quiter and if they fit my husband’s ears I was hell bent on figuring out the method to the madness. My first test was walking my dog (not the dance move). Though my dog is only 8lbs she is a hot mess on her walk. She tends to pull the leash at all times, goes up to every dog and every dude that is single. One can say if I was single Chloe would sniff me out a new man in a matter of days (such the curious flirt and I have no idea where she gets that).

We ran down 6 flights of stairs and one earbud already popped out. I was starting to realize it was not just the buds but the cord was shorter then I was used to. After that light bulb went off I moved my shuffle closer to my head and shoved the buds in my ear.

At one point I had gotten them right and I was dancing on full blast to my favorite hip hop dance routine; Mario’s Break-up (O-o-h! Lovin’ you, lovin’ you). WHOA!  They were extremely loud and crystal clear; in an effort to save my ear drums I turned it down slightly. These buds were amazing now that they would stay in, about time I got to test them out.  

As you all know I live in the city and walk everywhere. Next test was my daily trip to the grocery store were I typically have several random (or homeless) people approach me for the whole 2 block walk. My earbuds have always saved me from strangers coming up to me asking for money (Do I have a friendly face?! Sheesh!).  Click here to see the youtube of me before my errand running with the AKG 340 earbuds showing them off. 

They finally worked and in fact I had to take them out to talk to the cashier because they cancel noise out even on a very low volume. The ultimate test was the Bart; its our train/public transportation system and a block away from where I live so I use it frequently. The Bart is loud and frankly you have no idea what type of situation or people you will run into.  The earbuds did block the sound out however I was again having an issue with them staying in because it was a rather bumpy ride.  They come with 3 different sizes and I did try them all; either I have small ears (sigh) or these need to be one size smaller.

The AKG 340s earbuds are retailing at $119.95; which if you base it solely on sound, noise cancelation and the volume control I could understand the pricing.  Unfortunately since I had fitting issues I cannot give it a 5 star rating. On to test the next ones…

As a bonus if you want to see my youtube bloopers click here (the bloopers are listed under our quicklist).

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One night I was up late practicing my hip hop dance skills with my Roxy/ JBL earbuds (more like a goofy attempt to recreate what my dance instructor showed me the day before) and all the sudden one side of the earbuds went out.  At first I thought; “oh no after several years of listening to music on full blast (plus being in a mosh pit at some major concerts) I have blown one ear drum out.”  EEK!

In a Zoolander attempt (the sound is IN the earbuds?!)  I took them out and somewhat ”tapped”  them a couple times to see if maybe my attempt would in fact make the earbuds work.  I also did the classic reboot of my shuffle and worked with the cable to see if it was a “Nina” error.

It didn’t work.  To be fair I did accidentally  immerse the poor ear buds  in “water” a couple months before and they still did work…and for a while I might add.  The night they went out I shuffled (get it?!) for my IPod earbuds and became even more disappointed.  On top of the fact the IPod earbuds are ill fitting (they may be stretching my ears out); I actually have to switch the right and the left to get mediocre noise quality and bass at a decent (not great) level. 

I quit my dance routine that night perturbed and sad.  I loved my Pink Roxy/ JBLs earbuds plus they were the perfect fashion accessory!  I know I am wreck-less but I truly hoped I had saved them…which I didn’t.  The bass and sound quality were amazing on them but alas I found a way to break them…damn!  Apparently the fact I am a clumsey does not uphold to technology and neither does immersing technology in “water”. 

I am particular with my earbuds. They need to be small, fit comfortably and have superior noise quality (especially great bass).  I am not a huge fan of the silicon ear pads however I am going to test some out again; two times a charm?  They just honestly remind me of getting a wet willy and frankly I was a bully’s dream when I was younger (flashbacks of recess come to mind).

I have contacted some industry folks and they are sending me a few new earbuds to test out.  Stay tuned for my review cutegeek fans!  I will find my perfect earbuds!

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I was born a klutz, in fact it’s rare that I will not have a bruise on me…I run into door frames frequently.  Also as I am getting older I have developed shaky hands which has been the demise of many of my tech gadgets.  If they only could build a cell phone that once you dropped it; it would bounce back up like a basket ball! Man I should patent that idea!

To be honest I can break anything and I have no idea how it happens! Somewhat like when my dog plays with bugs and then kills them and wonders why they won’t play with her, kinda the way I feel about my gadgets. Once I was vacuuming and I ran over my husband mouse (not a real mouse, computer mouse) cord and the vacuum tore it in half!  I was so distraught!

