Headphones
I consider myself to be a practical audiophile. That is to say, I like my music to sound as good as it can, but I accept that there's a level at which that becomes impractical. For example, cd does sound better than mp3, and vinyl does sound better than cd, but I like to take my music with me, into the car, and to work, and that sort of thing, and the needle keeps slipping off the record every time I go over a pothole, so it seems like an mp3 player is still the most practical thing to listen to music on.
So, within an mp3 player, how is the best possible sound achieved? There tends to be two factors to this. First, bitrate. You can judge for yourself the point at which you stop hearing a difference, but I find that good sound from an mp3 doesn't really start to happen until after 192kbps - so much gets lost in the downgrading that your computer does when it rips from a cd at 128 or even 64kbps. Most of us have enough harddrive space to store decent quality mp3s nowadays (and if you don't, an extra 500gb costs less than $100 and and well worth it), and if you're keeping the bitrate low to preserve space on your mp3 player, I'd question the logic there - slightly fewer, higher quality songs must be a better listening experience than 10 or 20 additional low bitrate tracks that have that digital artifact sound strangely reminiscent of someone farting in the bathtub.
But the second factor in the sound of your mp3 player, and the reason I wrote this thing to start with, is your headphones. The highest quality sound in the world, coming through those awful white iPod earbuds, is still going to sound you're listening to the band on the other side of a brick wall that you've covered in 7 layers of pillows. The cheapest way to get the best sound from headphones, of course, is to go with the big over the ear can style ones, but practicality rules that out for most of us - they're difficult to carry around, jogging is impossible, and you look like an escaped mental patient with them on. So what to do? Earbuds range from the ridiculously cheap (Wal-Mart sells some for $1.99/pair) to ridiculously expensive (you can get some that are are specially molded to the inside of your particular ears for around $1500), with many options in between. My favorite model that I've tried has to be these Sonys, but at $45 per pair they're not cheap, and unfortunately they're about as durable as a poorly constructed metaphor. If you plan to listen through them standing up straight, perfectly still, with no movement, and never take them out of your ears again, then they're a perfect pair. I went through 3 pairs in 2008, however, and spending $135/year on headphones just isn't good stewardship. They do sound fantastic though, and if they ever make a more durable model, I'll be first in line. But until then... Altec Lansing saves the day.
These headphones, the UHP106NP Backbeat Classics, are very, very nearly as good as the Sonys, and, through the website I just linked to twice (click here, a third time!), are less than half the price ($18 before shipping). They're incredibly durable, have a cloth covered cord (so it doesn't tangle), and sound fantastic. The cord is a bit noisy when it rubs on things, so you might want to safety pin it to your shirt or something when running, but on the whole, they're the best combination of value and sound I've ever come across. So throw away the iPod ones, and the Skull Candy ones (why everyone thinks they're high-end I have no idea, I've tried several pairs and they've all sounded awful), and experience the sound that your favorite bands spent months in the studio trying to create.
T
Even if…
I've long been fascinated by the book of Habakkuk. He's a relatively minor character in the Old Testament, part of those books that make up the minor prophets that people rarely read. But it's one of those stories - like much of the Bible, I suppose - that has no middle ground. Either God is as good, powerful, majestic, and all satisfying as Habakkuk makes Him out to be, or Habakkuk is completely crazy, and the god it describes is completely evil. There's no room for it being a nice story, a myth passed down through time, or a fable of sorts. The basic premise of the book is one of concern for the world. Habakkuk looks out at those around him and sees an awful lot of evil. He pleads with God, asking Him to do something, anything, about this. It's something many of us have felt, I'm sure - reports of so-called relief workers in Haiti buying teenaged prostitutes while they are there, for example, turn me very quickly to anger about the state of society.
And how does God respond to his plea? He reassures Habakkuk that He will put an end to the evil that has so frustrated him. So far, so good... but how? God plans to send in an opposing army to totally destroy Habakkuk's town. It's the equivalent of calling the police to complain about knife crime in your neighborhood and having them respond "no problem there, we're planning to bomb the city on Tuesday." Certainly not the reply that was expected.
I think most of us would forgive Habakkuk just about anything in response to God's plan. Anger? Confusion? Disbelief? But instead, Habakkuk offers this prayer, at the end of the book, that has haunted me since I first read it:
I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
What an incredible thought! Faced with the destruction of everything around him, Habakkuk says "even if there's nothing left here, no food, water, anything, I will still rejoice in who God is." As I said earlier, it either means Habakkuk has lost his mind... or this God really is an unending source of the deepest joy imaginable. The kind of joy that transcends any circumstance, that is only found in Him. I can assure you that the latter is true. This God brings joy in any circumstance - not joy at any circumstance, but a life transforming joy that makes us look at everything differently because our joy and contentment is no longer dependent on the things happening around us.
But there's something very troubling about this idea. As Habakkuk proclaims his enduring joy in Christ, even if his city is invaded, it strikes me that certain "even if"'s are harder for us than others. While I would like to look at this text and think "I can do that, I can have joy in God in any circumstance," in reality certain prospects fill me with dread and uneasiness. Will I still "rejoice in the Lord, take joy in the God of my salvation,"
- even if I'm still single in 60 years?
- even if in ten years I'm still in Ault and these churches are still in their present state?
- even if I have to wake up at 3.00am for the rest of my working life?
- even if the whole Sunday night crew fall away from the faith?
- even if I never get better at fighting the temptations to lie and lust?
I'm not suggesting any of these scenarios are especially likely, but from Habakkuk's prayer and a host of other texts in the Bible I know I'm commanded to be completely satisfied in Christ even if all of those things happen and worse. To let those prospects dampen my faith in God's promise to work all of life for my good reveals idolatry in my heart, it reveals that certain things are more worthwhile to me than knowing Him more. It's because of this that we're called to continually check our hearts - to "watch your life and doctrine closely", as Paul told Timothy. The more we're aware of our potential idols, the quicker we can repent and return to the wellspring of grace and joy, whenever circumstances take our eyes off of Him.
So which "even if"s are the hardest for you? What picture of the future of your life looks the most unpleasant? Watch these things closely, and remember that above all of them is a good, gracious, transcendent God, who is good and does good to us, always.
T
