Time for and upgrade, help with suggestions? (coming from JB Era & etyBlu2...)
Hey guys,
So, I'm still on the hunt for a great BT headset. I've spent so much time & money trying to find a great one, and it's been a pain. I realize this is long, feel free to skip to the end or just post questions/suggestions. I realize this is all subjective - but any little bit helps. Otherwise I'll have to buy 4 more headsets and swallow the cost of all of them. I really don't want to have to do that
Here's the ones I've tried:
-Cheapo headsets (samsung WP* series)
-Plantronics Voyager Pro
-Etymotics etyBlu2
-Jawbone Era
-(wired) TheBoom v4 (not bluetooth, but good comparison)
What I've found:
-The etyBlu2 has the best noise rejection/cancellation, hands down. It is picky w/ mic placement and rotation. It is *so* very quiet that most people cannot hear me. I can yell on this and still be lower volume than the phone mic speaking normally/softly. If I hold the mic to my mouth it works better, but the mic does not reach that far. Most of the time about <50% understood rate by other party.
-Jawbone Era - good for a small on-ear non-boom headset, but is fuzzy (ie. machine voice, DSP processed). That means callers often cannot hear me when I spell things out. Say about 80% understood by other party. Suffers a bit with background noise.
-Voyager Pro - best all around headset. Incredibly clear incoming audio, loud & clear outgoing audio. Handles most things incredibly well, almost as good as built-in mic. Has some trouble with background noise, can't filter as well as other headsets. But in non-really-noisy situations, has nearly 100% understandable.
-TheBoom - best mic, hands down. Amazing noise rejection, loud w/o sounding processed. Best outgoing sound. Incoming sound is ok, but the earpiece they use is lame so doesn't fit well in the ear. Ear hook is incredibly bad, so overall fit is loose & uncomfortable. If this were 1) wireless, 2) had better earhook/fit, and 3) had better incoming sound, it would be the perfect bluetooth headset.
My goals:
-Great outgoing sound, noise cancellation mic
-Comfortable to wear for long periods
-Good incoming sound
-If possible: small pocketable
So here's my shortlist.
VXi BlueParrott B250-XT+, about $100
+supposed to have great sound, very comfortable, long lasting
-is bulky (over the head), looks bad
Vxi Blue Parrot Xpress, $100
+-supposed to sound good, has different fit styles (over the head, behind neck, on ear)
-looks like it would be hard to keep on-ear style, too heavy/bulky? If not, looks promising
Samsung HM7000, $65
+"best headset" from gizmodo, great outgoing sound, small
-boom does not fold, is on-ear so may have fit issues?
Plantronics Pro HD, $88
+best all around headset, known to work well
-does not have the best noise cancellation for noisy areas
Design-wise, I'd love to have a small headset I can use at home & on the road. So the HM7000 or the Blue Parrot Xpress (boom on-ear headsets). However, I worry about them staying on the ear comfortably, and most ear-hooks I've found to be a pain to put on. Also, the HM7000 seems to have a short boom - does the Xpress reach all the way to the mouth? Does it have better outgoing sound?
If neither of those is amazing, then I wonder if the B250-XT+ is worth it over the Voyager Pro HD. I know my Voyager Pro is reliable and all around great. But I would like to have a real boom for better outgoing sound. However, the Voyager is an easy pocket/walk-around headset, whereas the B250-XT+ is not. Does the B250 have amazing outgoing sound? Is it worth the loss of portability?
BOTTOM LINE: What headsets will work for me? Is there a small pocketable boom headset that has amazing outgoing sound, great incoming sound, is comfortable, and will stay on my ear? If not, is there a slightly less portable one that does it? And maybe I need to go with separate headsets (amazing-sound for at-home, and ok-sound portable for runaround)?
Sorry for the long post. And thanks for any feedback you have.
I think you've unknowingly answered your own question. There is no good answer. The best solution would be the mic and boom from theBoom headset grafted on a Plantronics Voyager Pro HD body. I tried that years ago with the original Voyager 510 headset. I even tried it with the etyBLU boom. I was too impatient to make either work properly.
Air goes in and out. Blood goes round and round. Any deviation is a problem.
I think you've unknowingly answered your own question. There is no good answer. The best solution would be the mic and boom from theBoom headset grafted on a Plantronics Voyager Pro HD body. I tried that years ago with the original Voyager 510 headset. I even tried it with the etyBLU boom. I was too impatient to make either work properly.
