133 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
Freeing superior sound from wires
These headphones do provide vastly superior sound quality to any of the other bluetooth headphones I've tried. This is understandable as there is almost a $100 difference between these and any other headset I've tried..
But that difference in price was more than worth it as I no longer feel as though I'm compromising sound quality and comfort.
Pros:
- I...
This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
These headphones do provide vastly superior sound quality to any of the other bluetooth headphones I've tried. This is understandable as there is almost a $100 difference between these and any other headset I've tried..
But that difference in price was more than worth it as I no longer feel as though I'm compromising sound quality and comfort.
Pros:
- I use them 7+ hours a day with little to no ear fatigue.
- Very clean sound with responsive bass. I listen mostly to electronic music with lots of bass and these do not leave me wanting. The difference between these and other headsets I've tried (some even wired) is huge.
- The battery easily lasts an entire work day without need for recharge. (the manual says the batteries will last ~17 hours of continual use and I don't doubt it)
- Replaceable battery! I haven't seen this in many bluetooth headsets. Although it is not designed such that the battery can be easily replaced, there are instructions in the manual should replacement become necessary.
- Pair with up to 8 bluetooth devices. Most headsets stop at 2 or 3.
- Easy to use controls. The control buttons are easily told apart by touch. (there's even a music folder navigation button for devices that support it)
- Effective PASSIVE noise cancellation. as in they're muffs. they just block out outside sound and block it well.
- Built-in mic of decent quality for voice calls.
- Works perfectly with my Samsung SPH-M620 (UpStage) cell phone.
though any cell phone with the A2DP and AVRCP bluetooth profiles should work fine.
Note to Mac users: OSX 10.4 does not natively support the A2DP bluetooth profile (though there is a hack to get it working) but 10.5 (Leopard) will, so you should be able to pair these to a mac running 10.5
I think Windows Vista does have built-in A2DP support. As long as your PC supports bluetooth, these should pair up just fine.
Cons:
- susceptible to interference from other electronic devices that operate in the 2.4Ghz wireless spectrum. (wireless internet, some wireless phones, and other bluetooth devices). Of course, no bluetooth headset is immune to this. There is no loss in sound quality, they may just cut out if interference is extreme.
- the fast forward/rewind switch is perhaps just a tad to easy to accidentally hit while going for the volume control.
- I'm getting a permanent groove in my hairdo.
If you're willing to drop a little extra, I believe these headphones will more than make up the difference.
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
I recently purchased a blue-tooth compatible pda phone. I know I had to immerse myself in the unit in order to fully use it. I ordered two headsets to use with my new phone, a Jawbone, and the Sony DRBT50's.
While the jawbone is probably one of the best of noise cancelling headsets out there, there's still occasional static and drop outs. I didn't really believe that A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) could really pass two channels of music to a pair of headsets without dropout and static.
I charged the units till the lights indicated full charge (about 2 hours) just like you have to do with any electronic before you play with it. The pairing was easy, exactly like every other blue-tooth pairing you've ever done. Next I put the headphone's on my head.
Let me tell you that while these units are comparatively large, they fold nicely and yet have some of the nicest and softest feeling padding around the cans I've ever felt. More like high end audiophile headphones then the usual blue tooth level consumer stuff. Adjust the fit, (stiff sliding shafts just like traditional headphones) and they felt comfortable enough to wear for hours.
I like the travel-ability of my Shure and Etymotic earbuds, they also sound great. I was often intrigued by the Bose (active) noise cancelling headphones but put off by the price and the generally flat reviews from serious music folks.
Next, I opened media player and hit play on one of my favorite songs. The sound was beautiful. Crisp highs, deep lows, and crystal clear. I ran through about 2 hours of music and couldn't find a song that wasn't truly impressive on these cans. I totally forgot about static and dropout, I never heard it once.
Finally, when getting ready for bed, I gave them a quick distance test. I set the player on my kitchen counter and walked about 20 feet to let the dogs out. Crystal clear all the way. I even stepped outside the door and the music played on. I had to walk an additional 8-10 feet outside before I got the music to start breaking up.
The DRBT50 controls are a bit hard to use until you get used to them. Next, back, volume up and down are the primary music controls. There's also a nice big button for use as a blue-tooth headset while on the phone. A small omnidirectional mice built nearly invisibly into the right can serves as a mic. While the phone call I placed with them was crystal clear, I felt that in loud conditions there might be quite a bit of noise for ht e person at the other end of the line to deal with.
