Sound, price make earbuds worth it

Two companies have introduced similar and noteworthy products: easy-to-use wireless headphones that sound great.

The most notable product is Etymotic Research's ety8 Bluetooth earphones, the first wireless in-ear headphones. That means the earphones sit deeper in your ear than standard headphone models. The Elk Grove Village, Ill., firm specializes in hearing devices.

I earlier called Shure's E500PTH my top choice for the year. Those, too, are in-ear headphones, but they cost an astonishing $500. The ety8's nearly match those in sound and cost $299. That's still more than the top iPod, but these earphones, like Shure's, dampen exterior noise, so you turn the volume lower — much safer for your ears.

And since this is a wireless product, you are not tethered to the player. But would these small little earphones stay in my ears? I stomped around the office for hours and waited 30 minutes in a driving snowstorm for a bus. They didn't fall out, and the music never stopped.

More important, the ety8's are a snap to use. I've criticized Bluetooth products in the past because sometimes they work as advertised, other times not. These do.

After charging the headphones, I plugged the included Bluetooth adapter into my iPod. Then I turned on the earphone through the on/off switch built in to the right earpiece. (You can adjust the volume, skip to the next song or pause with the earpiece.) The earpiece synced with the Bluetooth adapter immediately, and the music came through loud and clear.

Etymotic sells the earphones alone for $199 or in a package with the iPod adapter for $299. Since I don't know anyone other than gadget reviewers who has a Bluetooth adapter lying around the house, you'll need to spend the extra $100.

Two notes of caution: First, Etymotic rushed to get me these headphones to meet a deadline, not an encouraging sign for holiday availability. A representative insists they will ship this month.

Second, the product only works with fifth-generation iPods and all nano models.

New Bluetooth headphones from Milwaukee's Koss also sound superior to previous models I've tested but not as crisp as the ety8. Yet the Koss Cobalt headphones ($299, www.koss.com) work with any iPod, including the very first model, and any MP3 player.

While things didn't go entirely smoothly with all aspects of my tests, the Cobalt was easy to use and also works with a computer or a mobile phone.

A USB dongle, which looks like a thumb drive, ships with the Cobalt to use with a computer. You plug the dongle into a USB port, and the Windows volume control panel automatically switches the sound setting for the Koss headphones. Turn on your PC to play music, and the sound comes through the Cobalt headphones.

This is actually tricky stuff, and kudos to Koss for getting it right. In previous tests with products that claim to do the same thing, the setup was never as easy or reliable.

It also was easy to use the Cobalt with an iPod and a Zune. I plugged the white MP3 transmitter into the headphone jack at the top of both players, and the sound came through load and clear. Setup was supersimple: turn on the transmitter and then press the on/off button on the headphones for 5 seconds.

Things didn't go so smoothly with a music- and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. Using a Sony Ericsson W810i, a Walkman phone, the Koss headsets worked for calls but not for music. Call quality was not great either.

Another drawback: The two standard AAA batteries I used for the transmitter were drained after roughly three hours.