Buy Etymotic ER23-HF3-COBALT HF3 In-Ear Headset with 3-Button Remote Control for iPod, iPhone, iPad (Cobalt)Etymotic ER23-HF3-COBALT HF3 In-Ear Headset with 3-Button Remote Control for iPod, iPhone, iPad (Cobalt) Product Description:
- Hf3 headset for iPod, iPhone, and iPad users
- Best-in-class accuracy, noise isolation, fit, durability
- Exceptional audio clarity
- 3-button remote offers great functional control capabilities
- Backward compatible with Apple's older mobile digital devices
- Hf3 headset for iPod, iPhone, and iPad users, backward compatible with Apple's older mobile digital devices
Product Description
The hf3 is the next generation of the multi-award-winning hf2 headset. The hf3 headset adds a 3-button remote control to a Made-for-iPod/Works with iPhone version of the hf2 while maintaining all the design features, exceptional noise isolation and audio clarity of the hf2. The hf3 is designed to work with iPhone and all current iPod models. The main difference between the hf2 and hf3 is the added benefit of volume control. The 3-button remote control of the hf3 headset makes it easier than ever for a user to pause, adjust and navigate through music tracks on a playlsit while exercising, commuting or engaged in other activities. Users can make clear phone calls with the integrated high-sensitivity microphone and adjust volume on teh run (sometimes literally) if music selections are not all recorded at the same level.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful.
By Chambolle
I am admittedly a johnny come lately to the iPhone/iPod music movement, one of those oldies who refused to use my iPhone as a music device until just a short while ago, skeptical that real sound could come out of this little thing. Having recently tried listening with the cheapo earphones that came with my iPhone - and being somewhat surprised by the reasonable fidelity I could get with them -- I decided to step up to the very well-reviewed and regarded Etymotics, despite a number of naysayers who complain about the lack of a low end. I cannot say I am unreservedly thrilled with these phones, but having given them some time to warm up - and for me to warm up to them - I have to say they do provide impressive clarity and accuracy, albeit in a cool, glossy sort of way.I listen mostly to jazz and classical music, with a smattering of rock/pop, and I loathe the boomy muddy bass that comes out of a lot of speakers, subwoofers and even headphones these days. So I'm definitely not looking for exaggerated, thumping bass. However, I definitely am looking for sound with warmth, presence and body. I found the Etymotics phones to be accurate -- perhaps to a fault. The problem is they come up somewhat short in the warmth and body department; although as noted below, you should give them some time to break in before passing judgment on them, because they will richen up some with use, and you may warm up to their sound as well. I also urge you to get a pair of quality foam tips for these phones - for comfort and sound quality, in my book they can't be beat.Yes, the HF3 seems to deliver sound that is relatively uncolored and 'flat.' That might be an unmitigated virtue if the source material itself were not the cold, clinical digital output of a computer or an iPod/iPhone - the very devices the HF3 is meant to match. On some of this digitized source material, I think you will find yourself hankering for a bit more "tube amp" style warmth than these phones are able to provide.On the plus side, the sound has clarity, precision and 'cut.' Listening to popular music that is mixed and layered to a fare thee well, you will be amazed how well these phones reveal all of the detail. For example, on the Cranberries "Dreams," I could hear instrumental lines I had no idea were there. Ditto Elvis Costello's "Coal Train Robbery." Even here, however, the lack of a bottom end is evident.But -- and this is an important "but" for me -- listening to ensemble pieces, like Eddie Gomez, Mick Goodrick, Jack DeJohnnette and John Surman on the classic "In Passing," you may at times be left with the sense these folks are playing out on an ice floe in subzero Arctic air. The sound is clear, crisp, detailed, bright for sure -- but it can seem cold and hard as a block of ice, brittle as a sheet of glass. The low end is clean and there is no lack of detail. But there is little warmth, resonance or volume (and by that I do not mean "loudness"). The lush tone and drive that makes Eddie Gomez's prodigious bass playing such a delight is attentuated. He could be playing a synthesizer -- it simply does not sound like a large instrument made of wood with plucked strings that can fill a room with sound. Using Rhapsody and its equalizer, no amount of 'bass boost' could warm the music up enough to please me. Before ample break-in time, on Gary Burton's "Open Your Eyes You Can Fly," Abraham Laboriel's electric bass -- one of the signature sounds on the New Quartet album -- sounds like a rubber band on a cigar box, not the punchy fuzz bass I know it to be. The highs are clean and almost supernaturally bright and clear -- DeJohnette's cymbals never sounded more present and pristine. But the low end and the midrange are too attenuated to give a satisfying listening experience. This same music, from the same Rhapsody source, with the equalizer set flat, and played over the M-Audio BX-5a nearfield monitors sitting on my desk, certainly lack the detail and surgical precision of the Etymotics. However, ultimately the sound from the monitors also has warmth, depth, body and realism the Etymotics do not match.This, by the way, is my listening impression using the foam tips that come with the Etymotics, after a few days of using these phones and some trial and error to try to get the best fit, comfort and sound. Those cool looking 'triple flange' silcone things? Forget 'em. I tried the phones with those to start, as they are mounted on the HF3s in the box. They