I did try converting a cheapo samsung WP to add a 2.5mm plug, and used it with a TheBoom v4 plugged in. That was a sort of test to see if it would work. The incoming sound had a bit of a "hiss" (bad grounding?), and I think outgoing sound was a bit too hot for the bluetooth (needed a resistor/pad or something). But the fine wires in the bluetooth were *incredibly* hard to solder (very fine, fragile filament magnet wire), so I gave up.
I might try again, since that really would be great. I was using my Voyager Pro in the car today, and thinking how it really would be perfect to have TheBoom mic + Voyager Pro body. The only thing that would make that even better; a way to fold the boom part so it doesn't always stick out. Not sure how to do that though.
Hmm. Still, assuming I don't go crazy hacking these things together, what would be a good next headset to try? Seems like the HM7000 or the xpress, maybe.
I've tried the Jawbone Era, BlueAnt Q2, Plantronics Pro HD, and Bose Series Two. For me, the Series II was the best. It has the best incoming call quality, the best noise isolation, and the best outgoing call quality. I tried different tests, recording myself for each. None of the headsets blew me away, unfortunately.
The one downside I have found with the Bose is that it is very simplistic with features. The multi-point is not intuitive, and doesn't appear to work with ADP. (It's one or the other.)
I've tried the Jawbone Era, BlueAnt Q2, Plantronics Pro HD, and Bose Series Two. For me, the Series II was the best. It has the best incoming call quality, the best noise isolation, and the best outgoing call quality. I tried different tests, recording myself for each. None of the headsets blew me away, unfortunately.
Good noise rejection; has that robotic quality of DSP, but admirable considering the circumstances. I'm very wary of non-boom headsets now - I can see how much a difference even 1 inch makes (boom reaching your cheek vs. your mouth), so I feel like I wouldn't want to go back to a non-boom headset.
I'm not so worried about features, I typically only use one phone. If I could multipoint (PC & phone), that'd be great, but it's not a hard requirement.
Jumpfroggy, I was in a similar position as you a couple of months back. I've gone through too many bt headsets to count and my criteria was similar to yours. I am coming from a Jawbone Era (which crapped out) and a Plantronics Voyager Pro before that and loved both of them. My final two choices were the Voyager Pro HD and the Samsung HM7000 (I like boom mics). After reading good reviews of the HM7000 and factoring in that I already had a Voyager Pro, I ended up choosing the HM7000. I am using the HM7000 with an Avery earpiece which I took off my Era and it sounds fantastic. Very loud incoming sound and judging by my own outgoing sound tests and feedback from callers, outgoing sound works great too. I am very happy with my choice. I did consider the Bose BT2, but the price difference was too great to pass up on the HM7000 IMO.
Jumpfroggy, I was in a similar position as you a couple of months back. I've gone through too many bt headsets to count and my criteria was similar to yours. I am coming from a Jawbone Era (which crapped out) and a Plantronics Voyager Pro before that and loved both of them. My final two choices were the Voyager Pro HD and the Samsung HM7000 (I like boom mics). After reading good reviews of the HM7000 and factoring in that I already had a Voyager Pro, I ended up choosing the HM7000. I am using the HM7000 with an Avery earpiece which I took off my Era and it sounds fantastic. Very loud incoming sound and judging by my own outgoing sound tests and feedback from callers, outgoing sound works great too. I am very happy with my choice. I did consider the Bose BT2, but the price difference was too great to pass up on the HM7000 IMO.
@daygo718
Thanks for the feedback! Sounds like you were in a very similar spot. Do you have any sound clips online for the HM7000 (compared to other headsets)? I think I'm ruling out the BT2 for myself. I'm not into DSP noise rejection; it works well sometimes, but the robotic sounding DSP artifacts really mess with my ability to understand & be understood (especially for things like spelling words or reading numbers, where they're easy to mess up). I'd rather have a boom and have better clarity.
I feel like at the moment, the HM7000 seems like a good step-up from the Voyager Pro, and might be the best convenient, walk-around half-boom headset. I might get that for casual / out of the house use, and do a DIY earmold for it (radians). W/o an earmold I'd guess that the HM7000 would be uncomfortable for long-term use (1+ hours). My Jawbone Era really hurt my ear after the first hour or so (pressure on the inside of the ear).
So if the HM7000 + earmold works well, then the only thing I'm missing is serious noise rejection. If I need that, seems like the VXi BlueParrott B250-XT+ is the closest thing? But at that point, I might attempt a Voyager Pro + TheBoom mod, since that would be the ideal headset.
One thing I wonder about the HM7000; how far does the boom reach? Does the xpress reach closer to the mouth than the HM7000? Does it make a difference? It seems like it's down to these two for my portable headset.
