asking dr. geeky: Bluetooth multi-device headsets

[topaz]

My goal: a Bluetooth headset that will both allow me to take hands-free calls on my phone, and play music from a BT-enabled music player, preferably without any reconfiguration nonsense.  I.e. hitting a button on the headset to switch devices is fine, but plugging it in to a computer to reconfigure which device it's talking to is not.  I want to be able to listen to music and take calls on the fly.

The phone and music player are separate devices.

I do not require the headset to provide stereo.  A single earpiece providing a mono version of the stereo stream would be fine.

Suggestions?

I stopped in at a RatShack this morning with a surprisingly helpful fellow who looked up the specs on the BT headsets they stocked in the store and confirmed they would not do what I needed.  He suggested that what might work would be to have the music player send its music stream to the phone, and then have the headset just talk directly to the phone.  A novel approach but it sounds worth investigating.

Comments

[fj.livejournal.com]

He suggested that what might work would be to have the music player send its music stream to the phone, and then have the headset just talk directly to the phone. A novel approach but it sounds worth investigating.

No phone I know can reroute a BT audio stream.

First: make sure the phone does not support the A2DP profile.

Second: look into this Sonorix BT headset (http://www.amazon.com/Sonorix-C3-Bluetooth-Removable-Earphones/dp/B000V1UGZ2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1217870039&sr=8-1).

The reason for condition one is that if the phone does not support the A2DP profile, pairing it with two different devices becomes easier. Check the Sonorix website to see if you can download the manual in PDF to examine that first.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

My current phone is the LG VX 9800 (http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/04/lg-vx9800-glowingly-reviewed/) -- no A2DP.

What I am learning elsewhere suggests that it isn't possible for a Bluetooth device to pair with two other devices at once, which I think is what I'm asking it to do (so the headset could notice that a call is coming in and advise me appropriately, even while it's playing music from the other device). Does that sound correct to you?

[fj.livejournal.com]

Check the user reviews: people are doing exactly that. Download the manual to make sure, i haven't used it with two different devices in a while and i'm not home.