A complete package

I decided that my Sony in-ear headphones were getting a bit long in the tooth (eight years of living in my ears is quite enough), and I was hunting for decent replacements. I was considering the widely-praised Sennheiser CX 300-II Precisions, but, at £40, they were right at the top of my price range so I was trying to find something cheaper.

However, when I discovered that they were under £15 at Amazon, I really didn't need an excuse, so promptly ordered a set. If they were 5-star award-winning earbuds at £40, then their new lower price was the icing on the cake.

This post isn't necessarily about the Sennheisers themselves though. Needless to say that they are very good, and a significant step up from my existing Sonys. But the real reason that I wanted to write about them is the incredibly innovative packaging that they came in. When I ordered from Amazon, I noticed they were listed as being in "Eco packaging" but I didn't really understand what this meant.

Essentially, the headphones are packaged purely in cardboard. There's none of the VERY annoying plastic blister packaging that these things usually come in. Every single part of the box is corrugated, recycled cardboard. Every last bit. Not a piece of plastic in sight. This in itself is laudable, but the really clever bit is the way it all fits together. Even the hanger to display it in a shop is an integral cardboard part. It's a brilliant concept, and one that could do with being adopted by a number of other manufacturers.

I love good, attractive, well-designed packaging so long as it's not excessive. Obviously I'm a big fan of Apple's boxes and containers. Similarly, I've been very impressed with Nintendo's efforts of late. There's nothing wrong with that at all. But for small, cheap items like headphones, why bother with all the unnecessary oversized plastic? It's probably conceived as a way of adding to the perceived value of the product, but for me that doesn't really work. Personally, I'm far more inclined to think favourably about a purchase if I've been impressed by a clever or innovative design. A superb idea, and one that deserves some recognition I think.

Mac software essentials

Once I'd taken delivery of my new iMac, I had the task of setting it all up the way I wanted it. Fortunately, being a Mac, that is all very easy. When you first switch it on, it asks you if you've got a Time Machine backup that you'd like to use to restore your previous data. Obviously I had been using Time Machine, so pointed it in the right direction. It then asks exactly what you want restored - music, photos, applications etc. I decided to just go for my personal data, as I was aware that I had clogged up my old machine with no end of applications that I had only ever used once before deciding they weren't for me.

Everything restored just the way I wanted it, but then I had the task of putting back just the applications I REALLY wanted, and this was quite a useful decision-making process. So what did I install? Here's my round up - and you'll be pleased to know it's all free!

The first thing I went for was trusty old Firefox. I prefer it over Safari for a number of reasons - I like the plugins you can get for it, particularly Xmarks, favicon support and its Google search defaults to the UK site. Small things, but for me it gives it the edge.

The next essential app is Skype. It's even better now I have a Mac with an iSight camera, as obviously I can now do video chat. All my friends have an account, and not only does it do voice and video chat, it's also a very decent instant messaging program. Add in the fact that I've also got it installed on my iPod Touch and mobile phone, it's an absolute must-have.

Next up, Dropbox. I realise that you can just use it direct from the web interface, but the Mac app adds so much more. I've got it set up to automatically synchronise with my Documents folder, so I know I've always got an up-to-date copy on Dropbox if I ever need a file, and the drag-and-drop nature of the desktop app means it's all much simpler than the web uploader.

I'm going to bundle these two together, as they are very similar in their functionality - Perian and Flip4Mac. In actual fact, there's nothing that you need to do with them once they're installed, but they give you access to all the different web video codecs that you're likely to come across. Flip4Mac handles WMV files within the Quicktime player, and Perian does the rest.

On a similar video-based theme, the VLC player is very handy for playing any truculent videos that don't like the Quicktime player. Not only that, it's essential to get my next app choice to work properly. Which brings me on to...

Handbrake! A fabulous piece of free software, it allows you to rip DVDs to a variety of formats and sizes. It works in conjunction with the VLC player, so make sure you've got that installed if you want to use Handbrake. There are a lot of settings to play with if you're so inclined, or just go for the presets.

If you're a Twitterer like me, then a Twitter client is a must-have rather than constantly visiting the website. My client of choice is Twitterrific, which is free if you can put up with the occasional advert. It's slick and unobtrusive, and there's a matching iPhone/iTouch app too.

One of the finest ideas in a long time, Spotify is quite something. Internet-based free music, supported by the occasional advert (or ad-free if you want to pay a subscription). I think it's brilliant. Great for discovering new music before committing to a purchase, and I really like the iTunes-like interface.

If you like to dabble in a bit of BitTorrent, you can do a lot worse than this very fine client app, Transmission. Small but perfectly formed, it does everything you need to do without any bloat or unnecessary features.

Should you need to FTP anything, then Filezilla is a great fully-featured free application for doing just that. Not much more to say really. Easy to use, does everything it needs to including secure FTP if you require it.

And finally, if you just can't help yourself and you find yourself installing stuff that you later discover you don't want then you need to get rid. You could just drag it to the trash, but that's not very sophisticated. AppCleaner will also get rid of all the associated files and folders leaving you crud-free. Splendid.

So there you go - all tried-and-tested, top notch free applications. So are there any that I've missed? Your suggestions in the comments if you will...

FUBAR!

As I've previously mentioned, I got a very nice pair of Grado SR80i headphones for Christmas and they're quite superb. I had the idea a while back (inspired by this CNET article) to get together some kind of "head-fi" setup using my Airport Express as a source. I've gone into some detail about how the iPhone Remote app works with the Airport Express to stream music around your house, and I had been using the Grados plugged straight into the 3.5mm jack on the AE.

Me being me, of course, I knew that there were gains to be had by using an offboard DAC instead of the cheap one built into the AE so I went about researching my options. There was the "two-box" approach, involving a separate DAC in turn feeding a separate headphone amplifier, or there was the "integrated" option if I could find a combined DAC/headphone amp that I liked the look of and could afford. My preferred route was to have everything in one box - tidier, less faff, no worrying about system matching - so after much internet surfing I came across the Fubar IV, made by Firestone Audio. It has digital inputs for optical (which the Airport Express uses), coaxial and USB. I discovered that the manufacturers were offering a hefty discount (125 euros instead of 225) in their post-Christmas sale and all the reviews of the unit were glowing, so I went for it.

Just a few minutes after taking delivery, I had the Fubar IV hooked up via an optical lead from my Airport Express, with my SR80i's plugged into the headphone socket. With the iPod Touch Remote app controlling my iTunes Lossless library, I was listening to quite amazing sound, far more in keeping with the quality of the Grados than I had been experiencing direct from the Airport Express. Most impressive!

I headed over to the What HiFi forums - where I had heard about the Fubar IV in the first place - and posted a brief review. Excerpt below:

"It's a good warm, round sound from solid bass through to well-defined treble. It does show up poor recordings, but with a well-produced album it's giving some excellent results. I've been noticing lots of extra details that I'd never really heard before, even in albums I know really well. The separation of different parts is superb, and it's very easy to pick out an instrument and follow it through a track - but at the same time there's a really nice cohesiveness to the sound overall. I'm used to listening to my music through my separates hi-fi, but I can honestly say that this little set-up is blowing it out of the water!"

Firestone Audio also sell a dedicated power supply for the Fubar, called The Supplier, which is supposed to bring further musical gains. I dare say that once some more funds become available, I shall be investing in one of those too! All round, it's a brilliant little setup, and ideal for people whom a full separates system isn't practical or realistic. I was dubious about whether "head-fi" could really be "hi-fi" but I have to say - I'm converted.