My Logicool USB headset has been literally falling apart lately. After a Skype call I find pieces of it on my shirt.

Also, on my recent trip to the US, I was not in business class so didn’t get the free Bose headsets and had to use my iPhone 5 earplug type headset. Those are the best of the Apple lot, but they are very unsatisfactory. For one thing, they don’t block out background noise at all. So the airplane white noise was nonstop the entire trip.

Another problem is that I just don’t like sticking things in my ears. It’s uncomfortable, they tend to fall out after a while, and you don’t really get good sound unless you push them in even more, which gets even more uncomfortable.

So today when I was Hachioji I stopped by the Yodobashi Camera there to see what alternatives there were.

First, I am not rich, and my budget is small. Plus I feel ridiculous spending ¥20,000 or ¥30,000 on a headset for an iPhone. And I’m not really an audiophile either. I’m one of those people who can be tricked into thinking that the music sounds good by tweaking the bass.

So I decided to go low-cost and convenient. There is no buyer’s remorse if you’re not expecting that much. But I was pleasantly surprised!

This Audio Technica headset with mic for smart phones was only about ¥2,000. It weighs just 117 g, and the headset swivels so it can lie flat for easy packing in a backpack.

The mike has a controller, much like the iPhone ear plugs, where you can press a button to stop and start music and answer calls. And there is even a slider volume control, which is much easier to use then up down volume controls I think.

The fit is extremely comfortable. You can adjust it so that it’s perfect around your head and it lies very comfortably, with soft cushions surrounding your ears, with not too much pressure, yet completely surrounding them to block outside sound.

As for the sound quality, I think it’s great! A true sound expert might complain about this or that, but I was playing various songs on my iPhone and found the music as beautiful as I’ve ever heard it from any speakers or headset.

I can see myself using this while on my bicycle, or on the train, or for Skype calls from now on. For Skype calls I would just plug it into the headset jack on my MacBook Pro. It’s a standard 3.5 mm plug.

And for any of my hard of hearing friends out there, I would recommend something like this if you are regularly using your iPhone or iPad for phone calls, or listening to language lessons, etc. It definitely makes the listening experience more enjoyable.