From the dawn of modern music playing devices, users have made dual investments in their music listening equipment, besides the actual purchase of the player itself: they bought speakers and headphones, separately. GoStereo comes forth and solves this age-old tradition by putting out on the market its Tune In Tune Out Headphones. Despite their average overall quality, they have the unique feature of becoming speakers at the switch of a button. And they only cost $50.

It's a pity the manufacturer could only implement its speaker-headphone combo idea by making sacrifices in other areas of the product. For the headband, it has used a low-quality plastic material without padding (at least, it's adjustable) and quite likely to break after a short while if the user tends to force it a bit. But the headphones themselves are more than reasonably comfortable, thanks to the adequately soft earcups. There is only one cable, dangling from the right cup, and it looks pretty thick and solid.

The external speakers are positioned on the outside of both earcups. If you're wondering about the power supply (after all, there is only one cable, and it's got a 3.5 mm jack at the end of it), that's actually in the left earcup (a compartment for two AAA cells, which are not included). The volume controls and the power switch for the speakers are on the right earcup. When this power switch is off, the headphones are functional, when it's on, the headphones kick in.

According to CNET, the headphone sound is somewhat dimmer than normal and some of the more subtle acoustical details are lost in the case of really fast tracks, as well as most of the bass response. As for the headphones, they seem to make the sound a bit artificial and lifeless. Still, these are not major faults and they are to be expected from a two-in-one product at a pretty affordable price.

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