I got these based on a great review over at The Gadgeteer. And after having used them since Christmas (It was a gift! Thanks!), I totally agree.  They definitely raise the volume levels.

They also work on my old Audiovox stereo cell phone headset that came with my Verizon CDM-8940 VCast handset.  They don't work with my Samsung stereo headset that came with my Sprint MM-A920 Power Vision handset.  That's unfortunate because the headset is already much nicer.

They definitely make the earphones more comfortable.  This is the case for both the Audiovox ones and the Apple iPod ones that they are made for.  Case in point is that I just listed to about an hour of streaming with the Samsung headset and my ears started to hurt.  I swapped to the Audiovox ones with the EarJams on and my ears already feel better.  I've listened to streaming with these for hours without issue.  On the iPod headphones, I've listened to it all day.

The volume certainly increases substantially.  On my LG VX9800 and the Samsung a920 I am most comfortable with the phone volume on it's lowest possible setting that isn't off and with the Audiovox analog volume control at about half.  It's not loud, but it's loud enough.  Higher and it gets painful.  On the iPod, I usually have the volume at 20-30% instead of 60% or higher.  This is actually a problem because I'll have it at 80% for in the car playing and if I forget to lower the volume before hitting the play button I literally have to yank the headphones out of my ears -- which can hurt if done too quickly.

The EarJams come with 3 sizes of rubber fillers.  I tried the medium ones first and thought they were too loose.  So, I moved up to the large ones and realized that it was fitting even worse.  The small ones are perfect for me.  As it turns out, the other ones didn't allow it to go in far enough, which is why they felt loose. 

For something that looks like a gimmick, these really do work well.  There is a definite increase in volume as well as a shift down in frequencies.  You do seem to lose some on the top end while gaining some at the bottom end.  If you have equalizer adjustments available, you can compensate for that, though. 

They don't block the external sound as well as I hoped they would.  They aren't advertised to do that, though.  These aren't replacements for in-hear headphones.  Nor do they replace studio, full cup headphones.  They do allow your iPod headphones to fill a price and performance gap, though.  Since they can also be used with any other ear bud that has the same size bud, they can provide even more use than you might anticipate. 

The case the EarJams comes in is great.  It has enough room to hold the extra pads and the iPod headset.  In fact, I've had luck with it also holding my Audiovox headset in addition to the iPod headset.  It has two mesh pockets and a zipper pocket and the hole thing zippers closed.

If you don't have the budget for good in-ear headphones or the space for studio headphones, these will help.  If you're an audiophile, or close, you probably won't like the loss at the high end, though.  Don't expect miracles.

EarJams - Griffin Technology
The Gadgeteer - Griffin Technology EarJams Review
Griffin EarJams review by PC Magazine
Griffin EarJams Reviews. Front Door Reviews by CNET.
Griffin EarJams at The Apple Blog

Posted by Shane on March 12, 2006 1:23 PM | Permalink