Amp accessory: bluetooth receiver

[gtirard]

I'm looking for a Bluetooth 5 to mini-jack dongle, in order to plug into my practice amps to play along with my smarphone's playlists.

I've seen many cheap ones on Amazon, but I don't want to buy on Amazon.

I'm not looking for the cheapest one, but a model that's reliable - I prefer if it's affordable, not looking for anything fancy either, but I'd rather pay up to 60 or 80 € for something that last long, and works well, than buy a 10 € crap that will losse the connection once in a while, or will stop working in 6 months.

The few products I can find seem to be designed for cars, is that a problem?
Some have features I don't need for my use case, like a "hand free" button, receive and send Bluetooth, audio out for 2 headphones…

But a lot of them have a USB-A charging connector, I would prefer USB-C.

Also I prefer a small form factor

Any advices?

The UGREEN CM403 seems to check my boxes, any experience with it?

 

[Eminor3rd]

Not sure about these products, but I just wanted to add that the Darkglass Element is an option for achieving this.

 

[beans-on-toast]

UGREEN makes good products. The model 35223 has bluetooth 5.2 vs 5.0, it has a USM charging port. A model designed for a car would be fine although it may have additional features.


One potential concern for your application. These wireless devices may emit high frequency noise that your amp can pick up. It can make a ticking sound. Some cell phones do this as well. If this is an issue with the bluetooth dongle, try running a cable from the phone to the aux in of the amp,

 

[jthisdell]

You can also get a lightning or usb-c to 1/8" audio adapter

 

[agedhorse]

Beware that some of these dongles are easily broken if they stick out too far.

 

[gtirard]

Not sure about these products, but I just wanted to add that the Darkglass Element is an option for achieving this.

Hum… I know, but Bluetooth would be much more handy in my use case. My second band is a vocal band, they are 20 singers, and during reheasals, I play on a small combo. A Bluetooth dongle would allow anybody to send his music to the aux in of the amp easily. Or even from a single smartphone, to be able to hold a smartphone 3 to 4 meters away from the amp would be nice.

I just ordered a used Phil Jones Double Four, without the Bluetooth option, thinking "I can easily buy a BT dongle later", and now I'm looking for one, I realize it's not as easy as I expected.

 

[Eminor3rd]

Hum… I know, but Bluetooth would be much more handy in my use case. My second band is a vocal band, they are 20 singers, and during reheasals, I play on a small combo. A Bluetooth dongle would allow anybody to send his music to the aux in of the amp easily. Or even from a single smartphone, to be able to hold a smartphone 3 to 4 meters away from the amp would be nice.

I just ordered a used Phil Jones Double Four, without the Bluetooth option, thinking "I can easily buy a BT dongle later", and now I'm looking for one, I realize it's not as easy as I expected.

That's what I mean — Darkglass element receives Bluetooth in, and then you can blend the level with your bass level before sending to amp or headphones.

 

[jthisdell]

Beware that some of these dongles are easily broken if they stick out too far.

Beware that the audio adapters I suggested are easily lost (from personal experience)

 

[Barticus]

I have two of the Blackstar Bluetooth dongles and they have worked reliably for many years.

 

[Redbrangus]

IMO, you can probably buy better 'build' quality by spending more money, but not necessarily better performance -- I imagine all the products with the same features use pretty much the same chip sets. My $20 transmitter/receiver combo was purchased from Amazon a couple of years ago and I've never been unhappy with its performance -- in fact, I bought a second, identical one for use in my office. I wouldn't even consider spending 80€ for something that does essentially the same thing.

 

[Reedt2000]

I bought a cheap one on Amazon, it works great. Even took it out to gigs to run tunes through FOH on set breaks, never had a problem (stopped when we upgraded to powered arrays w Bluetooth built in)

Bluetooth Aux Receiver for Car, Portable 3.5mm Aux Bluetooth Car Adapter, Bluetooth 5.0 Wireless Audio Receiver for Car Stereo/Home Stereo/Wired Headphones/Speaker, 16H Battery Life (black) https://a.co/d/681cIlO

 

[gtirard]

I have two of the Blackstar Bluetooth dongles and they have worked reliably for many years.

Yes, this one was on my list, it's a perfect form factor.
The only drawback is the format of the USB connector (the old micro-usb that we had everywhere long ago).
Now I've been able to simplify everything using only USB-C, I prefer to avoid re-using the old format if possible.

 

[Barticus]

Yes, this one was on my list, it's a perfect form factor.
The only drawback is the format of the USB connector (the old micro-usb that we had everywhere long ago).
Now I've been able to simplify everything using only USB-C, I prefer to avoid re-using the old format if possible.

I keep the cable in my bag along with the device. But this is always an option too.

 

[Drredplate]

I keep the cable in my bag along with the device. But this is always an option too.
View attachment 6987671

Yes, this one was on my list, it's a perfect form factor.
The only drawback is the format of the USB connector (the old micro-usb that we had everywhere long ago).
Now I've been able to simplify everything using only USB-C, I prefer to avoid re-using the old format if possible.

I use a black star tone link and have had no issues with it

 

[L Anthony]

Like beans-on-toast said, UGREEN makes good products. I'm using one of their Bluetooth adapters in my older car right now, with good results. It definitely is bigger than the one you are looking at, though: