Nokia E61 as my iPod Nano Replacement
I have previously described how I use my Nokia E61 as an iPod Nano replacement and how I sync my Nokia E61 to my iTunes library. Well, earlier this week my transformation of the Nokia E61 as an iPod replacement took an important step forward.
One critical, but missing piece, was how to use my favourite set of headphones, Shure, with my Nokia E61. This lead me to order a Nokia AD-15 Audio Adapter.
Only *after* I placed my order did I discover through the help of a kind reader that there are plenty of cheaper no-name solutions that will let you plug a standard 3.5mm audio headset to the Nokia "Pop-Port". The Nokia AD-15 cost me about $15 and I think you can get the generic equivalent for a third of that price.
Here is the sweet set-up - my Nokia E61, the Nokia AD-15 Audio Adapter and the Shure E3c.
July 7th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
Thanks for visiting my web site, and I have made my mind up about the E61. Reading through the extensive information you have here, I have to own one of these. Wait, I’m going to have to save first. Damn.
I think I’m going to vote for 48 as well … make it an even two days.
July 7th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
LOL, that’s a good one Jen
July 7th, 2006 at 11:59 pm
With the AD-41 adapter it’s possible to control the music player (play stop ff rew) and it has call button and mic, and takes any 3.5″ plug earbuds (like this Shure). The AD-15 must be removed to make or recieve a call.
July 8th, 2006 at 12:16 am
Im not sure how big the E61 is compared to an Ipod Nano, but your setup there looks rather big. How do you cary that around? The setup looks like a nice replacement, as you said, why spend 199 USD when you can use the E61. Lovely creation, but a bit large
July 8th, 2006 at 4:56 am
I’ve bought a Nokia AD46 to have the ability to use my headphones as a headset (a microphone is included in the AD46).
The sound is too loud, even at a 10% level, always popping. A lot worse than my SE K750i, I’m very disappointed and will buy a new nano when it’s out.
July 8th, 2006 at 7:26 am
I use the HS-24 instead of the adapter and it works pretty well too. Given the price I paid for the headset (~$15) it was good enough for listening to podcasts and occasional musics when I don’t want to carry an iPod.
July 8th, 2006 at 7:37 am
Thanks for the comments guys. Well when I first put this together it did coincide with my Nano braking. At the same time I saw that the price for 2 Gig Mini SD wasn’t that bad at all. So the idea was born to try to piece together a solution that would work for me. I guess the driving force is to use the E61 in as many different ways as possible. To Daniel’s point - it is a bit large but I wanted to see *whether* it could be done and it could. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and do share any interesting set up and usages of the E61.
Time for coffee.
July 8th, 2006 at 8:36 am
I bought a Bluetooth Wireless Headset (HS-12W) and the sound is awful! I think I am going to get the HS-23. If anyone has experience, please let me know.
July 9th, 2006 at 7:03 am
aureate: I have the HS-23, I mistyped in my previous comment.
July 9th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
I just ordered a AD-46, it will be permanately attached to my the AUD-IN of my car stereo so I can listen to mp3s and podcasts in the car.
For jogging, the E61 is a bit big to hold. I just ordered an E70, hopefully that will be easier to run with.
July 9th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Hi Phil,
That is one sweet setup. Yes, jogging with the E61 would be a bit too bulky but I am sure it is practical to do it with the E70.
Cheers,
July 10th, 2006 at 6:45 am
Hi! Amazing site(blog) you have here. Just love it, as my new Nokia E61. Keep up the the good work. A question: Seems that the music player of the E61 is a “lite” version of the music player from N91. Anyway to get it into the E61? i think it have equalizer, etc? Thanks.
July 11th, 2006 at 5:41 am
[...] Maggiori informazioni qui [...]
July 11th, 2006 at 10:32 am
I am planning to get the AD-41 plus the HS-20 combination as this adapter allows for phone call without removing the adapter like the AD-15 you mentioned. Any comment would be appreciated.
Do you use the built-in Music Player app?
Is there a way to scroll/fastforward to the middle of a song (within a song). I listen to a lot of eBooks and without the capability to scroll/ff, the Music Player is just not practical.
Are there alternative players out there?
Thanks.
KZ
July 12th, 2006 at 1:38 am
I just posted stating how poor the sound quality is, but maybe it is because I only have 3 pins on the left side (phone facing you) and 6 pins on the right, whereas on my sync cable CA-53, I have 6 pins on the left- where 2nd and 6th pins from the left are slightly raised. Could this be why?
July 13th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Hi Bawang,
Yes, you can scroll/fastforward with the native Music Player app. Just press and hold in the joy stick.
Cheers
July 14th, 2006 at 7:22 am
How’s the audio quality? Read that the AD-15 produces a very loud pop sound in between tracks. Does this happen to your set with the E61?
