Palm Treo Headphone Adapter Review
by: Kris KeilhackAugust 15, 2006
Other than the lack of a larger LCD, my biggest gripe with Palm’s Treo line is the baffling lack of a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack. With SD cards currently available in 4gb capacities and larger sizes on the horizon, users will naturally to want to realize their Treo’s media playback/gaming capabilities in glorious stereo.
I’ve been using a Bluetooth headset for two years now and have absolutely no use whatsoever for the Treo’s standard 2.5mm headset jack. While there are a handful of stereo earbuds + microphone combo units out there their driver quality usually leaves much to be desired. With no integrated solution or A2DP Bluetooth functionality in sight, it’s nice to see companies like Palm and Seidio at least attempting to address the Treo’s lack of stereo headphone support for users like me who prefer to carry their own high-quality headphones or earbuds.
Styling and Availability
I purchased my Palm-branded adapter at a Franklin Covey store while traveling for $9.99. It was a rather spure-of-the-moment purchase because I wanted to listen to some music in my hotel room but hadn’t brought anything along other than my Treo. The headphone adapter is also available online for $5.95.
The adapter came in the old brown and orange PalmOne blister packaging. To date I actually have not seen the adapter for sale anywhere other than online and at Franklin Covey or Palm retail stores.
Design and Construction
This is one of the larger, thicker headphone adapters on the market. More recent offerings such as the slick Seidio 2-in-1 adapter feature sleeker designs, gold plated contacts and retracable cords.
Palm’s offering is a very basic, barebones unit. This would probably work on any other smartphone or cell phone with a standard 2.5mm headset jack though many units do not output their signal in stereo through this port.
I found the Palm unit’s body thick and quite unwieldy. It’s also a bit fragile feeling when sticking out of the bottom of the Treo. This product is definitely something I’d feel more comfortable using on a plane or a train instead of listening while on the go.
Performance
I performed nformal testing of 192kb MP3 files using Pocket Tunes 3.1.6 with Sony Fontopia MDR-EX71 and Shure E2C earbuds. There was no significant difference in audio playback quality between my 700p + adapter vs. my Palm TX’s standard headphone jack.
I was also able to rig up a decent rental car MP3 solution by plugging an iRiver FM modulator into the headphone adapter. I was able to charge my Treo’s battery and play tunes over the car’s FM radio!
Pros:
-It’s cheap
-Available online as well as in Palm retail stores & kiosks
Cons:
-Horribly bulky
-Feels rather fragile when connected to the Treo
-Still not a proper replacement for an internal Treo 3.5mm jack
It’s a decent enough impulse purchase for less than $10. Hardcore music aficionados should look to one of the more streamlined options or carry a separate mp3 player. Hopefully Palm will make all of these aftermarket solutions obsolete with a real headphone jack and Bluetooth A2DP support in future Treos!
My overall rating: 
2.5 / 5
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RE: I would have given it .00001 star
Verizon, insanely enough but typical for them, doesn't include the same stereo headset + mic unit in the box that Sprint does.
My Treo 700P was a very early Verizon unit so they may be bundling it now (doubtful).
Those Nokias look lovely and all but until Palm or a 3rd party gets ROCK SOLID stable A2Dp support in their devices, it's just a pipedream.
I fear it's going to take Apple & Creative standardizing on A2DP BT headphone support for the standard to catch on (and even then it only has a glimmer of hope of really gaining traction).
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
Elbow?
Yes, Palm is insanely holding to the 2.5mm receptor, when the device is BT compatible. Just include the 3.5mm like the rest of the audio world and include a cheesy wired earpiece that uses 3.5mm instead of 2.5mm.
I had this stupid adapter and one of my kids lost it. Good riddance! I got another adapter off eBAY for $3 or $4 bucks that is straight and it is much better. Another option is the adapter that has about 3 inches of wire between the male and female. Either of these options are much better than this elbowed beast.
Pat Horne
RE: Elbow?
For a $700 "smart" phone that touts it's multimedia power, I find it odd (but not out of character) that Palm hasn't gotten around to putting a standard 3.5" audio jack at the top of the Treos. Rigging up an elbow 2.5"-3.5" adapter to your headset of choice then having the whole shebang yanked on continually is *not* a good solution - it's a complete kludge. Yet Palm still ships these things as though they can be used to replace an iPod. Yikes.
As much as I'd love to use my licensed version of Pocket Tunes Deluxe to regularly stream internet audio, it's only an occasional treat when I can hold the whole thing together safely. Basically, since Palm can't seem to design a proper hardware interface for multimedia, Ipods (or equivalent) are necessary for any serious listening unless you want to risk destroying your "smart" phone.
You can bet Palm will deny you warranty coverage when that $6.95 elbow adapter eventually destroys your headset jack from the leverage it puts on it..
RE: Elbow?
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: Elbow?
