Your Headspace

Throughout my college years, I spent hours-upon-hours listening to classical music on headphones. As a musician, I needed to study the scores, know my parts, and hear the best orchestras throwing it down on Mahler symphonies. Because I played an instrument on the lower end of the frequency spectrum, I needed headphones that would actually relay that information (the bass) to me. Nowadays, I need headphones that offer exceptional sound and decent isolation. I need to be able to get into a good ‘programming headspace’, but also able to hear if someone is calling my name.

My first pair of headphones over $30 was a pair of Shure SRH240A’s. At the time, these headphones blew me away! Coming from a cheap pair of earbuds, it was like seeing a DVD for the first time. Looking back, that’s about what it was; the difference between a VHS and DVD. It wasn’t the greatest quality, but I was beginning to be able to hear my parts in the orchestra and pick up some information that was missing in my previous experiences.

I stuck with those for a couple of years, but the moment of clarity came from hearing my teachers Bowers & Wilkins speakers. He has a very nice set of B&W speakers in his living room and spending a few nights listening to music on them, I finally heard what quality is. Fast-forward 2 years and I grabbed a pair of Bowers & Wilkins P5's.

The P5's, for $299, offer everything I would ever need in a pair of headphones. There are many others out there at this price-point, however, the P5's offer an exceptional sound experience that is well beyond the cost.

As a programmer, getting into a good headspace means being able to focus on the task at hand. Because many of the current office environments are heading towards the open floor plan, noise can be an issue. Little sounds that colleagues make (conversations, mouse-clicks, etc.) make it very difficult to stay on-track. For that reason, I recommend getting a good, comfortable pair of headphones with good sound and isolation. If you have good isolation, you will not need to crank the volume very high (less hearing damage) and you will be able to listen to a broader range of sounds.