vB Easy Archive - HBH-DS220 Initial Review Verdict: Love it!

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HBH-DS220 Initial Review Verdict: Love it!
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Posted by: Paco

Just got the HBH-DS220, and have used it for about 2 hours total. My initial verdict: I love this thing!

First, the thing it does not have: No next / previous buttons. For me this isn't an issue, as I don't ever plan to use it without the phone near me.

Ok, on to the good stuff:

Bluetooth coverage: Unbelievable. I've gotten up to about 30 feet with a wall in between the HBH-Ds220 and my K850i, with no degradation in sound quality or static of any kind.

Display: Shows bars for battery life, as well as indicating when it is powering up and pairing mode.

Build Quality: This thing is small and super light. you'd forget you wearing wearing it if it weren't for the headphones

Feels solid and well made.

Sound Quality: Could not tell the difference between using it or using hardwired headphones. Quite simply, it sounds fantastic.

Battery Life: Since I've only used it for about 2 hours, I can't comment on that yet.

Pics coming soon...

Posted by: RaMMaR

Congrats on the purchase, Paco

Pics don't show up, though.
So, are they still functional while being recharged?

Posted by: Paco

Pics should hopefully be working now.

Yes! you can definitely use it while charging it at the same time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaMMaR

Congrats on the purchase, Paco

Pics don't show up, though.
So, are they still functional while being recharged?

Posted by: samsung man

with your SE phone and the hbh-ds220 connected does the eq change when you change it in the phone or does it sound the same even if you choose mega bass?

Posted by: Paco

Yes, eq settings do change the music going through the device.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samsung man

with your SE phone and the hbh-ds220 connected does the eq change when you change it in the phone or does it sound the same even if you choose mega bass?

Posted by: lets_be_friends

working pics please!

Posted by: samsung man

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco

Yes, eq settings do change the music going through the device.

Seriously?

with my W880i connected to the ds220 it makes no difference what eq I have it set.

Posted by: Paco

Still not working

Working on it. It's tough cause it shows up for me in the all the browsers I have tried.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lets_be_friends

working pics please!

Posted by: Paco

Yup. the changes aren't huge, but they aren't huge when I am using wired headphones either. But they do change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samsung man

Seriously?

with my W880i connected to the ds220 it makes no difference what eq I have it set.

Posted by: jyng

I just bought a pair of these headphones and I must say I am quite happy. Sound quality is good, and there is no skipping with music.

I have found that with movies on my p1i that there is skipping, which is unfortunate. I also find the battery strength to be mediocre (i get around 4 hours).

Posted by: jyng

Quote:

Originally Posted by samsung man

Seriously?

with my W880i connected to the ds220 it makes no difference what eq I have it set.

With my p1i the eq works. I switched from normal to megabass and it was quite noticeable.

Posted by: Paco

Trying again to post photos. They load fine directly, but hofo seems to be choking on them. Adding direct links in case they still don't load inline.

Pic1

Pic2

Pic3

Posted by: Qwest905

yeah i have hte ds200...decided against the ds220 just b/c i didn't want to use the crappy headphones that sony provides

but i do love the product =)

Posted by: jennush

just making sure,
there's a volume control on the ds220, right? i was never able to tell in the stock pictures.

congrats on your purchase though =)

Posted by: lets_be_friends

no previous/next?

thats not good....

Posted by: Paco

The DS220 is almost identical to the DS200. Just black instead of silver. You can use any headphones you want with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwest905

yeah i have hte ds200...decided against the ds220 just b/c i didn't want to use the crappy headphones that sony provides

but i do love the product =)

Posted by: Paco

It supposedly has a feature that will auto-adjust the volume based on ambient noise, but no volume buttons.

The DS220/DS200 were clearly designed to be used with the phone nearby. That won't work for everyone, but it works great for me. It keeps the DS220 clutter-free.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennush

just making sure,
there's a volume control on the ds220, right? i was never able to tell in the stock pictures.

congrats on your purchase though =)

Posted by: jyng

Personally I think its great. However, if they added volume buttons with the option to skip tracks by holding the volume would make this an amazing product.

Posted by: Prom1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco

It supposedly has a feature that will auto-adjust the volume based on ambient noise, but no volume buttons.

The DS220/DS200 were clearly designed to be used with the phone nearby. That won't work for everyone, but it works great for me. It keeps the DS220 clutter-free.

Got 2 specific questions.

1> Coming from using the HBH-DS970 + K790a with the phone in my pocket ( I stand under 6') if I have the phone in my left hand and its behind my butt/back the signal cuts out. If I'm walking with my hands swaying also drops in & out. Does the DS220 exhibit the same issue? PS I have no clue if body salts is a possibility.

