If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would have insisted that no ear buds in the sub-$1,000 price range sound better than my trusty Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10vi headset. I would have been wrong. I still insist that no buds I’ve tried sound better than my 10vi buds — and I have tried many, many pairs — but now I add the caveat, “when coupled with the iWOW 3D.”

I recently mentioned SRS in passing within my review of the HTC Arrive, and I’m certainly glad I did because the team at SRS saw my review and reached out to chat. They also decided to send me an iWOW 3D to play with, and to be frank, I was skeptical at best. Sound is a funny thing. Just about everyone fancies him or herself an expert when it comes to sound, it seems, and while I would deny it if you asked me on the street, I’m the same way. Deep down, I think of myself as a sophisticated audiophile with a discerning ear that can rival even the most experienced sound hounds. The truth is that I do have formal training as an audio engineer, but that hardly qualifies me as an expert. The sound quality of recorded music and the quality of headphones delivering said music, like so many other things in life, is largely a matter of opinion and personal preference. But it’s also science.

There are many factors that might make one pair of headphones better than another. The materials used, the components used, the shape, the fit and countless other factors combine to reproduce sound in a very unique way. While this topic is of considerable interest to me, it is also far too complex to cover here. What matters is that in the end, those of us who might refer to ourselves as audiophiles have put a great deal of time and effort into finding headphones that suit our particular taste. Once said headphones have been identified, we will almost certainly swear up and down that they’re “the best.”

I landed on the Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10vi headphones — at least where ear buds are concerned. For my taste, it doesn’t get any better unless you’re willing to part with an obscene amount of cash for custom buds (and I’m not). The unique shape fits perfectly in my ears and in my opinion, they reproduce music from a wide range of genres better than any other buds I’ve tried. With one or two exceptions, I find the difference between the 10vi buds and competitive offerings to be fairly substantial. As such, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that a tiny $60 accessory could have such a dramatic impact on the sound delivered by my precious 10vi buds.

SRS describes the iWOW 3D as follows:

The iWOW 3D is a premium plug-and-play audio enhancement accessory for iPad, iPhone and iPod, designed to retrieve and restore audio cues that are buried within the original source audio, to provide an immersive three-dimensional sound stage with renewed depth and clarity, as well as improve bass response for any speaker configuration.

I describe the iWOW 3D as a swift kick in the buds.

Forgetting all the jargon, here’s what you need to know: the iWOW 3D lumps its magic into three realms of signal processing. The first is “wide surround.” This does exactly what it sounds like it should do — it effectively spreads out the sound and creates a wider audio image that is truly impressive. Think of it as the difference between a two-speaker sound bar and a real surround sound setup.

The second thing it does is fix bass frequencies and delivery. You might not have known the bass was broken on your current headphones, but it is. Apple offers some great EQ settings in iOS that help in some respects, but the results are often muddy and they never sound quite right with each different genre of music. The iWOW 3D’s bass enhancer makes bass sound massive, but not to the point where your speakers will be crackling. It seems like the perfect bass tweak and if you crank the volume up to about 75%, your head very well may explode — but in a good way.

Finally, the iWOW 3D finesses the high and mid-range frequencies to compensate for all that new-found bass. The result, when all three effects are combined, is sound more impressive than I ever thought I would hear coming out of a cell phone. It’s pretty remarkable. There’s a free companion app that allows users do enable and disable each of the three effects individually, but I could easily live without it. All three effects are on by default and that’s the way it should stay.

While there’s plenty to love about the iWOW 3D, there are also a few problems of varying degrees that I have with the gadget. First, there is a big white indicator light on the front of the unit that lets you know when it is enabled. Indicator lights are great, but this one is huge and annoying. A tiny white LED on the side would have been sufficient.

Slightly more important is the hiss. Like many powered audio devices, the iWOW 3D emits a low-level hiss when connected and turned on. It’s faint and you can’t hear it at all when music is playing, but it’s annoying at first during parts of a track that are silent or very quiet. It’s also annoying at first while watching movies or TV shows. I say “at first” because after a while, it gets to a point where you adjust to the sound and forget about it unless you intentionally concentrate on it.

Last but certainly not least is an Apple-imposed limitation: while connected through the iWOW 3D, in-line remotes and microphones will not work. This means you can’t pause or skip backward or forward with button clicks on your headset’s remote, and you can’t talk on the phone until you unplug the device. This is Apple’s fault, as the 30-pin dock connector does not make these functions available, but it’s a pretty big limitation nonetheless.

