Woodees IESW100L BLUES Noise Isolating Earphones with 3 Button Microphone (Black)

I give these headphones 3 stars, but Unfortunately I had to return them.The Woodees BLUES are really great earphones. The cable is thin but sturdy, and although I found that it did tangle up a bit, it was not as bad as my other pairs. The microphone and controls work exceptionally well with the iPhone 4, and although it felt a bit small for my large thumbs, I still managed to press the buttons correctly.The biggest selling point is the great sound. The mids and the highs are crystal clear and detailed, and have a warmth to them that are really pleasing. Some high end headphones usually sound cold and clinical, but these really differ in their presentation. The bass is the selling point here, and it truly is punchy and boomy. With the Woodees BLUES there really is no need to turn on the eq on your mp3 player. My only problem with the Woodee's sound was the soundstage, and by that I mean the feel of the separation and distance of the instruments in the melody. Imagine a large living room with several speakers on each side, and then imagine a closet with those same speakers all playing at once. This is an exaggeration which helps visualize the feeling of a contracted soundstage.When I compare the woodees to my cheaper Sennheiser CX300-II Precision, the CX-300 sounds spacious, detailed and punchy - although with a little bit less bass (which is not that bad), the woodees, on the other hand, sound quite compressed in the separation of instruments. Comparing the woodees' sound to one of the best and cheapest earphones out there - the Altec UHP326NP (only $20) - there isn't much of a difference. As a matter of fact, the UHP326NP sounds better when it comes to detail, mids and highs, and the brilliant soundstage, only being surpassed in the bass department, but even then one could still argue for truthful reproduction of the low frequencies or its tweaking to accomplish a boomy bass which was not there to begin with. This, of course, is up to preference.I returned these due mainly to microphonics and the thin wire which appears to be breaking from the moment you open the box. On my fourth day of walking to work I noticed my phone pausing without me ever touching the remote. So it was an obvious return.If they can get the cable fixed, I'm seriously reconsidering buying the new iteration of this item.

In the last three years, I've had more headphones than I can count. I've paid $10, 50 120, for any type of iPhone compatible earbuds you could imagine. The ones that fit my ears well didn't sound good, the ones that sounded good had cords that were too tangle-friendly, etc. It was always something, and always something that detracted so much from the good qualities that I ended up looking for new ones.The woodies' strengths are incredible, but like the song says, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.The sound quality was startling. I mean that literally. The chorus in one of my favorite songs starts on the right side (I now know) and the first two times I heard it on these headphones, I actually looked to my right. Same thing with the (previously unknown) bass in another song. It was so deep, I thought someone was driving by and blasting their car stereo at a time that just happened to be on beat. I'm hearing nuances in the voices that I never heard before. I'm discovering new layers in songs I've been listening to for years.The braided cord does its job quite well. I often roll and stuff my earphones into my pocket, and I often want to take them out of my pocket just to listen to a couple songs for a few train stops. A tangled cord can change a relaxing couple songs to a frustrating few minutes after which I've reached my stop, and it's time to roll them back up..The issue that makes me give these stellar sounding earphones three stars is that the controls on my unit are malfunctioning. I have an iphone4. The controls only sporadically control the volume, and when I press any of the buttons, there's a buzz in the earphone connected to the controls. It goes away if I jiggle the cord, which makes me feel that this was a place they made a mistake in the design or manufacture of the unit. Maybe I just have a bad set, but I'm only rating my experience.These earphones introduced me to a new level of sound clarity, and as corny as it sounds, I can say that I'm actually grateful for that. I didn't know it was possible to like listening to earphones this much. But because of the buzz, I'm back in the market.