look cool -- and absolutely do not work, at least not for me. With the silicone tips, the HF3s sound like a five dollar pocket transistor radio, circa 1959; tinny, metallic and cheap -- far worse than the relatively listenable earphones that come with Apple devices. It appears you can jam the darned silicone things all the way through your eardrums if you wish -- but you still won't get a good "seal" and decent sound.When I purchased the HF3s, I was spring loaded to get fitted for the $100 custom fit silicone buds you can buy through Etymotics. Now, having experienced the vast improvement in quality with the slightly clunky Etymotics stock foam buds, which naturally expand to fill your ear canal, I have fitted a pair of the "Comply TX 100" foam replacement buds with built-in filters (ok, let's get graphic, the "filters" keep ear wax out of the business end of the phones). At least for me, foam tips that will expand to fit each time you put them in your ears seem to provide the very best sound you can get with these Etymotics phones. I am skeptical that any silicone tips, custom fit or not, can provide the same comfort and fit required to optimize the listening experience. The foam tips may look dorky and they may wear out and require reasonably frequent replacement. It still seems well worth using them. They are comfortable, stay put and provide really good noise cancellation and sound quality.I've had the HF3s a short while and cannot comment on their longevity. However, they seem well made and robust and I expect that with careful handling they will be with me for a long time. The molded and angled plug looks robust -- especially well designed and executed.I have not yet tried the microphone feature of the HF3s, and in retrospect think it is unlikely I will, as I have a couple of jawbone icon earbuds that do an excellent job. I really am not the kind of person who wants to stop listening to music (or working, or eating, or paying attention to my driving, or to my dinner companion) to pick up every darned call that comes in on my mobile. If it's important, they'll leave me a VM and I can call back when it is appropriate. So if you feel the same way, save yourself $30 to $50 and buy the HF5, which appears to be the same model without the remote volume control, microphone and automatic muting to take phone calls.My bottom line conclusion: for traveling and casual music listening, these are compact, light but well constructed and provide crisp and uncolored sound. But they may fail to satisfy if you are expecting sound that is honeyed, warm, deep and rich, with the kind of coloration that one expects from even the best speakers and over the ear phones. What you will get is somewhat cold, aloof and clinical precision that at times seems to lack richness and depth and, dare I say it, that can on some material strike you as somewhat lacking in low and low mid-range output.If these are among the best "in the ear" phones one can buy, as others are saying, then I'm not about to abandon real speakers and real on the ear headphones when I want to really listen closely to recorded music. However, having spent a few more days letting these phones break in and getting used to the very particular 'voice' these phones project, I feel they DO warm up quite a bit after 15 to 20 hours of playing time. And perhaps it is just a matter of getting attuned to the Etymotics sonic universe, but I'm willing to admit that I'm getting more warmed up to listening with these phones. On recordings that are relatively flat, you may still find them wanting, and you will hunger for a delivery device that will richen up the mix. However, I've just given these a listen -- Charles Lloyd's new "Mirror" album. You're still not going to be blown away by the volume at the low end, but there is definitely some honey in the sound, to go along with the crystal clarity from bottom to top of the response curve. And, returning after break-in to listen to Burton's "New Quartet," ol' Abe Laboriel's thwacking fuzz bass seems to have grown some cojones it did not have on my first go through with these phones.Dare I say it, I'm growing to like them a lot more. Although I cannot say they are a five star, unmitigated pleasure, there's a lot of very clean sound coming out of these teeny buds.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
By AGST
I have used Etymotic products for years and I have always rated them 5 stars. I have 2 HF-3 Both in warranty. I recently purchased an iPhone 4s and the microphone amplifies the ambient sound to great distraction. I called Etymotic customer service and they stated that they are aware of the problem and they don't have a solution. Basically told me I had to live with the problem or by someone else's product
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
By RocknPop
These earphones are exactly what they claim to be, accurate and noise isolating.As reference, I am also a recording musician. I play guitar, bass, piano, and sing. I have recorded and mixed a professional studio album with my band. I also have a home studio and have owned several studio monitors. For those who don't know what studio monitors are, these are "speakers" that give you the clearest, cleanest, most accurate response of your recording. And this exactly what I was looking for when looking for headphones, and I found on these earphones.At first I was scared that there was no bass response, like many have said, but then I checked their website on the proper way to fit the earphone, and voila! - I had perfect bass response and all frequencies at a flat level, with the needed spacing among each of the frequencies. As others have said, I can hear instruments that I had not yet heard in songs as well as cleaner definition on instruments that I knew existed.As a recording musician, I strongly recommend these headphones to anyone who is looking for a clear reference earphone.
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