​It's entirely possible you've never heard of Rebecca Pidgeon, part-time movie star and singer, but if you're into female singers you utterly must hear her recording of Spanish Harlem before you die. It's on an album called The Raven released in 1994 and brilliantly produced by audiophile label Chesky. Her voice is exquisite, her delivery is knee-weakening, she's laid back; strong but easy. And her backings are minimal to stay out of the way.

But what has made her Spanish Harlem a staple of just about everyone who tests, assesses, engineers, manufactures, demonstrates, sells or reviews audio is that what you hear largely depends on the equipment you're using.

The quirk of Ms Pidgeon's diction is that she's very light on trailing consonants, almost but not quite letting them go. On equipment that is good enough to capture both definition and nuance you'll hear those consonants quite clearly as they slip quietly away; with equipment that isn't you're less likely to hear that "There is a rose in Spanish Harlem" and more likely to hear "There is a row in Spanish Harlem".

Australian company Audiofly sent in two sets of its new Bluetooth earbuds to try out recently, the cheapest AF33s at $44.99 and the most expensive AF100s at $189.99, and the strange thing is that the cheapies, running standard Bluetooth SBC, do a better job of Spanish Harlem than the expensive, Bluetooth aptX numbers. They picked up the trailing consonants far more successfully and if not for some brittleness in the high range they'd be the equal of any earbuds I've listened to under $100.

The expensive AF100s are, like most, tuned for maximum bass and this takes a heavy toll on the high range nuance and subtlety in which Ms Pidgeon specialises. Crank up some decent bassy tracks, though, and they come into their own. Tracks with a strong bass line, like practically anything from Ryan Farish, are not just better presented, they're also more exciting with the aptX codec doing its stuff, and what highs there are don't have the harshness of the cheaper model.

Both of these have pods on the neck strap at right and left, one carrying the Bluetooth tech and the other a three-button controller that gives basic control functions and phone compatibility. There's a slide on the strap to take up any slack that might be annoying, but do this with the cord behind your neck (as suggested) and the phone controls become something of a blind reach. Both are comfortable and are supplied with three sizes of plugs, the AF100s coming with ear hooks as well. Its cables are also moulded to rest over the ears.

I searched the written material to find where these are made. No hints on the packaging or the instructions, but I finally found a Made in China on the little tag attached to the neck strap. Otherwise, all you get is how they are Designed in Australia. Whatever, the voice advising power and pairing status is the same as you hear on lots of Bluetooth equipment made in China.

I wound up spending most of my time with the more expensive AF100s, they grew on me after a few hours, but for $200 I'd take full-sized headphones in an instant. The star turn of this exercise was just how good the AF33s are for $45. They're a bargain.

By the way, I went into discogs.com and searched The Raven, and prices being paid for second-hand copies have plummeted lately from $US428.08 ($565) to not much more than a new CD.