FINAL COLUMN

‘toothing Never Felt So Good: Jabra BT620s

I was actually eyeing these before I bought any of my previously mentioned bluetooth headphones.  If you’re up to date with bluetooth headsets, then Jabra’s no stranger to you.  They make affordable products which are known to be reliable.  But my buddy at the Nokia Daily News disliked these headphones so much, he was kind enough to donate these to my cause.  

Connecting this device with my iProducts was just as painless as the Philips SHB6100.  The range of the headset was ridiculously far, and ridiculously strong.  You could be in another room with a wall between you and the source, and the connection would remain solid.  This was extremely impressive.

Unlike the Philips, the Jabra uses a standard micro-USB connection for charging.  If you lose your charger, grab the nearest USB cable and you’re set.

They’re a bit on the big side…the extremely big side.  Some would agree that it produces a Princess Leia effect when worn.  But if you’re using these in the privacy of your home, who gives a shit?  Another thing that sucks is that the big buttons on both sides are so sensitive they can be accidentally pressed.  So be careful when you’re combing your hands through your long lovely hair.  Lastly, like many behind-the-neck headphones, your ears will feel like they’re being torn off after prolonged use.

I know I’ve complained about blue flashing lights.  Fortunately for these headphones, there’s actually a feature to turn its lights off during use.  My question:  why aren’t more manufacturers implementing this feature?

These lovely buns can be your’s for about $40.

Tags: a2dp, bluetooth, iPhone, ipod, jabra, philips

‘toothing Never Felt So Good: Philips SHB6100

One of my favorite things to do during my commute is to shut off contact with the rest of the world by listening to music on my iPod.  About two weeks ago, my favorite Sony headphones (MDR-AS30G) finally crapped out on me.  I decided to browse for new wired headphones with built-in controls, something like these new ones Griffin is putting together.  But then I came to a realization, as if I hadn’t noticed it already, that I hate wires.  I hate all kinds of wires, maybe except for monkeys on a wire.

So I remembered that I did a post on that Bluetooth donglemajig for the iPod.  It was time to up the stakes and live on the edge via the power of bluetooth.  Why am I not using those Insignia NS-BTHDP headphones I got?  Well, the one thing I hate about most bluetooth headphones can be best described here.  Most of all, you’re just asking to get laughed at, or your ass kicked, with the word “Insignia” blinking constantly at the person sitting next to you on the bus.  Luckily I scoped out a Philips SHB6100.

There are two drawbacks to theses headphones, the first of which has to do with it’s wireless range.  About twenty feet from my iPod, the signal will start breaking up.  The actual the effective range stated in the manual is about thirty-three feet; shitty compared to the Insignia, which has a reach of about forty feet.  Regardless if you’re leaving your player in one spot while cleaning your house or carrying it on you while outdoors, range is still a significant factor in picking out wireless devices.

The second drawback to these headphones is its use of a proprietary cable to charge the device.  I haven’t figured out how much it’ll cost to replace the charging cable, but I wish it used the standard these days:  micro-USB.

Connecting the Philips to two devices simultaneously was not a problem.  I’ve tested it with my iPod and my iPhone and it works perfectly.  However, it’s much easier to connect the headphones to the iPhone first.  Music will pause when making calls (incoming or outgoing), and will continue when you hang up.  One of the best features is the discreet green LED indicator, so there’s no annoying bright blue flash blinding your fellow commuters when the subway goes under a tunnel.

I’m in no way an audiophile.  My standards for sound quality is pretty much like the average listener.  If it sounds good enough, it’s good enough.  After testing out the Philips, I realize that it performs significantly better than the Insignia.  The earpieces are soft and thin, which makes these bad boys pretty damn comfortbale.  The Philips may help if you wear (sun)glasses and always find it painful to wear headsets.

It’ll set you back about $44.

Up next: Jabra BT620s

Tags: a2dp, bluetooth, headphones, insignia, iPhone, ipod, ipod classic, philips

The Bluez, Pt. 2: Audio

As previously mentioned, I’ve connect a set of bluetooth headphones to my computer.  Specifically, they’re Insignia NS-BTHDP.  Note that Insignia is a private label of Best Buy, much like Costco’s Kirkland Signature or Target’s Archer Farms.  These will set you back about $50.  If you’ve been doing your research on bluetooth headphones, you’ll know that you can’t expect a world of performance at this price.

