My nice RHA TrueConnect ear buds don’t work well with my phone – which led me to wonder about the different versions of Bluetooth and how they affect audio quality and usability. Any thoughts?
Bluetooth versions for audio
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Any version of BT later than 2016 should be fine.
Bluetooth aptX (2009) was not-quite-lossless at 16/44.1 (CD-quality) over a 352kb/s channel.
Bluetooth 4.2 aptX HD (launched Jan 2016) can transmit 24/48 loslessly by Flac-like codec down a 576kb/s channel at a ratio of 4:1.
Bluetooth 5 was launched Dec 2016. Channel rate up to 2Mb/s. Currently at 5.2 spec.
BT5.x requires no encoding/decoding for stereo audio, so no latency delay and lower power consumption (so those BT headphones should run for longer on a single charge).
I am very dull. And Mrs F works for Qualcomm.
P.S. After years of denying lossless, Apple have fitted the iPhone 8 and iPhone X with BT5.
These buds won’t work properly if the phone is in the wrong pocket and my body is between the phone and the receiving bud. They continuously connect and reconnect and one or other bug cuts out. This seems fairly rubbish.
Well, yes. About 17 years ago, Mrs F was coming close to the end of her 6-month contract at Cambridge Silicon Radio. I told her not to accept the offer of a permanent role, as Bluetooth was rubbish and would never catch on. Luckily, she ignored me.
I was half-right, it is a bit rubbish.
I have two pairs of wireless buds, one pair from Cambridge Audio and the other from Sony. The CA ones are fussy they invariably lose connection if I move into say the bedroom leaving my phone in another room. The Sony pair don’t do this, they maintain a rock solid connection at all times.
The Sony buds both connect to Bluetooth. In the case of the CA ones only one connects while the second is a slave device. I wonder if that is the case with yours Twang and if so does it explain the wayward connection problem?
Btw. If you can use LDAC as a codec it sounds marginally better than Aptx HD.
That’s very interesting Pencil. Mine are master/slave so I will look at the Sony if you recommend them. Which ones do you have? I’ll give mine to Twang Jr to lose in the black hole containing about 200 other pairs of his headphones.
The Sony’s are the snappily titled WF- 1000XM3 I think they have been superceded by the equally snappily titled WF-1000XM4 so the XM3s have probably dropped in price I would imagine. They sound excellent especially in noise cancelling mode. Good phone app too. A lovely toy.
Great thanks Pencil. That name rolls off the tongue doesn’t it!
Proper poetry.
On a slight tangent…
I’ve got a cheap Revinyl record player that has Bluetooth functionality. I don’t listen to much vinyl but when I bought my new Bluetooth ear buds I thought, why not? They work fine with my phone. However although they pair ok with said record player the turntable won’t turn when in Bluetooth mode. Any thoughts that aren’t “buy a new record pkayer”?
I have a feeling the BT on those things is only a receiver to play your phone through the built-in amp and speakers.
My first thought being “buy a new record player”.
Are you sure that was your first thought?
Well, Fiio don’t make turntables.
That would explain it. Buy a new record player it is then…..
It is with a heavy heart that I pen these words, here in this great house high above the rushing waters of the Mekong River, because I know that not one of youse bums is going to benefit from my experience because you are a bunch of bums is what you are, but anyway.
I have Realme Buds Air 2, and there, I lost you already because you frankly do not care what I have, it is of no consequence to you, but let me tell you why they are fantastic:
– Cheap. They have to be for me to own them, either that or free.
– Comfortable. The genius behind their design decreed that the business end you poke into your lughole be OVAL, not round, on account this is the shape of your lughole in there. The difference is immediately appreciable by anybody but you, because you don’t care and you’ll struggle on with what you have, thank you very much. Can wear for hours without noticing they’re there. Light, too.
– The sound is astonishing. Better by far than any other buds I’ve had, and better sound than any headphones I’ve had. How can this be?
– You get an app for your phone where you can tweak the performance. Me, I turn off the (quite effective) graphic equaliser, and turn on the Dolby in my phone, et viola. Head exploding sound.
– Range is ten to fifteen metres. I can wander through the house, the signal passing as if by magic through the walls. I can stroll into the grinds of our hise and the signal only flutters as I reach the summerhouse. You don’t have a summerhouse so you don’t care. You are sadface.
– Battery life no trouble. Nice little pebble-shaped charger you can stroke in your pocket.
– Noise cancelling that works! Choose from three – three! – levels of isolation from the real world.
Like what there to not is? Nothing. I love these little sound beetles making their comfy little homes in my ears and letting me hear my records in sparkling and deep high fidelity.
Here’s another life-enhancing tip you’re going to ignore – Musicolet. It’s an absolutely free music player you can install in your Android telephonic device which turns it into everything an iPod thinks it is. But no, you don’t give a tinker’s toss in a tin can, because that’s you for you. I don’t care. My work here is done.
This is sweet bud talk. Timely too. My wife’s in the market for some new ‘hands free’ ear vibrators, and this news from the East will be afforded due diligence. The Hairnet family wakes older but immeasurably bud wiser on this beautiful Monday morning, and thanks you for your service.
A summerhouse?
He’s right you know. Musicolet is ace. Some bloke in the Far East recommended it to me and I am consequently now awash with nautical fun aboard the Sophie in the company of Messrs. Maturin and Aubrey. I’m currently still attached via my trusty old Sennies, but the Realme buds are calling me, siren like, towards a wireless future that will not cost the earth.
I will try it. I had been very happy with my app but suddenly it was getting interfered with by Droid system crap and randomly stopped numerous times. Currently I’m using the Media Monkey app and I have one called Audify too but I don’t especially like any of them.
The Realme sound great. I am tempted by Pencil’s Sonys but they are a bit pricy. The Realme land in that sweet “why not” price point and I have GAS.
What is the bass response like, @H-P-Saucecraft. I have some well expensive Momentum Sennheiser thingies that have almost zero bass. Which is gyp on several — well, two — levels.
And to add a third level of disappointment – not the first time I’ve said that in my life – the noise cancelling is shite.
Bass is all about fit. If they don’t fit properly you’ll leak bass. If you hold them in with your fingers and it improves that’s the problem.
Yep, it approaches OK when pushed in, but even using the smallest inserts does not get them in far enough to replicate that response.
Hurrrrrrrrrrrrrr
You want big fat ones to fill yer lug holes. There are some @leedsboy recommends whose name I forget which are supposed to be good. Complay or something.
Comply. A serious upgrade for any inear buds. Annoyingly expensive for tiny bits of memory foam but worth it.
Will give em a try @leedsboy cheers. I find it hard to believe that they will sort this but happy to be wrong.
Roll them up to make them thin and quickly twist them in your ear and hold them in whilst the foam expands. You can get a set of 3 different sizes to see what’s the best fit. And you can find the right type for your buds on the Comply website.
@Leedsboy
I can report that the Comply buds make a vast difference, in bass response, volume and comfort. Great shout, cheers.
*wipes brow in relief!*