First Impressions of Apple In-Ear Headphones

[klittle32]

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Can I do everything with these that I can with the earbids that came with my iPhone? I have a FIRST generation 8 gb iPhone and don't really care about volume control from the remote, just being able to answer calls with a click, change tracks when listening to music, and using the mic.

 

[slicecom]

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Can I do everything with these that I can with the earbids that came with my iPhone? I have a FIRST generation 8 gb iPhone and don't really care about volume control from the remote, just being able to answer calls with a click, change tracks when listening to music, and using the mic.

Yes, you can. But there are many other in ear headphones with arguably better quality sound and better prices that can do the same.

 

[jcosmide]

Yes, you can. But there are many other in ear headphones with arguably better quality sound and better prices that can do the same.

Such as...

 

[bigmc6000]

One can live without a volume control as there's a 'hard' volume control on the iPhone which can be operated by feel (as opposed to 'soft' iPod controls which need to be operated by eye: the only way to pause it is to pull the headphones out -- or dig it out of your pocket, look at it, unlock the screen, aim your fingers.... and crash the car).

Umm - what?!?!?! You shouldn't be driving with headphones in listening to music. I'll use them when I'm going handsfree but I'll never listen to music with them. In fact, I believe it's illegal in most states for you to do this...

 

[twoodcc]

they seem pretty nice, but i won't be spending $80 on a pair of headphones, but that's just me

 

[schneb]

I wouldn't suggest mixing earwax with others...

Bring an alcohol wipe.

 

[Freis968]

Doubtful because that is just gross. Bose actually offers a sample of their in-ears but they change the nibs each time ... at least the Bose store by my house does.

Good point, if you try these things out after 1,000 people have you need to have your head examined. I imagine these type of people don't wash their hands after leaving a restroom after going #1 or #2...THINK ABOUT IT!

Hygiene is king! You will be sick less often and won't spread your germs around...

 

[yeknommonkey]

Beware 'Good' headphones!

is that headphone case thing going to become known as the iSuppository?
it does look cool though.

Anyway,,,
I bought some super cool headphones recently, (AKG K-701's) and they really are amazing, I literally keep hitting pause on iTunes just to check the 'new' noises i'm hearing are actually part of the songs i've had all these years,,,,, BUT good headphones really do highlight how badly 80% of my music has been 'ripped'.All those early 128kb mp3's (and even some hard drive skimping 64kb files!) not to mention ITMS music sounds really quite awful compared to good old 320kbps M4A.

So if you are going to upgrade your headphones, be prepared to upgrade your rip's too!

 

[Dejavu]

I'm no audio expert but the freq. response chart Apple provides looks awful (and misleading)!

Notice how the 1-1K appears to be a smooth response (over 3 quadrants), yet the 1K-10K band (which is where most of the music resides) is one small quadrant and shows a rough response. These in-ear may not be that good, as one would expect from a pair of in-ears. The chart is MISLEADING!

 

[DaBrain]

I thought I was the only one that had that problem...my ears were weird or something. Are these supposed to fit snug without having to hassle with them every 20 seconds?

My biggest and only gripe is this issue! Ya think they could do a bit better with the stock earphones! I gave up on them a longggg time ago! For the price of an iPod touch or the iPhone something that fits better should have been changed/ redesigned by now.

And nope your not the only one--)))

 

[DaBrain]

I'm no audio expert but the freq. response chart Apple provides looks awful (and misleading)!

Notice how the 1-1K appears to be a smooth response (over 3 quadrants), yet the 1K-10K band (which is where most of the music resides) is one small quadrant and shows a rough response. These in-ear may not be that good, as one would expect from a pair of in-ears. The chart is MISLEADING!

Yes! BUT, you need to consider this graph more closely before jumping to conclusions. Why you ask?

Because what you point out is not whats actually depicted in the graph. You can not compare the frequency response from 10 Hz to 100Hz and 1,000 Hz to 10,000 Hz as truly reflective of the response.

From 10 to 100 Hz is only 100 cycles depicted, 1,000 to 10,000 Hz is 10,000 cycles! Quite a difference! If they would have graphed the response out over a longer period or in 100Hz increments you would see a much flatter and overall less fluctuating and better response then what this graph displays!

 

[Mac Brown]

Woo hoo! Ordering mine today.

 

[8CoreWhore]

Compatibility Chart

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3310

 

[Killyp]

I'm no audio expert but the freq. response chart Apple provides looks awful (and misleading)!

