All,
Does anybody have any fixes regarding the sound quality when using Bluetooth A2DP protocol? I use my Evo to mate with a Bluetooth receiver so I can listen to Rhapsody over my home stereo. The sound quality is flat. The high frequencies are not present. It sounds like a bad quality MP3. I know that its the A2DP causing the quality issue as directly connection (through 3.5 jack) is awsome.
The Apple 3GS A2DP sound quality was awsome. I am not sure why the Evo is not sounding good. Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Lance
Hi all,
I bought a pair of Plantronics Backbeat 903+ headphones yesterday.
Thought I'd put a quick review and warning for anyone that is thinking of using BT headphones for anything that is latency sensitive.
I will use them mainly for music. Probably rarely for phone calls unless I happen to be listening to music when I get a call.
Sound quality is quite good. They sound fuller and not as harsh as the stock headphones that came with the Note.
Better than I expected, but there is a lack of highs. It was very noticeable when compared to my cheap, corded, Philips SHL9500 foldable headphones that I usually travel with.
Had to nudge the highs up in the EQ of Power Amp to be able to hear the treble well.
Range is better than I expected too. I'm just in a small apartment, but I could walk all around the room and into the next room and around the corner (losing line of sight), with no noticeable difference in sound. This was further than the 10m range they claim.
I also put the phone in my jeans pocket and it continued to work fine. I'd read some reviews complaining that it needed line of sight or would drop out, but no such problems for me.
Battery life is awesome on these. They claim a full charge will last 7 hours. I used them for 3-4 hours last night.
When I turned them on this morning, they said they had 5 hours remaining. I probably wasn't listening constantly over the 3-4 hours last night as I was starting and stopping apps, so that is probably about right.
Also, when you turn them, a voice announces how many hours the battery has left which is handy since there is no visual indicators.
Comfort for me was very good. I had them on for almost 4 hours last night and didn't notice them most of the time. Although when I took them off, my ears were a little sore from the buds being in there, but with most in ear phones my ears get sore sooner than that and I notice it whilst they are still in there.
Note that the cord between each ear is quite short and only just reaches around my head. I can fit 2 fingers between the cord and my head, but only just, and I have a shaved head. I also tried on the Jabra Sports in the shop, but they didn't feel as comfortable to me, and also the cord was quite a bit longer and I thought it may get in the way or get caught on something when exercising. So best to try them on in a shop to check if they fit your head.
One thing I didn't realise about bluetooth headphones is that they introduce latency. It seems to be about 500ms.
You can test the latency by connecting the BT headphones and then changing your ring tone. When you audition different ring tones it will play them through both the phone speaker and the headphones, and you will hear the lag.
In addition to listening to MP3s, what I primarily wanted them for was for music apps and recording, so that I wouldn't have a cord getting in the way, or have to be restricted to the length of the cable.
It's not too big a deal with the multi track programs I use (Loopstack and Audio Evolution mainly, with FourTracksPro) as I can adjust the latency, but it means I have to change it depending on whether I'm using the BT headphones or not).
But for apps that require live input and monitoring (like drum, guitar, piano apps that you play and want to hear yourself playing live), the latency makes them not really useable.
I can still use these headphones to record guitars and vocals through the Note's microphone, but I just need to adjust the latency which is annoying.
Any music app that is program/sequence based like Caustic or Easyband, is not too much of a problem as you don't really notice the latency, apart from the fact that what you see on the screen is slightly out of sync with what you hear.
Also for games that require the audio to be in sync with the screen, the 500ms is not really useable (I have a game called Beats, which is a rhythm game and you need the screen and audio to be in sync).
For video, though using the stock video player, it is in sync, so there must be some latency compensation going on in the software which is good.
When I tried youtube, using the youtube app, it is out of sync at the start, but then it gets into sync, so there is some kind of buffering or compensation giong on there too.
So, if it's just listening to music or watching video is what you want them for, I thin they are really good.
If you want to use them for games or music apps that will be negatively impacted by the latency, then you are probably better off sticking with corded headphones.
I will probably end up carrying corded phones with me when I travel for the times when I don't want any latency.
But for walking around, exercising, just casual use, the Backbeat 903+ headphones are really good and am happy to be free from a cord for those situations.
Cheers,
Rich
good review...I was planning to pick one up.
richlum said:
Hi all,
I bought a pair of Plantronics Backbeat 903+ headphones yesterday.
Thought I'd put a quick review and warning for anyone that is thinking of using BT headphones for anything that is latency sensitive.
I will use them mainly for music. Probably rarely for phone calls unless I happen to be listening to music when I get a call.
Sound quality is quite good. They sound fuller and not as harsh as the stock headphones that came with the Note.
Better than I expected, but there is a lack of highs. It was very noticeable when compared to my cheap, corded, Philips SHL9500 foldable headphones that I usually travel with.
Had to nudge the highs up in the EQ of Power Amp to be able to hear the treble well.
Range is better than I expected too. I'm just in a small apartment, but I could walk all around the room and into the next room and around the corner (losing line of sight), with no noticeable difference in sound. This was further than the 10m range they claim.
I also put the phone in my jeans pocket and it continued to work fine. I'd read some reviews complaining that it needed line of sight or would drop out, but no such problems for me.
Battery life is awesome on these. They claim a full charge will last 7 hours. I used them for 3-4 hours last night.
When I turned them on this morning, they said they had 5 hours remaining. I probably wasn't listening constantly over the 3-4 hours last night as I was starting and stopping apps, so that is probably about right.
Also, when you turn them, a voice announces how many hours the battery has left which is handy since there is no visual indicators.
Comfort for me was very good. I had them on for almost 4 hours last night and didn't notice them most of the time. Although when I took them off, my ears were a little sore from the buds being in there, but with most in ear phones my ears get sore sooner than that and I notice it whilst they are still in there.
Note that the cord between each ear is quite short and only just reaches around my head. I can fit 2 fingers between the cord and my head, but only just, and I have a shaved head. I also tried on the Jabra Sports in the shop, but they didn't feel as comfortable to me, and also the cord was quite a bit longer and I thought it may get in the way or get caught on something when exercising. So best to try them on in a shop to check if they fit your head.
One thing I didn't realise about bluetooth headphones is that they introduce latency. It seems to be about 500ms.
You can test the latency by connecting the BT headphones and then changing your ring tone. When you audition different ring tones it will play them through both the phone speaker and the headphones, and you will hear the lag.
In addition to listening to MP3s, what I primarily wanted them for was for music apps and recording, so that I wouldn't have a cord getting in the way, or have to be restricted to the length of the cable.
It's not too big a deal with the multi track programs I use (Loopstack and Audio Evolution mainly, with FourTracksPro) as I can adjust the latency, but it means I have to change it depending on whether I'm using the BT headphones or not).
But for apps that require live input and monitoring (like drum, guitar, piano apps that you play and want to hear yourself playing live), the latency makes them not really useable.
I can still use these headphones to record guitars and vocals through the Note's microphone, but I just need to adjust the latency which is annoying.
Any music app that is program/sequence based like Caustic or Easyband, is not too much of a problem as you don't really notice the latency, apart from the fact that what you see on the screen is slightly out of sync with what you hear.
Also for games that require the audio to be in sync with the screen, the 500ms is not really useable (I have a game called Beats, which is a rhythm game and you need the screen and audio to be in sync).
For video, though using the stock video player, it is in sync, so there must be some latency compensation going on in the software which is good.
When I tried youtube, using the youtube app, it is out of sync at the start, but then it gets into sync, so there is some kind of buffering or compensation giong on there too.
So, if it's just listening to music or watching video is what you want them for, I thin they are really good.
If you want to use them for games or music apps that will be negatively impacted by the latency, then you are probably better off sticking with corded headphones.
I will probably end up carrying corded phones with me when I travel for the times when I don't want any latency.
But for walking around, exercising, just casual use, the Backbeat 903+ headphones are really good and am happy to be free from a cord for those situations.
Cheers,
Rich
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reviews. I am looking for ones to go to the gym.
I actually own the same model. Owned the previous model up until i wore it out. It's a perfect set of bt headphones to work out with and it's discreet when wearing it around. It fairs well functionality-wise; haven't had an issue with my note.
Thanks for the review.
I have just bought my Note2 and Plantronics 903+ and as i am a normal user (phone calls and music) it is really awesome.
