Review: Apple In-Ear Headphones

When Apple announced their new earphones way back when, I was very excited. Finally, the company behind the world’s greatest music manager (iTunes) and MP3 player (iPods) are getting more serious about their earphones. Could they translate their success in those respective fields to the earphone market? In short, not really. Let me go over some of the things that I liked about these headphones first.

Sound:

I can safely say that these earphones sound really good. I have heard thing that sound better, but at a significantly higher price tag. They sound GOOD. The highs an mids (especially vocals) sound especially crisp. The bass is a bit lacking, but not entirely. The new tweeter/woofer build that they touted as revolutionary (or just boosted about) during their iPod conference last Fall is a little exaggerated. The bass is decent and may satiate the palette for many, but for a lot of you fans of the rock and hip-hop genre will be disappointed. All in all, they sound good enough to justify the price tag if you listen to a lot of acoustic, classical, or vocal-centric music. Fan of bass? Look the other way.

Fit:

This is were the Apple earphones end for me. The cable feels cheap and tangles VERY easily. At this price tag, I would expect a better build. Something that is more rubberized to reduce the tendency to tangle. The earphones come with 3 earphone tips (three pairs, that is) and the metal cap replacements. Great on paper. Very nice attention to detail. HOWEVER… The ear tips suck. Based on my ear size, I use the small tips. The fit great, but in and around the one hour mark, they become a nuisance. I can really feel them drilling my ear canal and just the uncomfort is too much. Sadly, Those are the only tips that fit. Apple could have gone above and beyond had they included cone-shaped tips, or foam tips. Instead, you receive a small/medium/large combo. And odds are, only one will actually fit right, but not for long.

Above I mentioned how the sound quality excels in certain genres and may justify the sticker price. However, the only thing that really detracts from that is the lack of comfort. Especially during long periods of time. If your music library is acoustically rich, and not deep in the club-thumping, booty-popping bass, these earphones may be for you. BUT… and this is a big but… pay attention to the fit. At most retailers, you don’t get a ‘try-before-you-buy’ scenario (which is just unhygienic). So ask about the return policy and try them out for yourself. This review is simply me expressing my opinion and my experiences. Ultimately, every user has a different ear shape and musical taste. Cheers!

Final Score:  (out of five)

PureBuds Earphones Review

I recently was fortunate enough to receive a review unit of the PureBuds Reverse Sound Technology earphones. The basic concept of these earphones is that sound is pumped outward from the ear canal and then bounced back into the canal to provide a ’safer’ listening experience. That is a basic synopsis of the device, so make sure to check out the company website for more info. On top of the Reverse Sound Technology, there are three different sleeves that are included with eahc pair of earphones:

- A surround sound tip

- A bass boost tip

- A full range tip

Let me start off by saying, that the claims of this being a safer listening experience MAY be true. When I was pumping my music, it did seem a little softer to say the least. However, this may not always lead to a BETTER listening experience. The watered down sound will not be for everyone, especially audiophiles. If you have sensitive ears, or even a really young individual, this sound might be okay. But audiophiles will immediately find the headphones to be rather muddy and, depending on which sleeve, to have a tunnel-like sound.

The inclusion of different ear pieces to vary the sound is a great concept on paper, but was, in my opinion, executed far too hastly in the PureBuds. Sure, you get three different tips, but they are all a specific size, and we all know when it comes to earphones, one size does NOT fit all. The bass boost tips are probably the worst tips. When you wear them, every low end sound seems to sound as if it were coming out of a tunnel. The surround sound tips are okay, but don’t sit very well in the ear. The full range tip seems to be the best choice out of the bunch. It delivers good sound, especially for you clubbers. They fit in the ear somewhat nicely and seem comforable.

All in all, these are GOOD headphones. They concept is cool but, from my grade 12 physics background, I can tell you that there is some inteference going one when sound is bouncing back into your ear. This ultimately dissapates the sound, giving it a watered down effect. It may be nice for a specific niche of people that want a softer tone, but the general crowd may not be to fond of effect. If theres one piece of advice I could give to the crew at PureBuds, it would be to scrap the Reverse Sound Technology, and come out with a pair of earphones that deliver great sound based on the different tips included. Include at least five different tips, all of which in conjunction with one another will hit a wider consumer group and satisfy a great deal of them as well.

Beats By Dre Review

WARNING: This is just a disclaimer that this review may or may not agree with your current fanboy-ism. Please do not take it personally. From hours and hours of testing, in conjunction with previous time with other headphones, I have compiled a pretty good overview of the Beats By Dre. Once again, don’t hate me because I have an opinion.