July 14th, 2006 at 9:56 am
Hi Keith,
No problem with the audio quality of the AD-15.
However, I would say that there is a “pop” when you go from one track to another.
If you use headphones of so-so quality and don’t consider yourself an audiophile/audiosnob you won’t notice it much.
However, the better your headsets are (for an example the Shure I use) you will notice it and it is kind of annoying.
July 15th, 2006 at 9:16 am
“Read that the AD-15 produces a very loud pop sound in between tracks.”
Not the adapters that produce that sound and gap between tracks, it’s the Music Player software itself. This software is crap, couldn’t even display album art from mp3 files. Very annoying, the hardware has the potential especially with a 2GB memory card.
July 15th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
The “pop” sound doesn’t bother me that much but I look forward trying out this software when it is released to see if it goes away:
http://symbianoggplay.sourceforge.net/S60V3.html
July 22nd, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Try to format your MiniSD with FAT32 >= 4k chunk, the e61 sound will be
(REALLY !)
better
July 22nd, 2006 at 4:38 pm
Thanks for the tip.
July 26th, 2006 at 5:09 am
Dammit - I bought the AD-46 adapter and with my best headphones, it sounds like I’m listening to radio-quality audio… very apparent static. This sucks! (and yes, I hear the popping when skipping between songs too). =( Very bummed out. Do you guys experience this static/radio effect with your higher quality headphones and/or adapter???
July 26th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Hi Brian,
I do hear that pop sound. Very noticeable. I am hoping that it is a software related issue and when the Ogg player http://symbianoggplay.sourceforge.net/S60V3.html is released I can switch.
July 30th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
The loud pops and volume are a problem, I recommend this workaround: go into the equalizer, edit and set all the bars down to minimum. This greatly reduces the apparentness of the “pops” and brings volume down to bearable levels. There’s still a hiss but it’s bearable. I don’t find listening to music on the train *that* critical or important
July 31st, 2006 at 4:17 am
Hmm… the Equalizer i see is only a selection of presets such as “acoustic, rock, pop, etc”, not a real equalizer.
August 2nd, 2006 at 9:56 pm
I hate the loud pops when changing tracks. They hurt my ears. The funny thing
is that they only happen while listening via headphones. If I listen using the speaker
on the phone there don’t seem to be any pops.
Could it be related somehow to the pop port itself?
Do all headphones experience this problem?
August 2nd, 2006 at 10:33 pm
Hi James,
I have tried a few different headset and I still get that awful sound. It is strange that the sound can only be heard when using headphones. Perhaps it is related to the pop port…
August 6th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Hey guys,
I was able to compare the sound quality of my e61 and my bro’s 3250. Using his AD-46, i hooked them up in the car stereo. The e61’s playback is lacking some bass elements, instruments and vocals are not perfectly clean while the 3250’s output, on the other hand, is very good, thumping bass and clean highs.
I needed those bass elements when playing my songs as i listen to mostly R&B and rap music. I think nokia used a lower spec decoder on non-XPress Music phones such as our e-series. The whole frequency range is not covered. Can anyone confirm this?
What do you think guys? Is it the hardware audio decoder, or is it the playback software?
That said, i think i have to forego for now that purchase of a large minisd and instead spend the money on a new battery pack for that ailing but trusty ipod mini…
This is a pretty impressive blog btw!
August 7th, 2006 at 8:16 am
I’m trying to buy the Nokia AD-41 for my N73 and my father’s N80. Found a cheap place : http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/11139.htm only £15 . The delivery dates are like 2/ 3 weeks . I’ll be eagerly awaiting the arrival of it. Does anyone recommend and alternative music player for the N73 / N80 (Series 60 v3) I find the standard built in Nokia one isn’t all that functional - it’s pretty basic.
August 27th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
Has anyone tried connecting to a bluetooth carkit (I have a CK-1W) at the same time as using a AD-anything?
What I want to do is be able to listen to podcasts in the car, preferably through a AD-15, and if the phone rings just answer it with the bluetooth car kit.
I have modded the supplied HDS-3’s that came with the phone (I have a 6230i) so I just plug a 3.5mm line in to the car stereo, but when I plug it into the phone, the bluetooth connection with the car kit is disconnected
As the AD-15 is not a handsfree kit I am hoping it doesn’t disconnect the bluetooth…
Al
September 16th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
Equaliser Problem: missing bass until readjust volume
I want to know if this only happens to me or not -
Whenever I start a song, or switch between tracks, the bass is very weak until you adjust the volume (either up and down).
So I find myself find with the joystick everytime a new track is play. Very annonying!
If this is a common problem - Nokia PLEASE FIX IT!
