Is it just me or does bluetooth audio not sound as good as wired headphones/speakers

[vi edit]

That's sort of what I thought. But I personally can only think of a handful of times that it would be more useful than just plugging the headphones into the phone in the first place. Plus it's one more battery to worry about.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

That's sort of what I thought. But I personally can only think of a handful of times that it would be more useful than just plugging the headphones into the phone in the first place. Plus it's one more battery to worry about.

Quite a few people are buying them, at least people I talk to over at head-fi. I am not a fan of wireless personally.

 

[Eug]

Almost all of my library of hundreds and hundreds of gigabytes is in lossless ALAC. If the A2DP receiver supports FLAC or ALAC then it can be transmitted wirelessly and losslessly where it it up to your receiver's DAC to maintain good quality. I don't actually know of any support FLAC or ALAC, but many support the lossy compressed formats most music is already in. In those cases, it is at least the same quality as the source device unless they cheaper out on the DAC. At least you can buy anpremium device with a good DAC for A2DP where you are stuck with what it in your source device otherwise.

If that receiver is in a car, 999 times out of 1000 it's not going to work, so it's kinda pointless.

 

[CZroe]

If that receiver is in a car, 999 times out of 1000 it's not going to work, so it's kinda pointless.

Cars are upgradable, and not just by swapping the head unit. My Bluetooth car kit uses the AUX input.

 

[Eug]

Cars are upgradable, and not just by swapping the head unit. My Bluetooth car kit uses the AUX input.

The aux input is fine, but if you're going to do that you may as well just use a $2 cable.

 

[Ichinisan]

Some BT receivers can accept raw MP3 audio, others can also accept AAC. If your player and BT receiver all support the codec of the audio file in the right way, then it's down to the quality of the DAC in the BT receiver...which seems to be a bit subjective.

 

[Ichinisan]

The source file is most likely compressed, even if lossless.

If the A2DP receiver supports the compressed format then there is no additional compression.

Some people put an AirPort Express in their car for AirPlay support. I'm sure that supports ALAC.

 

[CZroe]

The aux input is fine, but if you're going to do that you may as well just use a $2 cable.

No way. I can't stand having two cords tangling up and STILL having to control the phone directly for music with no proper in-car speakerphone. AVRCP is a must. I use the Kinivo BTC450 and the remote is more convenient than my Pebble. I've never used the Pebble to control my phone's playback in the car specifically thanks to AVRCP over A2DP.

 

[eldorado99]

? Do you mean like in a car? If so, I would agree, but even despite the fact my "upgraded" JBL car speakers aren't great, just mediocre, wireless Bluetooth mode with my iPhone still sounds noticeably worse than wired iPod mode with my iPhone.

So, I just use iPod mode. Plus, wired iPod mode has the added benefit of charging my iPhone at the same time, and the album art shows up too.

I have never heard a car system that I considered to sound "good". My post was more a speaker snob type of remark referring to mainstream consumer audio being not particularly good. It died sometime in the early 90s and now you have to spend big bucks to get something good, something that stores like Best Buy don't generally carry because the average consumer doesn't really seem to care about hi-fi anymore.

Go in to Best Buy and buy the most expensive set you can find, it still won't sound "good" (and I mean REALLY "good", like you have done your research type of "good").

(not my setup, mine is not nearly as tidy and I don't much care for tube amps)

 

[eldorado99]

I do believe you are talking out of your ass, sir.

I do that a lot. I wasn't talking about wireless speakers though.

 

[Ichinisan]

The aux input is fine, but if you're going to do that you may as well just use a $2 cable.

Then you miss call controls and music controls.

 

[Eug]

That's why wired USB iPod mode is preferred. Use Bluetooth for phone calls, and wired iPod mode for both charging and music playback. Best of both worlds and compatible with most stuff out there.

No need to use esoteric and complex solutions.

 

[Zodiark1593]

The On Ear Momentums I just bought sound much better than the $50 BT cans I had before especially when it comes to piano.

 

[mikeford]

Most audio quality claims are pure baloney based off knowing the product name and minor frequency response variation.

Our last three new cars sounded great with the factory speakers once we had decent amps installed, and nothing fancy about what we used for amps, Bazooka amps and powered subs in the trunk.