2> How can you Play, skip and pause music playback on your K850 if the music app is minimized?

Thanks. Also any update on the mini review on full out battery life?

Posted by: jennush

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco

It supposedly has a feature that will auto-adjust the volume based on ambient noise, but no volume buttons.

that's... interesting. i wonder how well it actually works.

so i must ask... BART much? (seeing that you're from/live in the city.) care to test if you do? that'd be absolutely epic. it's not all that important, just really really curious, since i'll be BART-ing regularly next semester.

Posted by: Qwest905

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco

The DS220 is almost identical to the DS200. Just black instead of silver. You can use any headphones you want with it.

hmmm..the headphones that come with the ds200 and ds220 are different...the ds220 comes with the in ear-headphones(sub par)...while the ds200 comes with even crappier earbud headphones

anyways YES YOU CAN CONTROL THE VOLUME. JUST HOLD DOWN THE play/pause button it will gradually go up and down.....u let go when u find the right volume

Posted by: RaMMaR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco

... Yes! you can definitely use it while charging it at the same time.

Very cool!

Posted by: Paco

Good to know about the volume control!

regarding headphones, at least with the DS220/DS200 you can use any headphones you want. That was the main reason I bought it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwest905

Posted by: jyng

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prom1

1) I have held my phone in my hands, had it in my pocket and i have yet to hear any skipping. For myself it is just as good as the hpm 70's (the one that comes with the w810).

2) With my k790 you could skip tracks by just holding one of the volume/zoom buttons. Not sure if it is the same with the 850.

Posted by: randomtask77

Do you guys get like a 1 sec. or a 1/2 sec. delay at the start of the song when you skip tracks?

Posted by: Paco

No delay at all. I hear the absolute beginning of the song when skipping tracks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by randomtask77

Do you guys get like a 1 sec. or a 1/2 sec. delay at the start of the song when you skip tracks?

Posted by: Paco

1> No cut outs at all. I am actually really amazed at the bluetooth coverage this thing has. It probably is the best bluetooth handsfree device I have ever used, in terms of coverage.

2> As mentioned, holding down the volume buttons for about 2 seconds will skip tracks, even if the keylock has engaged.

Just have to re-emphasize how light-weight this thing is. My typical wearing pattern is to clip the unit to my collar. I almost forget I am wearing it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prom1

Posted by: Paco

Almost forgot that last question. Been using it for about 5 hours of off/on use. Display is showing 2 bars still.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prom1

...Also any update on the mini review on full out battery life?

Posted by: O'BlueTouring

sorry about thread jacking, but I've seen these on eBay in RED. Are those legit? I've only seen black ones on overseas's SonyStyle website. thanks for the help

Posted by: Paco

I think they may be legit. It's possible they are made to match the 'hearty red' W910.

Quote:

Originally Posted by O'BlueTouring

sorry about thread jacking, but I've seen these on eBay in RED. Are those legit? I've only seen black ones on overseas's SonyStyle website. thanks for the help

Posted by: EMAGDNIM

And the red K810i...

Posted by: shaolinmonk

the 970 doesn't compare at all.. the ds-200 is solid with virtually no break up...98% of the time...

Posted by: LittlePud

I just got a HBH-DS220 myself today, and yes it is amazing. Great reception and sound quality, the only missing thing is prev/next buttons.

One real gripe I have is with the included HPM-70 headphones, they're uncomfortable to use. I've already got a pair of Sony MDR-E888SP headphones coming to replace them.

Posted by: Paco

It really is a matter of personal fit with headphones. I've tried my friend's expensive shure headphones and they are so uncomfortable for me. But the HPM-70's fit me great!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittlePud

I just got a HBH-DS220 myself today, and yes it is amazing. Great reception and sound quality, the only missing thing is prev/next buttons.

One real gripe I have is with the included HPM-70 headphones, they're uncomfortable to use. I've already got a pair of Sony MDR-E888SP headphones coming to replace them.

Posted by: Paco

So another cool feature: a low battery warning message is displayed on the phone's screen. Neat.

Posted by: Jak Crow

I picked one up this weekend and WOW. I'm really impressed. I had previously discovered the Jabra bt3030 and though that it would be the best to find, but its volume level was really low when paired with a Samsung P2 mp3 player. Not only does the D220 sound better, the volume level is as high as as if the phones were plugged into the player. I will ignore the lack of playback control since the sound quality is so good.

Posted by: scangwinnett

Can this be used while it is charging?

I tried something similar from another company that wouldn't operate while it was being charged.

