When Traveling, Best Way to Hear CDs...

i know you prefer something w/o headphones but i cant help recommending the etymotics. they're small super high quality in-the-ear phones that are perfect for travel, especially on the plane since they block out all snoring, babies, insurance salesmen, etc. they sell them with a whole setup (small amp, bag, cd player, etc) at headroom.com or maybe it's headphone.com. 800-828-8184 w/ 30 day money back guarantee. i thought the etymotics w/o the amp were just fine and you dont have to remember to turn the amp off each time you're finished. if you haven't heard these things yet you should. they're true wonders.

Kublakhan, I'd have to agree with you, sort of. Owned a pair of Ety's for a few weeks, but I suppose my ears are built somehow different, couldn't find a comfortable position to use them. I was suprised and impressed with they way they sounded, but couldn't use them for more than 30 minutes. Faced with the option of paying to have them custom fit for my ears, I chose to return them to Headroom in exchange for some Sennheiser HD600's. Comfy, sound terrific but aren't as easy to travel with. I throw my Panasonic CDP, Headroom amp, and cans in a backpack and I'm good to go. Buying from Headroom, you can exchange should you need to, good guys to deal with. Jeff

I used to fly quite a bit and portability was king. I found my best solution was a set of Sony NC-20 noise reduction headphones and a Sony D-335 CD player (an old $300+ model). The noice cancellation could have been more powerful but at it allowed me to listen to music at comfortable levels while flying. For you flyers out there, the BEST earplugs are those translucent gummy ones - much more comfortable and effective than the foam plugs.