If I lived in a place with a train commute, I'd get a blue-tooth 2 device and these cans. I've logged hundreds of thousands of miles with my ear buds, but my next trip, they'll stay home and these relatively compact (put your two fists together for a size approximation) yet beautiful sounding headphones will be with me.
I would recommend these unites to anybody. Most impressive wireless tech I've seen yet.
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
I've owned three sets of bluetooth stereo headsets, the sony DRBT50 is by far the best. The other two, Motorola S9 and S805, aren't even in the same league.
1. Comfort. DRBT50 great, soft padding and angled ear cups, smaller than the S805. S805 ok, the padding gets hot but the controls are good. S9 terrible and not adjustable, bad buttons, hard to put on.
2. Sound quality. The DRBT50 are incredible, the other two are really bad. Make sure you have the right drivers and settings. For my T-mobile Dash I had to modify the registry to get the best sound quality. See:
http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=2004&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
3. No problems with wireless connectivity or range with any of the headphones. I've tried 3 different BT adaptors with my Sonys and no problems. One note: the toshiba BT stack sounds better but A2DP is nessed up, call and skip buttons don't work and i can't connect the head phones and the headset up at the same time, if I use the headset then the sound is bad, if I use the headphone then the mic doesn't work. The broadcom stack seems to work properly but the sound is not good. I'm still working out the kinks. The stack on my windows mobile 6 phone work great after the registry mod, functions properly and sounds awesome.
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
I got these headphones today and was surprised at how light they were.
Charged them fully in under 2 hours.
Held down the power button for 2 blinking lights, paired them with my Katana II (Sanyo 6650) and my XPS M1330.
Dialed my mom and she said she felt like she was on speaker, but no serious issues.
I didn't like the fact that the headphones were muting my own voice because they go around the ear...so I couldn't be too sure if she heard me well because I could barely hear my self.
The initial feeling of headphones on my ears were painful...but I just extended the reach...and that put less stress on my ears, ended up comfy enough.
Then I powered up my laptop and started watching a video clip.
The sound quality, I have to admit, is very good.
The problem is, the latency is a huge issue. Words do not match the lip movement. I have tried several clips and it's there...everywhere.
Couple of times the connection would break off for a second or two.
I got these headphones to watch movies on the laptop and listen to music, movies are unacceptable so these are going back.
I hope this review helps.
P.S. I don't foresee any issues with music playing (there are no lips to read)
P.P.S. The buttons are awkward, especially for volume. One has a small edged out dot, like on keyboards to increase volume, the decrease volume is plain smooth, hard to guess just by touch...
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
This headphone is the first bluetooth device that convinced me that bluetooth can be truly useful. Wireless keyboard and mice did not really change the way I use the keyboard and mouse, except they increased frustration. This headphone did change the way I use headphones at home, office, coffeehouses and elsewhere. I have many headphones, including Bose Quiet Comfort, Sennheiser HD-280 Pro, a few more circumaural and a couple of canal type earphones. I do appreciate the advantage of each product I bought, but this headphone is the one that I use the most often, and the one I take with me in my bag the most often.
If you are looking for a headphone with good sound quality but also with the convenience of wireless connection, this headphone is probably the best available product at this point. The sound conveys sensitive details as well as dynamic bass and rich vocals. It tends to be a bit bass heavy depending on the source, but, it is so without any of the cheapness. The sound is pretty close to neutral, natural, and not too dissimilar to Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphone or Sony MDR-V6 Monitor Series Headphones with CCAW Voice Coil. I usually listen to music encoded in AAC or MP3 at 192 kbps VBR or higher, but for these sources, I can use this headphone without noticing "degradation" compared to wired headphones. (This headphone is good enough to tell if the source file is 128 kbps or 192kbps with fairly high confidence.)
The wireless connection via bluetooth is pretty reliable as long as you are not too far and also there is no wall in between. The actual range seems to vary depending on the host device. However, there are some very occasional sound drops. The sound may drop or become choppy for a brief while but it comes back. It gives you blank silence without unpleasant noise.
The background noise level is pretty good. I can enjoy very quiet piano like Chopin Nocturne or Satie in good digital recording. The noise floor is certainly low enough to tell analog recording sources immediately.