I'm looking for something like this that I can use to stream audio from my phone to my car radio via it's AUX IN jack. I want something that I can leave plugged into the cigarette lighter "jack" for power so that I don't have to remember to take it in the house from time to time to charge it back up.

Thanks!
Gordon

Posted by: Paco

Already answered in the third post. Yes.

Posted by: GT-[R]

i had the ds200 a while ago too, and have used it with the k550, e840 and now the k850... why the iphone does not have a2dp, i have no idea... its such a convenient feature and really is a deal breaker for me along with wifi from now on...

i tried plugging it into a casette adapter to play music in my car, sound quality is awesome, plus there isnt as much interference vs using an fm transmitter for example. And whats even better, u can use your own headphones with this thing, the hpm-70s are awesome as is, but the freedom to use ur own headset is great. Highly recommended bt headset

Posted by: Paco

One of the main reasons I bought it. When I fly, I can use my noise reducing headphones with it. Awesome.

I'm curious to see how the DS205's are. Anyone know when they are due out? I'm not sure what info is displayed on the screen. It'll be interesting to see how it compares with the 220 in terms of battery life, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GT-[R]

... And whats even better, u can use your own headphones with this thing, the hpm-70s are awesome as is, but the freedom to use ur own headset is great...

Posted by: RaMMaR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco

... I'm curious to see how the DS205's are. Anyone know when they are due out? I'm not sure what info is displayed on the screen. It'll be interesting to see how it compares with the 220 in terms of battery life, etc.

According to MobileCityOnline it's expected on May 1.

Posted by: Jak Crow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco

One of the main reasons I bought it. When I fly, I can use my noise reducing headphones with it. Awesome.

I'm curious to see how the DS205's are. Anyone know when they are due out? I'm not sure what info is displayed on the screen. It'll be interesting to see how it compares with the 220 in terms of battery life, etc.

I suspect the screen will only display song info with SE music phones. Other than that, it appears to just have a newer radio, but it doesn't seem to have additional music controls. Doesn't seem to anything more than an insignificant upgrade to the 220 for those that already have the 220.

Posted by: GT-[R]

hmm how much battery life are you guys getting with the ds220? i got about 4-5 hrs of music playback, plus about... 30min or so of talking on the phone before it completely crapped out on me, didnt last a full work day

Posted by: Prom1

Quote:

Originally Posted by GT-[R]

hmm how much battery life are you guys getting with the ds220? i got about 4-5 hrs of music playback, plus about... 30min or so of talking on the phone before it completely crapped out on me, didnt last a full work day

I noticed the same thing on my HBH-DS970 as well. roughly about 40mins of continuos talk time.

I'm wondering if 2 full drains and charges will improve this?

Posted by: Jak Crow

I haven't played it enough to completely drain it before recharging.

Posted by: JP

Garbage when paired with an N95-3 - used V-Moda earphones with them:

Battery life is horrible. With my Sony DR-BT20NX, battery life would last me about 4-6 hours of music playback, with this, it's finished by around 3pm while I'm at work (between meetings etc). It's like I only get a total of 1-1.5hrs of music playback with this thing
Re-pairing issues whenever you walk out of range and try to reconnect
Worst volume control ever, might as well not have it. You have to hold the 'play/pause' button down and the volume will decrease before increasing - you essentially have to let go of the button at the desired setting.
Adjusting the volume on the phone doesn't impact the volume in the headset. Adjusting the volume on the phone with my BT20NX's connected DID impact the volume in the headset so it's obviously a headset thing.

Sorry but these were showstoppers for me. I'm convinced this was never or barely tested with a Nokia N95, it probably provides much better performance with Sony's own products.

I'm selling for $60 CDN if anyone's interested.

Sound quality & mic are decent.

Click here to see the DR-BT20NX: http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProd...tereo+Bluetooth

Posted by: randomtask77

Quote:

Originally Posted by JP

Garbage when paired with an N95-3 - used V-Moda earphones with them:

Battery life is horrible. With my Sony DR-BT20NX, battery life would last me about 4-6 hours of music playback, with this, it's finished by around 3pm while I'm at work (between meetings etc). It's like I only get a total of 1-1.5hrs of music playback with this thing
Re-pairing issues whenever you walk out of range and try to reconnect
Worst volume control ever, might as well not have it. You have to hold the 'play/pause' button down and the volume will decrease before increasing - you essentially have to let go of the button at the desired setting.
Adjusting the volume on the phone doesn't impact the volume in the headset. Adjusting the volume on the phone with my BT20NX's connected DID impact the volume in the headset so it's obviously a headset thing.

