Hello!
My epic continues on finding the best option for an inexpensive headset or headphones for sports.
The previous experience of buying Philips sports headphones was unsuccessful. You can read about it here.
The earbuds were happily sold on avito for half the price. Everything suited the new buyer, and at that moment I envied the unpretentiousness of his ears, although I always considered my ears 'omnivorous'.
Be that as it may, I was again faced with the question of buying a headset for a specific purpose – cycling. Yes, many people think that when cycling it is better to do without music at all, or use Bluetooth – a column, but this is not my option. It's boring without music, and a speaker is, at least, very impolite towards others – I ride in the city, and I don't want to impose my musical tastes on others.
After some deliberation, the choice fell on the Sony STH30. The headset came out a long time ago, but I still couldn't get my hands on it. And then the reason appeared. I will say right away that before buying Philips, this headset was among the contenders, but the appearance and design of Philips at that time seemed to me more sporty, so last time Sony was left waiting in the wings on the store shelf. This hour has come.
Before starting, I would like to make a small digression.
I decided that in my articles I will pay minimum attention to packaging, equipment, and a description of the appearance, since I believe that all this can be understood from the photo, and my ten lines in the style of the captain, the obviousness will not change the essence. Instead, I'll try to focus on the ergonomics experience, the practical design nuances that you don't see in the photographs, and of course the sound.
But now, the headset has been bought, brought home, thoroughly studied and even used for its intended purpose.
Go.
Equipment
The package is what it should be. A box, a typeface, and a couple of pages of junk that no one reads.
The headphones are fixed on a cardboard base with plastic ears. The cable runs through the lugs on a cardboard backing.
In terms of ease of unpacking, everything is typical for Sony – you can't just take it, take it out without breaking the box.
Materials and appearance
Round rubber cable. Up to the remote control it is noticeably thick, which, however, does not prevent it from being remarkably entangled.
A thinner round cable made of the same material is used from the remote control to the headphones.
We can say about him that he was probably created to get confused better. Simply put the earbuds in your pocket to get tangled up. Sony, why couldn't a flat cable be used? No answer…
The body of the earbuds is made of glossy, hard plastic, which is excellent at picking up scratches. The shape is unusual, in the style of 'small hair dryer' (thanks Apple).
The side markings are printed on the inside of the earbuds in a typical Sony two-tone design.
The ends of the case are crowned with a metal washer with the manufacturer's name written on it.
The plug is L-shaped, gold-plated. Should be more reliable than direct.
Features of design and operation
The cable contains a remote control with three buttons that allow you to control playback and calls. The central button is metal, comfortable. The volume buttons are rubber, tight, and it is inconvenient to press them.
There is a microphone hole on the back of the remote control. We will talk about the quality of speech transmission in the chapter on sound.
The cables coming out of the console are unbalanced. Sony quite often uses a design with different cable lengths in headphones and headsets. Someone likes this option, but I prefer the symmetrical one, because when wearing a wire around your neck, the headphones always slide to one side, and you have to constantly correct them, which is annoying. A clothespin, it is not always possible to fasten it conveniently, and I do not like clothespins.
There is one more nuance when wearing these headphones in your ears. Due to the fact that the case is glossy, and does not have such a pronounced ergonomic shape as the same EarPods, when placed in the ear, you need to make sure that the headphones are placed at the same angle, otherwise the sound will be different, keep this in mind. The first time I encountered this was when, having driven a certain distance, I caught myself thinking that the sound in the right earpiece is worse and more muffled. I stopped, twisted the earpiece in my right ear and, lo and behold, the sound became the same.
At the same time, despite the fact that the headphones do not have any additional fixation elements in the ear, they do not fall out of their ears. However, exactly until the time when the ears do not sweat. As soon as the ears are sweaty, the fit becomes not so secure, and the earpiece starts tossing and turning in the ear, and tries to slip out.
The remote control has smooth ends with rubber couplings, which is why it practically does not cling to clothing. I was very pleased with this fact.
Due to the design of the headphones (in-ear), the microphone effect is almost invisible, which can be heard only when the music is turned off, and then only slightly. Not annoying at all.
An important point that pleased me very much – the headset has protection according to the ip57 standard, which means that you can listen to music in the rain without consequences and even briefly immerse it to a depth of 1 meter without compromising performance.
The presence of such a standard of protection is a definite plus. I will definitely test this parameter – I will ride it in the rain! I probably won't swim in it. ?
Sound
First, I'll tell you about the quality of the microphone.
Considering the design, the microphone is located close to the mouth. Due to this, the quality of speech transmission is very good, or even good. When there is no wind around, the interlocutors hear you clearly and clearly. No complaints about sound. At the same time, apparently, the headset uses a noise reduction system, thanks to which the interlocutors could hear me well even in a noisy place. However, this system cannot cope with strong winds.
If we talk about the sound quality in headphones, then this parameter can be described as 'quite good'. But let's dwell on this parameter in more detail.
SGS7 and Xiaomi Mi 4 were used as the source.
As content, Prime Test CD1 and Spotify.
The first thing I noticed is that the sound of the headset depends very much on the source and content. With SGS7 and Spotify, the sound seemed to me somehow expressionless and empty. Indistinct bass. Flat top and middle. There is no juiciness and fullness. This upset me, as I was planning to use it just in this combination.
After that, I connected the headset to Xiaomi Mi 4. There was a feeling that this is a different headset. The sound became saturated, and an elastic bass appeared. It has become much more pleasant to listen to. However, the miracle did not happen. The top remained empty, strangled. But the middle was a little better.
After that, the headset was tested with a test disk on SGS7. The overall picture hasn't changed much. The sound added color, and nothing more.
Needless to say, everything turned out much better with Xiaomi and PrimeTest CD1. This fact upset me even more. But, there is nothing to do, for the duration of the trips you will either have to give up both Spotify and SGS7. I'm not ready for either.
If we talk about genre preferences, then this is a headset for electronic and dance music. She copes with these genres quite well. You can listen without frowning.
At the same time, I do not advise listening to complex instrumental and heavy music with its help. The headset gives in to these genres regardless of the source. The sound turns to mush. Headphones don't hold attack. It becomes difficult to disassemble individual tools. You will hardly get pleasure from such listening.
The general feeling is that the headphones have a very narrow range.
To summarize the above, the Sony STH30 is a headset that is suitable for listening to simple electronic music, dance music and similar, uncomplicated genres, and is absolutely not suitable for listening to complex instrumental music with sharp amplitude transitions and a large number of instruments.
Perhaps I will give it to one of my acquaintances or friends who are less demanding on sound, and I myself will continue to search for the ideal inexpensive earbuds for sports. Fortunately, the weather turned bad and the snow that had fallen made me bring my bike onto the balcony, and again gave me time to search.