The question about BT is interesting, too bad no real technical information in the thread.

 

[biostud]

Sony has come up with something called LDAC, how well it works I don't know, and also seems to be limited to Sony products (obviously).

 

[88keys]

I have a Sony 12 speaker system in my car (2012 Ford Fusion).... Don't know if it would have that or not.

 

[Eug]

I have a Sony 12 speaker system in my car (2012 Ford Fusion).... Don't know if it would have that or not.

No, considering it's a 2012.

Do any popular mainstream smartphones even support LDAC?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wired will normally always be better, though I've tried some wireless headphones I setup for someone and I found they sounded pretty good, but it was in a hospital environment and they were randomly picking up random interference, but I only noticed that while there was no sound being transmitted to them. Need to tell the old man next door to turn his heart monitor down! :biggrin:

 

[Eug]

Wired will normally always be better, though I've tried some wireless headphones I setup for someone and I found they sounded pretty good, but it was in a hospital environment and they were randomly picking up random interference, but I only noticed that while there was no sound being transmitted to them. Need to tell the old man next door to turn his heart monitor down! :biggrin:

If you're picking up interference, then it's probably the wrong technology.

I have my Sennheiser RS160 on my head right now, with nothing playing, in a silent private office. I hear nothing. With my RS180 in my home office, same silence. In my home theatre system though, I do get a slight background hum, which I'm wondering could be a ground loop or something for the transmitter. I'll have to try to eliminate that.

In contrast, I couldn't use the RS120 at all since I had to sit in a specific spot with my head held in a very specific way, or else I'd get interference. FM wireless sucks for headphones IMO. I returned it the next day.

The RS180 is a very good set of headphones, even by wired standards. People say the Sennheiser RS180 wireless headphones are on par with the Sennheiser HD558 wired headphones. I do like the sound out of my HD598 wired headphones a bit better though.

 

[Zeze]

I thought it was obvious that BT is awful beyond conversations? It sounds worse than FM radio.

In my car, playing a same song, wired mp3 playback (from my phone into aux) gets a FULL bass, crisp highs and rich mids.

If I switch to BT, the entire deep-end of bass is missing, sounds weak, and generally crappy.

 

[CZroe]

I thought it was obvious that BT is awful beyond conversations? It sounds worse than FM radio.

In my car, playing a same song, wired mp3 playback (from my phone into aux) gets a FULL bass, crisp highs and rich mids.

If I switch to BT, the entire deep-end of bass is missing, sounds weak, and generally crappy.

You obviously aren't using AptX and your A2DP receiver does not support MP3 decoding. It could also have an inferior DAC to what is in your device. Unlike your device, you can buy a different kit with a DAC potentially better than the one in your phone. It isn't because BT is inferior, it's because you have a bad implementation.

 

[Zeze]

You obviously aren't using AptX and your A2DP receiver does not support MP3 decoding. It could also have an inferior DAC to what is in your device. Unlike your device, you can buy a different kit with a DAC potentially better than the one in your phone. It isn't because BT is inferior, it's because you have a bad implementation.

Ah. I was just reading about A2DP.

This is a typical experience as a casual user. And BT in question was my Hyundai SUV. It's pretty bad.

My friend's CR-V's BT audio is similarly bad compared to wired as well.

In the future, I may be looking into BT audio for outdoor patio use (via smartphone). I'll be sure to tap your knowledge once I get to that.

 

[Eug]

You obviously aren't using AptX and your A2DP receiver does not support MP3 decoding. It could also have an inferior DAC to what is in your device. Unlike your device, you can buy a different kit with a DAC potentially better than the one in your phone. It isn't because BT is inferior, it's because you have a bad implementation.

Most devices do not support AptX.

I suspect the same will remain true for the next 5 years.

 

[Paladin3]

Back in my day we had to wait until we could here it on the AM Radio.

Then cassettes came out and we would hover our fingers over the record button during the weekly FM top 40 show because we were too poor to buy the album.

/off my lawn.

 

[biostud]

No, considering it's a 2012.

Do any popular mainstream smartphones even support LDAC?

As far as I can see only a couple of Sony headphones, speakers and Walkman use it.

http://www.sony.net/Products/LDAC/