Sorry!

Hey guys, I'm sorry about the lack of updates to the blog. The truth is that I've gone directly from being ill and dragging my feet on an otherwise simple in-ear review to too much gear to review! Multiple DAPs have hit the bangraman household, and the people who provide these to me must be satisfied first. Not to mention other things taking up my time. I'll pick out a choice article and re-do it for here fairly soon.

Logitech Bluetooth Headphones

I picked these up a while back as… well, they’re interesting, and usually that’s all that’s required for me to pick something up. I was not expecting a whole lot to be honest. My audio-based experiences of Bluetooth technology to date have not been, shall we say, stunning. The headphones retail for £99 in the UK and approximately $130 in the US.

The Logitech Bluetooth Headphones use the Bluetooth (duh) short-range digital transmission system to send audio to the headphone from the slightly bulky transmitter at a practical maximum of around 4 ~ 6m (12 ~ 18ft) range.

The headphones have built-in controls for volume, and the iPod-specific version also has track control / pause functions. As the iPod version has the remote socket built-in to the transmitter, it’s not compatible with non-iPod players nor the Nano / 5G. So I chose the regular “MP3” variety.

Charging up the non-replaceable Li-ion batteries in both headphone and transmitter takes around 3 hours, and pairing it is as simple as switching on the phones after the transmitter is on... and they’re ready to use.

I plug the transmitter into an iPod and am quite surprised at what comes out. It’s actually music as more or less it’s supposed to be played, not a frog chorus with the flu in an echo chamber!

The sound is comparable in general quality and tonal balance to the £30 Sennheiser PX100, although there is more 'enclosure honk', a sort of tin can effect overtone especially in the midrange. There’s a fairly solid bass, a mild top end and a midrange that doesn’t feel particularly boosted or recessed. Quite an agreeable tonal balance in general, but nowhere near a half-decent £99 wired headphone in terms of sound quality. Of course, I wasn't expecting that.

The Logitech phones compared to a Sony MDR-G74.

The general physical characteristic of the Logitech is comparable to other behind-the-neck headphones such as the Sony MDR-G74SL, only that it doesn’t fold. It’s the same sort of street style design, and unfortunately just as uncomfortable, tending to dig in at the top of the ear after a while. There’s also a convex curve to the phones where they meet the ear, and this means that placing of the phone on the ear is slightly more critical than your regular mini / street style phone. Shifting the phones around does create a change in the sound so it’s important to seat them properly. The increase in weight with the circuitry and batteries is definitely noticeable if you compare the Logitechs with a regular street style, but it's not a big deal when worn. The general lack of comfort though (like the Sonys) was more of a problem for me.

Charging the Logitech.

Battery life seems adequate for a commute. The maximum I’ve used the phones for between charges is 4 hours or so, although I'm sure they could have gone on longer (I haven't really tested the battery life). The claimed life is 8 hours on a charge. The phone and transmitter are charged by a ‘dual-head’ socketed AC charger.

Transmitter headphone jack positions

The transmitter is somewhat bulky, but it’s fairly lightweight. It also has a jack that locks into two different positions, so it works with a wide range of players. If the jack positioning isn’t optimal, there’s a low-profile extension cable supplied.

The range depends on whether there's anything between you and the transmitter. Either way, it's pretty clear whenyou're about to go out of range as the music starts breaking up... you get bursts of music with silence inbetween. Usually, I got about a 4m range with one plaster wall / wooden door inbetween.

In terms of sporting use, my jury’s out… although they’re stable while worn, the phones are noticeably heavier than a pair of lightweight earphones and even a pair of regular street styles, and sweat / Li-ion batteries can’t be a match made in heaven.


You certainly don’t get what you pay for in sonic terms, but what it does achieve is quite impressive. And as minor an inconvenience as it might seem to many, the lack of a cable is quite refreshing in use. It is a bit of a shame though that they chose to pattern the phones on an open, street-style chassis as it’s not particularly comfortable, and although open phones are safer for active use, I feel some isolation would have been nice for commuters in general.

Would you pay an effective 200% premium on top of a £30 headphone to get rid of the cable? If I was given a choice once again, probably not. But the wireless technology does work pretty well, and for some I would imagine the curiously satisfying sense of freedom is worth it.


Logitech Bluetooth Headphones: ~$130 (US), ~£99 (UK).

Product Link (Logitech USA)

I have a good excuse, honest...

So... some upcoming reviews have been delayed by the fact that I'm busy, and also because I've caught the flu. Not of the avian variety I hope.

Although I am still generally listening, my nose is blocked and my ears are 'clicky' so obviously any reliable listening evaluations are out for the time being. I'm organising my notes (or in my present condition: "urganising by dotes") on the JVC phones and will have it up fairly soon. It doesn't really warrant the build-up I've ended up giving it but anyhoo, it'll be finally up.

On the way: JVC HA-FX55 in-ear phone review.

Initial opinions are that they seem a tiny bit less compromised than the MDR-EX71SL in certain sonic aspects, while in terms of bass they offer more of what people like about the EX71's (the amount)... and they're cheaper. Some ergonomic misses were apparent within a second of putting them on, but it's about the sound, innit? :p

Full review up soon.

FX55 on top, EX71 on bottom.
The silicone 'bungs' are actually slightly different in design, but they are very similar.

iCleaner

My Nano took a couple of falls onto underground/subway train floors, both nice and gritty... and in one case, I accidentally gave the Nano a little kick, sending it grittily slithering across the floor to my dismay. Fortunately, although the superficial scratching was heavy I had no functional problems with it. I could still see the screen fine.

But you know... it's practically new and a rough Nano was clashing with my sense of well-being :p So I ordered the iCleaner Ultra Pro kit.

The Ultra Pro includes your regular scratch remover and a polish, as well as the cloths to do the polishing. It also includes a deep scratch remover / back cleaner, which I didn't need this time around as on both impacts the Nano landed face down.

So, 5 minutes of antiscratch and polish later, this is what I ended up with.

Not completely pristine, but the scratches have been reduced by perhaps 90%. If I put more elbow grease into it (and pehaps a tiny bit of that deep scratch remover) it would undoubtedly end up looking even better.

For what it is, the kit is of course somewhat overpriced... but if you don't have the time nor the inclination to hunt for the individual components by yourself, the iClean is a fantastic all-in-one scratch removal solution for your iPod.