VeeshanVault

I've been looking for some wireless headphones for my portable MP3 players, specifically to listen to podcasts. There hasn't been a whole lot out there. Most of the Bluetooth wireless stuff was for cell phones and a single ear.

I finally found a pair worth a try. The Logitech Freepulse headset uses Bluetooth 2.0 and the reviews said that its battery lasts six hours. You can get them at Newegg for 88.99 but I picked mine up at Best Buy for 99.00.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6826104023

I had to drive up to Las Vegas this year for Christmas so I was able to test them out quite a bit.

First, the battery actually does last six hours. I got stuck in Holiday traffic approaching Hoover Dam so ended up listening to them for six hours straight.

The connection is outstanding. About 3.5 hours into the trip, I had to resync the headphones with the base unit but other than that, no connection problems. The sound quality was very good. I listened to an hour or so of music along with the Podcasts. These headsets aren't going to win any awards for audio quality but they aren't bad at all. (they don't compare to my Sennheiser HD-485's for example) For podcasts, they were exceptional.

The range is listed at 33 feet and that's also accurate. At a gas station, I left my headset on while going into the store and the audio source remained rock solid. The audio did break up past 33+ feet though.

The headset comfort is questionable. The style has a wire around the back connecting the two earphones which hook onto your ears using rubber rings. When I first got them, they were a little tight but the wire is actually bendable so if you get these, I suggest you adjust it by gently bending it if you have a fat head or pinhead. After making that adjustment, I was able to wear them for 5+ hours straight both going to Vegas and returning.

The nice thing about these wireless headphones is that they work on any player you can plug a 3.5mm stereo audio jack into so you could use these with your home computer, home theater or laptop (or PSP/DS Lite I assume).

I'm impressed! Hate wires! Especially for headphones. Those Apple commercials showing neon headphone cords flapping around are retarded. That's the last thing you want to show. Cords are annoying and get in the way.



Pros:

-Bluetooth 2.0 works great
-Volume control/Mute is seamlessly integrated into the right headphone.
-rechargeable batter really does last six hours
-versatile. small base unit will plug into any 3.5mm stereo jack
-takes about two hours to charge them.
-audio tone sounds when you've maxed the volume on the headset control, tone sounds when sync'd, tone sounds when switching from base boost and back.

Cons:

-some reviews say either they fit or don't. I'd buy them locally at a Best Buy in case you need to return them. I'd also remind you to adjust the back wire to loosen or tighten them depending on how they feel after wearing them a bit. I was comfortable wearing them for five hours but that's probably the max before you need a break.



These rock and I hope are a sign of things to come for Bluetooth 2.0 headphones.

New Technology

Thankfully, wireless audio technology has improved. Last year’s wireless headphones used Bluetooth 1.2 radios, which promised to let you hear near-CD quality sound up to 33 feet away from your iPod. Practically, though, few Bluetooth 1.2 accessories achieved the 33-foot distance - Logitech’s prior Headphones were the rare exception that came close - and they didn’t match much less expensive corded alternatives in sound quality. By contrast, FreePulse is the first iPod wireless system to use a Bluetooth 2.0+EDR radio, which sends audio data faster while consuming less power. Consequently, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR accessories can sound better without requiring big batteries, though no promises have been made about better distance performance.

FreePulse makes unexpectedly good use of the new Bluetooth technology. For reasons unknown, its distance performance has improved from last year’s model - we were able to walk significantly more than 33 feet away from the iPod and still hear its music playing, which was impressive in two ways. Many wireless headsets suffer from frequent interruptions while you’re walking, and though they do happen from time to time with Freepulse, they’re comparatively infrequent and gracefully handled with very brief silences. Additionally, the sheer distance we achieved was surprising. We could routinely place the iPod and FreePulse transmitter in one room and walk to the far end of another with the headset - distances around 50 feet away - and still hear our music playing clearly.