Thanks for that review. I was seriously contemplating of getting one to pair with my N95-3, but after reading this, I'll pass.

Posted by: xxchrno

im sure this works for any se phone? i have a s500i, looked into se site. doesnt say if it supports or not

Posted by: jyng

Hmmmmm I used to have a p1i and they worked flawlessly, but now that I have the n82, controlling the volume from the n82 does not transfer to the headset. Anyone else have this problem? Do the n95 users encounter this problem?

Posted by: GT-[R]

the headset had flawless integration with my se k850 and k810. volume buttons on the phones work for the headset.

i noticed when i paired it with the nokia n82, it would beep every now and then, plus the range was definitely not as good. volume button didnt work for the nokia. ive also paired the headset with samsung e840 and u600 and it works fine. which leaves me to believe it might be nokia's bluetooth that might not be fully supported by the headset.

Posted by: scangwinnett

It works great with my BlackBerry Curve as well and the volume control on the button does have an effect on the DS220's audio output.

Posted by: waxymagic

Although I can stop playback with the music control button on my K850i, I can't play a track even with the media player open in the phone. If I try to play right after they pair, I'll get a brief deep tone from the headset then if I try again, I get a pair of different toned beeps, then it pretty much locks up.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Posted by: Pottertons

Alright all?

I'm a newb to the site but love finding out info on stuff to do with phones and oh HOW I wish I knew about this site before I went and purchased those absolutely awful HBH-DS970's.

Now then, from what i've gathered from the original poster on this topic, the HBH-DS220's do in fact output a noticeable difference when utilizing the equalizer, and it's just the stick you get so that you can use any kind of headphones, correct?

You also stated that you found that the HPM-70's (which I think are the most outstanding walkman headphones to come out since the panasonic shockwaves) to be uncomfortable when using them with the DS220.

How so? Is it because the cord is too short?

Posted by: samsung man

I have a w880i and the EQ doesnt work with this does anyone have thia and a a100 platform walkman phone can tell me if your EQ works with this?

Posted by: Paco

Just thought I'd update this thread with my latest usage of the HBH-DS220: Using it with my MacBook Air.

Pairing: Super Simple. You end up with a headset and headphone profile. Since I only want to use it for headphones, I easily removed the headset profile.

I'll update the thread with sound quality and battery life after I have had a chance to use it a bit with my computer.

Posted by: Pottertons

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxchrno

im sure this works for any se phone? i have a s500i, looked into se site. doesnt say if it supports or not

If you want them, I'd take a chance. Because I read a compatibility list on the sony site for another pair of bluetooth stereo headphones. Two phones that I had were not on the list. Yet the headphones (HBH DS970's to be exact) worked with both of them.

Posted by: Pottertons

I think i'll try the DS200's. 220's are a tad expensive for me. So long as they work better than the DS970s i'll be happy.

They must feel a bit strange though with the small cord of the HPM-70's. They're fantastic headphones though. Quality bass and sound so i'm hoping they'll sound the same as you said with the DS 200's/220's.

Posted by: sizzlin_me

there's a volume control on the ds220????????????????

Posted by: Paco

Yes. Both manual, as well as the automatic feature.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sizzlin_me

there's a volume control on the ds220????????????????

Posted by: BenFarteen

[QUOTE=Paco]One of the main reasons I bought it. When I fly, I can use my noise reducing headphones with it. Awesome.

Hey Paco,

Curious if you are still using this device and how you still like it? I saw in one of your posts that you would use it with your noise canceling headphones when flying, curious how well that sounded. Being able to swap out the headphones/buds I want is a big selling point for this unit, but curious how the quality was on those noise cancelling headphones. I've had the Bose Quiet Comfort vs 1 since they came out, never leave home without them when traveling.

So any feed back on that or other similar units you may have looked at would be appreciated.

Thanks .... Doug.

Posted by: Paco

They work great! I use it with my Sony noise cancelling headphones. Just make sure that your source device can be used on a plan. Some device 'flight modes' turn off BT as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenFarteen

[QUOTE=Paco]One of the main reasons I bought it. When I fly, I can use my noise reducing headphones with it. Awesome.

Hey Paco,

Curious if you are still using this device and how you still like it? I saw in one of your posts that you would use it with your noise canceling headphones when flying, curious how well that sounded. Being able to swap out the headphones/buds I want is a big selling point for this unit, but curious how the quality was on those noise cancelling headphones. I've had the Bose Quiet Comfort vs 1 since they came out, never leave home without them when traveling.

So any feed back on that or other similar units you may have looked at would be appreciated.

Thanks .... Doug.