Home

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Save your money

Written by MR from fresno

Nov 23, 2008

I bought a pair in May 08, from the Apple Store. I had to send them back
last week for repair/replacement because i had noticed that the cord seperated from the microphone and the copper wire was exposed. This surprised me because i use them approx. 2-3 times a week and Im very carefull when storing or using them. Save your money and buy something else.
I also bought into the hype when i decided to purchase this product, but i did it because i always believe u get what u pay for. Also storing these earphones back into the leather case they came with is very awkward as the case is too small.

14 of 23 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Great!

Written by AS from Fort Lauderdale

Nov 11, 2008

These are by far the most comfortable earbud-style headphones I have ever owned. There is no fatiuge with long term use. I use them them to listen to music as I fall asleep, so the pressure of the product against my head s a big deal, I have no problem with these.

I think these are well worth the $200

13 of 15 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Posting by Bang & Olufsen America

Written by DP from chicago

Nov 6, 2008

To owners of Bang & Olufsen EarSets,

Thank you for purchasing a Bang & Olufsen EarSet, especially to those of you who have taken the time to offer up your candid feedback about your experiences with our products.
We appreciate your unbiased reviews which will help us provide a better user experience
From scanning through the reviews we are concerned that there may be some misunderstandings regarding use and would like to clarify a couple of points.

Concerning a lack of bass on any of our EarSets

We feel that some of you may be chosing to wear our EarSets without the included foam pads on the speaker. The foam pads are included as an important element of the speaker.
They function as a gasket in your ear canal which allows the EarSet to create a pressure chamber in your ear when the foam covered speaker bud portion is pushed into the ear canal. Without this gasket, the result will be a lack of bass as air will leak around the bare speaker. Also, as a result of not using the foam pad the speaker could cause some irritation to the ear when worn for extended periods of time.

Concerning EarSet 3 quality

We have experienced a quality problem in a small batch with the EarSet 3 which caused the cord to separate from the earbuds or hook switch. This problem has been fixed in our production. If you have purchased an EarSet 3 that exhibits this problem it can be exchanged for a new EarSet 3 under our 3 year warranty at any Bang & Olufsen retail store as long as you provide a dated receipt. We regret any inconvenience this defect has caused.

The longer of the 2 EarSet cords (Right) is designed to go around the back of the neck so as to not become unweildy.

If you have any additional questions or concerns please do not hesitate to stop in a local retailer for support

Sincerely

Bang & Olufsen America

73 of 76 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

A bit fussy but pretty good overall

Written by JW from Los Angeles

Nov 5, 2008

Getting the two pieces properly situated on and in your ears takes some effort but to me it's worth it to not have to deal with earbuds falling out during even moderate exercise. Pretty good sound quality but I am concerned that the stretch fabric covers will need replacing and I don't know where to find them.

16 of 17 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Not worth $200

Written by UK from SAN JOSE

Sep 27, 2008

In my opinion, the sound quality is slightly better than the included iPhone headphones. I tried using the iPhone equalizer to improve sound quality but the improvement was marginal. In my opinion, these B&Os should not cost more than $50. Your paying for the name and style.

10 of 20 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Bitterly Disappointed

Written by SC from Sugar Land

Sep 21, 2008

These headphones were absolutely pathetic. The cords stretched out of one of the ear pieces as well as the "microphone" and both are inoperable.

Though I enjoyed them for the first 5 or 6 weeks, they were a total waste of money. I am going to try to exchange them at the Mac store and will update the post.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY

19 of 31 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Good. Cords failed. Not worth the money.

Written by IH from Houston

Sep 17, 2008

I bought these headphones.

1) They don't sound as good as they cost. Buy a pair of Shures if you're looking for sounds quality.

2) The glue holding the cord to the headphone plug is not strong enough and the cord will pull loose. This is a known problem to B&O, and they changed the glue. The new ones should be fine.

3) If they were $100 I'd say get them. But for more than twice as much, buy a better pair (check out Shure. I don't own them yet, but I tried them in the store and it was like night and day). But, you do get to have B&O headphones... fancy.

