Works With
iPhone
The Good
Allows use of third-party headphones
Works just like apple earbuds
Pause music and ends calls with MPA
The Bad
Works best with Shure headphones
The Price
US$49.99
Now that many mobile phones offer MP3 players, music lovers are going to want to plug high-quality headphones into their cell phones. But some phones make that a challenge.
The iPhone’s headphone jack is recessed, preventing customers from using their own headphones. Only the earbuds that ship with the iPhone fit it properly. These earbuds also have a mic and controller that can be used to answer or end phone calls from the earbud cord, as well as pause or play music.
Apple’s decision to recess the headphone jack is frustrating because it makes obsolete all the non-Apple headphones — unless you have an adapter, like the Music Phone Adapter (MPA), offered by high-end headphone manufacturer Shure. But, for an adapter to truly replace Apple’s earbuds and mic, an adapter needs to have the ability to make and end calls, too.
The Shure MPA meets those requirements.
The MPA is a short cord with a little device on it that plugs into the iPhone’s headphone jack and sits inline between it and the headphones. The MPA does two things: it lets you use whatever headphones you want with the iPhone and answer and end calls from the headphone cord, just like the Apple earbuds.
There’s no degradation of sound quality with the MPA inline between the iPhone and headphones and when using the MPA to receive or make calls, it offers the exact same smooth experience that Apple’s included earbuds do.
The one downside to the Shure MPA is that the combined length of its cord and the cord of the headphones you plug into it may put the mic far from your mouth. When you use Shure headphones with the MPA, the mic is fairly close to your mouth, but when I plugged in a pair of Sony headphones, the mic was below my waist, making it less useful for making or receiving phone calls.
It’s frustrating that to use the headphones or earbuds you prefer with your new iPhone you need to buy a $50 adapter. That’s not Shure’s fault, of course. It’s Apple’s.
It becomes less frustrating when the adapter adds phone features to your preferred headphones. Between that and Shure’s high-quality construction and sound, if you want to use headphones of your choice with the iPhone, Shure’s Music Phone Adapter is a great option.
