Looking to pick up a new wired headset for my blackberry. So it needs to be good quality for music (even though it'll be MP3's) and a good mic pickup so the overall call quality is also good. I currently have the NuForce NE-7M's as their reviews were great, but I am not as enthused after over a year with them. I am now looking to step it up a notch in terms of both audio and mic quality. Any experiences out there? I don't mind paying a bit more as long as I get what I'm paying for.

Thanks for your input!

I like my Ety HF3's that work the controls on my iPhone 4. I spent the extra $100 for molds and that's still cheaper than other custom options. The advantage is that the same molds will work w/ the whole Ety line, which is a plus. Great for passive noise cancellation on the plane.

http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/hf2.html

Thanks oldskool, those definitely look like a step up.
When on the phone, how is your voice quality for others? I often times have people complain I sound muffled when I use my current headset, then if I switch to no headset it is way easier for people to hear me clearly.

I've had similar complaints as well, mostly w/ the stock iPhone headset. W/ the Etys, no complaints. Because I use the custom fit shell, I can hear VERY well.

Here is some good information on some in ears.

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/reference_earphones.htm

Edit...looked over that you need a mic.

i would look at what shure has to offer. i had a set of E3c's many years back, and i really like those head phones a LOT...


http://www.shure.com/americas/products/earphones-headphones/music-mobile/se115m-plus

here is what they seem to currently have. They mention that they "work with select apple products" i dont know about blackberry you will have to look that up...


If i had a need for another set of good earbud style head phones, that were not crazy expensive, i would buy what shure was selling again.

Never listened to in ear Shures, but I like their full sized headphones a lot. Not the most comfortable headphones I've used but they sound good. If I were to get in ears, if possible I would probably get them custom fit to my ears like what was suggested above.

I have the ety HF 5's and love them. Same as HF2's just without the mic. Excellent sound quality. The standard large grey flange tips fit great in my ear. The noise isolation is so good that If I wear them at work people come up and talk to me all the time and I can't hear them.... Sometimes that is a disadvantage but when I want to tune out the world it works perfect!

Skull Candy

Thanks guys. I talked to a buddy last night who has a pair of the earbud style Sure's he is not using. He's going to lend them to me to try out - they don't have a mic but at least I can test the fit and SQ of the Sure's for my application with my source material. Kind of like the Axiom demo period without the 30 day limitation! I'll also check out the ETY's and see what Skull Candy has to offer. I've got some solid brands to compare now. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

For the Skullcandy's, check out steepandcheap.com and all their sister sites. Those come up weekly for up to 25% to 60% off IIRC, both over the ear and IEM.

How about one of those adapter thingys that plugs into the phone and includes the microphone and a jack for whatever headphones you want to use?

Tom, I had no idea that those existed. Something else to look into.

The Shures have different sized rubber seals. These were the head phones that fit me the best. I was using the stock ipod head phones, and they were to large for my ears... I would wear the shures for 4 hours at a time and they were very comfortable for that length of time. I don't know if you will be using them for longer or not, but i would think you could wear them for 8+ hours a time, no problem.

Dan, I'm not sure if this one from Boxwave is the right one for YOUR Blackberry, so please check. You want to believe all those little plugs that go into the phone are the same, but they are not.

I bought one from Boxwave for my Palm Centro (hey, shut up, it was cool at the time...) and was impressed by the quality. I really liked the idea of being able to use ANY headphones. I just don't want to multitask those two things on the same device much anymore. When I'm available for phone calls, I'm usually not listening to music on my phone, and when I'm listening to music on headphones, I usually just let my phone go to voicemail.

The best if not the only place to find real useful info in the headphone world is HeadFi...but be careful, you have been warned, once you go there, there is no turning back, and your wallet will get hurt seriously, but you will get what you paid for...IEM's are not my cup of tea, among the best I have heard, and I have quite a few, are the Sleeks, and the Klipsch Image X10 and X5 which I still own, to me multi-drivers are all a rip off, and did not sounded as good as the single drivers ones, on top they will cost an small fortune...cheap options over the ears Koss portapros...you may need adapters for them though...