ANDREACommunications 3D Surround Sound Recording Phones

Wow. For the money it's a winner, the usb sound card is worth more then you pay for the whole package. It's not hardwired to the headphones so you can use it with any set you want. Then there's the software. You have to download it or order a disk from Andrea which is annoying but it keeps the price down and it takes about 30 seconds to download so not a big deal. Other than that it's awesome, it has an eq, a recording interface built in , and noise cancellation settings for voip calling/skype (almost forgot you can save custom eq presets too). I was pretty shocked how decent the recordings came out from plunking on my acoustic, it was really clear and the volume was about perfect. As for the sound quality it's better than I would have imagined, I plugged in my sony headphones to the sound card it comes with and while they sounded louder and better they still sounded a bit poo in comparison. The sony's cost almost three times as much btw, with a 3ish foot cord and nothing else. With the Andrea's the bass is smooth and punchy, but you still get great mids and pretty good trebble. Cranked these things can actually hurt my ears. It's not quite brain rattling like strapping subs to your head but it's a really thick and full sound. I tried them out for studio headphones and they worked pretty well there too. For the bad, they are made of EXTREMELY cheap plastic. It doesn't feel like they'll fall apart on you and they're nice and comfy but maybe put them back in the case when you're done? Oh yeah, it comes with a great little case too lol.So overall.. Just buy them. They aren't going to sound like $500 Seinnheiser studio cans but they sound better than anything I've seen remotely close to this price range new (about 15 when I got mine) and the addons are worth the price alone.

Finally got to use the headset & in-ear mic/headphone combo & I'm happy(overall) with the setup, particularly with the cost/performance ratio. I mated the headset with Edirol's R-09 digital recorder & a high speed 32GB SD card & was pleased with resulting recording. At 96 kHz sampling rate, the sound was crisp & articulate with very low background noise(for a tavern) and though I needed to remain silent during the recording(tough while drinking) I was pleased with the depth & breadth of the soundstage and the overall balance of stereo image-don't think I could have gotten it better with a pair of studio mics & a lot less setup time to boot. As always, be sure to ask permission BEFORE recording ANY live band/performer to keep one's self clear of copyright laws-many times a verbal agreement is enough but be prepared to sign a waiver if necessary.