Notice how the 1-1K appears to be a smooth response (over 3 quadrants), yet the 1K-10K band (which is where most of the music resides) is one small quadrant and shows a rough response. These in-ear may not be that good, as one would expect from a pair of in-ears. The chart is MISLEADING!

It's not. Any frequency power/amplitude response plot of a speaker is measured like this. Sound in Hz vs. Musical 'note' follows a doubling rule.

That plot actually doesn't look too bad in comparison to most earbuds of that price, although not what I'd expect from two-way earphones. It also looks considerably 'smoothed' by a computer. In real life, it'll be much more jagged.

 

[crisss1205]

Does anyone think the next iPhone software update will enable the volume controls etc?

I'd like to get some better headphones than what came with the iPhone 3g but for $79 (I'm poor) I'd like to have a little increased functionality too.

A software update should fix the problem with the volume controls on the headphones since they use the same input specs.

(Pic on bottom is of in-ear headphones and on the top are my iPhone headphones)

 

[teflon]

anyone have these yet? How would they compare with the shure e2cs? Do these isolate background noises like the shure's?

The reviews says that they don't isolate as well as Shure SE110 or sound as good. Not too sure how it compares to E2Cs in terms of sound quality, SE110 was an improvement to EC2.

and you know this how...? Have you tried the new apple ear phones, or are you just assuming because you don't want to believe that an $80 pair of headphones could be as good as your precious etymotics?

Well the CNet review said it was not as good as the etymotics, which is how I assume he/she knew that the Apple ones were not as good.

 

[O. Frabjous-Dey]

I don't see how CNet can compare these to the Etymotic HF2. I have the Etymotic HF2 and have been a very big fan of Etymotic for a long time. You just cannot compare these new Apple ear phones to these.

However, these new Apple ear phones are a huge step above the normal ear phones you get with their devices. If I didn't have the Etymotic HF2, these would be a wonderful replacement. The price is great! Once again, I think Apple pulled off another great product.

Well, they're both in-ear phones, and presumably targeted at the same market - listeners who will spend more for better sound quality.

That said, I hope this doesn't cannibalize the HF2's market, because the HF2s are really pretty amazing phones - comparable to the studio-quality ER-4Ps. And Etymotic treats their customers right. After about a year of daily usage and lots of wrapping and bending, the right channel gave out. I returned it to Etymotic and they shipped me a brand new unit within the week.

There are so many companies out there that just seem to want to screw you and steal your wallet that the few remaining good ones should be publicly lauded.

 

[VoR]

A company honouring its warranty!?
Better off naming and shaming the companies that don't - I've had my fair share of headphones and headsets and haven't had a problem getting replacements. Plantronics put up a little fight and I've never tried sonys notoriously bad after sales support.
What about companies like microsoft, that happily replace peripherals instantly when they're years and years out of warranty?

 

[nacengineer]

Volume Controls

Macrumors didn't quote the remainder of the article unfortunately.

The volume controls won't work as there isn't a connection for this in the iPhone headphone jack.

 

[shigzeo]

I guess I will pick up a pair for running, since the originals keep falling out of my ears.

with in ears, you will likely get a very noisy phone unless apple's cable is noiseless like the audio technica ck10 or westone um2 cable. i doubt it though and you will likely become annoyed very quickly. i am very excited about these phones.

 

[shigzeo]

I hope they come out with versions that wrap over the ear as well, I like to wear them at the gym, but I constantly tug on the cord from doing exercises so these kind always fall out of my ear.

just turn them up and wrap the cable around your ear, you can do this with almost any phone though it may seem strange.

 

[atsang]

why don't all the whiners just go buy the other dual-driver buds for under $100? Wait, YOU CAN'T.

 

[alexbates]

I would like to try them out. I wonder if they will have them on display in the Apple stores.

Me too. The next time I go to an Apple store, I am going to try them out.

I bought a pair of the Bose in-ear headphones and one side of the earbuds stopped working within a couple of months. If Apple's new headphones are good quality, I would love to buy a pair.

 

[kid rock]

Apple store in the bluewater shopping centre, england doesnt have them and i orderd them from the online store today and my email response was that they will be sent out on the 29th of Dec and ill get them on the 2nd of jan!


Simon

 

[xicemanx]

do the volume controls work with the unibody macbooks?