RE: Elbow?
Pat Horne
RE: Elbow?
I'd love it if someone like Sony, Shure, Koss, Sennheiser, Etymotic etc came out with something approaching prosumer quality quality 2.5mm stereo earbuds (both with and without an inline mic)-at least with sound quality equivalent to a $50 paid of 3.5mm 'buds!
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Elbow?
>freakout @ 8/15/2006 9:14:17 PM
>Have you considered BT headphones, joad? (horribly expensive, I >know...)
I have a set of Logitech BT ones that work O.K. with the Softick Audio Gateway. They were about $40 A.R. which isn't "horribly" expensive, at least to me. But:
1) I prefer the simplicity and reliability of wired devices
2) Palm doesn't support A2DP natively, so you are basically running a kludgy hack. It works, but isn't at all elegant or solidly reliable.
3) With BT headphones you are stuck with selecting from what very few are manufactured. You have battery limitations. In the case of the Logitech ones they have a nasty habit of breaking easily.
So even though you can get BT headphones at "horribly expensive" prices, they have their drawbacks. As 3.5mm jacks are the industry standard and there are thousands of models from which to pick to fit anyone's desire it seems common sense for Palm to simply put one in their devices. I'll be happy to have Palm just get the BT working reliably for the phone portion of the Treo!
What the review doesn't mention...
Still not a patch on the gold-plated Seidio one, though, and doesn't look half as good.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: What the review doesn't mention...
RE: What the review doesn't mention...
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: What the review doesn't mention...
wake up, dumbass. you cannot have differente wuality in them. it is 3 ****ign wires!
-----------
Software engineer at PalmPowerups.com
TH55/U + T|X2 + T|E2 + Zire 72 + Zire 31 + Visor Prism + WristPDA
RE: What the review doesn't mention...
You can hear a difference between cheap equipment and pricey stuff, and I don't give a damn if you think I'm nuts.
If you couldn't hear a difference, then why does high-end stereo equipment exist in the first place?
Dumbass.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: What the review doesn't mention...
"Cable Quality Factors:
Listen, I don’t want to get into the myriad of possibilities and examples of how cables can fail. I’d rather get right down to it and explain how cable construction and quality will make a difference in sound and image quality.
The signals that flow down your audio and video cables are in essence electrical voltage; granted it’s a tiny amount of voltage but susceptible to interference just the same. Just as the quality of the components in your receiver or DVD player make a difference in your sound and images, so can your cables.
Many factors go into what makes a “quality cable”. Some of those factors include: the purity of copper strands in cable itself; the type, design, and construction quality of the connector. Even the outer jacket material of the cable, which can reduce interference from other electrical sources, plays into how a cable “sounds”.
Even though you might think a small amount of voltage shouldn’t matter one way or another to how much interference your system receives, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt even a small amount of voltage that intersects a poorly shielded cable at just the right point, can degrade the overall sound/image quality of your system.
The most important function of an audio/video cable is to neither add nor subtract anything of its own to the signal flowing through it. This sounds incredibly simple but it’s obvious (to me at least) that many cables fail to do this. If I take cable (A) and play a few seconds of audio through it and take another cable (B) and do the same but (A) sounds significantly better, what other conclusion am I left with?"
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
Cheap??
When I saw this "review" appear on the PIC homepage I quickly checked my calendar to see if it was already April again...
Visit www.tapland.com for Zodiac news and discussion.
2.5mm is the phone standard....
Personally, I'd prefer they ditched it completely for a 3.5mm jack - and one on the bottom of the device as well - but I can see where they're coming from.
I agree they should include the stereo adapter in the box.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: Cheap??
Legacy?
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: Cheap??
Except, ummm, the billions made by that small Finnish outfit you may have heard of, what's it's name.... I think Nokia...
Visit www.tapland.com for Zodiac news and discussion.
RE: Cheap??
Case in point: there's six people in the office with me today, and they ALL have phones with 2.5mm jacks.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: Cheap??
3.5: industry standard audio jack (look at your computer, ipod, home stereo)
When you have a device that serves both functions, best to include both jacks.
RE: Cheap??
Visit www.tapland.com for Zodiac news and discussion.
Mono
- The 2.5 mm head set jack.
- The 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack.
Both have 3 electrical connectors:
- 2.5 mm head set jack:
- Common.
- Speaker.
- Mic.
- Common.
- 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack:
- Common.
- Left Speaker.
- Right Speaker.
- Common.
Therefore, this adapter does not and cannot provide stereo output. It can only provide the mono signal to both the left and right headphone speakers.
RE: Mono
http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1888275
Model Number: 3191WW
Get full stereo sound on your Treo™ 650 or 600 smartphone using standard headphones.
