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Going wireless with Bluetooth

warnergt

warnergt

Oct 25, 2007
2,257
56
Vortex of sin and degradation
#1
I've had these Logitech wireless headphones for a while now and I love them.
They sound great and have a pretty good range.
The real beauty is the tiny little Bluetooth transmitter that goes with them.
LogitechHeadphones.jpg
LogitechTransmitter.jpg


Every time I use it, I tell myself this would be great for a wireless bass connection.
The problem is that I would need a Bluetooth receiver to get the signal to feed the amp.
Well, I finally found one:

SonyTransceiver.jpg


And it's pretty damn cheap, too! $36.59

Has anybody tried this? My only fear is that the bass signal
may be a little low for the transmitter. Bass output is not
quite up to regular line levels. Regardless, I'm going to give it a try.

And I see you can buy Bluetooth transmitters separately for Link Removed.

IOGearTransmitter.jpg
 
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#2
What kind of range does that have? When I talk on my cell phone with my bluetooth hands free thing, if I walk in another room leaving my phone behind, I start to loose the connection.

I'm thinking you might have a similar problem. Wireless with a range of 15' doesn't get you very far! ;)
 
#3
You may want to investigate the signal latency also. I looked into this a couple of years ago, and the delay was too high. They may have overcome this problem by now though. Let us know what you find out. I'd be interested in using Bluetooth for my in-ear monitors.
As far as range is concerned, I think you should get about 10 meters, (30 feet), but I think you have to maintain line of sight between the transmitter and reciever.
 
#4
I would recommend against blutooth. The latency isn't extreme, but it'll likely be high. It's bandwidth isn't that good. It's range is horrible compared to your standard wireless.

Blutooth was designed as a small wireless network for portable electronic data transfer. You wouldn't get the fidelity, transparency, range or signal stability you want and need from it.
 
#5
Joel S. said:
I would recommend against blutooth. The latency isn't extreme, but it'll likely be high. It's bandwidth isn't that good. It's range is horrible compared to your standard wireless.

Blutooth was designed as a small wireless network for portable electronic data transfer. You wouldn't get the fidelity, transparency, range or signal stability you want and need from it.
Click to expand...

+1

If it isn't broken, don't fix it. Get yourself an X2 system.
 
#6
I also am interested in this because of recent advancements in Bluetooth technology. There now is a new Bluetooth Class 1 A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) Bluetooth technology that transmits/receives high quality stereo music via the WiFi B band. True Class 1 operation provides reliable wireless connections up to 300 ft. (100 m) with other Bluetooth Class 1 audio devices.

The GE Bluetooth Home Stereo Transmitter and Receiver looks very interesting (http://www.buy.com/retail/Product.asp?sku=205852237) combined with Sony DR-BT10CX Stereo Bluetooth Earbuds for in-air monitors (http://www.amazon.com/DR-BT10CX-Stereo-Bluetooth-Headset-Microphone/dp/B000JKDTQS).

Seriously thinking of pulling the trigger on this. Anyone with any experience with the GE Bluetooth transmitter/receiver unit?
 
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#7
What's the payoff?

Bluetooth is neat as a connect all system, but it's unikly you want your bass to talk to your laptop/phone/printer or anything other than the receiver. In which case what do you gain over a standard wireles system?
 
#9
dbong said:
I also am interested in this because of recent advancements in Bluetooth technology. There now is a new Bluetooth Class 1 A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) Bluetooth technology that transmits/receives high quality stereo music via the WiFi B band. True Class 1 operation provides reliable wireless connections up to 300 ft. (100 m) with other Bluetooth Class 1 audio devices.

The GE Bluetooth Home Stereo Transmitter and Receiver looks very interesting (http://www.buy.com/retail/Product.asp?sku=205852237) combined with Sony DR-BT10CX Stereo Bluetooth Earbuds for in-air monitors (http://www.amazon.com/DR-BT10CX-Stereo-Bluetooth-Headset-Microphone/dp/B000JKDTQS).

Seriously thinking of pulling the trigger on this. Anyone with any experience with the GE Bluetooth transmitter/receiver unit?
Click to expand...

