I'm so upset with my new HT820 Bluetooth headphones :(

[Pure Krome]

*sigh*

for months/years i've been waiting for stereo cordless wrap-around-the-back-of-the-neck headphones.

first we got mono/single ear BT headphone.
next we got stereo BT headphones but they were big and went OVER the top of head.
now we have (on paper/in a photo) the headphones i was after.

so i decided to jump out and purchase these puppies: http://direct.motorola.com/ens/BTStereoHS_Web_ProductHome.asp?country=USA&language=ENS]Motorola's StereoMoto HT820 Bluetooth headphones AND the motorola 850 (i think that's the number) dongle (with the proper A2DP profile).

so i get it, set it up on my PC first (very easy) then start using it. Sweat! works great .... except there's no mic ... as in, my no one can hear me on VOIP. er, hello?

after hours of googling, trial and error the frickin' units only support stereo music _OR_ the old school mono sound and mic .... _NOT_ the high quality stereo music AND mic.

W T F !!!!!!

boy am i heart broken and dissapointed (and nearly $au200 lighter).

You would think SOMEWHERE in the packaging that someone might have said this.

/me has been burnt and hurt - by BT or Motorola or both?

wish i could just get them working with high quality stereo and mic.

i also wish i could goto the moon and buy a porche.

[Sven Johannsen]

Headphones don't have mics. They are for listening. Headsets do have mics. They are for conversations. The Motorola has both the A2DP profile and the headset/handsfree profile. They are mutually exclusive. The idea is that you pair the headphones (A2DP) with your stereo source and the headset/handsfree with your BT capable phone. When a call comes in while you are "rockin' out", you tap the button, the stereo stops and you take the call. When the call is over, you press the button and the tunes start back up. The call does play over both ear pieces incidentally, but it is mono, as there just aren't many stereo phone service providers around, and .trust me, VoIP is neither stereo nor high quality.

You should be able to use the headset feature for things like Skype...if your PC BT implementation supports the headset/handsfree profile.

[Pure Krome]

yeah Sven, that's exactly what is happening -> only after a lot of trial and error and research.

the PACKAGING i found was extreamly misleading. You are a mobile specialist / guru. I'm definatly not. I felt that the marketing of the product is aimed at anyone in the mobile / cordless market, not a niche of specialists in this market.

i feel like i've been lied to, that's all.

I suppose motorola will say it's aimed at mobile phones, not PC's. For my pc, i have to

1) turn pc on - no programs in start up, current sound device is High Def BT Audio.
2) click button on headset - this changes the sound device to the low quality and mic is now ON.
3) run my voip program (i have some 3COM voip software).
4) click button and sound is now back to high def.

i suppose i'm still disapointed that in 2006 they still haven't got a headset that handles high qual streaming sound AND mic.

from all intents and purposes i felt like they didn't explain their product correctly or accuratly.

*sigh*

[Sven Johannsen]

I don't think it is really a Motorola/OEM issue. It's a BT issue. Unfortunately, you are right, BT requires you to be a bit more techie than it should if it wants to appeal to a broader range of folks.

The issue is in the profiles, those canned scenarios of what you are doing with your BT device(s). The A2DP profile is designed to broadcast stereo in one direction, source to listener. The capability to send anything but control signals back is minimal, and that may even be a thing called AVRCP (audio visual r? control protocol). That's so you can control the source, forward, back, etc.

Another scenario is the headset/handsfree profile which is designed to give you a remote headset for two way sound. It's not designed to be high quality as the things it is intended to support like phones and VoIP are not high quality.

There is the issue that the low data rate of BT might not be able to support both stereo an mic, but I don't believe that, it is a full duplex radio system and the data flow in each direction should be pretty much indepenent. I think it is more likely that the designers just didn't consider a need for HiFi in one direction and LowFi in the other.

I don't really expect the A2DP profile to pic up microphone capabilities, or the headset/handsfree profile to get significantly better in fidelity, but it would be nice if the implementers would consider and fix some of the currently marginal capabilities.

It would be nice if tapping the headphone button when connected to a PC, the sound would consistantly transfer to the headphones and back. It would be nice if when there was a Skype (or other VoIP) call coming in that pressing the button would pause the media, switch to handsfree and direct the audio accordingly. Tapping at the end of call should switch back to media and 'play'. Right now I think there are lots of interactions that require some cooperation/coordination/standards that aren't mature yet. I bet it works just like that on the Motorola phones these things were designed for, but Motorola has control over their own process so it makes it a lot easier to implement.

I bet it will happen, and not too long from now. If you think about it the existance of BT stereo headsets is only about a year old, and a significant assortment of them is probably less than 6 months old. A couple of years ago a BT headset was an oddity, now they are thrown in with a phone many times.

[Pure Krome]

great post sven :)

as i get older, i sometimes get more impatient with technology :oops:

looking forward to the day when we can have a true wireless headset that is good quality, full duplex audio/mic. :)

[RobinE]

I can add my disappointment to this thread! After buying a fancy new Motorola V3i cellphone and a Motorola HT820 stereo headset, I've just learned from a Motorola support line that the V3i doesn't support that headset - only the V3x does!! This is despite the phone being sold with iTunes music software etc. If anyone learns that Motorola has remedied this glaring defect, I'd be interested to know!

[Pure Krome]

well, after a few more weeks of using my headset, all i can so far summarise is that it's pretty poor _on a pc_.

it's EXTREAMLY difficult getting it to work in BT High Quality Audio mode. I don't know why, but things like MEDIA PLAYER, etc just don't want to work (ie. no sound output). i click the button and it goes from 'Bluetooth Audio' mode into 'BT HQA' mode (i check this by checking the 'control panel -> sound and audio devices properties').

it's crap :(

and it's killing me that it's crap.

i _have_ heard some music in high qual a few times (and the quality is nice), but i just can't get it working any more - it's so flakey.

/me is sooooooooooooo upset :(