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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
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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.
I really like this phone, everything about it is great for me EXCEPT the sound quality. Anything that has to do with the headphone jack is an absolute disaster.
First off I have not experienced the dreaded AUX problem but I have experienced random pausing and skipping - as if I was pressing music controls on my headset - both in my car and on my headphones. I think a headphone jack is starting to wear?
Next I have experienced terrible distortion and static in the left channel, that was until I rooted and Installed Viper4Android. While the problem didn't go away entirely its much better than stock.
Im using my g3 with 3 or 4 devices....
My Acura's line in with Subs/Amps ect.
Shure SE846 In ear monitors
Fiio e6 amp (with the shures, sometimes helps sound quality)
Bluetooth to my Bose Soundlink
The flaws of the g3's sound output are noticeable on any of these, even the bluetooth soundlink and ESPECIALLY, on the SE846 direct.
I created this thread because I dont know what to do, its apparent I am an audiophile and care about my sound quality and youd think Id invest in some sort of MP3 player (I do have a Clip+ ) but I really enjoy using spotify. Should I buy a DAC and just avoid the g3s sound card all together or call and fight with LG and see what they can do?
Is anyone else having these problems? I have the Verizon Device.
I use Westone's connected through a Sony SB52. I haven't noticed any issue except that I like Sony's Walkman app better on my Xperia than LG's player.
I'm fairly picky about music quality and I haven't noticed any issues at all with my HD419s (the only headphones I have right now). Audio quality through aptx bluetooth directly to a car amp and polk component speakers is as good as one would expect too. No skipping or pausing with LG's app. Is that happening when your screen is on? Try turning it off, maybe it's a screen issue? Or maybe it's a glitch with the app you are using? The only problem I had with it was how quiet it was with headphones but the fix with root worked well.
There are several threads about the strange hissing sound - which I also got myself. LG has told me that they're working on fixing it and that it's a known flaw in the current ROMs.
I just got mine and I think this is the best sounding phone I have ever heard. Of course my expectations were very low after my experience with Apple and Samsung.
This opinion is coming from a very jaded HiFi gearhead so your mileage may vary.
The problem I'm facing..
There is noise+distortion+hissing during call
And when headphones are connected I cant understand or listen any thing I only hear wired noises..
Any fix guys ?
Dont know if its technical or software based issue
The sound quality has been noticeably bad for me using headphones also, bluetooth isn't too much of a problem and works fine.
I just got my headphone jack replaced free from LG (as it was doing the random skipping thing) - I quoted that it was a known problem (i mean look on XDA for all the threads) and as my phone was under warranty, i flashed stock firmware and sent it back - when i got it back in 48 hours it was replaced and working. They even cleaned the screen for me lol.
I don't use a headset, only headphones, and the quality is most noticeable on my sennheiser hd800s, but also on my beyerdynamic headphones. Install Viper audio and it improves slightly.
I got mine replaced today as well.
New phone bingo !!
i feel like when you put on your headphones the sound is just too low.
anyone experiencing this, or is it just me?
I'm using it more on a speaker but it's definitely not as loud as my nexus 6 was
On my Sennheiser MM550X bluetooth headphones I do think I have the volume cranked a couple clicks higher than with my old Galaxy S3. I'm also getting that annoying noise when the G4 is connected to my desk audio system via 1/8" stereo jack. When no audio is playing it bugs me enough I dug my Motorola bluetooth receiver out and am using that instead of the cable at work.
No problems at all.
None. I use Xiaomi Piston 3 in-ears and Sony Bluetooth Xtra Bass 950's over-ears and they both sound fine.
I'm having trouble with BT streaming on my G4 using a HOMESPOT NFC BT receiver and the Google Play music app. No issues with my G3 though. Highs are very distorted, it's almost like BT streaming gain is set very high. Lowering BT audio makes no difference. I tested with other music apps and same issue. I can't find any settings within the device menu options that could correct this. The BT/NFC receiver works fine with other devices so pretty sure it's the G4. Not sure if it's a hardware issue or OS related. Any suggestions?
sound is not nearly as loud over earphones as it was on my Z1
1. No problem with my headphones when I'm hear music. (volume).
2. When i hear radio- big problem - the volume is very very low.
3. The songs not played good. There is lagging sometimes for 1 second . Maybe because i played them from sd card. Very annoying.