I would avoid bluetooth like the plague for this application. It's simply not designed for this. You're risking poor fidelity, high latency, unreliable connections, and poor battery life.

Knock yourselves out if you want to try it, IMO it's a waste of time and money.
 
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#10
dbong said:
What cha talkin' about, laptop/phone/printer? We're talking about audio from mixer or instrument directly into the transmitter. We ain't talkin' 'bout computers here.
Click to expand...

Flat out, Bluetooth was designed to transmit data over a wireless short range connection.

The A2DP standard requires the audio signal be converted to a bluetooth friendly signal before it hits the receiver, then it gets converted back. That can equate to latency.

Let's not forget A2DP compresses audio as well...
 
#11
The X2 Wireless, recently bought out by Line 6, will do a couple hundred feet distance quietly with no noticeable latency and no apparent compression. I mention this as I own one. With Bluetooth bandwidth and range at the moment, you may be bringing a butter knife to a gun fight. I do think though something like Wireless G or N standards would have both range and bandwidth to do it uncompressed but you would need the stuff to do A/D conversion both ends.
 
#12
Trevorus said:
+1

If it isn't broken, don't fix it. Get yourself an X2 system.
Click to expand...

Where can you get a $100 X2 system with a transmitter that is the size of a cigarette lighter?

I'm using the Logitech Bluetooth headphones to listen to TV. The latency is apparently very small. I don't detect any lack of lip sync between a speaking individual and what I hear.

And this is intended for stereo systems (primarily MP3 players). I think the quality is excellent.

The range is rated at 10 meters. That's plenty for me.
 
#14
warnergt said:
Where can you get a $100 X2 system with a transmitter that is the size of a cigarette lighter?

I'm using the Logitech Bluetooth headphones to listen to TV. The latency is apparently very small. I don't detect any lack of lip sync between a speaking individual and what I hear.

And this is intended for stereo systems (primarily MP3 players). I think the quality is excellent.

The range is rated at 10 meters. That's plenty for me.
Click to expand...

Nobody said it couldn't be done... If you are that adamant about trying it, go for it. I'd be interested to hear the results.

Just for me, though, I don't see any advantages in it, and I even sold every wireless I bought, because there were not enough benefits for me over a cable to justify keeping it and feeding it batteries.
 
#15
I picked up that Sony transceiver the HWSBTA2W.
Man, that thing is tiny! The picture is deceiving.
SonyTransceiver.jpg


I tried it with my Logitech headphone transmitter but they wouldn't pair up.
So I ended up buying a different transmitter, the IOGEAR GBMA211.
IogearXmtr.jpg


They paired up and I plugged in. The size of this thing was sweet -- just a
tiny little thing plugged into my bass and a tiny little receiver at my head.

Well, you guys who thought the latency would be too high were correct.
There seems to be about a 0.25 second delay -- simply too much for playing.

And as I feared, the bass output was on the low side. I had to turn the amp gain
way up to compensate and then it got noisy. It probably wouldn't be a problem
for a bass/guitar with a built-in preamp.

Oh well. I tried it. It's not up to the task. But now I have a way to play
my iPod wirelessly through my stereo. :smug:
 
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#18
I've often thought about and discussed this with band mates when setting up and tearing down. Although bluetooth as a protocol is underpowered and not secure enough for this type of application, I'd love there to be a standard musical equipment wireless protocol, that could be built in to equipment and instrument and bought as an aftemarket add on. It would make like so much easier.

Prehaps simultaneously press a button on 2 devices to pair so you don't 'cross beams' with anyone else. I don't know how you'd organise a signal path though, perhaps numbered dip switches, or a small display on each device where you set it's location in the path. Would make setting up complex pedal boards a lot easier with no cables to thread and cut to length.

Perhaps there's something that could be used in existing wifi technology, where each device can have a mac address and only those devices talk to each other, but in a user specified order. Perhaps with some kind of master hub device which doubles as a master pedal control system so you can change the order of pedals in the fly for different patches, somewhat akin to the GigRig.

Then I just need wireless mains power and I'd be really happy. Turn up, put gear on floor, turn on and play.

I'm waffling and getting into the extremes of reality now, so I'll stop.
 
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