18 of 22 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Cords Failed

Written by PR from CHICAGO

Sep 11, 2008

I had a great experience with the EarSet 3 for the first three months. I used them almost daily, usually at my desk, and some walking around the city, and for phone conversations.

After a few months the cord started to fail - the rubber protective cord from the microphone to the right ear had detached from the microphone and the copper wires were exposed. Also the cord at the base which plugs into the iphone also had begun to deteriorate and had slightly detached from the connector base.

B&O replaced the set immediately when I brought the problem to their attention. But it is something to consider. My usage was not extreme and I do not recall any specific time i tugged or pulled on the cord. In the future I will be more cautious but I don't think my behavior was out of the normal.

22 of 22 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

(Come In) Money spinner...

Written by CS from COTTON TREE

Sep 4, 2008

... Nice to see some real reviews coming in for the B&O gear. I have used both the Earset 3&2, both from the Apple Online store, & I can only say I was very disappointed in both. Its true that the 3 is old stock, it was included for free on those Samsung phones made for B&O & which were not a success. The 3's were never meant to be a primo item for selling on their own, they are the equivalent of Apple's freebie headphone/mic that comes with the iPhone.

I have found it very very hard to believe the rave reviews that people have been putting up here on this equipment, as if Apple customers are not discriminating enough to tell a good product from a mediocre overpriced one? It doesnt take Einstein to tell a good sounding device. Pick up a pair of Shure mid range earbuds & have a listen. BASS. Thats what bass sounds like, & thats what really nice sound is. Not this thin sound. And quality? My EarSet 3's started cracking up after a month under mid level bass usage - the little bit of bass I was asking them to take, basically blew the speakers in them. MAYBE understandable if these were sold solely for phone conversation usage, but they are not, they are sold as high-end audiophile. The 2's for instance, have dreadful sound, the only thing going for them is that the sound is loud. Maybe thats a limitation of Bluetooth? If so fair enough, but dont have the cheek to say the EarSet 2 sounds fantastic. No excuse here for the 3's, they are a direct wired device, they should sound great.

Back to the Shures, no plug intended here honestly, but you can crank a pair of them up, & anyone will guarantee, you CANNOT distort, let alone destroy, those earbuds. The crystal clarity, depth & stage is there to smack you in the face, whether you are audio savvy or not. Why do I compare B&O to Shure? I own both. One delivered what they said, the other most definitely DID NOT, & it is about time people reviewed accordingly.

It is my view that manufacturers like B&O rely on the wow factor, like any buyer who forks over this sort of cash, will be too embarrassed to say they made a bad buy, or as if there is some unspoken rule that you must uphold the mystique, nudge-nudge. Well I used to be a bit like that, I would swear by my brands, but not any more, there are too many companies trying to boost their phenomenal bottom lines by pumping out mass dross, with their moniker on it, knowing that a lot of people out there will buy for the label. So sad to see that happening on an Apple site, we Apple-philes have prided ourselves for decades on being discriminating despite market forces.

Keep up the real reviews folks, maybe the big shots will listen and see we are not lemmings after all, & stop letting their beancounters call the shots.

55 of 72 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Best in Class!

Written by BO from Columbus

Sep 3, 2008

These are the headphones I have been looking for! Great comfort as well as great sound! Earbuds without the ear pieces begin to hurt my ears after a while but these never do ........... even when I fall alseep before I take them out. I hardly know I have them on and I don't keep playing with them to make sure they don't fall out of my ears. OK ...... they're pricey but for an ultralight weight headphone, they are they best engineered I've seen. I am HAPPY at last.

6 of 12 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

What a waste of money!

Written by JS from derry

Aug 27, 2008

I bought these because of the good reviews, but by the 3rd month the earphones were beginning to sound faded and the richness of the music was definitely reduced. There is also very poor quality base, it's geared toward higher notes. But I guess if I really wanted more out of a product I should have got a Bose.

