Recently I purchased a set of earbuds with microphones to use with my iPhone while traveling or while working with my wife on set where quiet is required. Bluetooth just doesn’t do it for me for listening to music.
Admittedly I am a little spoiled from having been in the Audio Video Industry for years. I have several great sets of Etymotics and Shure ear buds. I even have a set of Shure ear buds with a microphone for an old cell phone. The problem is the plug is smaller than the plug on the iPhone?
The last set of earbuds I purchased was from an Airport Kiosk when my Jawbone battery died and I was running to a flight. I bought Skull Candy, which lasted about a week. The sound was ok, but he right speaker stopped working.
While cruising Costco I saw a two pack of Scosche earbuds with microphones that had the right size plug for the iPhone. My wife and I both wanted wired earbuds with a microphone, so a two pack looked perfect.
Right out of the package, the Scosche was a winner. The multiple double flange earbud tips had a size that both my wife and I could use. For me the double flange is good enough to go running in, so even better.
I started using the Scosche Earbuds.
At first the fit was impressive and the sound pretty good, not Etymotics or Shure, but neither was the price, so based on cost, the sound was very good. I noticed though the sound started to change. I played with my eq settings on the iPhone and eventually figured out it was the slider volume control on the earbuds. At anything other than full, the sound changed significantly.
The solution of course was easy, run the slider all the way up and use the iPhone volume controls for volume.
I started running with the Scosche earbuds.
Running was a different story. The backs of the earbuds are open so you pick up a lot of wind noise while running. Since I run along the beach, the sea breeze makes the wind noise more noticeable.
Solution, crank it up. This might not be great for my ears, but I shaved 30 seconds off of my 5 mile time already.
The Warranty Card.
Normally I don’t fill out those little warranty and customer survey cards. I figure if I do nothing will happen. Since the Skull Candy earbuds failed and I didn’t fill out the card, I did fill it out for Scosche. I figured the worst thing that could happen is more junk mail.
Junk Mail with a “Fool” bonus.
As expected, I received marketing mail from Scosche. A full catalog and a letter offering a free set of earbuds. That got my attention so I followed the directions only to find out that the offer was “sold out”. I could request an email if more become available, but only after setting up an online account. More of my information collected. Also on the screen was the message to us the word “Fool” for discounts on anything on the site while waiting for my “free” earbud offer to re-appear.
So what is Scosche saying? Are they fooling me into buying someting with a free offer that didn’t exist like all those online marketing guru’s? Are they calling me a fool because I gave them more information? Was the offer just a poorly timed April Fools joke on me? Am I a fool for not spending the money and just buying Shure or Ety’s?
I have been fooled by marketing departments before so who knows.