iLounge

1

Ugh… where are the cheap iPhone compatible earphones… that aren’t earbuds.

I want something like my $20 Sony behind the ear headphones, but with phone controls.

I don’t want earbuds, or anything in my ear, and I don’t want to spend more then $50.

Posted by ort on October 21, 2009 at 3:15 PM (PDT)

2

man…I WISH the volume/track controls worked with the 3g.  was really hoping a software update would add that capability.

Posted by shawn on October 21, 2009 at 6:56 PM (PDT)

3

@ort,

Was your post really necessary? If you do not want the Shure’s don’t buy them. If you want cheap headphone, use the ones that come with the iPhone. Obviously your listening tastes are lacking so the Shures would be lost on you for “sure”. Stick with what you know. I think iLounge posting something like this is great to give more discerning listeners a choice.

Posted by DT on October 21, 2009 at 10:48 PM (PDT)

4

I have a pair of Shure headphones for my Itouch and they are some of the best sounding headphones out there. The base is deep and clear woth no distortion. Also the buds provide comfort for those sat next to you on the train. Even on full volume you dont get the mean looking stares.

Posted by John on October 22, 2009 at 5:24 AM (PDT)

5

@ DT snobby much?

Posted by Smee on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM (PDT)

6

@DT,

While the Shure in-ears are definitely a step up sound-wise from the iPod earbuds, not everyone values the difference in sound quality enough to justify an additional $120 purchase. Personally, I can’t stand the style of in-ear headphones; I don’t like stuffing anything in my ears. And judging by the fact that ort wants earphones and clip behind the ear, neither does ort. We all value different things; some people would say anyone who pays more than $30 or $40 for earphones is nuts, while others obviously wouldn’t agree.

The fact of the matter is, regardless of how good the Shures sound, $120 seems like a huge investment when you can walk into a store and get a headset for like $20 or $30. I had a pair of the Bose in-ears, and I’m using the Monster Beats headphones right now, but while I appreciate the step up in quality, I don’t appreciate the dent it puts in my wallet. It’s probably frustrating for a lot of people that the iPhone gets so many high-end products, and so few choices on the lower-end of the spectrum. Then again, I guess that’s the tradeoff with having a nice phone, eh?

Posted by SeanBond on October 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM (PDT)

7

Yes it was necessary. The Shures could be $15 and I wouldn’t want them because I don’t want anything in my ear. I desperately want a set of over the ear headphones with iPhone controls and no one is making them. Every single aftermarket iPhone headphone released so far has been some for of in-ear or earbud set.

I wasn’t so much annoyed at Shure, or this particular earphone… as I am annoyed that I keep seeing new headphones announced and so far no one is addressing my desires.

Posted by ort on October 23, 2009 at 2:13 PM (PDT)

8

I’m interested in these headphones…but I have the far superior SE530s…which I bought for close to 500 bucks.  (A recent drop in price at Amazon means that you can pick them up for half that price, now.)  They’re simply wonderful headphones…and, as someone who values sound reproduction, I would be cautious to buy something as cheap as the SE115ms.  When Shure comes out with an upgrade for the 530s, I’ll be first in line.

And as the 530s are modular…why not buy an iPhone add on mike, anyway…?

Posted by Peter Briggs on October 23, 2009 at 3:06 PM (PDT)

9

Since getting my iphone I have been searching for alternative earphones. 

I can’t stand apples standard earphones, so ditched them out of the box.  I started using my sony EX700’s in ears with a shure microphone extension, but it didn’t have a volume control, and the centre of gravity changed at the join making it unworkable
I then tried an audio technical mic, that did the same thing but had the volume control.  Absolute rubbish.

I then bought apple’s in ear headphones,  A big improvement on the out of the box version, but still not great

And I have wondered why the shure’s, sennheisers, and sony’s have not released quality headphones with the proprietary apple remote control, when this technology has been out for over a year and iphone penetration is enormous.

Finally (unless I am mistaken) the first third party headphones with mic and iphone controls have been released.

Will I get them?  I don’t know.

I love the discreteness of the apple brand control.  It weighs virtually nothing, and the mic is located close to your mouth.  From the picture this control looks much bigger, and positioned at the join of the headphones (buggering up the centre of gravity).  Also, a past pair of shure’s I have owned required the cables to go over the ears.  As a glasses wearer this is annoying.

That I would really like is for someone to take the earpieces form my favourite headphones and graft them onto the apple controls (which I am s(h)ure Peter Briggs would like too).  Or release a pair of headphones exactly like the apple ones with great quality earpieces

Posted by tim on October 27, 2009 at 1:28 AM (PDT)

10

I bought these and they were rubbish.  They made apple headphones sound good.  No dynamic range, no top end.  Just appalling

Returned them to the apple store within an hour of opening the package.

Posted by tim on November 4, 2009 at 9:04 AM (PDT)

11

@tim
you don’t know much about speakers. these are dynamic speakers. they need to be played at ~70% max volume for apprx 24 hours straight to burn in. after that, the sound changes dramatically, as with ALL dynamics. google it for references..
other than that, peace seem to dislike this set for the placement of the mic/control, but never for sound quality.
shure are in the high end market. they server people who want high end. high end sound has a flat response curve. if you want lots of bass, you want something marketed for young people. shure won’t make those.
peace
/storm

Posted by storm on November 20, 2009 at 3:54 PM (PDT)