|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 So much better than iphone headphones... Jun 29, 2009
My iPhone headphones didn't take long to frizz out. I wanted a pair of headphones with the mic/switch on them so I didn't have to fiddle with the phone for start/pause and to answer a call.
I've had them about a month and I find they work great. The price ($80) was fair in comparison to other sets I've seen. They're sturdy. The woven cord doesn't tangle so easy. Sound is good.
No complaints.
Good build, but sound quality is bad for a $90 pair of headphones Jun 29, 2009
I bought these after coming off a pair of Ultimate Ear MetroFi's. The short story is these seem to have a better build, but they cost $50 more than the MetroFi's and sound far worse. They simply sound really awful for a $90 pair of headphones.
[Good] First Impressions of Build Quality
These seem to have a good build. Most headphones break because of strain in the jack, but these ones have a nice flexible strain reliever. Compare that to the UE MetroFi's -- their "strain relief" was far too rigid (coincidentally, guess what part of them broke after just 3 months?) In addition, the jack on these is tilted a bit... I imagine that will put a lot less strain on the connector as you carry them around in your pocket while walking or sitting down. The build quality basically seems to be a lot better than other headphones out there. A lot of people complained they broke early on, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed (will update this review once they break).
[Good] Materials
Their cord is made of a fabric-y material unlike other earbuds' normal rubber. This muffles the "stethoscope effect" you generally get with earbuds (you know, where every tap on the cord echos in your ears) -- it's still there, but not nearly as bad as other headphones (the MetroFi's were just unbearably awful in this area).
[REALLY BAD!] Sound Quality
The sound quality is far short of what a $90 pair of headphones should sound like. I'm using a pair of $300 Bose headphones as my baseline. I don't expect these to sound anywhere near that of the Bose (these were bought as my workout/going-around-town headphones), but still. They have no depth, the sound is extremely hollow, and they have noticeable traces of that listening-from-inside-a-metal-shipping-container sound. You can get rid of the metallic/hollow sound by cutting the 1K and 2K sliders on your equalizer by a few dB, but there's only so much EQ fiddling you can do to pretend they produce a rich sound. They'll probably be fine if you mostly just listen to hip-hop, but if you listen to anything even remotely melodic or musical, you're going to be disappointed. This is the only place where the MetroFi's outshined these guys. In other words, a pair of earbuds costing half the price of these sounded far better.
[Bad] Misc. Usability Complaints
My last complaint about these is the control button is far too small. The mic/button assembly is about an inch and a half long. The button is less than a quarter inch long. That means the button is 1/6th the length of the entire mic/button assembly. It's also extremely thin and rounded... the range of "pressability" is about 45-50degrees around the cylindrical assembly. Just TRY finding and hitting the button without looking at the mic assembly first... it can't be done.
[Summary]
Overall I give these 3 stars. The sound quality is not so great, but the build quality looks promising. If these break within 6 months, I'm going to come back and drop them down to two stars.
Nice earbuds! Jun 28, 2009
After reading multiple reviews w/ mixed comments, I decided to take a chance a bought these in August 2008. To date, I have had no issues and they continue to work extremely well. Audio quality and sound reproduction is excellent and they are holding up like the day I bought them. I wear them daily about 2-3 hours w/ driving.
 Agree with Others - Good at First, but They Stopped Working Jun 27, 2009
I think the first review I saw on this says it best: "At First They're Amazing, Until They Stop Working!!" This is SO TRUE. I hoped this wouldn't be the case for me, but sadly, it is.
I bought my earphones less than a year ago, and I thought they were great. The sound was good, the small earpieces were perfect for me and don't hurt at all when in place, and the phone/iPod control was very handy. I've taken VERY good care of them and on the outside, they are still in perfect condition. However, they don't work anymore. Only one earpiece has sound, and the phone/music control control button doesn't work at all. I have no idea what happened, but I feel like I've been ripped off, because I paid $100 for about 9 months of use; now I've got to find myself a new set of iPhone-compatible headphones.
One potential problem I see is in the design of the connection right at the phone. It looks like a good solid connection, until you see how the cord tries to bend back on itself as it comes out of the plastic connector piece. It looks like it would strain the cord, possibly causing a short of some type. Perhaps that's what happened to mine - honestly, I have no idea. It seems like someone had a good idea of trying to protect the cord at the protection point, but I don't think they have succeeded.
Quite honestly, and without exaggeration, if you've got money to burn, go ahead and buy this. It might be your best option of all the items you see, but be warned by this review and several others...this product will very likely stop working far, far too soon.
Please don't buy these... Jun 27, 2009
I really wish I could give these headphones a better rating. They look nice. They are comfortable. The sound quality is good. HOWEVER, I spent more than $100 on them, and three of them have died on me in about a year. I used them a lot, but I never abused them or used them in extreme conditions. There is NO excuse for premium headphones to die as often as these did. My guess is you'll love these headphones for the first couple of months, and then the frustration will begin as pair after pair will die on you.
|
| | |
