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Showing 1 of 46 conversations about:
abmwinnoch
11
Jan 30, 2019
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I know to many the addition of bluetooth is an afterthought at best, but if I'm paying this amount for a DAP I want flexibility and the option to use my Grado and Sony BT headphones with it. Certainly in the case of the Grado, the sound quality is a whisker away from wired. It therefore concerns me that the version used is so old; Bluetooth 4.0 was released in 2011 and I think we're up to Bluetooth 5.1 now ?
Evshrug
3772
Community
Apr 20, 2019
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abmwinnochYes, Bluetooth 5.1 specifications were announced two days before your post (and honestly I just looked it up now, due to your post), but it looks like all the changes are to benefit advertising and wayfinding (directions indoors where you can’t use GPS, possibly more precise than GPS which was limited for military reasons), nothing really to enhance audio transmission quality.
ElectronicVices
2937
Apr 22, 2019
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abmwinnochBluetooth iteration has next to zero to do with Sound Quality. That is primarily a function of the bluetooth codec supported (SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC) and less to do with the version. Connectivity improvements, latency, and additional features come along with newer bluetooth versions. You tend to only run into compatibility issues with 2.0 or older BT. Everything from 2.1 to 5.1 should play well together. If you want quality blueooth audio look at the codecs and the quality of the receiving electronics.
(Edited)
Evshrug
3772
Community
Apr 27, 2019
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abmwinnochRight, you can have a Bluetooth 5 true wireless earphone that only transmits audio over SBC, which would sound like ”Bluetooth of old” where wireless left a flat, metallic sound in your ears. I’ve been perfectly happy with many Bluetooth 4.1 and 4.2 products, and have yet to try a Bluetooth 5 headphone that takes advantage of the massively increased range of that spec (though I haven't practically needed further-than-indoors-of-my-house range yet).
AptX Low Latency is my favourite codec so far... Sure, LDAC and LHDC transmit CD quality (maybe better than with lossless compression), but AptX Low Latency is able to transmit more bandwidth than Spotify Premium/TIDAL Standard uses while also lagging less (lips are almost in sync if you are really paying close attention), and it also saves some battery compared to LDAC. I say this despite being an iPhone user... AAC is OK, but it is strange to me that their mobile devices don't have AptX while their Macs do. Whaaat?
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