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Bluetooth streaming and hifi audio
Having recently treated myself to Kef Reference Model 2 speakers to replace the Kef 104aB (all of which by the way were built in the town of Maidstone a few miles from here) along with a Cyrus 7 amp, I'm looking to stream audio from the PC in the next room via Bluetooth.
Something like the Audioengine B1 Bluetooth receiver with its aptX codec seems to get best reviews. So far so good from the point of view of the receiver. However, one small question pops up: what about the usb dongle transmitter I would like to use on my PC? However much I search, I can find no mention of whether if any old Bluetooth dongle in the computer parts box will do, OR whether the transmitter has to be of a certain spec to send suitably hi quality data to the receiver. Anyone out there in the know? Now, here's a 'Did You Know' for the HiFi enthusiasts among you who no doubt will be well familiar with the Kef brand! Kef in fact stands for Kent Engineering & Foundry, a company which started off manufacturing agricultural equipment!! True. |
Good luck with this ambition. May you come across the right combination first try. Apologies for my cynicism, but I had a very frustrating few days when I decided to Bluetooth stream my computer audio to the serious music system in the next room. I got there but it was an experiment in finding the right dongle to play nicely with the Logitech Bluetooth receiver I chose. It became more frustrating when the dongle which worked with the Logitech device failed to communicate with my new Bose 35 headphones. They would only work with another (older) BT device. I was appalled that at this stage of the development of the science, there still appears to be some difference in the parameters needed for reliable Bluetooth communications. Then there is the matter of matching my Bluetooth phone to the audio system in our vehicles, but let's not go there.
I hope that someone else can offer a sure fire combination for you. I tried two before I hit upon a happy combination - a rather obscure Chinese product which has no discernible identification now that the package has been thrown out. Happily they are not all that expensive. So I wish you instant success with your first try. It does sound very nice when it's all working and it is worth the effort. Best wishes, FOR (I won't go into the challenges in getting Garmin Glo GPS to work its magic with all of the devices I work with either). |
Originally Posted by Ant
(Post 10234732)
a certain spec to send suitably hi quality data to the receiver.
Anyone out there in the know? Now, here's a 'Did You Know' for the HiFi enthusiasts among you who no doubt will be well familiar with the Kef brand! Kef in fact stands for Kent Engineering & Foundry, a company which started off manufacturing agricultural equipment!! True. suitably hi quality data to the receiver - Digital data is digital data. Any bluetooth kit should be fine from that respect. You though must use the correct ffuses - https://www.futureshop.co.uk/synergi...nd-uk-13a-fuse "are designed for a wide range of Hi-Fi and AV equipment"Synergistic Research Blue High-End UK 13A Fuse Excl. VATŁ108.33 Incl. VATŁ130.00 https://www.futureshop.co.uk/media/c...e_square01.jpg I am joking - by the way. It is really for sale at that price. |
Originally Posted by jimjim1
(Post 10234905)
suitably hi quality data to the receiver - Digital data is digital data. Any bluetooth kit should be fine from that respect.
Bose is not known for their wireless connectivity, they seem to put an older Bluetooth standard, 4.1, even in the newer QC 35 II headphones. Apple and other manufacturers have gone to Bluetooth 5.0 which in my experience seems to connect much better both inside and outside a building. Also, the Bose headphones and Bluetooth speakers don't seem to support a low latency codec so there will be a delay in many cases if you try to use them to watch a video. As someone observed, complaining about audio quality in Bluetooth is like complaining about the quality of cheese on a Big Mac. Maybe the latest 5.0 standard will change that but I'm skeptical. I've got a few of those USB Bluetooth dongles from the past few years. I would definitely get a Bluetooth 5.0 version these days even if the receiver doesn't support the latest and greatest standard. Bose will probably have Bluetooth 5.0 headphones when everyone else is on Bluetooth 7.0. I smell snake oil when the Audioengine B1 receiver quick start guide says to give the unit 40 to 50 hours of break-in time before doing any critical listening. Yeah, right. I assume the listing in the link above above about the special fuses is April 1st parody: For over one hundred years people believed electrons flowed like water through a pipe and that once "contaminated" by miles of wire, there was little or nothing that could be done to 'clean' the electricity feeding your components. Consider this: the electricity feeding your systems components first propagates through a single fuse. This is why significant gains are possible when you insert a Blue Fuse into each of your components. Today physicists understand electrons don't flow at all but rather propagate in a wave of energy that moves along a conductor with a multitude of factors that alters this wave at the quantum level. To understand how electricity travels without electrons ever leaving their respective atoms it is helpful to consider the spectator wave at a football match. Even though you can clearly see a wave pattern moving from spectator to spectator as fans raise and then lower their hands (without hands jumping from one person to the next), so too does electricity ‘move’ without electrons ever leaving their atoms. Synergistic Research have isolated key factors that affect how electricity propagates by changing the behaviour of electrons through Inductive Quantum Coupling methods we collectively call UEF Tech. In fact, UEF Tech is so powerful even an electrical chain several miles long is fundamentally improved with nothing more than a single fuse engineered with there patented UEF Technology. Also, many of these USB Bluetooth dongles are plug and play with Windows 10 but some are not, check the user reviews. If the dongle is not plug and play you probably get a link to some Chinese web site with an obsolete driver that is unsigned and requires a PhD to install. Been there, done that, get the plug and play dongle. |
I use an Arcam rBlink to feed from computers to my Creek gear and ultimately Epos and Mission 769 speakers, works very well.
(https://www.arcam.co.uk/products,rSe...DAC,rblink.htm) |
Not to start audio wars but check prices here: https://www.audiogon.com/ And my personal favorite: https://www.audiogon.com/listings/li...c-conditioners |
When I used to be in to all this hi-fi stuff, some time ago, (KEF 55.2 driven by a big old NAD C352) I bought in to all the b/s about cables and etc. I paid my way up from Leak 2060s, via Musical Fidelity MC2s.
Nowadays I just listen. My best man's Leak 1050s, bought about 1970, are still doing great service. My first attempt at blu-tooth stuff from pc to the NAD failed. Google's best efforts did not work. (W7 Home premium with music stored in Apple itunes)...........(So if there is a working solution out there, cheap enough for a pensioner, I would love to know. |
If you're happy to use your home wireless networking rather than Bluetooth you could use a Google Chromecast Audio in combination with VLC media player. You'll also need a 3.5mm socket on your amp or a cable with a 3.5mm plug on one end and RCA on the other.
https://allaboutchromecast.com/how-t...omecast-audio/ |
Thanks. I will have a read of that url.
Ta AO |
Le ping is da man! VLC/Chromecast works a treat (using 1st gen Chromecast in back of TV to amp). :D
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[QUOTE=Capn Bloggs;10253345]Le ping is da man! VLC/Chromecast works a treat (using 1st gen Chromecast in back of TV to amp). :D[/QU
Thank you for getting back to us. I've got that combination here. I'll give it a try sometime after I wrestle this GPS USB dongle/Windows 10 problem to the ground. That looks like it will take a while.:( FOR |
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