Click image for ubervision.

Linux:

• Works on Banshee and Rhythmbox using the instructions from the FOSSwire article in Part 1.

Mobile Devices:

• Despite this article being about bluetooth headphones, this device can actually serve as a headset.  So you can hook it up to your phone, listen to music, and make calls without ever having to switch anything around…right?  I gave it a try with my Blackberry Pearl have found that music does not connect through the headphones, but calls can be made; possibly due to the fact that it’s not a walkman phone.
• I tested it on a second phone:  Sony Ericsson W580i.  Not only did it play music through the headphones, placing/receiving a calls worked without a problem.

Video Game Consoles:

• Connecting the headphones to the Playstation 3 was easy.  As for the chat quality…well, as soon as the PS3 becomes a multiplayer gaming platform that can live up to the Xbox 360, I’ll let you know.  My contact list on the PS3 consists of two people who seldom sign on.  It’s too bad my 360 doesn’t support bluetooth.
• Ah…and the Nintendo Wii.  There isn’t any official news pertaining to any bluetooth headset support.  In fact, there isn’t even a voice chat feature built in to that little box.  For die hard Wii fans who want to hear their opponents scream during Super Smash Brothers Wii will have to talk on cellphones while gaming, or settle for the WiiSpeak.

Digital Audio Players (DAPs):

• The Sony A820 was designed for bluetooth headphones.  In fact, it’s the easiest device to sync with.  The player itself has a dedicated button to activate bluetooth mode.  If you’ve already synced a headset to it, you’ll never need to do it again.  Just turn that bitch on.
• I have an iPod Classic.  I hate my iPod Classic.  It’s slow as hell, and the Cover Flow system needs a lot of work.  C’mon, Steve.  The iPhone isn’t the only thing that needs work.  Anyway, I picked up a Sony bluetooth adapter for it.  You wouldn’t believe the fuckin packaging.  Nonetheless it works just as well.  The connection is solid, and the sound quality might even be better than my standard wired headphones.

Click image for ubervision.

Click image for ubervision.

Bottom Line:  Syncing bluetooth devices can sometimes be a pain.  For some devices, it’ll take a few tries to sync the headphones.  But once it does, it works.

Tags: a2dp, banshee, blackberry pearl, bluetooth, inisignia, iPhone, ipod, ipod classic, ns-bthdp, playstation 3, ps3, rhythmbox, sony ericsson w580i

The Bluez, Pt. 1: Connectivity

For the past few weeks I’ve been watching a lot of movies and television shows on my computer.  And if I wanted to watch with headphones I’d feel chained to the computer, without any freedom to move about while continuing to listen.

So I’m chillin at home and I’m staring at these bluetooth headphones that I bought for the ladyfriend’s new Sony NWZ-A829BLK.  Strangely enough the thought never occurred to me to connect them to my computer

Linux users like me will know that while support for bluetooth on Linux has been out for quite a while, it’s a bit buggy and tricky as shit…as shit.  So I take a deep breath, read a few positive reviews about the D-Link DBT-120 on Linux, and whip out the plastic.

It arrived via UPS yesterday and I spent all night working on it.  I’m running a “WinBlowz” XP and Ubuntu Gutsy dual-boot, so I tried the device on XP first.  Obviously, any idiot can pop in the installation CD and click away from there.  The utility that came with it worked on the fly not only with headphones, but also allowed file transfers with my Blackberry Pearl.

To get it working on Linux, I used two sources and a tiny bit of guesswork:

• Ubuntu Wiki article on the D-Link DBT-122 (It seemed to have worked for my DBT-120).
• FOSSwire (To get A2DP working).
  
  • UPDATE: FOSSwire notes that the above instructions are not supported in Ubuntu 8.10.  They have provided these instructions instead, which I have tested and confirmed to work on Ubuntu 8.10:  Better Bluetooth Audio.

Well it worked in Linux with limited results.  I’m able to send files from my computer to my phone.  The bluetooth headphones work, but only with gstreamer-based applications like Rhythmbox.  I’ll continue to tinker with it over time, but I’m positive that future updates of these libraries will improve connectivity.

D-Link DBT-120

UPDATE:  File transfers with the Blackberry Pearl work both ways in Linux!

Tags: a2dp, bluetooth, linux, netflix, rhythmbox, winblowz, windows xp