Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Iphone and headphones

How can I get headphones to work with my hearing aids?

Lescha — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:32:40 -0800

How can I get headphones to work with my hearing aids? The noise leaking out of them is making my fellow commuters (and me) unhappy. I wear hearing aids and without them my hearing is very limited. I also like to listen to music and podcasts on my way to work. But it’s proving to be very difficult.

I have been searching – for years – for headphones that will work well for me, but I’ve yet to have any luck. I am wondering if there is some way to modify the headphones I have or if there is something I don’t know about that will work.

My hearing aids actually have Bluetooth connectivity and I have a device (an ICOM) that sends the signals from my iPhone to my hearing aids. The only trouble is that the volume is not loud at all. My audiologist has turned the volume up as high as it can go but it’s still far too quiet. Also, as a safety feature, the sound I get comes from both my aids (i.e. the outside world) and the iPhone – therefore loud sounds from the outside world – of which there are many – totally drown out the sounds of the music/podcasts. This setting has been adjusted to the absolute minimum of outside sound, but it’s still not workable.

I thought that using around-the-ear headphones with a big cup would work. But that has two drawbacks: a) feedback noise as a result of the pad being too close to the aid – this in, oddly, just one of the aids and b) I need to have the volume very, very loud and the sound really leaks out for all to hear…I know this because someone told me on public transit. I had no idea this was happening and I stopped wearing them on the way work as I don’t want to annoy my fellow commuters.

I am at a loss. I have tried so many things and I have not been able to find (online or off) anything that might address this. Any suggestions for a) a way to make my headphones stop leaking noise -- besides duct tape and some foam, which crossed my mind for a nanosecond or b) something new that will actually work, would be most appreciated.

Oh, I can wear in-the-ear ones – and do on planes and such, but it’s a huge pain to use them on my commute as I have to take my hearing aids out and put them back in whenever I need to hear since I can’t hear much without them and it can be dangerous– i.e. changing buses, hearing announcements, avoiding cars whizzing by, people trying to tell me my headphones are leaking a lot of noise etc.

Looking for what amounts to Apple's earpods in black.

unsound — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:05:43 -0800

I'm looking for non-sealing earbuds with iPhone controls that aren't white, and I can't find them. Do you have any recommendations? I commute on foot and by public transit, and feel extremely uncomfortable when I can't hear at least some of what's going on around me. I dislike large headphones, and instead prefer earbuds - both for comfort and for pocket-friendly storage options. I had my phone stolen from me at a bus stop a little over a month ago, because I was holding it in my hand and not paying attention, so the ability to play/pause/skip tracks and adjust volume via the cord is important.

I'd use Apple's earbuds, but given my recent theft experience and the fact that I'm in the #5 city for smartphone theft and the rate is on the rise, I'd like something non-white so that I'm more inconspicuous still.

Do any of you know of such a thing? I've googled extensively, but have had no luck finding something non-sealing with an inline controller/mic in non-white. I can't be the only one looking for something like this, right?

What's the best mobile/iPhone headset mic out there?

theNonsuch — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:33:13 -0800

All iPhone / mobile headphone reviews go into (sometimes) excruciating detail about the sound qualities and quality of the headset, but I've found very few that actually talk about the mic quality. So I ask: are there candidates for "best mic"?

Shut out the world!

ellieBOA — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:32:46 -0800

Please recommend your favourite in-ear/earbud noise-cancelling headphones with an iPod/iPhone control and mic. UK sites preferred, maximum budget is £100.

iPhone wakeup call without disturbing my SO?

mendel — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:20:18 -0800

My job in IT means being on call overnight. Pages come from SMS messages and the occasional phone calls. The problem: they wake up my partner. Help me find a way to wake up when I'm paged without waking her up too! My phone is an iPhone, so cable-y and bluetooth-y things work. I've tried: sleeping with earbuds in (they fall out and I'll miss a page); an old bluetooth headset that clips on my ear (really uncomfortable for hours, and it falls off); putting the phone beside the bed (we both wake up); putting the phone on loud out in the hall (she wakes up, I don't); putting the phone on my side of the bed, or in my pillow, on vibrate (the whole bed hums).

