[bhazard]

I recently purchased the new Monoprice "Premium Bluetooth" headset, and realized it is an OEM of Bluedio headphones. (www.bluedio.com)
 
The sound signature reminded me of my old Crossfade LPs a bit. Very nice bass, relaxed mids and highs, but clear. These look exactly like the older Beats Studios, but with better sound and less distortion. These are geared more towards bass heads IMO.
 
They are 100ohm+, so they need a headphone amp to shine when wired. I believe they have an internal amp for Bluetooth mode, as it is much louder than wired (sans amp).
 
I noticed Bluedio has an updated R+ model with APT-X and BT 4.0 (lossless transmission and low energy), so I ordered them ($120 on ebay, $179 on Amazon). Supposedly distortion numbers were improved, as well as a few other upgrades. I should have mine later to test.
 
The battery is crazy good on the Monoprice (20+ hours and it still hasn't died). This should be even better with BT 4.0.

 

[bhazard]

Only $97 here:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Free-Shipping-Red-White-Black-Bluedio-R-NFC-Bluetooth-4-0-Headset-Wireless-Headphone-Earphone/108253_1150772046.html
 
These headphones are a basshead's dream. I haven't been able to get apt-x working though. I'm not sure if its my Azio BT adapter, or the headphones. Normally I think windows would tell you when an apt-x device is connected.
 

 

[bhazard]

I'm surprised there isn't much interest. I haven't found any other apt-x headsets anywhere near that price that sound good.

 

[RTacu]

With the look so similar to the Beats', I have doubt that people would be willing to shell out $100 to try, in someone's mind, another clone.
 
On the other hand, the Monoprice version of Bluetooth headphones (10246) in white color are on sale right now, at around $63.
 
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10823&cs_id=1082708&p_id=10246&seq=1&format=2#description

 

[bhazard]

That's the thing though, while it isn't an impulse buy at $20 like the Monoprice 8323s, you would think more people who tried the 8323s would try these.

 

[zkkzkk32312]

just got my R+ last night.
been testing bluetooth mode and wired mode.
dont have a SD card handy so need to test that later.
 
Functionality wise, I am very impressed.
Sound wise, very impressive quality with Bluetooth Mode.
 
However when you are using wire mode the sound is really bad,
mainly because there's a really bad compressor being used when you use wire mode.
(does not make any scense to me why they add a compressor to wired mode)
 
I am not a basshead, and i just realize that you can customize your Bluetooth EQ settings.
but in order to do that you need a USB-SPI debugging tool which i have no idea what that is.
if I can make a custom EQ to reduce some bass, I think R+ is truly hi-fi grade headphones while in bluetooth mode.
 
for anyone interested in the hacky firmware upgrades and custom EQ,
check out this link: http://www.bluedio.com/download.php?ref=567

 

[bhazard]

Quote:

just got my R+ last night.
been testing bluetooth mode and wired mode.
dont have a SD card handy so need to test that later.
 
Functionality wise, I am very impressed.
Sound wise, very impressive quality with Bluetooth Mode.
 
However when you are using wire mode the sound is really bad,
mainly because there's a really bad compressor being used when you use wire mode.
(does not make any scense to me why they add a compressor to wired mode)
 
I am not a basshead, and i just realize that you can customize your Bluetooth EQ settings.
but in order to do that you need a USB-SPI debugging tool which i have no idea what that is.
if I can make a custom EQ to reduce some bass, I think R+ is truly hi-fi grade headphones while in bluetooth mode.
 
for anyone interested in the hacky firmware upgrades and custom EQ,
check out this link: http://www.bluedio.com/download.php?ref=567

 
This is VERY helpful. It might fix the Apt-X issue I'm having. Nice find.
 
I don't think you need an USB-SPI adapter, because I don't see anywhere that it would plug in. I think it does it internally. I'll have to try the upgrade later.
 
It looks like you can possibly turn off the compressor in the EQ program too.
 
A bit less bass and bumped mids and highs, along with apt-x would make this a superb bluetooth headphone.

 

[zkkzkk32312]

I tried to play around with the 2 .zip files last night and no luck.
maybe you can figure something out.
the standard bluetooth mode sounds really good out of the box,
just a little too much bass for my personal taste.
 
another piece of information about stock EQ settings for bluetooth:
theres 2 preset built-in for bluetooth mode.
 
1st is flat (already boomy)
2nd is V shap (more boomy at around 250Hz mid-bass area  and more highs, but relatively less mids)
 
and yeah that compressor needs to be remove for wired mode for sure if you plan to use it for serious music......
I think once we get the customization to work, R+ will be in another league, both bluetooth mode/Wired Mode.

