Comply Noise Reduction -1 CS Stereo Cell Phone Earset

Reviewed by Robert Pritchett

Caution: Don’t use while driving a vehicle or walking the streets of New York City. ;^)

What They Say

What is the technology?
Insert-Passive Noise Reduction.

Why is it so good?
It achieves average noise reduction of 42 dB while the desired signal is boosted ~ 5 to 10 dB at higher frequencies.


How does it work?
Passive Noise Reduction is placed in the location that it should be…in the ear canal, not over the ear. The signal-to-noise ratio is dramatically increased. Desired sound is increased since it is sent into the remaining smaller space of the partially filled ear canal. The noise is reduced because the Comply™ Platinum Canal Tip, the most effective sound attenuator, efficiently filters out noise.

What benefit is this?
One achieves an extremely comfortable seal, equivalent sound perception with less energy, plus hearing in your head, not at your ear. Keeps out unwanted noise.

Key Features:

• ·      Great Noise Reduction
Keep unwanted noise out (reduces noise at an average of 42dB).
• ·      Great In-The-Ear Comfort
Memory foam is three times softer than skin and conforms to your ear canal.
• Great Sound 
Hear the desired sound in your ear.

Specs:

Noise Reduction 42 dB over frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 KHz. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_(sense) Cable Length 1.2 m or 47 inches, Impedance – 16 Ohms, 2.5 mm pin Stereo jack and 2.5 mm Mono jack that complies with most cell phone or MP3 player devices. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphones

What I Say

You pay for convenience and the increase in cost for this earset over the NR-1s (by about $10) is that these have extra adapter cables and a mic with a mute button on it as well as a wheeled volume control attached to the clip. The squishy earplugs remind me of the foam ear protectors I used to use in the woods when I worked in the forestry industry, a wood box factory and in shops, but these have a plastic core that the earpieces screw into and the material is of a higher quality made of gray memory-like foam.

These Stereo Cell Phone earsets have a chrome finish and black plastic and cables, so folks won’t mistake them for iPod plugs.

I actually used them for listening to the cable TV on my iMac, so as to not disturb my family. They plugged into the optical audio port on the back of the iMac and took the Internal Audio Preferences for sound. I also tried them with Skype, but when I talked with the folks at Hearing Components, I suggested they market these as earsets designed for the ? iPhone. And why not? Do you think the ? iPhone is going to have a different audio port than is used with the iPods? And yes, these do work just fine with the iPods too.

There are packages of 10 for either Standard - Platinum or Slim – Platinum “Canal Tips”, if you wear the ones out that come with the NR-1 CS. The Slim ones are for smaller ear canals and are about ½ the size of Standard.

The gold-plated adapter cables are either 2.5 mm or 3.5 mm (the Mac uses the 3.5 mm plug).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_plug These all have the standard sleeve-ring-tip configuration ,except the earset goes one better than the stereo signal. It uses a 4^th connector in the sleeve that military circuits use and thus, is why these earsets are used by the military.

So why not get an earful, with in-line variable volume controls that meet military specs? They do a great job handling outside noise and reduce it by 42 dB. And you will forget they are in your ears after a while. Yes, they are that good. And believe me, if you have not already done so, you will be replacing your Apple earbuds sooner or later.