Logitech has released a series of Bluetooth wireless headphones for iPod, PC, and MP3 players. The three types are essentially the same stereo Bluetooth headphones with three different adapters; the headphones are also resold by HP and Toshiba we haven’t figured out who actually makes them yet. We tested them with an iPod, Archos 420 video player, and Powerbook.
The version for MP3 comes in black with a transceiver for any 1/8th inch headphone jack musical device. Simply plug the transceiver in place of headphones, pair the transceiver with the headphones, and you’re done. Best of all, it works with literally everything you already have your PC, Mac, iPod, Walkman, console stereo whatever. This is the version I recommend getting even if you have an iPod or PC because of the general-purpose nature of the device, and it’s the specific version that we tested. This variant also comes with a six-inch long headphone jack extension cord to work for devices with a recessed headphone plug. The right earpiece has volume controls that conveniently beep when you’re at maximum volume.
The version for iPod comes in white with a Bluetooth transceiver for 3G and later iPods that have the control jack connector. The headphones in this variant have buttons on the right earpiece for skipping tracks and pause/play convenience that means you won’t have to dig your iPod out of your purse or pocket. However, the transmitter works only with 3G or greater large iPods you can’t use them with older iPods, Shuffle or Nano for those, get the generic MP3 variant of the Bluetooth headphones.
The version for PC comes in black with a USB Bluetooth transceiver that supports the A2DP profile required for stereo headphones. We didn’t test this version, so we can’t tell you much more about it. We don’t know if it’s a general purpose Bluetooth adapter with support for the A2DP profile in software or if it’s a USB audio device with a Bluetooth transceiver. If anyone knows, please comment on this article.
Pairing the devices is easy: Hold down the connect button on the transceiver, then hold down the on the headphones until the transceiver’s light goes solid blue. That’s all there is to it. To shut off the headphones, hold down the pair button on the transceiver until it turns red. There’s nothing more to learn about operating these.
The headphones use the generic A2DP Advanced Audio Distribution Profile for Bluetooth, and should work directly with any device that includes Bluetooth and supports that profile. Unfortunately, Mac OS X Tiger does not as of the time of this writing, nor do most PC Bluetooth stacks. The Blue Soleil stack for Windows (which I otherwise hate) does support it, which should make it trivial to connect these headphones to your PC without using any external transceiver (although I haven’t tested it). Apple will eventually release an A2DP profile for OS X, but until then, you can plug the MP3 variant’s transceiver into the headphone jack of your Mac. It lines up perfectly with the thickness of the aluminum PowerBooks and is not obtrusive.
Audio quality is–adequate. Technically, the USB 1.1 specification is not fast enough to support uncompressed CD quality sound, but whatever they’re doing to make these Bluetooth headsets sound good works reasonably well. However, I could clearly tell that the dynamic range was compressed, resulting in a loss of verve. Basically, they make everything sound like an MP3 compressed at 128kpbs good enough for any non-musical listening or for background music, but not quite up to even FM quality and certainly not what you’d want to use if you’re really paying attention to the music. Because they’re digital, there’s literally no background noise, but sometimes the lack of dynamic range sounds like noise.
The maximum volume was loud enough, but not as loud as I would have liked for some of my heavy metal and industrial tracks. It’s basically the same volume as the iPod earbuds at ¾ volume. Volume is power, and battery operated devices have to trade off maximum volume for battery life, so this is understandable tradeoff. If you are a typical music listener, this won’t be an issue for you but you head bangers out there should find a store that will let you demo them before you buy.
The headphones wear very comfortably and unobtrusively, with a behind the neck headband and the speakers sitting on the tops of the ears. The package comes with a replacement set of ear foam protectors. I had absolutely no problem with comfort (you forget about them after a few minutes), and I could dance around the living room in them with no issues. They may be a tad heavy for runners. There’s no size adjustment, but they fit my colossal head just fine. This is one major advantage of the behind-the-neck headband most humans are about the same size in that particular measure. If anyone out there runs with these or feels that they don’t we’d like to hear about it.
In summary, these are extraordinarily convenient, but the audio quality doesn’t come up to any wired set of headphones. However, the quality certainly isn’t worse than other wireless headphones, and it’s more than good enough for casual listening. If the pricepoint of $130 for the MP3 or PC variant or $150 for the iPod version doesn’t bother you, and you’ve been waiting for Bluetooth headphones, you won’t find better.
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