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I occasionally have to work from home, and most of that work ends up involving long conference calls. I’ve taken to using VOIP for these calls, but until now I didn’t have a quality headset to use during such calls. I’d tried everything from speakerphone via my iMac‘s built-in audio to an iMic and old analog gaming headset, but nothing sounded good and was comfortable to wear for more than a few minutes.
Having used Plantronics headsets for years at work I decided to see what they offered for portable / computer use and came across the Blackwire C610, one of their enterprise products and purchased it from PROVANTAGE for just under $70 shipped.
Without loading any drivers or software this headset shows up as a standard mono USB audio device, and its inline volume and mute switch works independently of the computer. The mute button also beeps through the earpiece to indicate mute status, and illuminates a dim red when the mic is muted. The headset weights a bit less than the handset alternative headset that I’d used at work for the last nine years and comes with the typical cord clip. There is also a two ear version (the Blackwire C620) for those who don’t like one-ear headsets.
The headset comes with both foam and leatherette ear piece covers, and the sound quality is outstanding. In tests calling friends and on conference calls I’ve received no complaints about quality, and when specifically asked I’ve been told that it sounds better than any mobile phone I’ve used recently. (This probably also has a fair bit to do with the PCM codec used by my VOIP provider.)