The time was fortuitous, even suspicious. I recently found myself standing on my last iPhone headset, there by rendering the right channel completely unusable.  It was irritating, but it gave me the opportunity to take a try at Apple's new In-Ear Headphones , which were announced, like, forever ago, and recently made its way onto shelves.

Now, I will admit: I am not a huge fan of in-ear headphones. The ones I have tried in the past have never been that comfortable and I was always skeptical of the directions that basically said, "Stick 'em in as far as you can go and it should sound great."  I tried Apple's older version of the headphones and they were awful--I would jam in my ear, and the sound would sound good...as long as I kept pushing them in. When I would talk, the earbud would pop out and the whole thing was a mess.  I ended up returning them and made sure that anyone who asked about them knew what a lousy experience I had. 

So, it was after checking to make sure that I could return them within two weeks before I gave Apple another chance.  This set is much more elaborate than the older version--they it comes with a nice case, which I guess would be good for traveling when you know you are not going to be on the phone, since it's kind of a pain to get them out of the case. But still, it's a nice touch. The set also comes with a large lozenge shaped case that contains two other sizes of rubber (silicone, I guess) ear caps. The large ones are like, insanely large. I kinda want to meet someone with ear cavities that large just to see if they can hear farther away than I can. The mediums seem to work well for me so far.

What--"work for me?" Yes--so far, they seem to be working pretty nicely.  The ear caps fit much more comfortably in my ear; I don't need to jam them in, they just sit comfortable in the ear canal, and the sounds seems really nice.  I am still getting used to them (I am listening to The Dark Knight soundtrack as I write this--good range of notes and sounds), but the real trick is going to be how my ears feel after the buds are in there for an hour or so. But so far, they are much better than the older versions, so this good. Still, it feels weird to have these things in my ear (maybe I have put them in too far); they just feel a little distracting, but maybe that's because I am actively writing an article about them so I am thinking about them.

I took off the medium sized ear tips and swapped them with the smaller size, and there was a definite difference--why they were somewhat more comfortable, they weren't delivering the same kind of bass. It took a bit of a tight turn to get the buds off, but whatever, you'll figure out how to get 'em off.   also turned up the sound on my mac and it does sound pretty good--I will compare them to my Grados at work and give a report. Interestingly, Apple also includes the mesh caps that cover the actual speaker, lest ear wax muffles the sound. Gross.

All is not peachy keen, or ivory white, though.  The manual clearly states that the Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic are compatible with:
- iPod Nano (4th Generation)
- iPod Classic (120GB)
- iPod touch (2nd generation)

Notice they do not mention the iPhone! This has caused some consternation with iPhone users, since the idea of a mic with its own volume control is a very nice one, indeed--and it straight up does not work on the iPhone! Yes, the mic works and yes, stopping and playing with the button works, but the volume control does not. Silly. Apple explains it away here.  So, that's kind of annoying, and I'm not really sure if an iPhone update will make the volume control work.  None of the buttons work when on my Mac, but another user reported that the volume control did work, so maybe the new MacBook/Pros allow this functionality.

I must admit, I am a bit disappointed that the volume control doesn't work for the iPhone and am not sure if it is a deal breaker or not.  Like, I am stymied. I really needed a new headset--I use Grado headphones at work and I rarely walk around with earbuds in (I live in LA, I rarely walk in the first place--kidding).  But these earbuds are actually more comfortable than the earphones that came with the iPhone, which didn't come with volume controls in the first place.  And I am still not sure how to wear them--I get more bass when I continue to push the ear buds in--and, well, they can be a little gross if you don't keep your ears as clean as you should. And when you handle the wires, you really hear the movement rattle through your skull, which can be disconcerting.

I really have to admit, I am of two minds on these earphones. They do sound better--more bass, richer mids--and once you get used to them, they end up being more comfortable than the regular earbuds, which can be a pain after wearing them for awhile. On the flip side, it's frustrating that that volume controls don't work on the phone.  The thing is, are they worth $50?  Because that's how much more expensive they are on than the regular Apple earbuds -$29 vs $79. I've only had them for a day, and I am definitely keeping the packaging and receipt around. 

My advice is that if you frustrated with the audio quality of the standard Apple earphones and have the extra cash, check these out--but keep the packaging and receipt. If you regularly listen to your iPhone/iPod while out and about, these might upgrade your out and about experience, but I am not sure that the $50 premium is worth it if most of the time you are going to be using this as a headset. Personally, while they are nice, I am having a hard time justifying the extra price; I'll probably return them.

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