Cut to me and my pink IPod shuffle (yes I know we all say that we don’t need to have pink products but my favorite color is pink in honor of my grandmother).  My shuffle is used about 4-5 hours a day since I live in the city and walk every where.  Seriously you don’t want me driving since I am a hot mess behind the wheel (I never took the driving portion of drivers ed.).  And yeah I know its not the newest one but frankly I still love it! 

So one night I accidentally spilled “water” (take a guess what water may be) unknowingly all over my shuffle while on its dock plugged into the wall.  After realizing such I was convinced…I am going to have to go buy the new shuffle.  As many techies know if you ever spill ANY liquid on any technical device do not turn it on!  I don’t know how many times I have told this to people! (Nobody listens to turtle!)

So as a smart geek I first unplugged it immediately (for fear my condo may burn down) and let it dry off over night.  I have to give myself props for that move because it totally saved my shuffle!  The next day I stared at my shuffle for a while…afraid it wouldn’t work and I would have to deal with every homeless person that approaches me on my daily walks.  The moment came where I just bit the bullet and turned it on…”OMG it works,” I thought as I am listening to my hip hop music through my Roxy/ JBL earbuds!

So at last folks I have found a device that I have not broken and its been 6 months.  The shuffle has battled through many drops in the street (klutzy) and now emerged in “water” and the thing still works!  I love my shuffle, though I think I have a very unhealthy relationship with itunes…or maybe just technology in general!?

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Style, meet sound.

I remember reading about this collaboration and I quickly imagined some cool products with superb sound quality.

My current bathing suit for the summer of 09 is from Roxy and my old iPod dock is the round one JBL produced – so yea, I know what I’m talking about.

I was psyched when they asked CuteGeek to review earbuds and headphones…I’m a headphone wearer so Nina got the earbuds and I saw them and my mouth just opened.

First off – the box is really nice. Bright colors, clear, nice designs, etc…very “llamativo” (that’s a word used for things that are eye-catching or grabbing…it definitely grabs your attention). The headphones were bright orange and pink. I looked at the box for about a week, before actually taking them headphones out, and I’m not sure why, but I can almost admit that I was intimidated.

I started thinking about how to match them, if they were going to be comfy, if my hair would get messed up, if they would be cancel the noise like my other huge headphones and then I thought of Nina’s picture from CES, the ones where she’s wearing the headphones.

I also thought about what my coworkers would think because these weren’t just any ol’ headphones, these were big and they yelled “look at me, I’m right here, standing tall and proud’.

When I used to wear my noise cancelling headphones at work I would be called Minnie, Princess Lela (or whatever Star Trek or Star Wars chick had the two buns) and I even had one coworker walk as if he were an air traffic controller – yes , my coworkers rock and all have a sense of humor…I was ready…

I brought them to work on Monday and I took them out. I received a lot of comments, but due to my hair sort of being in an up do, I couldn’t wear them for a long time. I couldn’t risk having flat hair – who me? NEVER! I asked my oh so wonderful coworker (Sylvia P.) to wear them and to let me know what she thought – if they were comfortable, heavy, etc…
She loved them, she said they were very comfortable, did not pull her hair and were not heavy at all. She also said it provided more than just a listening experience. As an earbud wearer, something she often experiences and gets irritated from, is people not realizing she has them in, and them constantly going over to speak to her. These headphones were almost a people repellent. The headphones screamed ‘I’m listening to music, having fun at work, do not disturb’. Okay – maybe not all that, but it was impossible to not tell she had them on, which probably increased her productivity a couple of percentage points this week.

I gave the headphones a try the following day and although they were comfy, and easy to wear, that wore off quickly. My ears began to hurt a bit and it’s not that my head is huge, but I think my glasses + headphones combo on the ears didn’t really go too well. They don’t cover your ears completely; they rest on them so after a while you’ll be sore too.

I’m not that easy to disappoint though so I didn’t rush to my computer to negatively criticize the headphones. I wore them multiple times, and also passed them along to my close friends. The cords are pretty cool and also impossible to tangle – I wish my hair were the same way. The cord is also attached to both headphones which was annoying at first, because I’m used to my other headphones which only has the wire coming out from one side but after a couple of hair pulls, I managed to remember.

The consensus was that after wearing the headphones for quite a while, they actually do cause some discomfort. It happened to 2 out of the 3 individuals who wore them on an occasional basis. I wore them at work, on my commute to where ever, and also on the plane back home.