The headphone is easy to use, but you probably need to open the booklet to see how to pair it with the device (push the power button for 7 seconds or longer). The pairing and setup with MacOS Leopard was very easy, and just as easy with Snow Leopard. It also works great with iPad and iPod Touch's built-in bluetooth, and also with iPod 5th gen with an external bluetooth adaptor Sony Bluetooth Wireless Transmitter for iPod (Black). Well, for that matter, I haven't seen a device with which this headphone doesn't work well.
This headphone frees me up. I can listen to music or podcast late at night and still clean up my room, fold laundry, lay on couch and read magazines, etc. Wired headphones, no matter how long the cord is, annoyed me enough to keep me at the desk. This is great for home, office and many other situations. I work in a photographic darkroom, where I have to walk around in a small, dark room with monotonous labor and lots of thinking in between. Music and podcast are essential material, but loudspeakers don't work very well because I walk around all the time, and there are noise sources like ventilation fans, an air conditioner, and running water. This headphone is great for darkroom work. I tried to put an iPod in my pocket and use wired earbuds but they were terrible. This headphone uses a head band that's tight enough for the headphone not to slide down while walking or light labor.
Another nice thing about this headphone is when working with a laptop computer in a library or a coffeehouse. The headphone cable between my head and the laptop is not a big deal but surprisingly annoying. Also, when the computer operates without a wire, it is so nice to use a headphone without a wire.
The strength of this headphone is the sound quality and convenience; the "headset" function should be laughed at once and forgotten. I wouldn't use this thing for telephony. It is inferior to some other headsets designed for that purpose alone. This is because the microphone is located inside the right earcup, not close to the mouth. Also, the bluetooth connection has to operate in different modes between "headphone" (high quality stereo sound but with longer latency) and "headset" (low quality sound but shorter latency) mode. For this reason, when you pair this device with a computer for "headphone" use, I recommend to ignore the headset use and pair the device just for the "headphone" function alone, if possible. This simplifies and reduces the confusion every time you use this headphone on the computer. Otherwise, when you choose the output audio device, the options for headset use keep coming up and this can be confusing and annoying.
I also have several critical comments.
The headphone has controls for fast forward, rewind, folder/playlist, volume and power. In my view, the most important control is pause, but this is not easy to use without inadvertently touching other functions. The usability engineering is also not there--these control buttons are small and located very nearby, and they are very easy to hit by error. Ideally, volume, pause/play, ff/rew and folder controls should be located on different sides of the headphone so that blind operation can be done error-free.
The shape of the ear cups is too narrow oval and pinnae are pressed a bit. Bose Quiet Comfort is a bit more comfortable for long hours of use... (only if Bose QC 2 were wireless...) However, the Bose has annoying bass boost (both the music and the wire/case microphonic noise) that makes me tired acoustically. DR-BT50 does not have that.
The charger is a proprietary one that comes with the headphone. Why not mini USB? Also, why doesn't the headphone function while the charger is plugged in? The headphone is completely turned off, not even in the standby mode, while the charger is plugged in. You'll have to turn it on and establish the connection with the device again when you take the charger off.
The headset functionality (with the microphone, but with a lower audio quality mode of the bluetooth connection) is probably a useless marketing gimmick. If I were to use this as a headset, I would need an external microphone that plugs into this headset. The internal microphone does a very lousy job.
I want this headphone with a better noise isolation, like Sennheiser HD-280 Pro. This headphone blocks external sound just a bit, but not as well as HD-280. This headphone would be a lot more useful with either passive or even active noise cancellation, especially when using in subways/trains/busses, kitchen, and noisy offices.
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
I haven't owned this product for very long yet but I'm glad I ponied up and paid a few extra dollar for my Bluetooth headset.
I've tried a couple stereo Bluetooth products. I don't use hands free sets with cell phones. I don't have a phone that plays music. I've never used the mic with these headphones because as far as I can tell, it's a small miracle of compression that Bluetooth can do high quality stereo at all. There just isn't enough bandwidth to do high quality stereo AND use the mic so that aspect of the product has no use to me. I just use this product with my XPS M1710 laptop.
THE GOOD
It's rugged. It comes with a leather carrying bag but I don't really feel like I need to use it. As long as you're not carrying the headphones next to abrasive surfaces that might scuff them, you should be good to go.
I also like how it folds up. Takes up a lot less space in my laptop bag than similar Bluetooth 'DJ style' headphones.
