When it comes to listening to music, I’ve always heavily favored headphones over earbuds — not out of choice, but simply because I’ve never found a pair of earbuds that would stay in my ears comfortably.  (My entire family’s the same way, in fact; I suppose we all must share the oddly-shaped ears gene.)  When I tried these out for the first time, I was happy to find that they fit — and comfortably. They even come packaged with two more rubber earpiece covers so you can try different sizes , but the ones that were already on the earpieces were more than comfortable enough for me and my family (who also tried them out).  These have been my favorite discovery on the job so far!

And the next thing I noticed after I put them on was how well they blocked out outside sound.  Even without any music on, I could barely hear the clatter of voices around me — and I certainly couldn’t make out any words, I just knew that people were talking.  While playing music, I couldn’t hear anything at all. You know those intense moments in movies where all sound is cut out, replaced by some emotional soundtrack?  That’s kind of what it was like, only replace “intense moments” with “my family members asking about my summer job”, and “emotional soundtrack” with, well, bad pop music (also some classic rock, to my credit).

I’m not someone who can’t really tell the difference in sound quality between a $50 and $5000 speakers, but I could tell these had a quality bass production — when the volume was high enough, I could literally feel the bass line throughout my head.  And when I listened to some jazz tracks, I really felt like I was back in the middle of my high school jazz band; I could hear every instrument, every flaw, and the sounds of the musicians shuffling (on tracks where they hadn’t managed to edit that all out).  I was pretty impressed.  At less than $40 a pop, these would be awesome to have either on-the-go, or as a main set.

• To get your own Radius earphones Click Here

It’s 1990 and I’m driving on some dull trip with my parents. They’re listening to some awful music on the car stereo. It’d be an otherwise horrible trip, but lucky for me I’ve got my brand new walkman, with a copy of Vanilla Ice’s “To the Extreme” blaring through the headphones. My mom told me that I had to keep the volume pretty low, but in order to hear it over the car stereo I’ve got the volume cranked to the very end. My mom says she can hear the music coming out of my headphones, but I don’t care. My choices are listen at a safe level or hear the music.

It’s 2002 and I’m working on an essay, listening to music through my headphones. A few years of loud concerts and biology lessons have taught me that subjecting my ears to loud music, but I don’t care. I’m having a good time with the volume as is.

It’s 2006 and I just got an iPod with video. It’s a good way to kill time on the train, but something of a disappointing movie watching experience. Having a home theater system at home has spoiled my enjoyment of a movie without surround sound.

It’s 2008 and I’m pleased to announce that Amazing Tech Products Inc. has a solution to all these problems. The Purebuds are a set of earbuds that use reverse sound technology to bounce the sound away from your ear drums, rather than directly at those sensitive little buggers. This leads to a softer sound experience without compromising sound quality.

I’ll admit I was a little skeptical when I was first introduced to Purebuds. “Sure,” I said “They’re better for your ears. But how do they sound? Are we giving up volume in exchange for safety.”

Well, I’ve been trying out my pair, and I’m pleased to say that they sound great. I have a small collection of expensive headphones and ear buds that I use on a regular basis, and I can say without reservation that they stack up to most of them as they sound as good or better than all of my earbuds. They pack a lot of punch into a resonably small frame, and don’t seem to be as prone to distortion as my other earbuds.

I do a lot of walking, and I like to have some music with me when I go, like my own personal soundtrack. A neat little byproduct of the reverse sound technology is that it lets in more outside sound. While this makes them less than desirable for louder environments, it lets you be more aware of your surroundings.

The Purebuds also come with three tips, each one promising a different “audio ambiance effect.” While I found that the “Full Range” and “Bass Boost” worked as advertised, I had a difficult time keeping the “Surround Sound” tips in my ears long enough to get a feel for how well the worked. I have oddly shaped ears, so your milage may vary.

All and all, I’m pretty psyched to be reporting on these headphones. The fact that they are a product Amazing Tech Products Inc is releasing does make me a bit biased, but I was excited enough about the headphones to volunteer to write it up on the blog. Regardless of who makes them, these are a solid product that I enjoy using.

• You can learn more about the Purebuds, watch a video demo, and get your own pair by Clicking Here
• You can get your Purebuds via Amazon.com by Clicking Here

It’s talk-safe time in California. On July 1st, California will follow 30 other states in implementing a ban on driving while talking on the cellphone. Everyone is buying headsets, even those who hate the pesky, poky, blinking, Martian antibodies.