Superior Comfort

From a comfort standpoint, FreePulse delivers partially on the promise of its higher-tech chipset. Though both of Logitech’s designs use foam-covered speakers that fit on the outsides of your ears rather than inside the canals like Apple’s iPod pack-ins, this year’s model feels lighter and less bulky than last year’s. The old five-button-and-switch control system has been simplified to a two-position volume rocker and power button combination, found on the right earpiece, and there’s less hard plastic around the speakers, replaced by soft rubber rings that loop over the tops of your ears to hold the earpieces in place. Similarly, last year’s uncomfortable hard plastic neck and ear loop has been replaced by a softer, rubber-coated neckband that most users will find entirely unobtrusive, though it’s reinforced internally with carbon spring-steel and still serves to link the earpieces together in the same way as before.

There’s only one significant problem here. As with last year’s model, Logitech provides no way for users to resize the headband or earpieces to fit different head or ear sizes. While our male testers found that the headset fit snugly, a female tester with a smaller head found the earpieces droopy and the overall experience uncomfortable, despite her preference for over-the-ear headphones. All testers found the earphones fatiguing over the course of an hour of use, with the female tester finding them uncomfortable most quickly, and commenting that they didn’t sound right because they weren’t properly centered on her ears.

I don't think the review knew you could bend the wire to make the fit looser or tighter...I didn't either until I tried it.

Pricing and Conclusions

The biggest offset to any complaints people may have about FreePulse is Logitech’s smart, aggressive price point. At $100, this is the least expensive major-brand pair of Bluetooth headphones we’ve seen, and the fact that FreePulse uses the latest Bluetooth 2.0+EDR standard makes the price even more impressive. There may be few Bluetooth 2.0-compatible devices available today, but Apple’s Bluetooth-enabled computers all include 2.0+EDR chips these days, and are just waiting for the company - or someone else - to release supporting software. Other Bluetooth 2.0-ready hardware is just around the corner, which will make the FreePulse headphones an able companion for non-iPod applications.

'Other Bluetooth 2.0+EDR enabled devices in the pipeline" but you don't need to wait for anything as long as you can plug the 3.5mm base into it. (works fine with Creative Zen players)

my question is why the hell were you listening to the podcasts on headphones while driving? I don't know about Nevada, but that's against the law in many states...and I am assuming you have a radio in your car.

Boogahz wrote:my question is why the hell were you listening to the podcasts on headphones while driving? I don't know about Nevada, but that's against the law in many states...and I am assuming you have a radio in your car.

No radio. My car stereo was stolen awhile back and I decided to go the portable route. They took it w/out the faceplate and I'm not going to lug around a full stereo pull-out model.

These are open style earphones so I can probably hear better than someone blasting their car stereo...as for it being illegal, who knows, probably is but I take them off if I see the fuzz. A cop would have to be pretty bored to stop me for wearing earphones even if he saw me seeing as how many people use cell phone Bluetooth ear pieces. I have dark tinted windows everywhere except the front as well! I'm listening to talk shows so it's not like I'm blasting some sort of music that would drown out anything close to what someone listening to a loud car stereo would miss.

Boogahz wrote:my question is why the hell were you listening to the podcasts on headphones while driving? I don't know about Nevada, but that's against the law in many states...and I am assuming you have a radio in your car.

It is, and I told him that once before and he came up with this grandiose justification of why it was okay for him to do it....just like he did for you.

These are open style earphones so I can probably hear better than someone blasting their car stereo...as for it being illegal, who knows, probably is but I take them off if I see the fuzz. A cop would have to be pretty bored to stop me for wearing earphones even if he saw me seeing as how many people use cell phone Bluetooth ear pieces. I have dark tinted windows everywhere except the front as well! I'm listening to talk shows so it's not like I'm blasting some sort of music that would drown out anything close to what someone listening to a loud car stereo would miss.

It's pretty much illegal everywhere.
Not only that, it's right fucking stupid.

There is talk of making cellphone use illegal while driving as well. Handsfree and earpieces are much safer, but still a big distraction. Earpieces don't block out sound like headphones.

My car stereo was stolen awhile back

Ironic.

I'm a criminal!

The only point I'm making, which is the only important one, is that I can hear sirens, and everything else I need to hear that anyone else hears when playing their car stereo. I've addressed the reason why wearing headphones is illegal. If you want to blast rock music in your ears via headphones, have at it. That's not what I'm doing.