Those qualms aside, I’ve really enjoyed the iWOW 3D in the couple of weeks I have been using it. So far I’ve had three other people check out the device as well, and the results have been the same in each case. Eyes widen, jaws drop ever so slightly, and the listener is wowed.

But hearing is believing. The SRS iWOW 3D can be ordered from SRS’s online shop for $59.99.

Hollywood Style Awards sponsor Klipsch hit us up and dropped us a pair of its brand new Image ONE stereo headphones to give away. Klipsch’s Image ONE headphones bring the company’s unique high-performance sound quality to an on-ear form factor for the first time. The cans are also among the first on-ears to feature an in-line remote and mic for use with Apple’s iPhone, iPad or iPod lines.

Here’s how you can enter:

• Just drop a comment below in the comments section of this post and you’ll automatically be entered to win
• We’ll run the contest for a week, until December 19th at 11:59PM
• The contest is open worldwide, but you must be at least 18 years or older
• Follow us on Twitter and Facebook if you’d like!
• Remember, one comment per person — if you comment more than once, you’ll be disqualified

Good luck!

Apple has shifted a major manufacturing contract from Japan-based FOSTER to two Taiwanese companies, Taiwan Economic Times reported earlier this week. Taiwan-based manufacturers Hon Hai and Cheng Uei have been tasked with building the OEM headphones that ship with Apple’s iPhone — a contract likely worth over $300 million. FOSTER loses the business after a stretch as the exclusive manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone headphones, and the job will now be split between two Taiwanese companies. Cheng Uei will build the cords, speakers and control switches while Hon Hai will insert the wires and assemble the earbuds. Cheng Uei also manufacturers the chargers that ship with Apple’s iPad, and is in the process of expanding its facilities to increase output.

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September 15th: Sony Ericsson claims, “the way you listen to music changes forever” on September 21st. September 21st: Sony Ericsson announces the MH907 motion-controlled headphones and 99.999999999999% of the world will continue listening to music the same old way. Don’t get us wrong — the new “SensMe” technology SE introduced today is kind of nifty. Basically, it allows you to control music playback and call handling by removing and replacing one of your ear buds. Ok that’s cool we suppose, but it begs the question: Is removing and replacing an ear bud to control your headset more or less convenient than simply tapping a button? We’re going to go with less. The novelty factor is certainly there though, so if you have a Sony Ericsson phone — yes, this headset will only work with SE phones — at least you have something interesting to look forward to. No pricing or release information has been made available.

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We’re pretty big fans of music here at BGR, so we can become a little scrutinizing when it comes to the headsets we use on a daily basis. What we’re looking for is a headset that can deliver clear, clean and crisp sound at all volumes (there is nothing worse than getting garbled noise when you crank it up). Sure we have a few pairs laying around HQ that we’ve grown fond of but we can still check out some new ones from time to time, right? We’ve been testing out the Platinum i-Series and the Pro i-Series buds from iHarmonix over the past week or so and to be honest, we weren’t expecting much from these mid-range buds. You know what they say about judging a book by its cover though, so hit the jump for the skinny.

Let’s start out with the Platinum i-Series. The headset’s wires are designed nicely with a thickness and coating that keeps them from getting tangled — always a good feature when you’re stuffing them into a bag or pocket. They also have an in-line microphone with a button to send/end calls and to pause music. The build quality seems good enough for the unit to last as long as your phone or MP3 player will. Unlike the Pro i-Series, these come with three different rubber earbud sets so that ears of all sizes get the perfect fit. The sound quality is definitely impressive and beats most headsets we’ve tested in the same class and price range for sure. Bass is clear and heavy without getting distorted at higher levels and you almost feel like your chest should be getting rumbled by a subwoofer. Almost. Unlike similar headsets, the bass doesn’t take away from the mids or the treble however, so the balance is damn near perfect at low or high volumes. We came away very impressed.

Call quality on the Platinum i-Series is also very good for both the iPhone 3G and on the BlackBerry we tested them with. Although the caller can sound a little on the sharp side, it wasn’t that bad and it didn’t hurt our ears. For the most part, they sounded very natural and there was little to no background noise – even outdoors. Our friends on the other side of the line said we sounded crisp and clear, but a little distant at times. While they could understand and hear us perfectly they reported that we sometimes sounded like we were on speakerphone, albeit a really good one.