My girlfriend had been complaining about hers from day one – she had a sore ear and a tangle of wires running from the headset to her phone. The audio quality was decent…err, until she blundered by opening the sun roof in her car. Her voice was instantly lost in the flurrying wind.

We decided to go together to an electronics mall and buy a better headset for her.It was overwhelming to walk down aisles flooded with tiny headsets. None appeared to us any more impressive than the other until..

We saw the Jawbone. Its sexy design made us ooh and aah. The Jawbone trumpeted itself in two simple words – Noise Assassin. It was bluetooth, so there would be no tangled wires. The Jawbone also came with different sizes of earplugs and earloops to fit every ear.

The Jawbone uses very advanced audio technology where a voice sensor at the bottom of the headset rests on your cheek and senses motion as you talk. It only picks up the sounds coordinating with the muscle movements in your cheek, so the background noise is completely ‘assassinated’, in Jawbone lingo. My friend was persuaded.

The next day she called me while driving. It was great – I could hear her crystal clear despite the windows being rolled down and the wind racing past her. The Jawbone got a thumbs up!

The Jawbone is a really classy accessory for anyone who has to answer a lot of calls all the time and doesn’t want to engage one hand with the phone. It is a bluetooth headset which automatically detects the phone it is paired with and connects to it seamlessly. Once your phone has been paired the first time, the headset disconnects from it when the phone is farther than 10 meters away, and connects automatically when the phone is in range.

The Jawbone also does not have any blinking buttons that make you look like you stepped straight out of Star Wars. It has discreet, invisible buttons which can be pressed lightly to answer or end a call, and control volume. The LED lights on the surface are discreet and not at all intrusive.

The Jawbone is the perfect bluetooth headset – both modern and functional. If you have not yet bought a headset, the Jawbone would be ideal to leapfrog you into July’s talk-safe time. The Jawbone would also make a great Father’s Day gift for Dad – give him something sleek and sexy, with a Noise Assassin and he will call you more often too!

• You can get your own Jawbone by Clicking Here

• You can check out special pricing options by Clicking Here

• You can review pricing comparisons on this product by Clicking Here

July 1st is fast catching up with all of us here in California. After 38 other states in the country, California is also going to implement a ban on mobile phone usage while driving – forcing a lot of us to abandon the single-handed steering maneuvers while talking on the phone.

The only way to continue yapping in the car is to use headsets. Last week, I finally decided to buy a bluetooth headset before it is too late and I get a ticket.

Trust me I have tried using these pesky things more than a couple of times in the last few years.  But one of two things happened – either the headset was discharged just when I plugged it into my ear to receive a call, or I would take it home to charge and forget to get it back to the car. The last time I owned a headset was before it got crushed under a truck’s tires (I was crossing the road with a bunch of shopping bags and the headset in my hands, dropped the headset and heard a silent crunch as it got squashed to bits under a passing truck…sigh)

Scanning aisle after aisle looking at tons of tiny headsets, I was so sure that I was going to lose whatever I bought and would be back here in a week’s time – looking for another one.

And then I saw the Yada! It is amazing how the most basic design can be the perfect solution to all our headset troubles. The straight, simple lines, accessible push-click button are both functional and sophisticated.

The Yada bluetooth headset has a simple, easy-to-figure-out design. It connects easily to any bluetooth enabled phone in two simple steps – turn on the bluetooth on both the phone and headset and enter the passkey on your phone. Voila!

The Yada can connect to up to eight bluetooth devices – so everyone in your family can use the it if need be, and you can also hook it up to your multiple phones, including VOIP phones.

The best bit about the Yada is that it has a charging dock that mounts to your dashboard or air vent and plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car – so the headset is always charged. And I don’t have to take it out of my car, so it is always there when I need it. Now that solves all my troubles.

The charging dock also has an attached dock for my phone. It is a universal phone holder (I wish it could charge my phone too but sadly it can’t) it has two expandable arms that can secure any phone, so they don’t end up on the car floor.

An amazing feature of the Yada is its auto-power, auto-answer and auto-end functions. As soon as you sit in the car and start it, it automatically detects your phone’s bluetooth signal and connects to it. And it automatically powers off it it does not detect bluetooth signals from your phone for over an hour.

The auto-answer function allows you to just lift the the headset and place it into your ear to answer a call. And when you are done, just place it back into its dock to end the call. Alternatively, you can place it in your ear – it is quite small and sits snugly – and push a multi-function button on its surface to answer or cancel calls.

Aah, the days of bending double and squinting under the car seat looking for my phone and headset are over. The Yada is just what I needed for my everyday driving needs – it’s sure an amazing tech product!

• You can get this product via Amazon by Clicking Here