en Passant

Recently I invested in a pair of Motorola R0kr S9 headphones for my computer at home. Playing games at night after the family is asleep, I'd be the only one to let the dog out. Pause game (brb), take headphones off, run over to patio door, let dog out, reverse, then repeat when the dog wanted back in. That's why when a friend said he wanted this headset, I jumped at the idea. Wireless, light and even has a built in microphone which I could potentially use for chatting online.

I got no strings.. It utilizes BlueTooth, so ideally it would work with any BT enabled device (cell phones, laptops, MP3 players). Since this was for my desktop PC, I needed to invest in a BT adapter for my computer. I only had one requirement, it needed to support A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) for the headset. I chose the Jabra A320, which Dell had on-sale for about $20 at the time. With this, I can roam about 20-30 feet from my computer and still hear the game. If the signal has to go through walls, the connection is spotty, but still useful for play.

What I like: It is a great headset, wireless, light and feels durable. The default earbuds are a bit stiff and hard on my ears (especially after wearing them for a few hours), but it comes with 2 other options that I have yet to explore. If necessary, they are loud enough, that I can put them around my neck and hear the game also.

What I'd change: Being wireless, they are not always powered on. With only a 6hr battery life, I need to turn them off and hook them up the my USB cable to recharge them after every use. So I can't just throw them on my head and start playing. Supposedly if I turn them on, then load the game, (or media player,) they will auto-connect and start working. I've had spotty luck on that. Sometimes, I can turn on the headset, wait 10-20 seconds, then go into the games interface, select the Motorola Stereo Headset option from the available sound-cards and select go. My most reliable connection has been to escape out of the game, and connect using the BlueTooth interface and clear the security popup "Motorola S9 is attempting to connect to the BT adapter. Click to allow.". Annoying, but there's nothing wrong with a extra few seconds before starting up the game, to have that extra freedom of running into the kitchen to get a snack and still hear the game playing.

Overall, I love the headset. After about 2 months of usage, I still enjoy the sound quality out of them. I hadn't noticed all the ambient sounds that are in WoW before these phones. I might even consider getting a second pair for use with my MP3 player someday.