Etymotic HF3 compatibility - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by PocketSharks 

Hey, I bought the HF3 a few days ago and didn't realise they were specifically made for iphones/ipods. I have a samsung galaxy s.

When I first put them on in the tube, I noticed that they sounded very distant and muted.

Last night I was experimenting, and I found that when I press and hold the middle button on the volume control, the sound becomes much fuller and much better.

 

This must be something to do with compatibility. I am considering taping something over the middle button so that it is permanently pressed, because they sound pretty terrible when it isn't pressed. Is this a good idea, or could it damage them ?

the reason this works is that your phone has the TRRS contacts mapped to left/right/mic/ground (in that order), but the HF3, which is designed for the iCrap has its TRRS contacts mapped to left/right/ground/mic.  The middle button of the HF3 short circuits mic to ground.  The reason it sounds "distant and muted" when the middle button is *not* depressed is because you are routing the audio output through the microphone. When you press the middle button, you remove the microphone from the system and things sound as they should.  You can run it with your button hack permanently without worries, but I wouldn't be satisfied with that solution.  Instead, I bought male and female TRRS connectors, some shielded cable, and soldered my own adapter.  It took about 1/2 hour to do.  You would need cable with 3 leads plus shield.

cheers,

rlu666

whats the difference of the hf2 to hf3? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by daddyo1973 

Anyone having issues with these on an iPhone 4S and calls?  

 

Sonically these are great, but, I am getting lots of complaints on phone calls with ambient noise over the sensitive mic.  Also, I can plainly hear my own voice over the mic back into the headphones while on calls.    

I ran into two problems with my iPhone 4S and the hf3 - first, wrapping the cords over my ears put the control/mic directly behind my ear.  Second, calling my wife, she basically couldn't hear me.  I think that my attempt to unloop the cable from my ear and hold the mic by my mouth led to my thumb over the mic hole.  Not a good experience and I'm waiting on a reply from Etymotic about the experience.  In the meantime, I ordered some Logitech 600vi's to try a second option - the pictures at their site show everything fitting properly with the cords wrapped over the ears!

You're not suppose to wrap them around your ear.

The audio does not seem distant on my Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant and the HF3.  I tried pressing and holding all of the buttons and did not hear anything different.  Any thoughts, is there a potential to damage anything in my Vibrant?

For the OP as your finding if you fiddle with the connection you can get it to work. But if you can switch with someone with the HF2 or get an HF5 that will save you the pain. In the case of the HF2 it might also allow you to them to answer calls on your phone.