Beyond that, have fun with your tirades! Odds are that most of the whining people here play their car stereos louder than I play my voice podcasts and thus, hear less from outside of their car. I'm sure some of you would walk around with poles sticking out of your ass if it was the law without considering the reasons behind the law. Good boys!

Fucking dudes up the ass is illegal in some states as well. Shame on you!

Difference being is that in most places it's perfectly legal, unfortunately, to listen to your stereo that loud. God knows people 4 blocks away need to have their windows rattled by obnoxious levels of bass.

Talking on a cellphone doesn't block your ears either but that doesn't mean it's not a distraction and being made illegal in most states. Although that's not happening fast enough imo.

Aslanna wrote:Difference being is that in most places it's perfectly legal, unfortunately, to listen to your stereo that loud. God knows people 4 blocks away need to have their windows rattled by obnoxious levels of bass.

That's why it's worth considering why something is illegal vs just the fact that it is illegal. Headphones are illegal because the government can't regulate how people adjust their volumes, what type of headphone they use, and what they listen to on them. Car stereos aren't illegal because they are established and there'd be an uproar if they were made illegal...but the EXACT same issue applies to both...what volume you listen to them...hell, even cellphone connected to car speakers are a distraction as isn't it what you're listening to and focusing on rather than the volume with a cell phone headset? Should talk shows be banned?

The government would make alcohol illegal if it could (they tried in the 20s!) Take that same idea and apply it to marijuana (the biggest revenue making agriculture product presently in the United States...fuckers probably use headphones in cars too!). If pot was in more use just a few years earlier, there'd be packs of joints sold today with hefty government taxes on them instead of a naturally growing plant being make illegal.

Who's more annoying? The dude vibrating your apartment or car windows with the uber base banging, or someone listening to the latest comic book news with open earphones played at a volume just loud enough to hear the voices?

I say ban all car stereos or limit them to under 10 watts and put a governor on the volume control.

Even worse, pedestrians and bicyclers should not wear headphones. It's much more dangerous for them to not hear traffic. iPods should only be legal on trains, after the doors have closed.

Ban PSPs and DS Lites unless you are in an established location that is safe. They should be illegal outdoors as they are a distraction.

Ban everything! Christ, I can already hear Hillary Clinton's campaign speeches now.

Winnow wrote:

Aslanna wrote:Difference being is that in most places it's perfectly legal, unfortunately, to listen to your stereo that loud. God knows people 4 blocks away need to have their windows rattled by obnoxious levels of bass.

That's why it's worth considering why something is illegal vs just the fact that it is illegal. Headphones are illegal because the government can't regulate how people adjust their volumes, what type of headphone they use, and what they listen to on them.

Where the fuck did you get that idea?

I think Burundi has found its Natural Selection Posterboy.

Quit trying to justify your behavior and own up to the fact that what you're doing is reckless and stupid.

At least you recognize it's illegal.

Dumbass.

Keep it up, I'm starting to be entertained by this.

I recognize it's illegal and, more importantly, the reason why it's illegal. (because stupid people like you can't control volume levels or use closed headphones). Read the rest of my post above for the details.

I have to admit, whenever the X-Men are mentioned in a podcast, I crank the volume up to max, start speeding out of control, and try to hit pedestrians. Too funny.

Winnow wrote:Keep it up, I'm starting to be entertained by this.

I recognize it's illegal and, more importantly, the reason why it's illegal. (because stupid people like you can't control volume levels or use closed headphones). Read the rest of my post above for the details.

No, this is just the reason you concocted in the little imaginary world in your head.

Boogahz wrote:

Winnow wrote:Keep it up, I'm starting to be entertained by this.

I recognize it's illegal and, more importantly, the reason why it's illegal. (because stupid people like you can't control volume levels or use closed headphones). Read the rest of my post above for the details.

No, this is just the reason you concocted in the little imaginary world in your head.

Arizona - A bill to introduce a ban was lost by a 4-3 vote in the Senate Transportation Committee. Bus drivers are banned from using cell phones.

That's the closest thing I could find in Arizona that even relates to headphones.

Here's the Arizona Driver's License Manual. Anyone care to point out where wearing headphones is illegal?

http://www.azdot.gov/mvd/documents/Cust ... 9-0117.pdf

You morons blindly jump on the issue as a whole and fail to even consider variations in usage.

