Every now and again, a piece of travel technology comes along that immediately transforms the way you do things. I have gradually progressed to portable audio, and took the plunge, based on some initial comments in this forum, to purchase the Shure E4c for US$217.95 delivered to Australia (http://www.earphonesolutions.com/).

My home audio system consists of high quality electronics from Arcam and Vandersteen, among others, and lossy-format recordings (err MP3) have left me cold to date.

Straight out of the box, using Ogg Vorbis at 10/10 sampling (around 220 kbps), I heard real music. Yes they're cold as ice, the bass is seriously constrained - but it's there! - due to the drivers needing "burn-in", but I heard real music.

They're now sitting on my desk "burning-in" - but I have to say it's the best $200-odd I've ever spent on audio gear.

And the other benefit? They isolate external noise - after the Shures, I won't even bother with noise-cancelling headphones again.

Wow!