I've had significant problems with Windows XP and keeping my headphones paired in the past with other products. I'd constantly have to re-pair them and it was quite a hassle. It might be due to the fact that this is my first pair of Bluetooth 2.0 headphones but I tried to reproduce my past problems with these headphones but I couldn't. Short of unpairing it, no matter what I did, I could just click on 'connect' from my PC and the audio started streaming through.
They sound good too. I wouldn't recommend any Bluetooth headphones to really finicky audiophiles because it's just not technologically possible for them to measure up to high quality wired phones. But, for what they are, they sound real solid. At really high volumes, as others have said, the highs start to get a little muddled. But those were volumes that I really wasn't comfortable listening to anyway. I enjoy hearing my music. Not hurting my ears.
I haven't had a good chance to run the batteries from full to empty yet but the listed play time of 17 hours is impressive. It matches or surpasses anything currently on the market.
THE BAD
The buttons are small. It's not impossible to use them. But it takes a little practice. If you have sausage fingers, you might have some trouble.
There's no USB port! Which means that you can't charge them from a powered USB port either and are forced to use the AC adapter. This is fairly disappointing but it's a sacrifice I'd gladly make if having it would result in a lower quality product.
It's a bit tight on my ears. Maybe I have a melon head but they're a little uncomfortable right now. But that's true of most new headphones for me. It's like a new pair of shoes. Gotta break them in. I expect this is no exception.
They're a bit spendy as far as products like this go. You can easily find stereo Bluetooth headphones for 1/3 of the price Amazon is selling these for. And Amazon is cheap compared to most other places.
Every hour or two, the audio cuts out for about a second. But this is true with every set of Bluetooth headphones I've owned. And, from my reading, I believe this is a problem with the Bluetooth protocol. Not this product.
CONCLUSION
I actually wanted to rate this product 4.5/5 but I couldn't and I like them enough to give them the full 5. They're not perfect and are a bit of a hit in the pocket as far as headphones go. But if you're like me and just want high quality wireless headphones to use with your laptop and are tired of wading through the vast sea of products geared towards cell phone users, pick these up. I've owned 3 Bluetooth headphones and have probably researched about 50 and these are the best available.
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
I have received my DR-BT50 a couple of hours ago and here are my first impressions:
1- Paired seamlessly with my MacBook Pro running Windows XP with an Anycom USB-250 dongle; and with my BlackBerry 8320 Curve.
2- Sound quality is great, listening to songs in stereo.
3- As soon as I paired it to my Curve, a friend called overseas and I had to take the call in a hurry while I had the headset on! I heard her quite well and she understood me without any problems (I did not have a chance to ask about the quality of how I sounded...).
4- The controls on the phone (STOP; PAUSE; RW; FW) worked just fine for both the laptop running iTunes, and the Curve.
5- Everything about the headset oozes high quality and comfort.
I will leave an update if my impressions change, but so far so good. I could not find any first-hand review of DR-BT50 by a Curve owner, that's why I wanted to post this ASAP. Happy New Year's to everyone!
1/1/08 Addenda:
1- Putting the phone into its holster while listening to music does not cause any interruption;
2- You cannot listen to your videos--only your "music". This must be related to the a2dp protocol or something, rather than the headset itself...
1/10/08 Addendum:
1- I wanted to correct the 2nd point above. I can listen to videos playing on the computer. I cannot listen to videos playing on my Curve.
1/1/09 Addendum:
I was not able to use this great headset with my iMac G5. Well, summoning all the courage there is, I have (finally) upgraded from Tiger to Leopard two days ago. I am very satisfied with the Leopard 10.5.6, and the biggest bonus is to be able to listen to iTunes using my DR-BT50, since Leopard has a2dp support for bluetooth stereo headsets. After one year, I am still enjoying the headset as I did the first day!
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
I had an ear bud Motorola S9 which seemed to work well but it would always cut out when turning my head a certain way, even if my player (a Palm Treo 680) was in my shirt pocket. And the sound was on the tinny side. The battery life on the Motorola also left much to be desired.
The Sony DRBT50 beats the Motorola S9 ON ALL COUNTS, mentioned above. The audio cut outs are more than 90% reduced in frequency and duration. The sound is of the high quality headphone, instead of earplug headset, experience. The battery life is better by many fold. In fact I have not been able to drain the battery yet. I use the Sony for my commute (no not driving a car!) I take the train and bus public transport systems.
Finally, the Sony DRBT50 is just so much more comfortable to wear even after a couple of hours.
The only real drawback is "Headset Hair" but it's worth it to have my tunes.