COMPATIBLE WITH:
Treo 700p
Treo 700w
Treo 600
Treo 650
So...shall we all try to raise a ruckus with Palm for false advertising? ;-)
Thanks for the tip, Potter. While I don't have any really good songs featuring stereo separation on my SD card, I just relistered to a few of them and it indeed sounds like mono to my feeble ol' ears. Amazing how I never notice these sorts of things unless I am "listening" for them.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Mono
RE: Mono
RE: Mono
This is super weird.
I just listened to my Treo again using what I had here in front of me here at the office: a pair of cheap Sony headphones that came bundled with a Discman and a pair of Logitech 2.1 desktop PC speakers with a line-in jack. Utilizing the Treo adapter I used for the review, the cheap headphones sound like they are in mono but the speakers definitely have a good sense of stereo separation!
So your comments about the Palm Developers' Guide is correct. Obviously certain low-impedence products like some (cheap?) headphones will be treated differently than something like a stereo line patch cord or an FM Transmitter.
Thinking back I've probably had 6 different devices connected to my Treo: My fairly good Sony earbuds, my very good Shure earbuds, my iRiver FM transmitter, the Logitech speakers, a pair of cheap Sony headphones and a pair of worthless no-name freebie headphones. All of the better name-brand items sound "stereo" whereas the cheap freebie headphons sound distinctly mono.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
Elbow Adapter Breaks Treo Jack!
Fortunately I was able to return the Treo still under warranty.
This Seidio adapter causes much less strain on the jack, is cheaper, and takes the brunt of possible damage.
I have replaced the Seidio adapter at least once, and have had no issues with the Treo jack. I know at least one Treo person whose Treo jack breaks, and ends up having to use this adapter for audio, which plugs into the Palm Connector:
This I would have had to buy if my Treo was out of warranty, as happened with my aforementioned fellow Treonaut. ;)
Crap
The commenter before pointed to a much better solution. I have the seido adapter, but I'm even careful with that.
And stereo bluetooth phones won't work with the Treo 650, as far as I know because it doesn't support BT 2.0
RE: Crap
The 700P supports BT 1.2
But all of that is a moot point since the A2DP profile is not supported and Softick's Audiogateway program is still very, very buggy.
The easiest and most elegant solution possible would be the inclusion of a simple 3.5mm stereo headphone jack on the Treo. WIth the new models moving the SD slot to the side that completely frees up the top panel for a headphone jack.
I don't understand why Palm's so stubborn about this...With the Treo & standard headphones they act like they do with keeping a charge LED and an internal microphone off of their handheld models.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Crap
The only "leveraging" anyone at Palm seems to care about is a leveraged buyout. There is a reason the iPod has always had the jack at the top of the device. Leave it to Palm to put the jack in the worst possible location for the durability of the device. (Actually, blame Handspring for the original placement - but Palm's had 2-3 chances to fix it over the past 3 years...)
Not Even Close
No audiophile would ever listen to music mangled into an MP3 file.
Yes, MP3s butcher music, but they serve a function
Don't be silly. Most true audiophiles can easily adjust from critically listening to music on high end gear to "kickin' back the tunes" on a decent MP3 player. It's all about context. Only a pretentious twit can't see the difference. The dumba$$es that biotch endlessly about the masses (ironically) moving from CD to MP3 as a format of choice are also the same dumba$$es that rave about B.S. like the Shun Mook Mpingo discs, etc.
Of course there is a HUGE range in the quality of Lo-Fi audio, but with a little effort it's possible to get an MP3 player that produces adequate sound for mobile listening. (e.g. LAME-encoded 320 kbps files playing on an iRiver iFP-799.) Yes, the MP3 format butchers percussion and can't resolve subtle detail worth a damn, but is that REALLY essential for music being played on car stereos, cellphones, desktop computer speakers, etc.?
Pick yer battles, Bubba. (But if anyone starts trying to push MP3 as a serious format for home listening, I've got your back...)
TVoR
- Audiophile
RE: Not Even Close
TVoR
-Videophile
;-)
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Not Even Close
WHAT?? ... sorry, couldn't hear you over the sound of the generator. You know. The one I take with me everywhere to power my vinyl plaer.
:P
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
RE: Not Even Close
TVoR
-Videophile
;-)
And that's one sweet television, hkklife! I'm actually not a videophile, but I do appreciate the quality of the 960. I don't expect to buy another TV for at least 10 years, so I was lucky to find the 960 before the stocks completely dried up a few months ago.
TVoR
Palm Treo Headphone Adapter Review--why not bluetooth?
RE: Palm Treo Headphone Adapter Review--why not bluetooth?
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
Softick Audio Gateway question
I'm seriously considering a pair of Nokia HS-12W earbuds, (http://tinyurl.com/o7gs8) but there's not much point if they're incompatible with half my library.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
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I would have given it .00001 star
http://www.blueunplugged.com/Products/Original_Nokia_Wireless_Stereo_Headset_HS_12W.aspx