I sleep on my side, usually my right side but occasionally my left. Still, if something attached securely to my left ear I could probably get by sleeping on only my right the nights I'm on-call. Besides it's not my sleep I'm trying to improve!

I saw these headband headphones but I'm a warm sleeper to begin with. A friend of mine who needs music to get to sleep recommended these clip-on bone-conduction doohickies but before I spend $75+ I'd like to see if there's something else I'm missing.

Any great ideas? Surely I'm not the first person to try to solve this problem.

Best earbuds for iPod?

killdevil — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:55:22 -0800

What are the best reasonably-priced earbud-style headphones? I need a good set for use with an iPod and am looking to improve on Apple's white earbuds.

disable iphone auto-pause

theyexpectresults — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:33:59 -0800

When I am playing music on my iphone (3Gs) and the headphone plug is yanked out, the music automatically pauses. Can I disable this behaviour? This annoys me because I am often jogging with my iphone in a wallet thing. If the headphones are accidentally pulled out, it is fairly easy for me to just stick them back in, but I also have to get the iphone out (maybe take off my gloves) unlock it and then restart the music. I don't listen to audiobooks so I am not worried about losing my place or anything.

I looked through the settings but can't see anywhere to turn off this "auto-pause" behaviour. I have a jailbroken phone so if there are any third party apps that help me turn this off, I'd be grateful to hear about it. Thanks.

I need a recommendation for an iPhone earbud/mic/controller combo that doesn't suck.

loudguitars — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:15:10 -0800

I need a recommendation for an iPhone earbud/mic/controller combo that doesn't suck. A little backstory: The stock earbud/mic/controller that comes with the iPhone slides out of my ears, so I decided to buy a set from a third party. Having used these Skullcandy cheapies for a while and having really liked them, I decided to go up to the Skullcandy FMJ's.

The problem is that the build quality on the mic is such that anytime I use them on the elliptical, sweat gets in and they start to randomly send control signals to my iPhone. Pausing and fast-forwarding stuff randomly, repeatedly activating Voice Control and refusing to allow it to deactivate. I'm on the third pair now to have this problem (plus another pair that was broken straight out of the box). It's really unfortunate because when things are working, these are great headphones, but they only work for anywhere from two days to a month before this becomes an issue, and I'm just done with it. To Skullcandy's credit, they've been good about cheerfully and quickly exchanging the ones that break, but I can't for the life of me understand why a company capable of making excellent cheapies makes such craptastic expensive earbuds.

Anyway, ideally, I'm looking for something in a similar (or cheaper!) price range where the fact that I actually sweat when I work out is not going to cause my headphones to go berserk. I'm debating the Apple in-ear buds but I'm a little concerned that they don't appear to have multiple sizes of ear cover - I've definitely had to adjust different sets of earbuds to fit my ears properly. Anyone with experience with these in particular, how have you found the fit? And how is their durability?

I also definitely want to be able to answer/end calls and at least play and pause music with the controller, otherwise I'd be sticking with the tried-and-true cheapies. I looked into possibly getting some sort of extender/mic combo I could plug the good cheapies into, but it appears nobody's really been able to get the hang of that properly from all the reviews I've been reading.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

iPhone OS 3.0 Questions

Effigy2000 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:37:22 -0800

With the release of iPhone OS 3.0, I have some questions that I'd like answered. One relates to Stereo Bluetooth headphone recommendations, and the others relate to internet tethering. Firstly, let's get to my questions about the new ability to tether devices to your iPhone in iPhone 0S 3.0.

1. Most reports suggest that those carriers that do end up allowing tethering will charge you for it. Why? I ask because I don't understand their reasoning for charging for tethering and would like to know if there is a legitimate reason to do so aside from profiteering. Tethering a device to your iPhone won't allow you to get any more data than you already pay for in your data packs, right? If so, there's no data you're getting for free and theoretically no extra strain on their network. So what is the phone companies justification for essentially charging you twice for the same data allocation?
2. How would a phone company even know that a device has been tethered to your phone and is using the data? How do they differentiate between your iPhone using data and your tethered device using data?
3. Would it be possible to tether an iPod Touch (2G) to an iPhone?
4. Has anyone read anything about Telstra (Australia) enabling tethering? My Google-fu has failed me.