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
The Good News:
1) They will pair with a Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Mac as an A2DP device, meaning you can listen to your computer's audio in high quality mode, almost like wired headphones.
2) Comfortable. Full over-ear sized cans. For me, not quite as large or comfy as Bose QC2, but more comfortable than the popular Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7. Very adjustable, nice padded head band.
3) Long battery life. Over 10 hours so far on the initial charge.
4) Nice build quality.
The Bad News:
1) Occasional bad static or crackle, especially on high notes. This can usually be fixed by stopping and restarting the music on the Mac. Still, occasional static, not unlike listening to the radio in a car. Don't know if the Mac A2DP implementation is to blame, or these headphones, but there will be static.
2) Arcane pairing process, but you just have to do that once.
3) Daily hassles with power-on sequence and reestablishing the bluetooth connection. It's NOT just grab and go like a bluetooth mouse or keyboard. Typical Sony rough usability.
4) TINY indistinguishable buttons for volume, track control, etc. Crazy two-color LED semaphore system for status, with full decoding table in the manual. Again with the screwy Sony usability.
5) Will not pair with your iPhone as a LISTENING (A2DP) device.
Unknown:
1) Don't know if they can be used for iChat or Skype, but the Bluetooth menu does offer to pair as a "headset" rather than as "headphones"
2) Haven't tried them as an ordinary phone headset (HFP/HSP) on the iPhone.
Summary:
Achieves the neat trick of good quality cordless music from a Mac with some drawbacks.
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This review is from: Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (Electronics)
Sony has done it again by combining perfect design and perfect audio quality. I bought these for my boyfriend (along with the Sony iPod transmitter) based on reviews here noting the superior sound quality. Neither of us use our phones for music, so did not mind that these are primarily designed for music, not talking (hence the super-convenient Sony iPod transmitter - more on that later...). I like to think of myself as the audiophile, so when he was blown away upon first listen, I had to check to see if it was as good as he claimed - and it was! The enclosed design of the earpieces make for a spacious, room-like sound versus ear-bud type sound, the bass is very good and seems to adjust naturally to the type of music being played; i.e., dance and pop have a deep, crisp "wired headphone" sound, but with classical or vocal, the bass blends with the overall sound mix and is not obtrusive. Both downloaded and ripped music sounds excellent - all tracks have a warm ambient sound, perhaps due to the enclosed earpieces.
The pairing could not be easier, and the range seems good - haven't tested, but can roam around our one-bedroom (even with walls) without interference or dropout. Of course, when used as intended (wearing with iPod) this is never an issue. And about the transmitter: another ingenious Sony design touch - when attached it is barely larger than the iPod recepticle, so it can easily be attached or removed without having to take the Nano out of it's protective case - definitely a plus. Both headphones and transmitter last pretty long on a charge - so if you keep the headphones plugged into the charger cord when not in use you will never be without sound. The transmitter does of course drain your iPod a little faster than normal, but so far it has been enough to get through the longest workouts at the gym.
When purchased, we never intended to use for the gym, just for walking, hiking, etc. Originally thought they would be too bulky or inconvenient in a gym setting or that the construction would not hold up to heavy use and sweat. Now they are the go-to phones for the gym as well! Don't mistake their light weight and plastic construction as cheap or flimsy - it simply makes them very comfortable and unobtrusive - like basically not having anything on your head. In the end, they are less irritating (with sweat etc.) on the ear than earbuds of clip-ons. You can literally wear these for hours with no strain or fatigue. The padding on the cups and band is very comfortable - dare I say luxurious? And while some may bemoan the "traditional" bigger, over-the-head design, it should be mentioned that they are smaller, cup-wise then they appear, and naturally fit around the ear sleekly. There is also a slight metallic blue tone to the earpieces not evident in the pictures - really quite stylish. Another design plus which we did not fully appreciate at first is their ability to fold compactly for transporting in the backpack etc.
About the controls - yes, they are a bit small and tightly arranged, but you get used to them pretty quick and then they are intuitive. Bigger fingers might have problems I suppose, but the convenience of not having to reach for the iPod is very nice, and all the controls work as they should.
In short, ignore any negative reviews here - this is perhaps one of the best gifts I've purchased for anyone, and a case study in cutting-edge technology and intelligent design. I can't even think of a "con" for these. If you are a stickler for sound, but want something truly convenient for wireless listening, these can't be beat. And now they are a lot cheaper as well!
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