22 of 30 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Good sound, bad ergonomics

Written by CW from Vancouver

Aug 24, 2008

I bought these headphones for my iphone thinking I would be using them for many years, however after three weeks I ended up returning them. On the positive side of things, the EarSet 3 sounds very good. Clarity is top notch, the base is decent, and the microphone is better then the standard iphone microphone. But for $200 would anyone expect anything less?
Now for the negative, while the headphones will not fall off your ears they do become loose, causing minor adjustments at least once for a 30 min walk. Second, do not exercise with these headphones!! In a 30 min run I had to do at least 6 adjustments, very annoying. Also, sweat gets into the headphones easily, causing them to fail just like the ipod headphones. Third, the actual earpiece is relatively large and my girlfriend complained it was to big for her ear. Finally, the Earset 3 is comfortable for about 1.5 hours, however, fatigue begins after that. After three weeks the right headphone started to give, probably because of the sweat from exercising, causing me to return the Earset 3 at the B&O store.

14 of 19 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Awkward is the word

Written by BB from Asheville

Aug 20, 2008

Let me begin by saying that I can't vouch for the so-called "quality," either in material terms or in terms of sound, of Bang & Olufsen headphones. This review is meant for the average joe, and it won't mention much about music fidelity or masterful engineering.

I bought these headphones mostly for convenience. Earbuds don't tend to work for me--they fall out all the time, and I've always liked the over-ear hanging headphones for the convenience factor. A few problems, though. These are a little awkward to adjust while walking around--not as simple to just shove in my ear as an earbud. And once adjusted, if adjusted improperly, they can pinch on the ear and hurt. Even at their best, I sometimes feel a little discomfort with them on. In other words, they aren't very organic in their fit, and they force a shape on your ears that your ears don't want to take.

I also don't like the rubber cord, which flies up and springs into your face as you walk, and which looks pretty silly. The fabric cord on my old V-Modas hung more naturally. On this same point, it's very difficult to position the rubber cord with the cord clip. The higher you position the cord with the clip, the more the rubber cord bends out and looks even more ridiculous. Makes you look wired like a cyborg.

It's also really important to me to have an easily usable case so that I can put my headphones away on the fly. This case is apparently leather, which is nice, but the headphone cord has to be stuffed into it, clip and microphone and all, and there isn't much space left after the earbuds themselves go in. This worries me--I don't want pressure to push on the different pieces and hurt my expensive headphones. I also don't want to spend half a minute meticulously stuffing pieces of the cord into this little pouch--my V-Modas could be folded over and slipped into their pouch in about ten seconds tops. Summary: the storage pouch is not intuitive.

These also have a weirdly industrial look about them. Sure, you can tell that by looking at the picture, but you really have to see them on you. They make you look like somebody from the future--if that's your thing, go for it, but if you don't like to be a pretentious weirdo, then you might consider something with a more minimalistic look.

I might actually go back to the V-Modas. They were simpler to adjust, I think more stylish, and more conveniently stored.

12 of 19 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

EarSets by B&O, Reviews by B&O?...

Written by CS from COPPELL

Aug 20, 2008

I bought this EarSet 3 & the EarSet 2 bluetooh (interesting Apple is not longer allowing reviews of the EarSet 2), so I will include it here. I bought both of these after reading the rave reviews here. Silly me. Should have gone into a B&O store & asked one of their snooty salepersons to let me test the sound first. But, I have some other great B&O gear, so just assumed the sound would be good.

It isnt. Its ok. Which is ok, except when you pay a price which is, hmm, how to put it, kind of lacking in any grounding in reality for what you receive. Apart from the magnificent packaging, never seen anything like it. Save the trees? :(

I actually thought my EarSet 2 was broken, the sound was so ordinary. It sounded just like the other bluetooth sets I have owned, except with more volume, and a more reliable link (after a LOT of fiddling, the link is rock solid). Sound was stretched, metallic, NO bass (repeat, NO BASS), with volume turned up enough to hear in traffic, hurts my ears (like my old BT devices). When you talk to someone else on an EarSet 2, you often get a high volume feedback & have to redial & turn the volume down. Where is the bass from that relex port they brag about? The open-ear full bodied natural sound experience advertised? The much talked about perfect fit? (fiddly to put on, fiddly to adjust, the earbuds don't sit into your ear enough to get any benefit from the supposedly quality speaker). And THE BUTTON!!! Oh my, the BUTTON!!! What an annoyance, the one button on the device, & it is tiny, sharp on your finger, & wobbles from side to side so you cannot push it in neatly to activate the function without effort. The overall sound is not too bad, you can hear the other person, & talk without hassle, but this is no Beocom bluetooth equivalent, no no no! But no, I was very disappointed, & I love my other B&O products.

