The deal with the jawbone 2 is very simple. Just like the Jawbone 1, there is a little rubber piece which sticks out from the bottom half of the headset. When that piece is touching your cheek, the headset will work wonderfully. When that piece is not touching your cheek, you will sound like you are standing 10 feet away from your phone. That is the point of the headset. So maybe when you guys were having issues it was because the headset was too loose on your ear and that piece kept moving away from your cheek. Bottom line is, I have a friend who bought the headset and for the first day it was horrible, but once he learned how to make sure it's always touching his cheek, the headset has been working fine.