I've raised teenagers. It's not an easy time. First jobs; getting a driver's license; romance; challenging schoolwork--a heady mix indeed. Teens try to exercise control of the world they find themselves in...but often aren't quite well enough positioned or equipped. The magic bullet, it seems to me, is finding an engaging project that teens can throw themselves into and call their own. One that can make a few bucks is a big bonus.

Here's one such success story...

Brian Gluck at Headphones.com shot me an email last week suggesting we make the contest more open ended by asking a question and selecting a winner from the various answers. D'oh! Why didn't I think of that?

So I thunk and thunk, and thunk some more ... and I think I've thunk of a question. It's actually one I've thought about for a long time.

Tap your cheek bones, and you'll hear it plain as day. The sound's not coming through your ear canals ... it's just rattling the bones in your ear, and you can hear it. But is this a good way to get your tunes?

Let's find out ...

In a rather shady headphone forum out there on the interweb (that will remain unnamed) lives a group of gentlemen who call themselves: "The Stax Mafia." In recent weeks, having become aware of my work measuring headphones, they've "requested" that I make some measurements of electrostatic headphones.

I just couldn't resist. (I don't want to wake up with a goat head on the pillow next to me.)

Many of you will remember my previous attempt at analyzing break-in from this post. A lot of good comments and suggestions were made after the post, and I'd encourage those not familiar with this previous attempt to check it out.

Deciding that my time away at T.H.E. Show Newport would be the perfect opportunity to run some more break-in tests, I programmed my headphone measurement system to take frequency response, square wave, impulse response, and Total Harmonic Distortion data every hour for 100 hours.

Man! That's a lot of numbers ... I'm glad I have a computer.

Every August for the past 5 years, HeadRoom has made the treck to Southern California to co-host a headphone event with the Los Angeles/Orange County Audio Society. Five years ago it was a curiosity ... these days it's a happening.

Check it out.

Brian Gluck over at www.headphones.com has been very helpful to me as I've worked to start up InnerFidelity. He's a sponsor here; he's sent me gear to audition; but he said he'd like to do more.

And he's putting money where his mouth is ...