Etymotic hf2 headset for the iPhone
I'm a big fan of Etymotic headphones, and as soon as I got an iPhone I knew I wanted to replace the very cool included headphone/headset with something by Etymotic. Sadly, they didn't make such a product, that is until Macworld. That's right, campers, the hf2 from Etymotic combines the great sound from their ER-4 earphones with a headset so you can get all that great noise isolating action that Etymotic is known for and still be able to answer calls without pulling the headphones out.
The hf2's cost $179 and are available now.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tyson said 9:28PM on 1-27-2008
The talk in the forums is that these aren't even in the same ballpark as the ER4. I can believe that considering either they are charging way too much for the ER4 or these are using cheaper drivers. Either way something is fishy! Haven't listenedmyself, but with no replaceable cable and the huge fugly mic.. I'm going with ultimate buds.
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gavilon said 3:41PM on 2-17-2008
Unfortunately, they are NOT "available now" as stated in Scott McNulty's original blog entry. Etymotic shows no availability date on their site. Amazon indicates that they should be available around April 15. I plan on getting them ASAP as I've had both ER4 and ER6i and the ER4s have the greatest sound imaginable with total noise isolation. In addition to being able to hear conversations cleary, the isolation allows you to listen to music at a lower volume than traditional earbuds and save your hearing.
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Christina Warren said 11:50AM on 1-17-2008
Awesome!
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matthew said 12:29PM on 1-17-2008
fugly.
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cmuska902 said 11:53AM on 1-17-2008
No not cool...too bad i bought the super.fi 4vi's and I'm waiting for them to come back after I sent them in because the call/ music button fell off. I shoulda just waited.
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Bruce said 1:53PM on 1-17-2008
I think I'm going to buy these because the cover fell of my super.fi 4vi headset almost two months ago and I can't really do without during the RMA process. I'll keep the super.fi 4vi set as a backup, or I'll clean them and gift them to a friend.
Leo said 12:23PM on 1-17-2008
I went over to their website to take a look... The the microphone is way bigger than the one on the default iPhone headphones. I feel that it is still a better deal to go with Ultimate Buds (covered by TUAW a while ago), which basically just replaces the earbuds of the iPhone earphones with etymotic 6e-i. For cheaper, too. I don't see how this could be a worthwhile buy...
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Chris Wright said 3:34PM on 1-17-2008
HF2's or Ultimate Buds UB7's? I know the UB7's are a little cheaper, but are the HF2s worth the extra coin? Anyone compared the two?
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andy said 1:25PM on 1-17-2008
i currently use er6's with custom earmold plugs (plus the belkin extender, of course) with my iphone.
the hook for the new hf2's is that they have the same response accuracy as the er4s--which is better than either flavor of the er6s.
i'm awaiting word from etymotic whether i can use my earmold plugs with the hf2s before i get a pair, but i'll probably buy them anyhow...
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ericfletcher said 12:18AM on 1-20-2008
Yup the ER6, ER6i, ER4 series Ety 8, etycom and etyBlu's all use the same transducer housing dimensions so your customs will work just fine
Bizzkit said 1:32PM on 1-17-2008
Bought the $19.95 iSoniTalk adapter from Monster and can use any headphones I want.
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PowerLlama said 2:38PM on 1-17-2008
I have to agree with Leo up there. The Ultimate Buds earphones are the best. I have some and absolutley love them.
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W00tDdue said 7:24PM on 1-17-2008
Interestingly I can use my ER-6i's without an adaptor. When a call comes in, I just talk into the phones speaker, with the headphones plugged in. It does look a little strange to be holding the phone near my head while having the earbuds in, but it works great, I hear them through the earbuds, they hear me through the iPhone's mic.
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Erik H said 8:26PM on 1-17-2008
Leo: "I don't see how this could be a worthwhile buy..."
ER-6: $86.97
ER-4: $169.99
HF2s offer higher quality sound and cost $10 more for the additional headset feature. Ultimate Buds cost $53 more than the lower quality model they're based on.
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andy said 7:13AM on 1-18-2008
actually, they're a great deal if you go by the msrp:
er4: $299
er6: $139
er6i: $149
hf2: $179
i think i paid around $85 for my er6's, so i expect after a while one would be able to find the hf2 for a hundy or so.
andy said 7:15AM on 1-18-2008
actually, they're a great deal if you go by the msrp:
er4: $299
er6: $139
er6i: $149
hf2: $179
i think i paid around $85 for my er6's, so i expect after a while one would be able to find the hf2 for a hundy or so.
tevetorbes said 10:13PM on 1-17-2008
$180 for headphones? I nearly choked on my own laughter...
Grab a pair of the Griffin TuneBuds Mobile when they come out- $39 and, if they're anything like Griffin's other products, they'll be well worth it.
And I'll have to agree with the wise sage who simply said "Fugly." Indeed, esp. for $100+.
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ericfletcher said 1:10AM on 1-20-2008
You might want to actually listen to these before you go spouting off that the $39 POS's are just as good.
The HF2 is based on the ER4 which is considered to be the best consumer headphone available.
Bryan Ashby said 6:23PM on 1-18-2008
I haven't used these headphones yet but they are great. I especially like how great the sound possibly is. I just can't understand why though the mic is so big, it makes it a little unwieldly to manuever in really tight spaces. I remember, this one time where we were running down the road. The rain was dripping from our faces as we gazed into each others eyes. It was then I realized, this was a great product. Great job people who produced it!
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