 

[bhazard]

I'll try later.
 
The price dropped to $89 on ebay for these too. That is an excellent price/value especially since it has a headphone amp built into it.

 

[bhazard]

I couldn't get the firmware update to connect and work either. Needs better instructions.

 

[zkkzkk32312]

Quote:

I couldn't get the firmware update to connect and work either. Needs better instructions.

have you tried just to change the EQ and ignore the firmware updater?
it won't even run on my windows 8 machine, 
need to test it on windows 7 machine later.

 

[chronometre]

I just got these today from aliexpress. Took like 3 weeks though.
 
Physical Design: 7/10
 
Overall nice looking. Comfortable. Has some weight but not heavy to really hurt your ears or anything. Decent passive noise cancelling since they are over the ear and there's not a terrible amount of noise leakage when on your head which I was concerned about that since I read that in a review but its not bad. 
 
Plastic is pretty 'creeky' and slightly 'loose' feeling and I just have to wonder how durable its going to be. Its the biggest off-putting thing about these guys. But its livable. I have pairs of sennheisers and audiotechnias that just wont ******* die and plastic/build quality on those guys makes absolutely no sound, but I wonder about bluedios.
 
As you know you can also put an sd card in there and listen to music bluetooth/stereo cable free which is pretty awesome but I'm not sure I'm gonna use that but its definitely cool since i'm not aware of anyone else doing that on their 300 dollar + headphones.
 
Range is pretty damn good. Unobstructed I was able to walk at least 50 feet away without any drops. And thats the whole point of wireless headphones.
 
Sound Quality: 8/10 (if I can resolve my random volume issues)
 
Sound quality is decent. Well worth 90 bux for bluetooth 4.0 and whatever benefit apt-x really gets you. Mids/highs obviously a bit muddy compared to my ath m50s but who wouldn't expect that. These actually have a bit more boomy bass than the ath m50s, which I like. Need to experiment with the built in EQ that you can somehow access with an executable on your PC but like others have commented the instructions are terrible. Cant they find at least someone in a country of billions who can translate? I noticed on their website they are shipping 400k headphones a month but they cant find anyone who speaks English? 
 
Its workable for phone conversations but I wouldn't want to do a business meeting on it...
 
BUT I'm having a bit of an audio problem. When streaming music the sound randomly gets softer and then back to normal a split second later. Results in some like warble sound. Happens sporadically, but its there. Like it loses power/signal strength briefly and comes right back. Makes it warble a bit. The closest thing I could compare it to is if these were RF headphones and it just gets softer for a split second. Pretty frustrating. Maybe its the EQ inside the headphones that is jacked up. Or APT-X is causing some issue. Or the amp. Or maybe I got a bad pair. Going to be very difficult to tell and you can't just easily go into best buy and swap these guys out so when buying these you almost have to write off your 90 bux.
 
Anyone else having any strange audio issues where it gets marginally softer, but its noticeable, for a split second then returns to normal?
 
Overall: 8/10 (if I can resolve my audio issue)
 
You're paying ~90 bucks for what beats wants ~270 for. But you have to wait a while on shipping. And you lose the ability to easily return them. And the build quality is a bit suspect. And my audio may or may not have an issue. lol. Overall I think its worth it to take a chance and save 180 bucks but you just gotta be able to eat the 90. If you don't like taking a chance, spend the extra money and get some name brand headphones. 
 
But seriously, any one else have my audio issue?

 

[chronometre]

Updated my review and clarified my audio problem. The sound randomly gets softer and then back to normal a split second later. Results in some like warble sound. Happens sporadically, but its there. Like it loses power/signal strength briefly and comes right back. Makes it warble a bit. The closest thing I could compare it to is if these were RF headphones and it just gets softer for a split second. 

 

[bhazard]

It's from a built in compressor. Its like active clipping protection going to the amp built inside of it.
 
This can actually be turned off through that EQ program though, but like you said, I can't figure the thing out. The instructions are missing critical pieces on how to actually make the connection. We might need some sort of SPI/USB adapter. I tried contacting the "after sales" email on bluedio's website, but they never respond. Haven't tried the other emails though.
 
Once we figure out how to do the firmware upgrade and adjust that EQ and compressor, the muddy mids/highs would go away. I'm hoping more people try to find a way, because once we are able to do that, there isn't anything on the market for under $300 with these capabilities, and this is just $90.

 

[chronometre]

Thanks for the reply. Good to know its just not my pair and theres a hopeful fix. It does go for long periods of time without doing it (or maybe i just dont notice) so its not earth shattering. I've emailed them too and will stay tuned to this thread...