September 26th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Has anyone tried the HS-3WH white stereo headphones? They are the only item listed on nokiausa.com as specifically compatible with the E61/E62. Comes with send/end button. I am wondering if the others are not listed as compatible because of the hiss/pop issues
http://www.nokiausa.com/nokia_accessories/item_details/1,2305,product:HS-3WH,00.html
September 26th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
I have the HS-3 headphones. They make no difference in helping the hiss/pop. They are also poor in sound quality, and not well built - don’t get them.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
I use HS-23 and the sound quality for me is great, I even tried 3rd party player and I dont seem to hear any pop/skip/hiss! anyway, what i miss is the ability to skip tracks using the send/end button of the headset which you can use with Nokia 6270 or other series 40 phones. I tried a third party player with “Hotkeys” for everything, but you can ONLY configure the keypad, not the headset. Sucks!
November 8th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
K:
I have the same missing bass issue whenever tracks swick … I just use the volume up/down on my HS-23 headset tho
On that note, the sound quality from those headphones is great, wide range of output, very clear, and when that bass is fixed, it sounds good.
November 20th, 2006 at 2:36 am
Hi, I have an E61 and have just bought an HS 23 headset, but I can only get it to work in mono. When I go to enhancements and go to headset it states there is a mono headset connected and there is no way to change it except to text phone, which makes no difference. Any help out there? Cheers, Dave
November 24th, 2006 at 11:29 am
Hi Ed,
I was about to buy the bluetooth stereo headset (BH-501) at the mall today. But when i tested it, the sound quality was aweful! It sounded like a tin can and I could hear scratching even when i was using a high-quality VBR MP3 file.
I also tried the Motorola (HT820) counterpart and it had the same effect. However, when i tried my friend’s phone (an SE M600i), the sound quality was fab on both devices!
Can anybody verify if both bluetooth stereo devices are compatible with the E61 or is there something wrong with my phone?
I really wanna buy a bluetooth stereo headset for my E61!
November 27th, 2006 at 9:29 am
for all those who use HS-23 with their cellphones..
i have 6230 and i dont like the poor HDS3 which came with my phone.
I want to buy the HS 23, but i dont know if they will be better than the HDS3, in this phone esspecially (6230).
(i know that the volume button will not work with 6230)
plz help me :))
December 3rd, 2006 at 2:18 pm
BK: Yes, one can temporarily remove the problem of ‘missing bass’ by adjusting the volume, but it is hardly a solution. I can’t believe Nokia still has not solved this! It is very annoying, and completely kills my motivation of listening music from my E61.
Meanwhile, someone on the web recommended ALON MP3 Dictaphone to replace the default music player. It does correct for the ‘missing bass’ problem between tracks. But, in my opinion, the user interface (software layout) is not friendly, and it will cost you $ after the 14 day trial period. To be honest, I don’t think it is right to pay $ out of my own pocket to fix Nokia’s problem!
In addition, even without the missing bass problem, there is still the very annoying hiss/pop between tracks. Also, I find the max volume to be quite limiting for noisy environment (eg. plane). Most importantly, the sound quality of E61 is just inferior to iPods. Mid-range (vocal) is okay, but bass is not solid and high freq is not clear. Those that have both iPod and E61 will understand.
Finally, let’s do some math… $30 for ALON Dictaphone, $80-100 for a 2 Gb miniSD, and $50-100 for a pair of good quality earphones. Oh, I almost forgot the AD-15 or -46… How much was a 2 Gb iPod nano again? At the end, you still don’t get the quality as the iPods with Apple stock earphones.
My conclusion - If I could do it over again, I wouldn’t invest any money on my E61 to make it an mp3 player. Instead, it’s cheaper to just buy a iPod, and I would get better music quality. The only downside is, having to bring two devices instead of one.
December 8th, 2006 at 10:28 am
Still to this day I cannot find a solution for the horrible click/pop sound that happens when changing tracks. How can nokia let a device with such a problem out the door? basicly when I use head phones or with a car adapter changing tracks or any other interruption (like when phone rings) it makes a horribly loud pop that practically blows my speakers!! I have updated to the latest firmware and it does nothing for this problem. Has anyone found a solution to this???
December 14th, 2006 at 8:48 am
Jann,
I have bought the BH-501 bluetooth phones. Yes, I tested them on the different phones and sound quality is very different from what I have to hear from e61.
Buying a seperate wired headphones isn’t really an option - I’d rather suffer to poor quality than have wires on me
I think Nokia will have to issue a new firmware update fixing e61’s a2dp stereo profile.
And I thought there was a problem with headphones
December 26th, 2006 at 1:25 am
The AD-15 Audio Adapter works for the E61, but not the E62. The E62 has a mini-jack and mini-USB connector. Maybe a simple adapter is enough to connect regular headphones to the mini-jack. Or maybe it is possible to get a USB adapter.
Has anyone had any luck with either one of those options?
