T42 audio out too quiet for airplane headphone use

[pdxs1]

I'm hopping on a plane tomorrow morning with my T42 that I've preloaded with some movies for a crosscountry flight. My problem is the volume for the audio out to my headphones is too quiet to compete with the background drone of noise on the plane. With all the volume settings I can find turned up to the max the headphones produce a decent volume in a quiet room, but on the plane I'll be straining to hear the sound.

Is there some way to boost the signal that is going thru the audio output out to my headphones? Am I missing a volume setting? Is there some software out there that I could download tonight that might help?

Didn't even remember this problem from my last flight until just now as I'm packing (D'oh!), so I don't have time to run out and buy a sound card or any other type of hardware.

[sugo]

If it's dvd, have you tried a different dvd playing software? I found some are softer than the others.

[pdxs1]

I used DVD Shrink 3.2 to copy the movies to my hard drive, so I think I might be stuck with that for playback.

(and in case the MPAA is lurking about - yes, I bought these DVDs, I have no intention of burning copies of them, and will be deleting the files from my drive when my trip is over. )

[Leon]

I used DVD Shrink 3.2 to copy the movies to my hard drive, so I think I might be stuck with that for playback.

not so, you can use any player & some ARE louder!! In addition, suggest you get amplified headphones.

[UCI2CI]

some players (like windows media player, real player, maube even some DVD players) have have software equalizer. With all volumes set to max, raising mid to high frequency levels will give you an extra boost in volume.

Even better solution if your dont mind spending a little bit of money would be noise canceling headphones. You can find some for really cheap these days, but i cant say much for their quality.

[brewt]

I suggest getting noise isolating or noise cancelling headphones instead. Turning up the volume to drain out background noise for long periods of time is damaging to the ears. I have a pair of Shure e2c's that are pretty good at isolating noise. I think you can find them at some places for around $65 nowadays - most people would consider this to be pretty expensive for a pair of headphones, but these produce pretty good audio (google around for reviews), and they're great at blocking out the noise.

[Nolonemo]

Make sure you've turned volume all the way up in the SW you're using to play the video. For example, I found that Power DVD's volume control functioned in addition to the TP volume control buttons -- I had to turn both sets of controls up to get decent volume.

For an in-ear-canal type headphone that's cheaper than the Shures (which I understand are very good) try the Koss Plug, available for around $20 retail, and the sound is extremely good for the price.

[aaronpropst]

I love these:
http://www.buy.com//retail/product.asp? ... caid=16009

they're comfy, block almost all ambient noise.. and are only $50..

you can pick em up at most best buys.. / circuit city's

[sugo]

I love these:
sony ex71

they're comfy, block almost all ambient noise.. and are only $50..

you can pick em up at most best buys.. / circuit city's

I used to own sony ex70sl, which is very similar to the ex71sl suggested. My experience was exactly the opposite. While they make the volume sound higher (thanks to good sensitivity of the driver), it offered very limited isolation against engine noise (plane or bus).

[aaronpropst]

hmm. perhaps i should ammend my review to 'adequate'. I think they'd definitely be sufficient to block out enough jet noise to hear your dvd on the thinkpad without additional amplification.. but yeah.. you'll have plane in the background..

good enough for me for the price..

[Nolonemo]

hmm. perhaps i should ammend my review to 'adequate'. I think they'd definitely be sufficient to block out enough jet noise to hear your dvd on the thinkpad without additional amplification.. but yeah.. you'll have plane in the background..

good enough for me for the price..

That's the good thing about the Koss Plugs (if I can "plug" them again ), they are sort of like foam earplugs with an audio canal (actually a little tube that connects to the body of the phones) in the middle, so they can be very effective at blocking ambient noise, far more so than the Sonys (which I also have and use instead of the Koss Plugs most of the time, because I find the Plugs TOO isolating when I'm in public places).