[saintmagician]

 
Hey, wondering if people here can help choose an in-ear headset (i.e. in-ear headphones that have a mic). 
 
I've previously used basically stock headset that came with my phone, or something in the range of $15 from ebay. Hoping to invest in something a little better now. I spend about 1-2 hours a day listening to music or talking on the phone with the headset. 
 
I've had a look at the "Basic Guide to In-Ear-Canalphones" thread and the "Multi-IEM Review" threads, both really helpful. But I am still feeling overwhelmed by the amount of choice available. 
 
My criteria:
- around $100
- good mic sound
- shirt clip
- works with android phones. 
 
At the moment I'm looking at Etymotic MC2
Which would cost me $120 from official website ($20 shipping to australia), or $90 from a hong kong seller on ebay. Not sure if it's worth going for it on ebay, is the warrenty through etymotic still honoured if I'm buying through ebay?
 
Any thoughts or suggests on similar products that would be cheaper/better?
 
Lastly, regarding buds for in-ear buds. The last pair I had, I used plastic buds, but never managed to really get the right size. When i buy packs with three different sizes, I use the L but it's slightly too small. For sets with four sizes, the L is too small and the XL is defintely too large =S
 
I heard foam buds are more confortable. How well do universal-size foam tips fit? The problem with size dependant foam tips is that they seem expensive, and postage to australia from most websites is expensive, they're also no cheap varieties on ebay, which means it'll be really expensive to try sizes until I find the one that fits. With Etyomotic for example, there are "small foam eartips", "large foam eartips", and "black foam eartips" which I assume are the universal size one.  
 

 

[ClieOS]

I won't want to pay $120 for MC2, probably not even $90. You will have to tell use more if you want good recommendation. For example, what cellphone are you using, your budget and what genre of music you listen most.

 

[tinyman392]

For that price, you might as well get the HF2/3 from Amazon direct (IDK how much shipping will cost you).  Amazon is an authorized dealer of Etymotic.  However, like ClieOS stated, please tell us more to get a better headphone choice. 
 
FYI: If you buy from Ebay, you will not get warranty with Etymotic. 

 

[saintmagician]

I'm using a HTC Android phone
 
Music... varies a lot. But mic quality is as important as music. Like I wouldn't pay much extra just for better sound quality alone. But mic quality I like, so is comfort, I'd prefer something that I can hook over my ears if I want but don't need to, and good cable quality. 
 
Budget, well i'm wanting to spend about $100. so I guess 50-150?
 
 

 

[saintmagician]

 
Quote:

For that price, you might as well get the HF2/3 from Amazon direct (IDK how much shipping will cost you).  Amazon is an authorized dealer of Etymotic.  However, like ClieOS stated, please tell us more to get a better headphone choice. 
 
FYI: If you buy from Ebay, you will not get warranty with Etymotic. 

If I buy from amazon, do i get etymotic warrenty?
 
Amazon us just flatly refuses to ship to Australia =(
Amazon uk will, it comes to a total of 95 pounds, about $151 in Australia, which is at the top end of what I'm willing to spend.
 
I think maybe we're better off just talking about us prices. Shipping costs to australia vary a lot, it's a bit unpredictable >.<
 

Now, regarding what I use the headset for.
Well firstly voice calls, hence the emphasis on mic quality.
I also use an adapter to plug it into computers for gaming, I do this pretty often (I have a proper gaming headset but I don't carry that around)
As for music, I don't really go by genres. But according to wikipedia, here's the genres of the music that i listen to the most: heavy metal (nightwish), rock (green day, red hot chilli peppers, 3 doors down, duran duran), norah jones (dunno what this is). But I also listen to a lot of music derived from games, anime, etc. the sound track of The World Ends WIth You would be one example I guess.  
 
 
 
btw I'm very open to any other suggestions, especially if you are fairly sure they would work on an android phone. That's probably the biggest issue, the lesser known items which don't have reviews or forum threads about them, it's so hard to tell whether they'll work with my phone ._.
 
 

 

[tinyman392]

Amazon (Amazon.com LLC, NOT a third party on Amazon) is an authorized dealer of Etymotic, so you'll get warranty. 
 
As for whether or not the remote and mic will work is unknown (Android phones use different headphone jacks; some are the same as the iPhone, some aren't).  Luckily there is an adapter for that: http://www.meelec.com/MEE_TRRS_Adapter_for_P_Version_Headphones_p/adptr-trrs-35.htm - IDK shipping costs for this though. 

 

[ronrad]

Quote:

I'm using a HTC Android phone
 
Music... varies a lot. But mic quality is as important as music. Like I wouldn't pay much extra just for better sound quality alone. But mic quality I like, so is comfort, I'd prefer something that I can hook over my ears if I want but don't need to, and good cable quality. 
 
Budget, well i'm wanting to spend about $100. so I guess 50-150?
 
 

Which HTC Android phone?  I have a large number of them available at work and I can check if an HF2 will work on it.
 
 
 

 

[saintmagician]

Oh, that'll be great!
 
I have a HTC Incredible S, but I think if it works on any other HTC Android phones, it should be fine.
 
Especially... if you can tell me whether the button works.
 
"As for whether or not the remote and mic will work is unknown (Android phones use different headphone jacks; some are the same as the iPhone, some aren't).  Luckily there is an adapter for that: http://www.meelec.com/MEE_TRRS_Adapter_for_P_Version_Headphones_p/adptr-trrs-35.htm - IDK shipping costs for this though."
 
Well part of the reason I picked that etymotic one, is that on their website it says it's right for android phones (they have MC3 for iphone/ipod/etc.)
But yeah it's hard to tell sometimes. That adapter will defintely be sometime I'll keep in mind if I end up buying a incompatible headset, hopefully not...

 

[Tommy C]

Xears N3i from Xears.com.
Use coupon code and it brings the price down to 30 euros!  The mic is superb and calls I make are loud and clear. 
I am using Samsung Galaxy S and the button works fine. On the website it says it's for Iphone but the rule of thumb is that headsets with 1 button should with Iphone, Android and Blackberry, remote with 3 buttons 1 wouldn't work, since the other two will be the volume control, which isn't Android compatible.
Overall the Xears N3i were $53 shipped, I must say it's a great deal.