Next up is the Pro i-Series and we’re a little less excited about this particular model. The overall quality of the headset itself is just as good as the Platinum, but unfortunately it doesn’t perform as well as the Platinum when compared side-by-side. When compared to other headsets in the same price range, it is definitely above average but part of the problem is the earbud attachments. They come in large and slightly larger. The memory foam earbuds, which are like earplugs you roll and put into your ears, were difficult to place in the ear canal and were very uncomfortable. The rubber earbuds were much easier and more comfortable to wear, but weren’t a perfect fit. Because we had some difficulty getting these in our ears, sound quality suffered a bit without question.

When listening to the same songs with these headsets, we noticed that we had to turn up the volume a bit more to get the same effect as the Platinum series. However, once the volume started going up the sound started to become muddled. Of course, it probably isn’t best for your ears to listen to music that loud, but if you wanted to drown out outside noise so you can enjoy your music in a loud environment, it might sound a little distorted. Call quality is just as good as the Platinum series and has the same mic button, too. Actually, when listening to callers on the iPhone, they sounded a little better through the headsets than they did on the phone’s earpiece. Voices sounded natural and clear with little noise in the background and our friends said the same on their end.

So, are the iHarmonix earbuds worth it? At $59.95 for the Platinum and $39.95 for the Pro we definitely say yes for both — with the caveats that 1. your ears have to be the right size for the Pro i-Series to work out well and 2. you don’t need to get up near max volume, ever. For the money, it’s pretty tough to beat the Platinum i-Series and it’s definitely worth forking over the extra $20 over the Pro i-Series. The Platinum was just way more impressive — to the point where we think we’re going to keep them around for daily use.

iHarmonix Platinum product page
iHarmonix Pro product page

Everyone’s favorite gear customization outfit has just announced a new addition that will definitely excite all you audiophiles out there. Yep, Beats by Dre headphones have indeed been added to ColorWare’s repertoire, giving owners of what are likely the hottest casual over-ear headphones a way to separate themselves from the pack. Anyone who has sampled the renowned headphones spawned from a partnership between premium gear-maker Monster and Dr. Dre will tell you they’ve got the goods sound-wise, and now the option to spruce up the look of these beasts seals the deal. ColoWare breaks Beats by Dre down into 11 unique customizable areas and of course all 35 available colors can be mixed and matched however you like. As for pricing, sending in a pair of your own will run $249 and buying a brand new ColorWare-ed pair will run $525. Hit the jump for the full press release.

ColorWare Launches Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones Custom Colored.

WINONA, MN March 2, 2009 — Perhaps you’ve already seen you favorite NBA player sporting a
custom made set of Beats by Dr. Dre already. Well, they got it from ColorWare. You can now get a set of you’re very own.

The color choices and options are practically limitless. You can color them in your favorite team
colors, pimp them out in a gold or silver color, keep them clean in all white, or come up with you own color concoction. You have the option of sending in a set you already own for customization or you can simply buy a new one directly from their website by selecting the “buy new” option.

Check out the ColorWare design studio and play around with all of the possibilities. You can also play available videos that include a review of the custom headphones and Monster Cable giving custom sets to an entire NBA team.

Colorware continues to lead the way by offering the most fashionable electronics worldwide.

“Colorware Your Lifestyle”.

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If you haven’t heard about these yet, then you need to hear them! Dr. Dre teamed up with Monster a couple years back to design a fantastic pair of studio headphones. Though it was probably Jimmy who put the deal together. What you get is a listening experience that puts a pair of tuned studio monitors on your head, and that’s a good thing. There are some headphones that offer decent low-end reproduction, but they’re smoked by the Beats. Plus, mids and highs come through incredibly clear with some of the best audio reproduction we’ve ever heard on some ‘phones. There are a couple minor downsides, though. First off, since they offer noise-cancellation, they are powered by two AAA batteries. Secondly, they are sort of a mix between open air and closed headphones, so when you’re crankin’ Soulja Boy on your next flight, expect the seven closest passengers to start doing the superman because they’ll likely hear your music. Open airs let the sound pass through the headphones which is why you get that full natural sound — the drivers are a little exposed to the outside — and not that distorted mess some of us are accustomed to. They’ve even included a special cable which houses a call answer button and mic, so you can take your calls while listening to music on your iPhone or BlackBerry. Nice! Industrial design? Please, this is Dr. Dre. You know they’re going to look great, and they do. With a black lacquer finish and red color scheme, they’ll definitely stand out from the crowd, for better or worse. They’re a tad bit large, and while well constructed, we can’t help but feel that the folding mechanism to store the headphones is going to be a problem. Oh well, Monster will just send us another pair if that happens…

Click on over to our Monster Beats headphones gallery!