Others say...

"Horrible mic. Worked for 6 months"
I use Shure se530 and have a lot of respect for the manufacturer. Sorry to report but the quality of this adaptor is horrible. First, the button becomes really stiff when it's cold outside and can be hardly pressed (double press is almost impossible). Second, the mic is horrible and people always complain that they either can't hear me or it's too loud if I hold the mic too close to my mouth. So I have to hold the mic all the time, and move it closer or further depending on the environment. Apple's mic is much better. Third, even though I care about my phones and ALWAYS carefully put them away to the case which came with my earphones, the adaptor just shorted out. Now I am looking for an alternative. Maybe will have to buy this one again in the hope that the quality changed... (it really fits well Shure earphones).

PS When I bought it, I though I read somewhere that when speaking over phone you can hear your voice in the earphones. That's not true and it's really uncomfortable to speak with earphones. I have to remove one earphone just to be able to properly hear myself.

"Definately the good stuff here..."
First, the thing does exactly what it's supposed to do: Allows the use of high quality headphones and phone functionality with your iPhone. Mission accomplished, if not a bit on the pricey side. Shure has a good warranty, so I'm fine with paying a bit more if it means I'll be able to use them the life of the phone. And yes, the one-click pause, two-click next song and three-click back a song work perfectly...maybe even better than the origninal earbuds.

So why 4 stars? For these reasons:

1. While not the fault of the adapter, my Shure E3c earbuds have a really long cord. Really long. This puts the mic very far away...unless you do some creative wrapping or cutting and soldering (tempting if not for a $180 set of earbuds)

2. When using the excellent E3cs, which block out much of the ambient noise, I can't hear myself talk thru the headphones! I don't know if this is part of the Apple head set or not, but it's a little unnerving.

But would I recommend it? Absolutely. It's an imperfect solution, but the perfect solution really wouldn't help me here...I don't want to replace a nice expensive set of earbuds. Shure making iPhone specific set with the mic in a similar place as the OEM would be the perfect solution.



"Great iPhone 3G Accessory"
Even it may be a little over priced, this device is a great accessory. I use the Music Phone Adapter with SE110 Sound Isolating Earphones.

While on my tractor, I can listen to my music & when a call is recieved, the music fades out & then the phone will ring. Push the button on the Adapter & talk as usual. When the phone call is finished, the music picks up right where it left off. If you want to skip a song, do a "double click" on the button & the song will skip. People that I have talked to on my iPhone say that they cannot tell that I'm not talking with my phone up to my ear.

It's really easy to use & it serves it's purpose well. Hopefully you my review will help. If you have the money, spend it on this product, you won't be disapointed. Shure products have some of the best support of any company online.

"Overpriced & Poor Construction - Will "short out" in 3 months."
The microphone is too far away from your mouth, and you have to hold it up (looking like a complete fool in public) and talk into it... and despite the fact that it looks fairly well constructed, mine shorted out in 3 months somewhere near the plug... I can live with the microphone being far away, but for that much money, I expect it to be built to handle forces from daily use... The headphones also are poorly constructed as the little rubber part has come free from the hard plastic (but that is another review)...

"Shure MPA-3C delivers what it promises"
When I got my iPhone and tried the included earbuds with microphone, I knew it wouldn't be the solution for me. Earbuds never stay in. I usually use set of behind-the-neck stereo headphones when walking or on the bus, but also have a Bose noise-cancelling headset as well.

I researched the alternatives and, based on what I read, decided to go with the Shure even though it was the most expensive of the 3 alternatives I looked at.

The Shure MPA-3C delivers great sound to the headphones. I have asked people I am on the phone with about the sound quality of the mic and all have said it is good. The switch on the microphone works as promised -- one click to pause or resume, two clicks to skip to the next song.

The plug is angled and does not stick out far from the iphone. I have had no problems carrying my iPhone in a pants pocket and have at no point had any worries as far as the plug goes. A couple of the alternative products had much longer plugs.

The microphone is a little heavy and droops when hooked on a shirt collar. To solve that, I got a second cord clip for the headphone cord. This allows me to secure the microphone in two places and hold it inside the collar where it is less obtrusive. (Shure, should add a second clip to the MPA-3C package.)

The excess headphone cord issue is easily solved with headphones, just wrap the extra cord around the headphones and secure with a twist-tie. You can't do that with earbuds.

Good job, Shure.