Quality headphones/headsets for a PDA smartphone? (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

Accidentally destroyed the cable for my old Sennheiser PX200, so was in the market for new portable cans. Was probably just going to get another pair of the latest version of the PX200 (w/ slight improvements), but just noticed that Sennheiser has apparently rolled out a lineup of their portable headpones w/ built-in mic and extra control for handling phone calls. They're apparently marketing the lineup (w/ an "i" appended to the model numbers) toward iPhone customers although a local J&R salesperson says it works fine w/ any smartphone, including my Blackberry Tour.

 

http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/home_en.nsf/root/private_headsets_mobile_music_504163

 

Anyone tried these new Sennheiser headphones/headsets? How are they compared to the old standard versions for audio quality? How are they for the phone capabilities? Are they as good for phone calls as most quality headsets?

 

J&R charges ~$40 more (at ~$110) for the PX200-IIi (vs the standard PX200-II), and I don't see anywhere else selling it nor any reviews for it.

 

I noticed that Sony apparently also has some "i" models like these new Sennheisers, so I guess that's where these headphone makers are headed as the PDA smartphone market grows and more people want high quality audio (for music) to go w/ typical cell phone usage.

 

Anyone w/ other recommendations?

 

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I ended up just biting the bullet on the Sennheiser PX200-IIi after a brief tryout at J&R. So far, this II version of the headphones do sound better/fuller to me than the originals -- and it's also significantly more sturdy w/ better (single-sided) design for the wiring.

 

Some of the remote control features (for both phone use and music playback) don't seem to work w/ my BB Tour (at least for the old OS 4.7 anyway), but no biggy as I don't really see myself needing them (and it was expected from my brief tryout). So far, the main features that don't work (on my BB) w/ the wired remote is volume control and music track skipping. The voice command control seems like it should work (as my BB does seem to recognize the command trigger), but I haven't figured out how to use it yet, which is probably because I've never bothered using voice command before (and it probably just needs some sort of voice calibration and/or setup). The control seems to work fine for answering (or ignoring) calls.

 

One thing though. Would probably be much better if the tiny remote/mic unit came w/ built-in clip for shirt, lapel, etc. to help keep it in place for phone calls.

 

RE: my old PX200, I ended up patching up the damaged cable and passing it off to my son to use on the old iPod Touch I also passed to him (and probably his PSP as well) -- he apparently also needed "new" ear/headphones. Sounds pretty much like before after my DIY patchwork.

 

_Man_