Mapman .. various really, some friends have Android phones and others, like me, use an iPhone. Apple only does Bluetooth 4.0 and not APTX but the W4S gizmo makes quite a difference either way IMO. Very handy during a party or casual get together! I took a chance on it because their other reclockers have garnered quite a bit of praise and rightfully so.
"High End" Bluetooth Receivers - Snake Oil?
I've been doing some research on the net, and came across a post somewhere (wish I'd have bookmarked it, because now I can't find it again) talking about Bluetooth receivers, lossy compression, etc., that wasn't very complementary of the "high end" receivers. Of course we have the positively reviewed Audioengine B1 with the AKM "Miracle" DAC, the Auris BluMe with the same DAC, the Arcam rBlink and miniBlink with Burr Brown DAC's, and others with the Wolfson DAC out there on the market claiming "CD quality" sound.
I'm far from technical, so this may be askew, but evidently, given the compression and decompression algorithms, lossy this and lossy that, low bit rates, and other inherent limitations (including AptX), Bluetooth audio can only be so good. The up-sampling, high bit rates, etc. of these "high end" receivers/DAC's is not capable of restoring or elevating Bluetooth streaming to anywhere near CD quality levels. Supposedly it has to do with the compression algorithms that simply cannot be fixed with up-sampling, etc. I guess like a sailboat, it's speed is limited by physics, so no matter how much power you have, it'll only go so fast.
Thoughts?
I'm far from technical, so this may be askew, but evidently, given the compression and decompression algorithms, lossy this and lossy that, low bit rates, and other inherent limitations (including AptX), Bluetooth audio can only be so good. The up-sampling, high bit rates, etc. of these "high end" receivers/DAC's is not capable of restoring or elevating Bluetooth streaming to anywhere near CD quality levels. Supposedly it has to do with the compression algorithms that simply cannot be fixed with up-sampling, etc. I guess like a sailboat, it's speed is limited by physics, so no matter how much power you have, it'll only go so fast.
Thoughts?
- ...
- 13 posts total
- 13 posts total