June, 2013First off, headsets are important to me. I work online over Skype. I've spent literally hundreds of dollars on different headsets in the last year, always keeping three on hand so that I have a double back up, with varying rates of success. While no speakers on my headsets have given out, microphones become unreliable enough that they are unusable, often within a few months. This is why I turned to Andrea Electronics. I'd heard that their microphones are excellent.The Super Beam technology sounds cutting edge, in theory. After both reading reviews and watching demos on Youtube, I decided to take a risk, despite most of the reviews being made by people who were given a set. I figure, with new technology, it takes awhile for things to catch on. The headset, while using entirely too much cheaply made plastic, is comfortable and lightweight, though it has a tendency to slip off of my head. Oddly, if I have sunglasses on my head, they act as an anchor and keep the headset from sliding. The case is excellent and very portable. I had no problem downloading the Mac software from their website, though it was a little difficult to figure out where it went (System Preferences, Other). Once found, it was no problem to use the controls.The problem? Not only was there no noise cancellation, but when testing with a mate, we soon discovered that Skype was automatically switching to the built in computer mic instead of using that one. What's worse, the built in computer mic sounded better than the Andrea microphones. When in a silent room, there was a lot of background "fuzz" and when in a noisy room, all noises were heard, though they were a quieter than the voice of the person wearing the headset, but louder than the "sound fuzz".The sound itself hurt a little bit, like an almost non-audible high pitched electronic sound. You know the sort, you may not be able to identify, or even swear that you hear it, but it constantly bothers you, and leaves you feeling stressed after listening to it for an hour.We tried the headset on a PC and the results, while not as dramatically cool and noise canceling as in Youtube videos, the sound from the mic was very good, without the "fuzz" that was heard when it was hooked up to my Mac. With those results, I'd keep the headset, given the convenience of not having a boom mic, but with my current Mac results, they'd go back.I was a bit furious after our trial Skype calls. I live on a remote island and am in the U.S. for a week and had mail ordered these to be here when I arrived. I have very little time to replace them if they are indeed the lemon they seem to be. All of our testing happened after hours. Tomorrow, I shall see what help customer support will be. It might turn the review around yet, though I'm not sure how. Their "trouble shooting" section on their website had exactly two issues and they were the equivalent of calling a helpline and being asked, "Is your computer plugged in?" (The reality, "Is your mute button in the off position?")Now, to discover what their customer service is like...............................July, 2013 (two weeks later)I was only in the States for a week and I ended up keeping the set because I was so busy and it was too much hassle to return them. I figured that at least the mics were less likely to break than my other sets. I'm still very unhappy with them.Customer service never returned my phone calls. On the box it says that it's for use with a PC, not with a Mac and it also says "Compatible with Microsoft XP, Vista, Windows 7 & 8 and Apple Macintosh OSX 10.5 and up." On their website, they say that the headsets are compatible with Macs and provide software. I've watched all of the videos and they do exactly the same thing that I've done in order to set up the headset.This is their entire Trouble Shooting Guide for Macs:No Sound from headset ear phone while audio plays from computer.* Check that USB Dongle is installed* Check that headset is powered on.* Check that the volume is not all the way down.MAC* Open the system preferences panel* Click on the sounds icon* Click on the output button* Select the default output audio device* Adjust the volume slider for proper volume levelClearly they don't think that much could possibly go wrong.In a second round of trying to make the best of this purchase, I used it on Skype with a client. With fans in the background, the person on the other end asked if I was in a truck. It was so noisy that she couldn't concentrate on what I was saying. I ran several tests, and in a quiet room, there is a LOT of background fuzz sound. The mics seem to amplify all sounds in the room. If there is a fan, it's captured very loudly, no matter how far it is from the person wearing the headset. Lite Beam Forming or Aggressive Beam Forming are different, but they just make everything louder and sharper instead of canceling out the background.Andrea Electronics do not have adequate software for Macs. As I mentioned before, these problems are not evident on a PC.

Overall I'm happy with it, and I've bought it a second time. The first one was years ago and eventually had one side stop having reliable sound.My only real complaint is that the volume control goes from about 100 - 30%, then suddenly off. It usually doesn't matter though.It's slightly uncomfortable after wearing for hours during a game session

I expected a louder signal when plugged into laptop using the USB connector. However, with the aid of the included software (you can also download it from their website), I managed to get a clean recording I did in the living room with a ceiling fan on. Most of the noise was cancelled and, after tweaking the recorded session in Adobe Audition, the quality produced was very impressive! The only drawback from this pair of headphones is the plastic casing which feels a little flimsy, but overall a good pair to use for recording your sound without the need to use the conspicuous microphone wand often seen in similar functionality headphones.

Arrived in a nice zip up case, complete with usb connector to take both leads. Sound is amazing, and there is a website listed so you can download the graphic equalizer to go with the headphones. Microphone works great as well. Very comfortable to wear, headband is adjustable and has padding on the top.

Having used these headphones for a number of months now I can happily say the quality of the audio is excellent. I purchased them as an alternative to Bose in-ear headphones which were causing me issue. The quality is fantastic and they do a good job of blocking out external noises.I haven't tried them for telephone calls so I can't vouch for the quality of the microphones, but if they are anything like the speakers they will be perfect.

Received and thought it was only for use on my computer...ready to return as that was not the intended purpose. A techie friend came over and helped me out...no instructions for use with a phone. Now.....love it and use it daily on my walks which is why I ordered it!!!

These headphones have too much bass. The sound is not natural at all but very booming in nature. Perhaps only for hardcore bass lovers.

Très abordable et fonctionne très bien avec dragon .