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(More customer reviews)I like to have my ipod playing when I do errands or workout at the gym but I hate the wires on my headphones always getting in the way and catching on things. Through friends and different stores I tried SEVERAL various wireless solutions like the Jaybird, the Motorola, the Toshiba and even another different model of Sony because I didn't want to buy something only to find the sound quality or bluetooth function was weak. Then while browsing Amazon I came across the Sony DRBT160iK. At first I thought the headset design with the behind-the-ear pods were strange looking compared to other models and I wanted no part of them... but having no friends who owned them and not finding them in any stores, I decided to buy from Amazon anyway since there were few reviews at the time that were very good ones.
Well I received them and flat out I am truly blown away. It's kinda nice when something you are hoping will work out actually exceeds your expectations. Without any question whatsoever this set-up is by far the very best sounding wireless bluetooth ipod headphones I've heard...period. I absolutely love these and what's funny is they sound better than another wired headphone I've had on my ipod. If anyone is on the fence about these and are looking for a review to help, Im giving you an honest and discerning opinion...if you can get around the funky (but fairly comfortable) design, these are worth every penny (currently around $114 on Amazon).
The sound quality for a lightweight portable bluetooth stereo headphone is simply excellent. Suprisingly so. The transmitter/receiver uses one of the latest advanced bluetooth versions known as Bluetooth ver 2.1 + EDR (extended data rate)... I have no idea why Amazon doesn't indicate this as a product feature , it makes a huge difference. Even very complex and sonically detailed parts of music are crisp and defined and play without being muddled or distorted. (I'm sure it helps that I buy most of my music from Itunes or Amazon so it's encoded well from the start). The bass response is suprisingly good and continues to catch my attention even after four months. The highs and midrange are on the spot with the same very good detail and sound quality. Last night I played the entire Dark Knight soundtrack while doing chores and the deep dark bass notes of these dramatic tracks came through with flying colors and even a hint of true stereo imaging. Love them!!
Other cool things:
-Transmitter fits securely and snugly into your ipod and is very low-profile, about the size of a quarter (don't lose it!!!) It draws a tiny amount of power from your ipod so you never need to charge the transmitter, only the heaphones with the supplied charger.
-There is a micro joystick at the end of one of the earpods and after a couple of tries is easy to master. With this tiny joystick you can skip tracks forward, backward, pause, volume up, volume down as well as scan forward and scan backward with just the touch of your finger without every needing to touch your ipod, wherever you have it stowed. You can literally put your ipod in your waistpack, purse, dufflebag, pocket...anywhere within 15-25 feet of where you are and the sound is still excellent.
-Like I said they look different but they are fairly comfortable, snug, sturdy and very lightweight. If you run or bounce around alot with exercise or chores they will not come off and disrupt you from your sound. These are earbud type of headphones so they go inside your ear and the advantage of that outside of the high sound quality is that it will take out all background sound (like the bad music they play at the gym or the people who keep yapping at the treadmill next to you). I tried a different Sony model that just sat "on" your ear and these could not even come close to muting out these annoyances with high quality sound. If you are going to use them while biking I highly suggest you keep the volume down so you can hear other sounds around you. Safety first.
-It takes about 1.5 hours to charge these from empty and this will last you about 5 realistic hours. I get about three or four 90 minute workouts in without charging usually.
- This model will also let you do phone calls with your bluetooth phone / Iphone that will interrupt if a call comes in while listening to music. I don't use my phone in this way and have not tried this feature or paired it to anything but my Ipod Nano 5G and Ipod Touch so I can't report on the phone feature, but it's there.
Reviews helped me find this model and my strong suggestion to you if you are shopping for high quality bluetooth wireless solutions with high quality sound for your ipod is to simply get over the unusual look of these and buy them. Don't waste your time like I did. I'm one of the fussy types for great sound quality and these simply please me tremendously.
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