Thanks to the nice people and ISOTunes, I got a chance to try out and review a couple of their wireless safety earbuds in my own workshop for a few weeks. Until they had contacted me, I was unaware that there these units were available and since I have been struggling for years to find ear protection that works for me, I was quite anxious to try these out. In the past I have tried the little foam inserts and they work ok, but taking them in and out constantly, is time consuming and fiddly, and they are only good for a very few insertions before they no longer work properly. I have a few different sets of over-the-ear earmuff style ear protectors, and they work ok but the biggest challenge I have with these is that because I am constantly listening for ambient noise in the workshop because of the video taping I am doing, I can't wear hearing protection all the time or I miss outside noises that can affect the audio recording. The fact that I am always wearing eye protection on a cord around my neck, and constantly taking of and putting on my glasses, most ear muffs are bothersome to wear.
Watch it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/dPcaoHrewd4
I spend a lot of time in my workshop, not just recording videos, but also doing prep work in advance of making videos which can consist of preparing wood, making mock-up items, testing designs and even making prototypes. During this time that I am not recording, I enjoy listening to music, sometimes it's my own purchased music, other times I will tune into a radio station on my mobile phone and stream that music to my small portable Bluetooth speaker. During this time I also putting on and taking off earmuff safety protectors and of course my safety glasses.
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I have always thought it would be nice to listen to music when I want and not have to be taking safety earmuffs on and off ... and now I can.
The ISOTunes folks sent me both of their wireless units, one I call the "regular" the other is called Pro ISOTunes. There are a few difference between them but the most obvious is that the Pro unit is good for about 10 hours or use while the "regular" will provide about 4 hours of use before needed a re-charge. The other major difference is that that Pro units have a slightly larger ear piece and the way they sit in your ear, with and over the ear support wire, they really are a bit more comfortable to use ... which would be expected on an earbud that delivers a 10 hour battery life.
My initial thoughts when I first received these was that they were very well packed and even the packaging is quality. Both units include a variety of additon ear pieces in case your ear canal is slightly bigger or smaller, and they even package a set of ear pieces in case you just want to listen to music in an evironment that isn't noisey, and of course they include a USB cable for recharging the earbuds battery.
Getting started using the earbuds is pretty easy, the units include a small, easy read manual and the first thing you need to do is "pair" the earbuds to your smartphone. This took me about 2 minutes and worked flawlessly. This is a step you only need to do once as the earbuds and the smartphone will automaticly connect every time they are together and both are turned on. When you insert the earbuds and turn them on in the presence of your mobile phone, you can hear a message in the earbuds that they are turned on and that they are paired with our phone, a similar message is heard when turning them off, in this case the earbuds tell you they are turning off and your phone is no longer connected.
Of course you can also do a variety of phone conversation functions with the earbuds and your mobile phone like sending and receiving phone calls, forwarding call etc, and all of this information is clearly laid out in the manuals. Both of these really are quality units.
After trying out both units, the one that seemed to work best for me in most situations was the one I called the "regular" one. Loved the comfort of the Pro unit, but it seemed to get caught up from time to time in the cord for my safety glasses, where the "regular" did not. The quality of sound and the amount of sound that they blocked was nearly identical to me, so my personal choice was the regular earbuds.
One feature the regular buds had that the Pro earbuds did not was that the regulars have a strong magnet in the back of the earbuds. These magnets are a perfect solution for making a storage and recharging base for both a smart phone and the earbuds.
I decided to build a small prototype storage and charging unit that would hold my earbuds when I am out of the shop and when I am in the shop and wearing my earbuds, the storage unit will hold my smartphone ... and in both case, because the charging cables are the same, I can use the case with an attached USB cable to also charge my phone, the earbuds and even my little Bluetooth speaker (that I seldom use anymore now).
The details of the build are feartured on the YouTube video and sizes and shapes will depend on what phone you have and what accessories and earbuds you finally decide on so make it your own and work out a desgin that works best for you.
My overall impression of these ISOTunes earbuds is very positive. I have been using them for a few weeks now and they work exceedingly well. They are easy to use and the manuals are well laid out and easy to follow and give good details on all the features that the earbuds can do. They clearly explain how to pair the buds with your phone and that also worked flawlessly for me.
To find our more, please visit https://isotunesaudio.com
For a limited time, you can even save 10% on your inital order by visiting their website.
If prefer to support Colin and woodworkweb, you can also purchase either of these units through the Amazon Affiliate store
Coyright Colin Knecht
woodworkweb.com
