I disagree. I've pair my n900 without wlan on all the time and it works fine. I even pair up with my in dash stereo system streaming music and the sound quality is amazing. Yes, it does lag when a call comes in while streaming music through bluetooth but that is expect and especially the n900 is not yet stable. I've also done calls through my in dash stereo system and the sound is nice and clear, though there are some small amount of noise due to my stereo system settings but not as bad as robot voice as you describe.

The problem I have is that is periodically stalls causing my headset to go mental (the music slowly speeds up to "catch up" then slows down, kinda like a chewed up tape does).

That said, I have a cheap Jabra BT3030 knockoff (I mainly just wanted it as a remote with headphones plugged directly into the N900 for FLAC quality playback so couldn't rationalise full price) so its not "perfect", but it works a LOT better on my iPod Touch than on my N900, which is what makes me think its the N900 at fault especially reading that other people have various issues too.

As for the original N900 headset, I find it good quality and lots of bass. No need for bass boost/EQ but if I use any other headphones, including my Sennheiser DJ headphones, I have to pre-eq my music to have any appreciable bass.

Unfortunately I cannot stand the underwater feeling and that every little tap on the wire is directed straight into your ears at high volume, so I do not use it. What is the point of blocking out all outside noise if every little tap of the wire onto my coat sounds like someone is bashing my eardrums with a hammer? Its far more irritating that the traffic plus its insanely dangerous as they block out outside noises such as cars beeping to warn you that you are about to get run over.

Get a pair of klipsch image s4(i)
They totally trashes all included in-ear headsets ever made.
You wont regret it.

you will when they dont work with your N900. they were designed for the iphone, which has a different plug design for the mic. other people have reported the s4i's making a loud buzzing sound as soon as you plug them into the N900. i can confirm the same with other "universal" headsets that were designed to work with the iphone too.

EDIT: apologies if that sounded snide. im just getting a little frustrated with all the contradicting information on this site in the few threads about headsets for the N900. i saw that you posed in another thread that you tried them and had no problems? yet someone else posted the opposite results. its my understanding that this is a hardware issue, so working for some and not the other doesn't seem to make much sense. i would love to get something like the s4i's or some UE's but i don't want to waste my money. i know my palm pre headset doesnt work on my N900 because its iphone style design.

Tried the earphones for the first time last night and boy, my voice was ten times louder than the person I was talking to.. And also the mic was extremely sensitive. I was nudging myself a little and accidentally touched the mic, which annoyed the hell out of the person.

Oh yes! CX-300 II ECO, at play.com for about £15, bargain price and ace headphones.

DONT BUY FROM "PLAYTRADE" OR "AMAZON MARKETPLACE".
They WILL be FAKE!

sorry for shouting, but i know !

Have to say I found the bundles earbuds bundled uncomfortable and pretty lacking in depth.

Plugged in a standard pair of buds from my Sansa Fuze and the sound improvement was immense.

OK. £18..... still cheeeeep

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...s/Product.html

white ones are £30??

old mk1 CX300's ....

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...s/Product.html

Weird :P

I used the ImageS4(i) on my prototype N900, mic worked ok but not possible to control volume due to as you pointed out, it´s sadly enough are aimed towards Iphone users >.<

Switched over to my Sennheiser IE8 and external amp (yes i know it might be a little over the top for most) when I got my retial version of the N900 due to the seriously flat treble straight out of the phone. /wishing for a nice EQ to be implemented soon.

Got to try the S4(i) on it and see how the mic works, maybe they changed something...

So maybe "my bad" for recommending the (i)

Personally I just pop out one of the plugs and talk "regular phone style" since I hate all in-box-headsets.

How about the BOOM BOOM you get when you bump the rubber cable and it transduces the vibrations to your sealed ear cavities! The headphones are useless for walking about with - anything less than lying perfectly still and the cables contribute immense noise.