When you first see the headphones you think wow – bright colors – great! Bright colors are in right now and I’m actually expanding the color scheme in my closet so I would totally wear them. These headphones are $69.99 and can be purchased through the Roxy or the Apple Store with free shipping. They also come with a handy carrying case. The headphones fit comfortably in it and it is also big enough to hold an iPod or a phone. The case is a zipper case, and soft cloth so don’t expect it to handle being thrown anywhere.
The headphones come in another very cute color scheme of baby blue and aqua green. While the headphones can cause some discomfort, for those of you that are more concerned with making a statement, don’t mind paying a little more for some style and quality, want to look cute, and want to listen to some good music – then these headphones are for you.

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I was so excited when I got my first new product after E3 and it was these SUPER cute ear buds and in ear headphones from Roxy/ JBL. First off I love bright colors, I am not sure if it is because I am in California or that I am blind and frankly colors stick out more…

Radiris and I  make amazing partners in crime; we both have different technology preferences! CUTEGEEKS UNITE (imagine Radiris and I running to each other in slow motion [because everything is better in slow motion]and high fiving like big geeks)! As most of the population knows not 1 woman is the same…Radiris loves the On Ear Headphones and I love the in ear headphones/ ear buds.

I realize we have said in the past not everything needs to be pink b/c not all women love pink; Radiris loves the color black and looks smashing in it.. I love pink and admittedly my shuffle is….gasp…PINK! When I got the pink and orange ear buds from Roxy/ JBL  in the mail I was S-O-O-O-O pumped! I did a one foot happy dance (still sporting the boot cast). They matched my lil’ shuffle perfectly and the sound was AMAZING!! A true geek at heart; I do get excited when I get products that look fabulous and impress me technology wise…literally the sound quality was A-A-A-M-M-M-A-A-A-Z-Z-I-N-G-G (sing with me world)!!! I love to jam out to rap/ hip hop and I always have to turn the volume on my other ear buds all the way up but not with these little Reference 230 miracle buds…And I love that they are smaller than the apple shuffle earbuds…who wants their ears all stretched out…not me…

So you want the specs right? Any geek would…

Power: 2 x 20mW

Frequency Response: 20 Hz- 20kHz (-10dB)

Dimensions: Diameter- 15mm/ Wire length 1250 mm

Weight: .38oz (11grams)

The in ear headphones reference 250 are cool too. Basically you can receive calls while listening to your MP3s and not interrupt your music list… pops you inbetween your phone and MP3 player. These little buds are a perfect size and smaller then the ear buds. It took me some time to get use to them but once I did I was impressed with the sound quality.  So again Nina give me the specs (shut up already right?!)…well here you go! 

Power: 2 x 5mW

Frequency Response: 20 Hz- 20kHz (-10dB)

Dimensions: Diameter- 13.5mm/ Wire length 1182 mm

Weight: .42oz (12grams)

And Chloe also had to try them on, the girl just loves new toys…I played no music though of course (do not try this at home kids).  She is just so curious about technology too!  Again no music was played while she tried them on!!

I know allot of people want to hear me rant (for those who know me…my rants tend to be funny) so I had to sit here and think (think Nina think think think think)…what would be a standard complaint? I love these things way too much and I believe ear buds truly are my generation’s technology fashion accessory.  After a couple glasses of “grape juice” I found minor and I mean minor items that bugged me…

Rant #1 the noise cancelation on the in ear headset is so strong I cannot hear over my voice when I speak. I used it on Skype and literally had to take one bud out…I hate my inside voice (you know the one only you hear and thank goodness for that). I think I am one of those weird people that does want to hear my surrounding…This really isn’t a complaint considering everyone else in the world would love it!

Rant #2, the pouches for these though super cute it doesn’t stop me from throwing my ear buds in my purse. This starts the downward spiral on the demise of my day, having to untangle little bitty wires. I have actually not used my shuffle if my wires are tangled. I have yet to find the miracle solution for having your buds not tangling; I have broken all the retractable ones. One would assume I would just put them away but NOOO…I don’t…if I was rich I would hire a professional de-tangler if there is such a thing! Again I think this is a Nina problem…I am one hot mess I tell you!

Lastly, I think I need the other color Roxy/ JBL  b/c I am running out of pink items to match with my ear buds and I hate doing laundry or worse…dare I say I hate repeating an outfit…Opps, I’m always thinking of fashion first even if I am a technology geek!

I love these ear buds though and honestly I am the happiest little girl right now rockin my JBL/ Roxy  pink ear buds…even if I am not matching on the streets of San Francisco!  Don’t judge; if you heard the sound you would be rockin’ pink ear buds too!

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