No problems with playing music on mine. For some reason it seems to sound just as good through the speaker as my m8 did
Thanks for all the reply guys . Maybe it could just be that i'm using iPhone headphones? which sucks since this is the only phone i've ever gotten that doesn't include headphones when i first brought this phone
Sound seems a bit less crisp than it did on my M8 when connected by BT to headphones or car audio. Also with my mpow BT headphones the first 10 seconds after connecting any music played stutters a lot before settling down. Never had that issue on the M8.
Sent from my VS986 using xda premium
Using iphone garbage might just be ur issue. I use my bose and wired or Bluetooth I get no issues. My lg tones have no issues. Will test my other gym ones tomorrow
Hey there, was waiting for someone else to have that particular problem - almost thought I was the only one...
Is it possible that you are connected to a Pebble or similar smartwatch? Uninstalling the pebble app solved the problem for me, as silly as it sounds^^
The issue also occured with a GS6 btw., (Pebble app installed and connected to the watch)...
I tested several headphones and speakers and found something weired:
Teufel Aureol headphones: Crystal clear sound, no problems
LG G4 Stock In-Ear headphones: Works like a charm
Beats Studio: Bass is a bit to heavy, volume doesn't get as high as on the Teufel or LG G4 stock.
Atomic Darts In Ear: Same as the Beats one
Beats urbeats: Better than the big Beats, but worse than Sennheiser or Teufel
Sennheiser HD 700: Crystal clear sound, FLACs sound like they should, MP3s a bit cracky, but well, compression.
JBL Pulse BT speaker: Extrem volume, beats the **** out of a room.
Creative D200 BT speaker: Bass too heavy, cracking sounds
Bose SoundLink III BT speaker: Sometimes clear sound, sometimes cracky. MP3s worser than FLACs, who thought of this?
Bose SoundLink mini BT speaker: Extreme volume, crystalclear sound. Can't decide if the JBL is better or not, but the SL mini seems slightly better.
I think it depends on the quality and the setting of your headphones/speakers what happens there, since the G4 has a good quality so far when it comes to sound (Integrated speakers do not count.)
I listen to music on mine with PlayerPro and the full band EQ.
Using this combination I really find no difference between the G4, Note Edge, and Galaxy Tab 4.....It might just be me or the fact that the N6 is a beast of an audio device, but that seems to be where people notice the biggest (or only major) difference as far as music goes.
The sound on my device is also very low compared to G3, especially while using Radio FM, any idea?
Anyone tried viper4android?
It did miracles on my ex S6
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Free mobile app
Hi there,
Has anyone tried the Oneplus 3 with a bluetooth headset? How is the audio quality? I haven't used bluetooth in a very long time and my last experience was one of very poor quality.
Because I travel frequently I'm thinking about getting the Bose quietcontrol 30 when it launches next month but before spending almost as much on headphones as I did on the phone I'd like to know if sound quality is good.
I'm no audiophile, my music is mostly 320kbps and I think my 20 euro sennheiser earplugs produce decent enough sound quality. Obviously I'm using them mostly outside and on the road so with all the environment noise sound quality is going to suffer anyway.
As far as I could find the Oneplus 3 doesn't support Aptx so I think we are stuck with A2DP? That seems to max out a little above 320kpbs.
Bluetooth is pretty good. Better reception than my HTC 10. While in my pocket the HTC 10 tends to stutter from signal issues just from walking. Nexus 5x also had this problem as well. Opo3 does not have this problem.
george241312 said:
Bluetooth is pretty good. Better reception than my HTC 10. While in my pocket the HTC 10 tends to stutter from signal issues just from walking. Nexus 5x also had this problem as well. Opo3 does not have this problem.
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Thanks.
How is the sound quality? Same as the 3.5mm jack?
3.5mm is better quality but that's probably because when I use it it's with my vmoda m100. In terms of sound quality compared to HTC 10 and s7 edge it's the same quality but HTC is extremely loud. It's controlled by snapdragon 820 so it's the same across all devices. Haven't had any noticeable audio problems.
Thanks George.
So bluetooth audio sounds fine just not as great as what you might get with a good wired headphone. That should be good enough for me. Just wanted to make sure it's not like a pair of 20 euro wired headphones will get you better audio quality because the bluetooth audio quality is crappy.
Had my Note 8 Pro for a day and more than happy with the graphics, music quality and general performance. However, the Bluetooth call quality is pretty much unusable. Tried a couple of ear buds including Sony, BOSE and Jlabs. That bad that I disconnect and use either the phones speaker or some old wired headphones.
Anyone else had this and if so how did you fix?
Thanks....