Now that we that out of the way, I shall tackle this behemoth of a review. It’s always difficult to review headphones because there’s so much out there and there so many different kinds of people. What do I mean by that last part? Well, everyone hears differently. Some people may have a wider range in which they can hear than others. Scienctifics aside, the Beats By Dre Studio headphones are great headphones. That’s not to say it doesn’t have it shortcomings. I’ll tackle the cons first.

The cable is only about 4 feet in length. So for all you ballers out there, you may to purchase a longer auxillary cable to get functionality out of these headphones. Also, the passive noise cancellation isn’t up to par with the price tag. How can you tell? Well, when you play your music loud, it REALLY leaks out, which can be awkward in many situations. Since a lot of sound leaks out, one can assume that sound can leak in quite easily, and thus the PASSIVE noise cancellation is mediocre.

Furthermore, when you activate the noise cancellation there is a VERY faint hiss that can be heard (which virtually dissappears from your senses when you begin to play musics). Lastly, these headphones can NOT be used without two AAA batteries. When you buy these headphones, buy rechargeable batteries. Sadly, that’s a must!

All that being said, these are amazing headphones. They provide MUCH better bass than many of it’s competitors (Bose QC2 and OC3’s) and have highs that are even comparable to those flashy Sennheisers. The mids can get a LITTLE muddy at times, but this is often due to poor file quality.

There is a iPhone attachement that is way to high up on the wire to be an ‘awesome’ idea, but the sensitivity of the button itself makes is a ‘good’ idea. It’s included in the package, but could have used a little more thought. That being said, the sound quality on the receiving end of the mic is pretty good.

Right over the power switch, the ‘b’ logo is a mute button that can be held to turn off the audio and noise cancellation momentarily. I wish that you didn’t have to HOLD it there in order to mute.

Aesthetically, you cannot argue that these headphones are SEXY!  The piano black finish is very slick. The hot red highlights are sick. And the overall design brings all these together to give a set of headphones that look like no other. All in all, these headphones are great. They come with a beautiful package and all the necessary accesories. The $400 price tage ($350 in the US) may be steep to many consumers, but mind you, the cost price is about $215 CDN. In other words: SHOP AROUND!

Review: Liquid Case for the iPhone 3G

When you go form retailer to retailer, it’s hard to find very much differentiation in terms of iPhone accessories. I admit, I’m a bit of an accessory whore, but that’s only because I want the best (or the best at the time). I’m not about to tell you that the Liquid Case is the best iPhone case, however, it does hit a lot of points that make it best in it’s class.

Attention to details

As soon as I heard about the Liquid Cases by Element Case, I knew there was something different. These guys seriously take their job seriously. Let me try and break it down for you. You get to choose from three different backing colours (black, white, grey) and then theres another seven flip lid covers that you can choose from (you get two with each purchase). On top of that, you can choose from several design you want to be laser engraved on the flip lids. If that wasn’t enough, you can even go as far as e-mailing the guys over at Element Case to get your own logos on the product. In the infamous words of Paris Hilton, that’s hot.

For the inquiring minds

There are five essential portions to the Liquid Case. You have a brushed aluminum plate (embedded with the Element Case insignia) that is on the back of the tough backing itself. There is then the backing which thick, glossy polycarbonate that provides a !@#$ load of shock protection. This thing isn’t going to crack like most shell cases upon dropping it. You then have a plastic bezel that holds the iPhone in place. Correction: there are four screws (the fourth portion) that holds the bezel, which holds the iPhone down. Finally, you have your flip lid. Magnetized at the corners, it’s your last line of defense.

So my verdict?

The element case is truly a creme de la creme of iPhone cases (I really hope I got that French proper). The looks may not appeal to everybody, but there will be a select niche that love the construction/industrial design. The case adds a bit of heft, but in return you get a product with amazing finish, and improtantly, protection. With a $100 sticker price, the real dilemma is whether the case is worth it or not.

In my opinion, it truly depends on your situation. You will most certainly find cases that provide the same, if not more, protection for a lot less. But you will have a hard time finding a case with so much flexibility in terms of design for the same price. The holiday seasons are coming up, and this is an AWESOME present to that iPhone addict of yours. Though I would second guess whether I would buy this for myself, I would totally buy this for a family memeber or close friend as a gift. The fact you have so much say in the final look adds to the uniqueness of this product, which will translate immensely to anyone on the recieving end of this case.

All in all, its a great product that has so much to offer. Though the sticker price isn’t for everyone, you can assure yourself that with a little creativity, no one on the planet will have the same case as you. If you have that special someone you don’t mind spending a few bucks on in these beautiful economic times, check out the Liquid Case. You can gaurantee that they’ll love you for the following days (at the least).