Check out the specs, the 2's are running old firmware & an outdated BT version, the range is very short, the run time is shorter than competitors, there is no car charger, the proprietary charger costs a hundred bucks to replace; the 1's are a leftover product included with the B&O cellphone made by Samsung. Years old. OK sound, not primo. OK fit, nothing custom. OK mic pickup, meh.

Would you like to know what B&O charge for one of these puppies here in Australia? EarSet 2 $500 AU dollars. Thats $435 USD. And the Earset 3? $349.95 AU, that's $305.95 USD. Just FYI cousins, putting it in perspective. Australians are of course, (do the calculation & insert % here) more gullible, & less deserving, than the good citizens of the US.

So, who, I am lead to ask, is writing up all of these glorious B&O reviews my friends? Most wired mic headset buys, & most BY earset buyers have had experience of several devices by now, and can compare the relative sound qualities. These B&O earpieces are NOT WHAT THEY ARE ADVERTISED TO BE in terms of sound quality. Uber-design? YES! Exclusive? Hmm I guess so. Sound? NO! Nowhere even close. They are beautiful, nicely made, and they are about as good sound quality sound as the medium to higher priced stereo mic headsets & bluetooth iPhone devices in any other good brand.

The 1x star is my effort to make up for the gross inflation from other "reviews". Relatively, they should each receive 3 stars for overall, 2 stars each when price/quality is factored in. Maybe. Depends how annoyed you are at the time.

That's my 2 cents worth, and my advice? Go listen to one in a store, with the phone/iPhone you wish to use it with, before laying down your dough. That's all.

23 of 36 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Superb sound!

Written by KJ from Sanford

Aug 15, 2008

Finally a comfortable headset with outstanding sound. They are expensive, but to me, well worth the $199.

8 of 11 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Quality is in the ear of the user

Written by KS from Houston

Aug 10, 2008

B&O products are legendary for their build quality, beauty, and performance. The Earset 3's are no exception. They deliver on all counts. Are they worth it? They are for me, but like all expensive products it is diminishing returns as you spend more money. Can you get something almost as good for half the price? I believe you can, but that didn't matter to me since I wanted discreet on the ear buds with great sound, design and build quality.

7 of 9 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

Fantastic Sound and comfort

Written by MG from El Dorado Hills

Aug 8, 2008

The sound quality of these earphones are incredible. I thought the V-Moda were great until I tried these B & O's. I also like the call button which is a lot easier to click than others. I highly recommend them to anyone who is willing to pay for high quality earphones.

5 of 6 people found this useful

Bang & Olufsen EarSet 3

As comfortable as you want them to be

Written by ML from Sammamish

Aug 7, 2008

When you first have them in your hands, you can tell they are a quality product. The engineering is outstanding and the concept of how they fit ingenious. I use them for cycling (road and mtb) when I want to be able to hear surrounding noises. I also want to be able to answer my 3G iPhone if needed with the click of a button instead of pulling it out. You can adjust how they sit in your ear...if I'm on a trail and don't need to hear my surroundings as much, I have them tucked inside my ear snugly for more sound and less outside noise. Need to hear more outside noise? Pull them away just a tad bit. Comfort? Not a problem and I don't care for ear buds at all. You can use these all day long. They stay put, they're well made and they sound incredible. Contrary to another review, I wear sunglasses with them almost all the time with no problem. For watching a movie during a flight, they let too much noise in. For that, I bought the Shure SE210.

12 of 12 people found this useful