"theboom" fancy headset arrived, and i immediately tried it out. i put the stereo on full volume for an initial test, called my voicemail and left a message. it worked really well. very impressive. called some folks who reported excellent call quality.
i didn't have another (comparable) headset to test with at the time, so i just tried my phone with the stereo test. surprisingly my phone did reeeally well. better than i expected. (i should have known, the t-39 rocks!)
but my phone doesn't have the super patented microphone design.... so, what's the scoop? i need more models to test with, i'm suspicious the *right* headset might work ~on par~ here.
1) the t-39 has noise cancelling, mics on each side of the flip.
2) the flip, acts as a boom to put the mic in better positon.
3) position is (almost) everything --let's cancelling actually work.
this gives the t-39 great sound, but really points to the fact if you can get a good boom with standard noise cancelling, you can have great sound -without the price tag of "theboom". key here is getting a long boom, to put the mic right where you need it (lets the noise cancelling mic really function).
so i went to fry's and bought 4 headsets, all different sizes (all wired sets, various boom lengths, no short stubby blueooth models here). i thought the most promising would be the more expensive $40 panasonic model.
turns out the best headset was a $15 model, made by GE. the winning feature was the flexible long boom along with standard noise cancelling mic. models without both these features could not compete. the panasonic featured a medium length boom which didn't fair as well. call quality plummets quickly with shorter boom lengths (you'd need an incredible unidiretional mic to make a shorter boom function properly!). so, price was not really a factor
i did a number of test while driving (noisy environment) using two phones making calls simultaneously -one phone hooked up to theboom, the other hooked up to the "el cheapo" g.e. mdoel
results:
theboom had the best overall tone, less noise.
at times is was difficult to tell them apart, at all!
summary: the g.e. headset did about as well as theboom. if you're looking for the absolute best quality, maybe theboom is for you -so long as you're willing to spend 10x just for the last 10% in call quality.
had i decided to keep theboom, i might have opted for the headset model, which cost $50 less than the ear-hook version. the fact the headset costs so much less makes me think they are definitely pricing each to the maximum they think the market will bare. this means more emphasis on marketing, not the technology.
other folks have raved about theboom's headsets. the call quality is really impressive. positioning is key. considering i was able to test the headset against a number of cheap models and find one on par, i have to say theboom isn't worth the money (not to me).
good news...playing with all this gear helped me solve the situation for my car. at first i thought a headset version would be too cumbersome to put on -wasn't bad at all. plus they're comfy and don't move around at all. so that works. just took actually trying, to figure out.
now i have a cheap reliable headset with great sound, that's in fact easy to use.
the folks at umevoice were nice and helpful, even though i didn't stick with their product. and i can't wait till their patent runs out. :)
on a side note i did spot the blueparrot (bluetooth headset, with full boom). it's about $100, but looks like a great bluetooth model to check out.