Crave

I've recently reviewed most of the contenders for the world's best headphones: the Audio Technica ATH-W5000, Denon AH-D7000, Sennheiser HD 800, Grado PS-1000, Ultrasone Edition 8, and the best headphones I've heard so far, the Stax electrostatic SR-007Mk2. I listened to the Stax with the Woo Audio WES headphone amplifier. If you want and can afford the best, go for the Stax-Woo combination.

The HE-5. real wood earcups, innovative technology, and awesome sound quality!

(Credit: Hifiman)

But now I have yet another headphone to check out, and this one is a very different-sounding design. Oh, and it's less than half the price of the least expensive of those models!

It's called the Hifiman HE-5, and it uses planar-magnetic drivers to create sound. A planar magnetic driver is a large, flat Mylar diaphragm, coated with superthin aluminum, suspended between rows of slender bar magnets. The HE-5's diaphragm is therefore driven over its entire area, which dramatically reduces distortion; conventional dynamic headphone drivers are "driven" by a voice coil on the outer edge of the diaphragm, so the inner portion is more likely to distort.

The HE-5's driver is similar to the Stax electrostatic 'phones in that way, but the HE-5 doesn't use the bias charging scheme that all electrostatic headphones use, which also means the HE-5 can be used with standard headphone amplifiers. The Stax cannot.

The HE-5 is incredibly detailed sounding, but at the same time it's very smooth and laid back. Swapping between the HE-5 and the Sennheiser HD 800--considered by many to be the world's best dynamic headphone--the two headphones are opposites. The HD 800 is brighter, crisper, with more apparent treble detail; the HE-5 is softer, warmer, and more natural-sounding.

Butter.

(Credit: Light Blue Taxi)

Can 2009 give us any more bad news? I think at this point, the three of us are ready to move straight into 2010, mostly because we're too afraid of what's going to happen in the next three months. To put it lightly, this year has been a tough one for celebrities. Although it didn't exactly make Twitter headlines, we're all saddened by Patrick Swayze's death and take a few minutes out of the beginning of the show to talk about all of his great movies, including "Ghost," "Donnie Darko," "Dirty Dancing," and of course "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar."

Lots more good and bad news to discuss, including Facebook jumping on the @ symbol bandwagon. After Twitter reportedly rejected its purchasing offer, Facebook is now starting to introduce features that mimic the microblogging site. The first change is that Facebook users can now tag friends using an @ symbol in front of their names. The other is Facebook Lite, a less-cluttered version of the classic that discards the left navigation and info page.

Jeff found a pretty hilarious story from China about a bridge getting covered with butter, but before we get to that, we do a quick run-through of the 10 most pirated movies, and you'll be surprised at which flicks made the cut. Finally, we reminisce about high school LAN parties (look it up, young bloods), how to get 50 PC games for $5, and a new gaming console accessory called the Spawn Labs HD-720 that's making waves in the industry.

It's a common thing in the U.S. when you look up driving directions on Google (or Yahoo) maps, print them out prior to a trip. Personally, I use the Google Map app on my iPhone very frequently. However, finding the way around in other cities around the world, especially in the less developed regions, is a different story.

Google Map of Hanoi on the iPhone: For now, there's not much else you can do other than watching the blue dot moving around with you.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

I was in Hanoi (Vietnam) about a month ago and could hardly rely on Google Maps. It provides no driving (or even walking at some locations) direction there as the map was not updated fast enough with the creation of new streets. I didn't find any alternatives there, either. The iMapsPro-Hanoi iPhone application I bought was completely useless, as its map was actually even pathetically outdated.

For this reason, I was excited to learn about OpenStreetMap recently at just about time it starts its first Mapping Party in Hanoi, on July 18.

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free editable map of the whole world, much like Wikipedia for mapping. The free service allows everyone to view, edit, and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.

First created in 2004, OSM is now offering maps of cities around the world with varying levels of details and services by region, depending on the participation of the locals, which the organization tries to grab via mapping parties.

In Hanoi, the mapping party is a free educational event that teaches the attendees how to use GPS devices to collect and contribute mapping data of the city to OSM.

The detailed OpenStreetMap of Hanoi (as well as of other cities of Vietnam) is available online. The organizers of the event hope to further increase the details of the map and add more features, including driving directions.

While in places like the U.S., the existence of OSM seems rather insignificant due to the intensive coverage of online mapping services from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, I believe OSM is a very important alternative for other parts of the world like Vietnam.

With the fast pace of development, it's probably the only way to keep maps of the city updated--of course, with sufficient participation of local people. Hopefully next year when I get back, I won't get lost again in the city that once was my hometown.

According to a report on Open Salon, Apple appears to be preparing direct movie and TV show downloads on the iPhone.

Open Salon claims that an ad appearing in the free version of the app Twitterfon is the first place this new iPhone feature was discovered. However, the ad in question is nowhere to be found at press time and hasn't been confirmed.

iTunes TV ad

(Credit: Open Salon)

According to the report, the ad supposedly led to a place that pointed to some movie and TV show listings. The listings were broken down by genre, and although titles were listed, none would work when accessed.

Sony's glass tube speaker projects a 360 degree soundfield!

(Credit: Sony)

Sony's making high-end speakers?

It's kind of like hearing master chef Mario Batali is concocting a $25 Quarter Pounder for McDonalds. It's just that I associate Sony speakers with the sort I hear in home-theater-in-a-box systems. You know, little plastic boxes with low-tech drivers. Those speakers can be decent enough, but they're light years away from bona-fide high-end audio devices.