Have at it you legal eagles!

The point is that the behavior is reckless, stupid, and...in many states...illegal!

Excuse me for not knowing that you lived in that god-forsaken state. So what that the AZ legislature hasn't specifically banned it? I'd bet a large sum of money that if you are involved in an accident, your insurance company isn't going to pay up since you were so smart to wear your headphones!

Regardless, many intelligent people that I associate with agree that wearing headphones while driving puts others at risk. It's illegal here in Georgia (40-6-250), many other states, and just about any military base in the United States (including those in Arizona!).

I don't care that you don't have the volume turned up really high. I don't care that there are morons driving around with their volumes cranked up loud in violation of whatever noise or distraction ordinances that might exist.

Just because some other idiot does something stupid doesn't mean that you should.

Vaemas wrote:
I don't care that you don't have the volume turned up really high. I don't care that there are morons driving around with their volumes cranked up loud in violation of whatever noise or distraction ordinances that might exist.

Just because some other idiot does something stupid doesn't mean that you should.

I don't care that you don't care!

Although I have absolutely no need to explain how I use my headphones and the fact that it's legal, I did cover in detail why listening to talk shows at low volume with open style headphones does less to distract me than someone listening to music at the same levels.

You sound like an old lady that can't grasp anything but absolutes. "Someone playing D&D was a devil worshiper. Thus, everyone that plays D&D is a devil worshiper!"

I value my life. There's no way I'd jeopardize my safety to wear headphones if they caused obstruction to my awareness or ability to hear what everyone else hears while driving. Trust me, I can hear every rattle in my noisy car. My headphones drown out nothing. I drove around in my parents new car earlier this week and I couldn't hear shit even without any music on at all because the sound proofing is so good on cars these days.

Reckless and stupid. Please. I've received zero tickets in the last five years and one moving violation the past ten years. (45 mph in a 35mph speed trap approaching a small city in the middle of nowhere and received a waste of resources ticket). The only chance I have of using my headphones recklessly would be if you were a passenger in my car. I'd crank them up to max and risk permanent ear damage rather than have to listen to your blind, one size fits all, logic.

Sure! I'm an absolutist. If it's not black and white, I'll cram whatever the issue is into either wrong or right!

Oh...wait...I live in the real world, where issues aren't that simple.

You cannot effectively argue that listening to talk shows with headphones is less of an impairment than listening to talk shows over a radio. Nor do I buy your bullshit argument that listening to talk shows with headphones is less of an impairment than listening to music at reasonable levels. I'll even go so far as to say I have a difficult time believing that listening to headphones, regardless of the design or programming content, is no less of an impairment than talking on a cellphone.

This is a complex issue. There are studies and arguments to support either stance. You feel very strongly that it's OK for you to wear the headphones (even if it was illegal) and you are adamant that they don't lessen your ability to hear traffic or other noises around you. You know my opinion. I'm still standing by it.

I'm glad you are an excellent driver with an exceptionally clean record (and no, there's no sarcasm there). But if I happen to be stuck with you for a ride, I'll either ask you to take the headphones off or I'll exit the vehicle.

Vaemas wrote: I'm glad you are an excellent driver with an exceptionally clean record (and no, there's no sarcasm there). But if I happen to be stuck with you for a ride, I'll either ask you to take the headphones off or I'll exit the vehicle.

Hopefully while it's still moving! jk

All I can say is that I do take precautions and am in no way reckless. You can stand by your opinions but I think most people here are immediately imagining a worst case scenario. Listening to headphones and talking on a cell phone are not the same. Talk shows are one way. They are the same whether they are played on a car stereo, home stereo, or on an iPod. That has nothing to do with headphones and is a distraction issue. You'll be distracted by a talk show while listening to it on a car stereo as much as if you were listening to it through headphones. The issue is volume and the ability to hear sound sources originating from outside of your vehicle. Concerning that important issue, I'm positive that I am not hindering my ability to do so with the audio sources, headphone type, and audio levels I operate under. I've encountered all manner of outside sounds from sirens and horns to engine noises and much lower levels. I hear nothing extra when I take off my headphones at those levels.