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Shure i3cT Attacked By Dung Beetle!

I live in NYC where there is all kinds of noise both above and below ground. Recently I've been researching solutions and found some glowing (sound quality) reviews of the Shure i3c Integrated Sound Isolating Earphones + Mobile Headset. Sound isolating earphones are a great idea to maintain hearing by using them for low-volume music listening or simply as earplugs (the sound filtering of 30-37db is about the same on these as your standard drug store earplugs). I was on the brink of purchasing a set but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this INSANELY large/wacky/clowny/goofy control switch inline on the cords.

Since this is a headset for a portable phone and not a home theater I have two suggestions for Shure that I have submitted via email and also publicly here:

New dual-function switch that is smaller and much thinner. Lightweight design enables you to place it anywhere you like on the cord. Like places where it won't be in your pocket where it is of no use.

Another idea, and an even better one, would be to add a small button and control dial to the microphone, making it even more portable yet.

Unless there are some super secret electronic chips that are living in that dung-beetle of a controller that simply can't be shrunk in size these kids have GOT to wake up and realize that people who buy headsets for cellphones do so because they actually take them out of the house and have to carry them. Every single iota of space/weight savings that can be provided without compromising audio quality will be appreciated by consumers. Nobody wants to pay the price of a cellphone to get a headset the size of a cellphone and have to carry an extra bag to tote it around.

Update: I was really surprised to get feedback from Shure not just via email -- by phone! I talked to Brian today and they seem to understand the concerns about portability. We can hope to see improvements in newer models. As it turns out, this growth does not actually have any crazy circuitry built in so we could surgically remove it and be no worse for wear. All it contains: resistor for volume control and a chip or two for the "mute" button. After a short chat, and thinking more about how I would actually *use* this earbud system, here is my updated list of "to dos" for Shure:

• Remove growth altogether (while mute is mildly useful, it's not worth the cable real estate or pocket space, neither is volume as the phone will not be far away to make those adjustments)
• Add *hardware* support for "sidetone" (so you can hear yourself speaking and therefore not speak too loudly due to the sound cancelling properties of the headset). Yes, phones can do this with software, but would be better to do on the headset because then you can plug into any phone and get the advantages
• Make them black. Only iPods are white, not smartphones. White won't match at all and will confuse thugs

Posted by Aaron R. Deutsch on November 2, 2006 10:02 AM

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