Bluetake Bluetooth Adapter, Headphones and Audio Station

Reviews: Multimedia

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Richard Poelling
Kurtis
Bluetake
Dec. 22, 2004

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Testing

USB Adapter

For testing of the USB adapter, I basically found all the Bluetooth items I had and tried to connect to my computer with them. The setup of the device varies between WinXP and Win2k. WinXP has native Bluetooth support, similar to its WiFi support. Just plugging in the USB adapter installed it right away, no other drivers were required. For Windows 2000, I installed the drivers from the disk. The interface is relative easy to use and configure as you add and remove Bluetooth devices. The Bluetooth speeds for connecting to other devices is only about 1 Mbit at the most, so speed will not be the deciding factor. Using a Palm Tungsten T5, I was able to hotsync from a distance of about 20-30 ft. I was also able to hotsync from the floor above, although coverage was spotty. Syncing anything larger than your basic contact information took forever at the slower Blutooth speeds when compared to the speed of a USB cable.

i-Phono Headphones

To start testing the i-phono, I just simply plugged the transmitter into the audio jack of my PC. I was able to easily listen to music while sitting at my PC. The key word there is sitting, since this device is a class II Bluetooth device it does not have that much range. I was able to walk approximately 10 ft away before I started to notice static. With that said, these headphones are designed for exercise, and for the most part, you will have the transmitter on you when you use it. As the battery dies on the headphones, you will start to get shorter and shorter ranges, until the static will pretty much overwhelm you. By then you had better start looking for that charging cable.

Speaking of battery life, you can expect to get a good 6-7 hours of music when fully charged. This should be more than enough for the average workout unless you like exercising a LOT.

Enough of the mechanical stuff, how do these things sound? To be honest, I really loved the sound coming from these headphones. Unlike other headphones we have reviewed, these are designed for a specific purpose, and that purpose is to listen to music while you exercise. No movie watching, or gaming, although it would be very easy to do this, they are after all just headphones.

I started out just listening to music from various genres - everything from classical to hard rap and techno. These headphones have decent bass to them, but they are on the small side so it was pretty well assumed that there wouldn't give that deep of a bass response. During testing, even some of the Beastie Boys low bass was audible. Overall, I was very impressed with their sound quality. Although I was a bit taken aback by their styling, I found that these are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time, although wearing glasses can get in the way.. I had no discomfort after wearing them for several hours. They also stayed in place very well. I did not have to adjust them at all, even when bending over and just plain moving around a lot.

Hi-Phono Audio Station

Obviously this product is specifically designed to replace the set of speaker wires running to your rear speakers from your receiver. To test this product out, I did just that. I hooked the Hi-phono up to my existing home theater system and watched some movies. To test out the new setup, I fired up "The Matrix" and then "Heat." Both movies are encoded in Dolby surround and should therefore utilize the rears nicely. I also dug up a short video tape published by Crutchfield with some test images and sounds coded in surround.

Most of the movies played well, but there were times when the rear channel just didn't seem to be in sync with the rest of the movie. I actually put in an old video tape of Star Wars I had and fast forwarded to the trench scene at the end (yes, I said video tape). The music was a dead giveaway. When the rears were hooked up normally, the music was quick and precise. When the Hi-Phono was installed, I actually got two notes instead of a single one. That particular instance was very annoying, and very noticeable. This type of effect isn't surprising since you have to code the signal, transmit it, and then decode it to send to the speakers. Bluetake did confirm that there is a 0.1 to 0.3 second lag depending on the audio system. For about 70% of the time, it isn't too noticeable, but there is that 30% of the time in which it will probably just drive you nuts. Anyone who is willing to put the money into a good home theater system will probably have already taken the time to tune everything such that it sounds just right. The Hi-Phono system will surely mess that up.

The Hi-phono system isn't just for replacing the rear speaker wire of your home theater. You can pretty much send any sound from the transceiver to the receiver that you want. All you have to do is hook up the RCA cables and you're good. One of the items included is an adapter for a headphone jack. With this you can go from a computer, an MP3 player, or pretty much anything with a headphone adapter. This could be a great way to hook up music in a room far from your computer or even set it up as a second set of speakers on your receiver.

Testing the sound coming from a computer!

The Hi-Phono also comes with an adapter for a standard audio port. Using the transceiver plugged into the audio out port of the computer, you can easily create a set of good wireless speakers. This setup would be good for listening to music in another room or somewhere away from your computer. Watching movies worked, although if you are watching a computer screen, your speakers aren't going to be that far from the audio source. Again, I must mention the high quantity of additional wires. The sound quality is really only as good as the speakers you attach to it. My little surround speakers really didn't sound that great by themselves. Another alternative would be to remove the amplifier and take the sound directly out of the receiving unit and then go into you regular stereo receiver. This setup just might give you the kick that your music so well deserves.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Getting Started
Page 4: Testing
Page 5: Interoperability
Page 6: Conclusion

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1 User Comment

1 - Posted by jwinograd on May 27, 2005 - 4:46 pm

No one should buy any Bluetake products unless you are willing to live without any technical support. I've had several problems with my i-PHONO BT420 headset and sent them emails on 4-Mar-05, 5-Mar-05, 13-Mar-05, and two on 12-May-05. The emails went to bluetake@bluetake.com, which is the address generated by their End User Enquiry Form on their website. I've tried both techniques -- filling out the form and sending emails directly. I've never gotten a single reply (and I can't find a phone number for them). I just sent a sixth email today asking them if their company is still in business and, if so, how I get technical support. I haven't heard back and, quite frankly, don't expect to. The headset cost me nearly $200 and I'm very angry that it's not working properly, but even angrier that I can't get any help from the company. Caveat emptor! Regards, Joe

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