Sorry, I don't have any audio clips of the HM7000 or any other for that matter. I felt that the HM7000 was a good move from the Voyager Pro and Era that I had previously. I would highly recommend an Avery earpiece. Fortunately, the one from my Era works with the HM7000. It is so much more comfortable and louder than using the stock earpiece. If you haven't already, do a quick search on the forums for reviews. It took me a while to pull the trigger because of the price, but I can never use another BT without one at this point.
In regards to the length of the boom mic, it is very similar in length to the Voyager Pro. Both reach around the half way point between my ear and mouth.
I used to be on the endless search for a BT that would give me the audio quality and noise cancelling that many of us want. Basically, TheBoom in a small wireless form factor. Unfortunately, I never found one. Now, I am happy with good incoming/outgoing sound with above average noise cancelling in a small package. I think I have found this in my last 3 purchases including the HM7000. I also use a Sennheiser BW900 for office use which is an awesome wireless headset with 300ft range. If it was more compact, I would use this out of the office as well because it gives me all the qualities I am looking for in a BT headset.. I still hold out hope that one day, we will find "the best" BT that makes us all happy, but I'm not holding my breath.
I own the HM7000 and Bose BT2, as well as the Pro HD, ERA, and a few others. Honestly, I've never had much luck with The Boom since I am a larger person and the boom doesn't reach close enough to my mouth to be effective - it actually works rather poorly.
Of the HM7000 and Bose BT2, I consider either better than the Pro HD and Era. The you tube of the Bose is quite poor compared to my personal experience. The noise cancellation is not as strong as the Samsung or even the era, but in most cases I am using it in moderate to low noise and it sounds more natural on outgoing audio than any other BT headset. However, when I am at an airport or other noisy conditions, the Samsung is the best of the bunch.
From a comfort perspective, the Samsung is pretty good - better than the era and lighter than the Pro HD. I find the Bose the most comfortable, so I tend to use it more often. If I had to choose just one, it would be the Samsung. It is a nice, albeit small, upgrade from the Pro HD.
I felt that the HM7000 was a good move from the Voyager Pro and Era that I had previously. I would highly recommend an Avery earpiece. ....... I also use a Sennheiser BW900 for office use which is an awesome wireless headset with 300ft range.
I think that's exactly what I'm looking for right now. Until TheBoom get off their butts and make a decent wireless headset, the HM7000 will probably be my goto set. I just ordered it, will see how it stacks up this weekend.
And wow - that BW900 is pricey. I've spent *way* more than that on all the other bluetooth headsets that I've stopped using, but still... not sure I'm ready for that one
Originally Posted by pluka
I own the HM7000 and Bose BT2, as well as the Pro HD, ERA, and a few others. Of the HM7000 and Bose BT2, I consider either better than the Pro HD and Era. However, when I am at an airport or other noisy conditions, the Samsung is the best of the bunch. If I had to choose just one, it would be the Samsung. It is a nice, albeit small, upgrade from the Pro HD.
Awesome, glad to see all signs pointing in the same direction.
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Here's something else I've been thinking - I do a lot of VOIP (skype, etc) for business conferences, and I only want stereo headsets for that. It's so much easier to hear when I have stereo vs. mono. Many of my coworkers use bluetooth PC headsets. Seems like there's no reason I couldn't get a bluetooth stereo headset with multipoint and use that as my home PC / phone headset (and use the HM7000 when I'm out of the house).
Anyone try this? Does multipoint work as well as you'd want?
I have more headsets than I can count. I use mine in high noise environments, typically the streets in NYC which are windy and loud. The Motorola H17 for some reason has a voice delay with my phone, its the only headset that does this so I don't really use it anymore. The Motorola HX-1 with stealth mode is hard to beat for a high noise area; incoming always sounds fine, in stealth mode outgoing I'm told doesn't sound great but it is fine for a conversation. Motorola really dropped the ball with the follow up to this, the Finiti; it was horrible and one of the few headsets I've actually returned.
So, that brings me to the one on your list, Bose Series 2. After reading reviews on this forum, I bought one. Very happy with it, no complaints on outgoing voice and incoming sounds great, nice and loud. One of the few (actually only two HX-1 being the other) where I can walk through midtown Manhattan and have a conversation where incoming and outgoing voice isn't washed out by the wind and background noise. With a boom, I'd imagine the HM700 is probably better sounding but when walking, headsets with booms tend to get off alignment and the outgoing sound gets easily muffled.
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Originally Posted by WirelessAndy
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