And now onto my final question, which is much simpler. Stereo Bluetooth headset recommendations. iPhone 0S 3.0 has unlocked the iPod Touch's Bluetooth capabilities to allow for stereo Bluetooth headsets to be used to listen to music. I've done some research and found a few possible headphones that might be worth buying but some have weird form factors, others are 'in-ear' buds which I find uncomfortable and others are great but otherwise too expensive.

Does anyone here have any personal recommendations for a good set of stereo Bluetooth headphones, compatible with an iPod Touch, that are comfortable to wear, deliver good (or even decent) sound and don't cost the Earth?

Where can I find the best iPhone replacement headphones?

jeffderek — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:12:05 -0800

Where can I find the best iPhone replacement headphones? I use my iPhone as a listening device primarily for listening to audiobooks. This means that when someone interrupts me to talk to me, or I need to check out and talk to a cashier, or anything else interrupts me, I need a quick way to pause my book. Unlike music, it matters if I miss 10 or 15 seconds.

I love the feature of the original iPhone headphones that I can click the button and they will automatically pause. I can then click it again and they will restart. Trouble is, these headphones don't seem to put up with heavy use. I went through my first pair in 6 months and my second pair is on it's last legs after only 5. First the earphones start buzzing, and then they die altogether. Its very frustrating to listen to a book with a busted speaker buzzing on every word.

I don't particularly need a microphone built into the headphones because I have a bluetooth headset for that. However, this clicking feature is a dealbreaker. Does anyone make headphones that include that feature that are better quality headphones than these stock ones apple sells?

I want to use my iPhone 3G's headphone jack to power an LED.

buzzbash — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:22:41 -0800

How can I use the iPhone 3G's headphone jack to power an LED? I've cut the speakers off from an old set of headphones, and now I want to wire the headphone jack and attached wires to a small, white LED bulb. I'm hoping to use the LED for illumination when I take macro close-up photos with the iPhone's built-in camera. I've already rigged up a macro lens to the camera, I just need the LED attached to the end of the headphone wires to illuminate the shots.

BTW, provided I get the headphone jack to power the LED, will volume control affect the LED's output in anyway?

Thanks!

Those little white jobbies aren't cutting it anymore

wordsmith — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:29:41 -0800

What are the best iPhone-compatible, in-ear headphones one can buy for around $50? By iPhone-compatible I mean they have a little mic on the cord so that I can talk hands free. Call/iPod controls on the cord would be nice, too, but not 100% necessary. I'd sacrifice those features for so for better sound. I listen to a lot of rap and electronic music, so something that can handle deeper bass better than the standard headphones would be supreme. Of course, something with all these features that matches my price range would be great too.

Phone+music stereo headset?

jckll — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:43:13 -0800

I’ve just started using my first PDA/Smartphone (Blackberry 8820) and I need some recommendations for a headset. I know there are tons of questions already—and even more online resources—for finding the best Bluetooth earpiece, but I’m not looking specifically for your standard Bluetooth. I want an iPhone-style headphone plus microphone combination. I’ve looked around a lot, and there are a bunch of stereo headphones, but scant information on them. There are of course the wired stereo phones—exactly like the iPhone headset. There are models that look exactly like the iPhone headset, with standard, earbud, wired earpieces, but they are connected to a Bluetooth dongle that hangs from your ears or clips to your belt. (1,2,3) Then there are your standard Bluetooth earpieces with a connectible earpiece for your other ear. Finally, there are over-the-ear headphones, which I don’t want.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a particular style of stereo headsets with mics? Am I better off just getting a pair of wired headphones with a microphone attached? Are the Bluetooth models any good? (Bonus points for a model recommended—or advised against—by personal experience, and double bonus points if I can connect my SHURE e3c bud headphones instead of relying on crappy Plantronics acoustics!)