Well, the Sountina NSA-PF1 doesn't look like anything I've seen from Sony, or any other speaker manufacturer. Exact design details are sketchy, other than to claim the speaker uses "Four columns linking these parts contain oscillators to vibrate the organic glass tube." OK, sure.

It's a stereo speaker; one Sountina NSA-PF1 can produce stereo sound. Cool. Thing is, while the Sountina NSA-PF1 is available in Japan, Europe, Russia, Taiwan, Brazil, Panama, and Chile, it's not for sale here in the U.S.A. I can only wonder why.

After a very relaxing three-day weekend, we're back for a fresh start and a hilarious show. Today, we recap our appearance on Fox News and our weekend exploits, debut a few excellent logo submissions, and reveal Wilson's secret shame.

Sick camera face, Wilson

(Credit: Justin Yu/The 404)

Welcome back, everyone! Hopefully your weekend was as relaxing as ours was, although sometimes a three-day weekend can be more tiring than a whole week of work! Let's just say that seeing the sunrise as you go to bed can be beautiful and tragic at the same time. We kicked off our Memorial Day weekend with an appearance on Fox News' "Strategy Room" with our buddy Clayton Morris. Most of you have already seen it, but check it out if you haven't and let us know what you think. Were we too serious for our own good? More bathroom humor, perhaps? I'll try harder next time.

In related 404 news, Wilson discovers that Dave Matthews Band is using the REMIXED version of our theme song in a promotion on its Pandora channel. What the crap is that all about, DMB? We're calling you guys out on stealing the song from our buddy Jamie Lewis, and we're extra protective since we consider him the unofficial voice of the show, so expect that subpoena in the mail immediately. And Jamie, if you're reading this...we'll be looking for our commission check soon, too.

Aside from us tearing apart some d-bag that broke the Rock Band 2 world record, we also have a hilarious call from the public and show off more submissions for our "Design The 404 Logo" competition. Watch the video for today's show to check them out, or see the slideshow below for high-res shots. Send your high-res submissions to the404[at]CNET[dot]com and we'll show them on the air for the chance to win a gigantic prize package that includes a copy of "The Back Book," Anna David's "Bought," and more!

The 404 Logo Submissions

Alpine PND-K3msn

(Credit: Alpine Electronics)

On Tuesday, Alpine Electronics announced that it is now shipping its latest in-car GPS, the Alpine PND-K3msn. The device offers a lot of the same navigation features as the Alpine PND-K3, including text-to-speech functionality, integrated Bluetooth, and highway junction view. The main difference between the two models is the addition of MSN Direct services.

MSN Direct brings real-time information to the PND-K3msn, such as real-time traffic, weather forecasts, gas prices, and movie times. There's also a "Send to GPS" feature that lets you find addresses and businesses from your PC on Live Search maps and then send them wirelessly to your GPS.

With the purchase of the PND-K3msn ($299.95), you get a three-month complimentary subscription to the MSN Direct services, but after that you will have to pay $49.95 per year or a one-time fee of $129.95. Also, be sure to check out the coverage map to make sure you can get the services in your area.

There's still a lot of blue sky in Boeing's plans for directed-energy weapons like the Laser Avenger.

(Credit: Boeing)

Updated 2:40 p.m. with details on how the laser damaged the UAV and on the Laser Avenger's targeting system.

Boeing is seeing a glimmer of progress in its work toward fielding laser weapons.

The defense industry giant on Monday said tests of its Laser Avenger system in December marked "the first time a combat vehicle has used a laser to shoot down a UAV," or unmanned aerial vehicle. In the testing, the Humvee-mounted Laser Avenger located and tracked three small UAVs in flight over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and knocked one of the drone aircraft out of the sky.

Boeing didn't go into much detail about the shoot-down. In response to a query by CNET News, it did say this much about the strike by the the kilowatt-class laser: "A hole was burned in a critical flight control element of the UAV, rendering the aircraft unflyable."

While decades of Hollywood imagery may conjure up a vision of a target disintegrating in a sparkle of light, the actual workings of the laser beam are probably more prosaic. For instance, the beam from Boeing's much, much larger Airborne Laser, which is intended to disable long-range missiles in flight, uses heat to create a weak spot on the skin of the missile, causing it to rupture in flight. Boeing hopes to conduct the first aerial shoot-down test with the much-delayed 747-based Airborne Laser later this year.

In tests in 2007, the Laser Avenger "neutralized" improvised explosive devices (IEDs) like those that have been a deadly threat in Iraq, along with other unexploded munitions.

Sprint Nextel's Direct Connect service may not be sexy, but the push-to-talk network has a staunchly loyal following. And if Sprint knows what it's doing, it will leave the basics of Direct Connect alone.

Yet, the carrier did announce Thursday that it was tweaking the Direct Connect plans for its customers. The basic plan, which goes by the mouthful name of Unlimited Workgroup Communications, offers unlimited Direct Connect and Group Connect calls, plus unlimited text messaging, for $29.99 per month per line. For regular voice calls, you'll also get unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes and free nights and weekends starting at 9 p.m.

For an extra $10 per month, Nextel iDEN users can add unlimited data, Web browsing, and GPS navigation to the above features. Sprint users with a QChat phone like the Motorola V950 also can add the Web and GPS access, but they'll have to pay an additional $20 per month on top of the Unlimited Workgroup Communications.

Keep in mind, however, that regular voice minutes aren't included in the above plans. You can get a bundle of 500 anytime minutes for $30 per month per line or 2,000 minutes for $100 per month per line.