Wireless sound. Third iteration

I was lucky and lately I had a chance to test three types of devices for general and individual sound reproduction. The first is the wireless speakers , the second is the excellent wireless headphones with bone sound transmission . Well, the third type was the classic closed headphones with a wireless type of connection.




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Equipment

We print out the box and see that the equipment is quite standard: wireless headphones, carrying case, cable for charging the built-in battery, 3.5 mm jack-jack cable and instructions in Russian.



Opportunities
After picking go to the specifications.


Closed headphones have a plastic rim with a ratchet adjustment of the removal. The ear cushions and part of the headband are covered with kozhzamom with foam rubber: the sensations are pleasant and the headphones fit tightly. The size of the ear cushions is sufficient to completely cover the ears and eliminate all surrounding sounds. For easy transportation, there are plastic loops that allow you to fold the headphones and reduce the space they occupy by almost half, and the carrying bag will protect the plastic from scratches.



A wireless headset can be connected to a sound source either wirelessly, via Bluetooth, or using a wire. This will allow you to continue listening to music, even if the battery has run out.

Operating experience
It's time to go directly to personal experience and impressions. Having fully enjoyed the external speakers and open headphones with bone transfer of sound, which I mentioned at the beginning of the article, I wanted to close myself from the outside world and enjoy my favorite music. It's nice that the headset allows you to connect directly to two audio sources wirelessly. For example, I connected directly to two smartphones. This is true if one is a working device, and the second is personal. And while listening to music, you can skip an important call. In the case of connecting to two phones at once, the music is paused and the call is on. At the same time, it does not matter which phone was called and where the music is played. I also connected the headset to the laptop, but I couldn’t connect to the smartphone, so be careful not to miss the call.
Since wireless headphones are most often connected to a smartphone, I decided to use the ZTE Axon Mini model as a sound source, as it has the AKM4961 chipset from Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Japan, which provides the highest quality playback of your favorite tracks. I connected to the smartphone both wirelessly and the wire that comes with the headphones.


Smartphone with a screen of 5.2 inches to understand the dimensions of the headphones.

And if by wireless connection the working distance within the line of sight is around 10 meters, then when connected with the supplied wire, it is reduced to 1.2 m. But such anchoring has one unconditional advantage: you can still listen to music even with a dead battery. True, the built-in microphone will not work - it only works when connected via Bluetooth.



Of course, the presence of AUX-input makes these headphones extremely competitive, because when you connect the charging cable, the wireless connection is turned off, and you want to listen to music on the road. It’s very easy to take an extremely compact, albeit long, cable for analog communication. Previous models tested by me were deprived of such an opportunity and had to pause when the battery was discharged.
I was extremely interested in whether the difference in sound would be felt when connected by wire or by wireless. I must say that I tested these headphones with two smartphones and one laptop. Two people took part in the testing to increase the objectivity of the assessment. The result is the following: the sound quality is equally decent for any type of connection. It should be borne in mind that with a wireless connection, the volume is adjusted on the headphones themselves, and not only on the smartphone, so when you connect it with a wire you will need to adjust the volume.

Control and sound
The control keys of the wireless headphones are located on the back of the right ear and are extremely convenient when controlling the thumb of the right hand. In this case, the buttons themselves are at a sufficient distance, which allows to avoid mistakes. The buttons are located from top to bottom in the following order: power on, volume up, volume down. With a long press on the power button, the headset goes into search mode and is available for connecting to new devices. In the operation mode, the same button with a short press puts the melody on pause. Double short press starts the call to the last number dialed. At the time of receipt of the call, a short press on the button will allow you to take a call, long-reject. A short press of the volume up button switches the player to play the next tune, a short press on the volume down button - and the player rolls back to the previous tune in the track list. By long pressing these buttons, the volume is adjusted directly.



Go to the sound. I mentioned that I used different sound sources for the test, including smartphones and a laptop. It should be noted that in terms of good audio, the sound source depends not less than on the headphones themselves, and the whole sound picture is revealed when three important factors come together: high-quality recording, high-quality sound source, high-quality headphones. And when I connected to ZTE Axon Mini and turned on my favorite EQ profile, and as a test track I chose a melody in lossless quality, then I felt the beauty of this headset. Channel separation feels good, low frequencies sound bold and tangible. The mids fill the sound picture well and let you feel the voice and the basic instruments. But the high frequencies do not make it much better, which will upset only true lovers of “warm tube sound”. The main users of these headphones listen to music from social networks, watch movies on the subway, and sometimes launch the player with downloaded mp3 songs, so the quality of the reproduced sound is completely satisfied. This will also contribute to a very good sound insulation from the outside world due to the dense cushions and hinged bowls with speakers. Surrounding will not hear anything in the presence of at least some noticeable background noise.

Ergonomics
The quality of materials no complaints at all. Plastic is two-tone and pleasant to the touch, although it is not a soft touch.



Control buttons are conveniently located and reach them is not difficult. At the bottom of the right ear are power connectors, audio connections and a microphone. It's nice that now, one device and one microUSB cable are suitable for charging almost all devices. For an analog connection to the sound source, a jack of 3.5 mm is used, so if the dog’s native cable gnaws the dog or its length is suddenly not enough (remember, the cable length is 120 cm), the same wire is sold in any hardware store.



We now turn to sound quality when using headphones as a headset. It is clear that the interlocutor is audible in closed headphones just fine, and the interlocutor will hear very well thanks to the high-quality microphone. The microphone is located closer to the mouth than the AfterShokz Bluez 2 headphones, so the speaker can be heard much better. So, in this discipline, you can award a headset of 5 with a slight minus, but if you compare it just with a tube at the ear.
It should be noted that after a couple of hours of using the headset, the ears are sweating. This is the price paid for a tight fit of the headphones on the head and closed ear cushions with foam rubber. But with the active actions of the headset does not move out and does not fall from the head.

Conclusion
Wireless headphones closed - this is an inexpensive and high-quality solution for individual listening to music. In this case, the device also copes with the role of the Bluetooth headset. Separate plus for the possibility of analog connection to sound sources that do not have a bluetooth adapter (stationary computers, amplifiers or old players). The same connection can be used when the built-in headphone battery is dead. The headset is comfortable, compact when folded, and also holds very tightly on the head, so it can be safely recommended for purchase to those who have not yet acquired quality headphones and lead an active lifestyle. You can buy it here .