Alex
February 3rd, 2007 at 6:36 pm
To K and all the others who suffer from that “missing bass” problem in the beginning of all the tracks (and also the low volume); I found a solution - though I am not sure if that will work for you or not, or if it is the right thing to do. Select Tools/Settings/Enhancement/Others detected as, then select text phone. I don’t know what the heck that means but it worked for enhancing the sound quality. Plus, I don’t hear that “click/pop” sound everytime the track changes. Before I applied the changes I mentioned above, I was listening to my tracks in 100 % of volume level. Now, it’s around 30 % and outside noise is not an issue even on that volume level.
P.S. I use a generic equivalent (meaning, a cheaper version) of AD-15 and Logitech sports headphones.
February 6th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I’ve got the N73 with a generic Pop-Port -> 3.5mm Adapter with Shure e3Gs and experience the horrible click, pop, crackle noise between tracks and on key pressed.
Can anyone confirm whether the AD-41 adapter stops the horrible click pop crackle noise between tracks?
February 13th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I found out the maximum volume the E61 can pump out…heres how
http://jaladyajit.blogspot.com
But this is only possible during phone calls…
February 14th, 2007 at 1:02 am
I have my E61 work with AD-41 and Philips SHE 9600 Neckstrap headphones, the sound quality is excellent. Friend of mine who own Ipod, after tested on my Philips SHE headphone quality also have intension to buy it. Unfortunately we can’t find it in Singapore during our business trip. Its seem like Malaysia trend is faster.
March 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 pm
get the nokia HS-20 stereo headset with pop port connection!
i use it with my e61 + sennheiser cx300 canalphones as an mp3 player replacement, it suits my purpose perfectly.
it is stereo, detects the current draw on all headsets/line output, has call end/voice dial button, 4 way rocker for back,fwd,pause/play, stop and vol up down and key lock switch on the side!
costs RRP $50aud, so should be about $30usd ish
to those who think it’ll replace an ipod, get real… any dedicated audio device should perform better than a phone. these days a phone is no longer just that, its a phone +++++++ every rice feature the consumer seems to expect these days.
i h
May 6th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
i use HS23 on my N70m but volume key doesn’t work…
has anyone got a solution to that?
May 30th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Hi ,
I got Audio Adapter for my Nokia E61. It works fine. But the only problem I faced was the voice was too loude even when the Volume level is 10%. But I could over come it by doing the following.
Go to Tools -> Settings-> Enhancements -> Others detected as …. Change it to Mono Head set if you want the volume to be low and smooth. Change it to Text Phone for the volume to be loude. Same setting works even with Headset alos.
July 2nd, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Well I went the AD-41 route thru ebay. A definite knock off from HK, where the volume controls don’t work, but with even a half decent headset, it rocks! With a 2gb card, I have enough space for some GPS maps and some great playlists. Who needs an iPhone?
July 10th, 2007 at 10:11 am
I own a e61 too and got worried at first. But let’s face it: this is a business phone oriented to email, vpn, office - noticed the keyboard
?
For a business phone it’s multimedia capabilities are excelent. Agreed it’s a bit flaky from the “music phone” point of view… BTW has anyone tried third party mp3 players ? any difference?
July 26th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Hi, just wanted to give som info on sound quality of the newer E61i. I also have a Sony HD5 mp3 player, most of my MP3s are encoded with Lame VBR (preset standard). I prefer a “warm”, yet clearsound, . I’m sensitive to digital “rasp” and bad AD converters :-). I have the following headphones: Sennheiser HD595 and PX100, Koss Porta Pro, Sony EX71, Stax Lambda electrostat and Phillips 910(?).
The sound of my E61i is actually very good. With the Koss Porta Pro, the sound is clear, with good stereo separation and not “digital”/raspy in the treble. The best description I can give, is that the sound has high resolution and sounds pleasantly warm. I guess this may be due to a good match with the Porta Pros, as they may otherwise be a bit muddy and bass-heavy.
The “popping” described on the E61 is also present on the E61i. I use the AD-46 adaptor. The E61i sound was a pleasant, positive surprise.
KSB
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I have a range of good stereo headphones all work fine with pocket pc. I bought a pop port connector of ebay to plug them into but the quality is a poor mono. Like above in enhancements it states mono headphone detected. I have tried the text phone option but that is the same just louder. I guess it is to do with the pop port connector thing. Can anyone suggest a good connector not bothered about phone function just stereo quality.
October 21st, 2007 at 11:30 pm
For the sake of future surfers who come across this website looking for a fix to the lack of bass issue (like I did), the problem is solved by upgrading to the latest firmware (3.0633.09.04). It works nice now.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Own an e65 and tried with a generic adapter and get this poor/mono sound. I`m trying a pair of original hs-23 and see what happens but i`m afraid they`ll stay mono…