Shure MPA-3C Music Phone Adapter for iPhone
by Shure
|
List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Shure MPA-3C Music Phone Adapter for iPhone
Customer Review: Definately the good stuff here...
Summary: 4 Stars
First, the thing does exactly what it's supposed to do: Allows the use of high quality headphones and phone functionality with your iPhone. Mission accomplished, if not a bit on the pricey side. Shure has a good warranty, so I'm fine with paying a bit more if it means I'll be able to use them the life of the phone. And yes, the one-click pause, two-click next song and three-click back a song work perfectly...maybe even better than the origninal earbuds.
So why 4 stars? For these reasons:
1. While not the fault of the adapter, my Shure E3c earbuds have a really long cord. Really long. This puts the mic very far away...unless you do some creative wrapping or cutting and soldering (tempting if not for a $180 set of earbuds)
2. When using the excellent E3cs, which block out much of the ambient noise, I can't hear myself talk thru the headphones! I don't know if this is part of the Apple head set or not, but it's a little unnerving.
But would I recommend it? Absolutely. It's an imperfect solution, but the perfect solution really wouldn't help me here...I don't want to replace a nice expensive set of earbuds. Shure making iPhone specific set with the mic in a similar place as the OEM would be the perfect solution.
Customer Review: Unexpected great solution
Summary: 5 Stars
I was looking for a headphone solution to use with my BlackBerry. The challenge is that my hearing is adequate but not good. Plus I'm using this in a noisy location where it's difficult to hear and have a good conversation.
I learned of this solution from a headphone vendor in the UK. It works great with my BlackBerry 8330. People I'm talking to hear a very clear natural sound. Sound is fed to both ears. The button on the mic turns mute on and off - very convenient. I now own one for work and one for home.
I've used this with two different Sennheiser headphones. My favorite at home is the Sennheiser 560 where the headphone doesn't provide soundproofing. This is a very easy comfortable easy solution. My speaking voice and what I hear are both very high quality so conference calls of two or three hours are easy.
The Sennheiser model I use at work is sealed around the ears to block out sound. I find it a little strange and uncomfortable to talk on the phone with the sound sealing this Sennheiser model provides--it's almost as if you can't hear yourself speak so it's hard to regulate voice loudness. On the other hand I can hear in a noisy environment very easily.
Customer Review: Works just fine
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this item for use with my precious Shure E500 PTH IEM's. I occasionally get phone calls while listening to music and this makes it easy to answer the phone and chat without any inconvenience.
The unit is particularly well-suited for use with the Shure earphones, as one can remove the extension portion of the supplied Shure cabling and substitute the MPA-3C.
If one simply were to add the microphone/cable to an existing full-length earphone cord there would be issues of length and microphone placement--but since the unit is supplied with a handy shirt clip, one can take a moment to place the microphone in a convenient location for conversation. Doing so is up to the user, of course.
The sound quality is terrific and the button on the MPA-3C acts as on on-off toggle for the microphone. Very nice. I have read some complaints about the durability of the unit, but I have found it to be well-made and certainly durable enough. If people are unduly hard on their audio equipment they might encounter problems, but the truth is to make this kind of small accessory bombproof would raise its price to an unreasonable level.
This is a fine product.
Customer Review: Worked for a while, then shorted out.
Summary: 2 Stars
I was really glad to find this product sold as a standalone, so I could use my Etymotic in-ears or Bose noise-canceling headphones with the iPhone and clip it to my shirt when traveling, for easy access to the play/pause clicker which is really useful when walking through an airport, sitting on a plane, etc. Because of the cord length, I ended up using this more with my cheaper Sony earbuds that come with a short cord + an extension cord, so the first short cord segment alone works well when added to the Shure cord length. I didn't use the mic much but it did work.
Everything was great for occasional use for about 5 months... then the clicker died. I didn't abuse the cord, crimp or bend it, etc., but the clicker doesn't work anymore at all, which is the major point for me. Frustrating to burn $32 for only 5 months. Wish it was made better. Feels like adding insult to injury to consider buying this Shure MPA-3C again, but the knockoffs I see on Amazon get sketchy reviews as well. I ordered 2 from Wireless Finest last week and neither one works out of the package! Ugh.
Customer Review: Horrible mic. Worked for 6 months
Summary: 1 Stars
I use Shure se530 and have a lot of respect for the manufacturer. Sorry to report but the quality of this adaptor is horrible. First, the button becomes really stiff when it's cold outside and can be hardly pressed (double press is almost impossible). Second, the mic is horrible and people always complain that they either can't hear me or it's too loud if I hold the mic too close to my mouth. So I have to hold the mic all the time, and move it closer or further depending on the environment. Apple's mic is much better. Third, even though I care about my phones and ALWAYS carefully put them away to the case which came with my earphones, the adaptor just shorted out. Now I am looking for an alternative. Maybe will have to buy this one again in the hope that the quality changed... (it really fits well Shure earphones).
PS When I bought it, I though I read somewhere that when speaking over phone you can hear your voice in the earphones. That's not true and it's really uncomfortable to speak with earphones. I have to remove one earphone just to be able to properly hear myself.