But I have few issues with this and i need your confirmation
1) The Music forward and backward buttons doesn't change the music track? I have my corporate mail and hence have set up PIN lock in my phone. Is that dur to auto locking of phone with PIN or the Bluetooth buttons are not compatible with Samsung Note2?
2) While making calls outside, the noise cancellations is pretty good, but at times i hear some disturbing sound/noise in the call and i am pretty sure it is only through the Bluetooth i hear the noise.
The forward and back buttons work on my Note 2.
You have to hold them for a few seconds otherwise they just do volume up and down.
I'm using N7 player.
I notice that the headphones get A LOT of wind noise when outside. I notice it a lot when riding my bicycle. But, also when just walking.
I've since bought a pair of Jabra Halo 2 and use them most of the time now. They are more comfortable and sound better. Plus, I can connect them with a cord for zero latency.
I use the Plantronics if I'm going to be sweating a lot.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Nice review and good advice for all potential buyers. However, I feel a clarification about BT latency is in place. Not all bluetooth headsets introduce so much lag. I'm an avid Motorola S10 user and altough some delay is present, it's nowhere near the 500ms OP estimated for the Plantronics set. In fact, even rhytm games like Tapsonic are still playable on the S10, which leads me to believe the delay is more around the 50ms mark. Huge, half-second lag seems to be more a sign of bad implementation by the manufacturer than limitation of the bluetooth standard. Let's not forget that Playstation 3's joypad uses BT technology, but it's implemented so well that tests found it to be practically lagless down to less then a frame ([email protected]) compared to wired connections.
Is that low latency for media playback, or phone calls?
When you connect BT headphones to your phone (or PC) they make 2 connections. 1 for phone calls and 1 for media playback.
Both of my BT headphones have low latency for phone calls because they use a lot lower quality when in phone mode.
But both have high latency for media playback mode. (ie. Anything other than phone calls)
The amount of data required for the BT controllers is a lot less than that required for stereo audio.
Anyone else noticing hiss through the headphone jack when sound is played?
Steps to reproduce:
Use earphones
Get sound to play shortly or at low volume (a notification works fine)
I'm hearing a good amount of hiss through earphones (loudness depends on headphone sensitivity: much less audible on my stock ipod earphones, much more noticeable on my Shure IEMs)
ronandi said:
Anyone else noticing hiss through the headphone jack when sound is played?
Steps to reproduce:
Use earphones
Get sound to play shortly or at low volume (a notification works fine)
I'm hearing a good amount of hiss through earphones (loudness depends on headphone sensitivity: much less audible on my stock ipod earphones, much more noticeable on my Shure IEMs)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope...sitting here as I write this listening to music using Samsung Focus S buds. NO hiss at high or low volume.
I tried a koss headset this morning and my phone rebooted.....but no hiss.
I have also noticed the hiss whenever watching movies or listening to music. Depending on volume, it can be pretty strong sometimes.
Sent from my Lumia 900
alodar1 said:
I tried a koss headset this morning and my phone rebooted.....but no hiss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd reboot myself too, if you plugged Koss headphones into me...
Cuz you hava a good ear piece, lmao
Yup, my senn IE8s and Ety ER4p are both producing noticeable hiss at low volumes, sounds like the gain is way up and the line level is low.
There were some amazing KOSS headsets back in the day, especially known for their electrostats. I'd pick a KOSS ESP950 over a dr. dre beats, BOSE, HK, or whatever else is popular out there these days.
+1 on the Koss. I used to use Radio Shack Optimus - those were all Koss - and some of the best sound headphones under $50 I have ever owned.
I have Sennheiser CX300-II's and they are quiet compared to other headsets and bass response is sub-par (compared to what they sounded like in my iphone). My Klipsh Image One's sound awesome, but the mic/volume don't work (and the AHJ detects and then disables the phone's mics, so lots of features 'break' with it, trying a Fiio LU1 adapter in a few days). My rocket fish cheapos work the best, and sound the most 'normal' with good bass response, general sound - however they hiss - which is less noticeable at higher volume!
Hi, I have one of the first S4's sold by T-Mobile (recieved 5/2) and the audio quality randomly drops mid-song whenever I am listening to music through the headphone jack. Does anyone have any suggestions on why this would happen?
I have used multiple headphones and the random drop in quality is VERY noticeable to me as an audiophile.
Does it only happen with the stock music player?