Need a headset and/or adapter to work on both computer and regular phone

November 30, 2005 5:01 PM

I want recommendations for good headphones and a microphone (or headphones and microphone and adapter(s)) that work well for VOIP on my computer, and with regular office telephones, and to listen to music on my computer.

It looks like the headsets you plug in to your computer for Skype, Gizmo, iChat, etc., like those listed here, have two plugs - one for the mic jack on the computer, one for the headphone jack. Is there an adapter to plug such headsets in to the jack on a regular phone/mobile phone? Or a headset that can plug in to either a computer or regular phone?
Quality of sound for voice conversations is the most important thing here; a solution that works well for listening to music on my computer too would be great.

posted by mistersix to technology (8 comments total)

Would that you were a Windows user (unless they've ported iChat when I wasn't looking), or I'd recommend the solution that I use, which is a tiny USB sound card that offers standard headset/mic, 2.5mm cellphone jack, and a telephone jack. (About $15-20 shipped here, in case I've misjudged your OS. I enjoy this because I can redirect Skype to use this gizmo, letting me voice chat in Guild Wars whle keeping game sound coming out of my speakers)

It looks like Radio Shack may have a splitter for a cell headset here for $3 (part#42-2428) or a similar GE device for $7.61. Or you could build your own, but the parts probably cost more than Radio Shack's splitter.
posted by sysinfo at 6:28 PM on November 30, 2005

The downside of that is that music won't sound very good through a phone headset. If music comes before VOIP, you'd want a y-cable that has two 1/8" jacks for headphone/mic in, and one 3/32" jack for mobile headset out. It would be a rather bulky solution to use fullsized headset/mic for a mobile, but you could use this, also from Radio Shack. No guarantees that it will properly mix the audio & mic channels, but for $6, it might be worth a try if there's a Shack near you.
posted by sysinfo at 6:38 PM on November 30, 2005

A bluetooth headset would cover the computer / mobile phone element but it will sound dreadful for music. And it's unlikely that your landline supports Bluetooth, though it is becoming more common.
posted by blag at 9:10 PM on November 30, 2005

Plantronics makes what you need, I think, if I read your question right (a headset that'll work with both a cell phone/hardware VOIP phone and your computer). I have this, and it has 3/32" and 1/8" jacks, one for your phone and one for your computer/etc. you use a switch to determine what you're listening to (it does not, however, mute the phone side). it works well for phone conversations: best cell phone headset I've ever had, though I usually just use the earbud thing that comes with my phone. passable quality for music. you would need a 2.5->3.5" converter for the headset part for your computer (I don't remember if my set came with one) if you wanted to plug it in to that. Bluetooth is viable now that there's a version 2.0; headsets though will probably be quite expensive (Plantronics's is $250, Logitech makes an iPod specific headphone-only set for $150).

alternatively, as others have suggested, if you get a standard headset and then use an adapter plug that'd work too.
posted by mrg at 9:23 PM on November 30, 2005

The Plantronics MX100s you mention looks closest to what I need, mrg. But to clarify: I want it to:
1) plug into a regular phone that has a headset jack (like the jack you'll find on a cell phone)
2) plug in to my computer - not a VOIP phone connected to my computer, but into the computer itself - for phone conversations (most important that it work on a Mac, though I'm sometimes on a PC)
3) let me listen to music from the computer (not essential, but nice)
You say it has a jack to plug in to the computer; so will the computer take sound input from it when it's plugged in?
You could say that a hardware VOIP phone is basically a big adapter and so the MX100s plus that would fit my needs, but a VOIP phone would be too bulky.
posted by mistersix at 10:38 PM on November 30, 2005

you guys should get a Sennheiser PC headset. when i first got hooked on skype (literally! kids in college = huge bills even on a cell phone) i went to the skype page to see what they recommended and i picked the sennheiser because i have a pair of their HD headphones for my home steroe. amazon.com

i had a plantroniccs before but it crumbled after i got up from my chair and tugged on the wire. needless to say it went in the trash because warranty was already up but it was affordable; you get what yo pay for

i picked up a PC150 for skype and games (home pc) but got a PC120 for my wifes cell phone and laptop skype. they have usb available too but i didn't have any ports left on my dell lol!

it rocks! hands free, great sound (better than landline by about 100x) and its durable (the english bulldog got it and it held up)

their page is www.sennheiserusa.com i hope that helps!
posted by skypeguy34 at 8:35 AM on December 2, 2005

www.sennheisercommunications.com - products

oops- i gave the site for the headphones not the headsets

they have office headsets too. i'd just call them it looks like they have what you're looking for in an office headset too. all-in-one solution looks like it could be the ui-750 + sh330

just click on sh series and then UI series- you need the box to connect to your phone AND computer, and then the headset as well....this is an all inone and probably better than the PC solution because it kills all birds w/one stone!

http://www.sennheisercommunications.com/eprise/main/SennheiserCommunications/com/Products/CNT04_Telecom
posted by skypeguy34 at 8:42 AM on December 2, 2005

I ended up walking into a Radio Shack, looking for splitter devices, based on sysinfo's advice; I saw a device which might work, but the customer-to-worker ratio in the store was bad enough I knew it'd be a long time before I could either ask questions or even make a purchase, so I left.
Walked into an office products store a few hours later and asked for splitters to plug a regular telephone headset into a computer; the workers there knew what I was talking about, but said I should go to Radio Shack, because they didn't carry such items.
After browsing the office store's various headsets for a while, and not seeing any telephone headsets that had stereo output for even mediocre music listening, I bought a separate telephone headset and USB computer headset. I also saw the UI-style boxes, but I don't want to carry one of those around if I'm walking through the house talking on the phone.
Thanks for the advice, all...
posted by mistersix at 1:36 PM on December 2, 2005