One of the consistent weaknesses of the entire
iPod/iPhone
line for its entire six year life is the iconic white earphone set that comes
in the box.
They're not absolute dreck, but neither are they up to the hardware they come w
ith. Merely adequate, there hasn't been much improvement since 2001, save for t
he inline remote/mic built into the cord with the ones that come with iPhones.
And hey, what about those foam things, huh? They don't last long - if you can k
eep them at all, that is; I wonder what Apple was thinking including them in th
e box. Using them's a clear mark of an iPod newbie.
It's as if the earbuds were mere afterthoughts they threw in the box with the i
Pods and the iPhone; maybe they assumed it was an unnecessary effort and expens
e to give nice ones we could actually appreciate, spending all the R&D budg
et just on the hardware. But if they assumed that we'd dump them eventually in
favor of better third party buds, it doesn't make sense that they made it exasp
eratingly difficult for iPhone users to swap out the buds for better ones with
the repressively off-sized audio port they built into the phone. I mean, WTH?
There are very few third-party buds with plugs that fit, and even rar
er third-party iPhone-specific buds that have the same remote control/mic built
into them (one of the better ones is the
V-Moda Vibe Duo, but its bassy, in-ear noi
se-cancelling style isn't for everyone; in fact, users have noted that it's an
unsettling experience to use these in-ears as a handsfree set for some reason.)
So to the rescue come enterprising companies that literally bridge the gap. Ran
ging from cheap to ridiculously expensive, the adaptors can be as plain as can
be, or savvy enough to find a way to add a mic function to your existing third-
party multimedia-ready buds.
In the plain-
jane category is
iFrogz' Fitz pl
ug adaptor. Although it claims to have a third audio channel built into the plu
g to accommodate earphones that have a microphone in them I haven't been able t
o test if it works, or is just a hook to reel in customers. All I know is, jack
ing the original iPhone buds into them kills the remote function right off, so
it isn't a pass-through device, function-wise.
Fitz is just a 3.25-inch cord with an Apple-standard male plug
on one end, and a conventionally-sized female jack on the other. It comes in w
hite and in black. It does what it says it does, and that's ...it. Aside from l
engthening your cord by over 3 inches, it does nothing more, nothing less. So i
n that, it works as advertised. Doesn't degrade the audio or add noise, as far
as I can tell (and as a radio producer, I can tell, believe me). Now I can use
all the other buds I've accumulated over the years of my never-ending quest for
the right pair, and the iPod-portion of the iPhone finally feels, or sounds, a
s it should.
Fitz costs US$7.99, but in my country it's hard to come by unless you order onl
ine. The one local store that has lots of it, a shop called
iStudio, shamelessly sells it for PHP900, or nearly 200% over SRP. Still, people
are snapping them up. I was fortunate to source it cheaper at another shop at P
HP500, but if you value the iPod side of your iPhone, it's worth the added cost
. At least until Apple wises up and finally releases a kick-as
s Apple-branded pair.
Now that'd be something, wouldn't it?
i dont know where u live but here in north america that is the standard size fo
r headphones and they all work with the ipod/iphone, but i agree they need to m
ake some better headphones. i bought myself a pair of bose earbuds ($130) and t
hey are perfect and have amazing base for their size and the sound is crystal c
lear.
I don't know why so many iPhone users mindlessly complain about Apple's new rec
essed headphone port design. If they really knew the truth about the design, t
hey should be thanking Apple instead.
I'm not an iPhone user but I do own an iPod. And as a longtime user of portabl
e electronics for countless years, I can tell you that one consistent problem I
've always had with portable units is that headphone jacks are very easy to dam
age anytime the cord gets snagged on something and yanked sideways. The sidewa
ys action of the cord getting yanked causes the female contacts within the unit
to spread. The spreading of the contacts generally results in intermittent pl
ayback in one of the sound channels where sound will no longer play from both c
hannels simultaneously until the male jack is held or positioned exactly right.
The slightest movement of the headphone jack from this position will then caus
e one of the channels to go out. Over the years, I've had this same problem occ
ur with almost every portable music player I've ever owned (from Sony CD player
s, to Sony portable DAT players, to expensive Nakamichi portable tape units). A
nd in every case, the problem was caused by bad port design. Furthermore, the
only fix for the problem once it occurs is to send your unit to the shop and ha
ve them open it and solder in a brand new female jack (trust me, I've had this
done) - and the new port will only last until the cord gets snagged on somethin
g and yanked once again. So for countless years, I've hated the design of the
female port.
Smartly and thankfully, Apple has completely resolved this problem with its new
iPhone port design. By recessing the female port on the iPhone, this creates
a raised wall of support around any male plug you plug into the unit, which act
s to hold the male plug in place vertically should the cord gets yanked sideway
s. This support wall holds the male plug rigid and prevents the female prongs
within the iPhone from spreading (which would then necessitate you sending your
iPhone into the shop to be repaired). It's an ingenous design and resolves a
very real problem in the real world and users should truly be thanking Apple in
stead of criticizing them mindlessly. I know that users do not prefer the new
design, but trust me, it resolves a very real problem. It's a design I hope al
l portable electronic makers adopt.
The earbuds were redesigned with the iPhone and new iPods. They no longer come
with the little foam earbud condoms and they are shaped slightly differently. I
n the past the old earbuds would never stay in place, but I was pleasantly surp
rised with the fit of the new buds.
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