Bluetooth Receiver (background music)

[richardash1981]

I know this has been discussed several times before, but not in the last year or so that I can find.
Bands and other users have got used to being able to play background music (interval etc.) from their phones to low end PA systems over Bluetooth, so I'm thinking that I will need to have a Bluetooth audio receiver in the kit for feeding this into Yamaha O1V or Behringer XR12 (which don't have any such thing).

I can see various previous suggestions are still available:
- Denon DN-200BR https://www.denonpro.com/index.php/products/view3/dn-200br (nice spec including balanced line out, so it can sit stage end of snake with the band's phones, but pricey).

- Logitech 980-000913 https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/products/speakers/bluetooth-audio-adapter.980-000913.html (phono / 3.5mm out, seems to get good reviews, lots of clones now in the market as well)

- The "ebay layer" of various devices, typically with built-in rechargeable battery and USB charging (e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-Bluetooth-3-5mm-Phone-To-AUX-Car-Stereo-Music-Receiver-Adapter-with-Mic/143301663446?hash=item215d71dad6:g:4zIAAOSwdwlckKxuIt) These don't seem a great idea given the possibility of the battery being flat when needed, and messing around with USB power source (which might cause interference in it's own right).

None of these is very forthcoming about what Bluetooth audio codecs are supported (I'm not really up to speed with this, but it seems there are lots of options out there: https://www.soundguys.com/understanding-bluetooth-codecs-15352/), I'm not clear if this makes any practical difference to quality or (more importantly) to compatibility with a range of sources? There seems to be a new generation of devices on the marketplace sites advertising "Bluetooth 5", "HiFi Lossess" etc. - which may or may not be relevant.

[J Pearce]

We have a couple of the Denon DN-200BR units, and our rehearsal room racks are built round the Alesis Multimix 10 which also has bluetooth.

I wouldn't plan to use either in a show, but for rehearsals, workshops, warmups, even a quick bit of test signal they are really great units. Rather than the old warmup fuss of getting them to connect, then unmuting, then muting before they disconnect etc, we just leave the rig in warmup state after power up and show dance-captain or SM how to pair to the bluetooth unit. 

I've not found anything that refuses to connect to the DN-200BR or Alesis units, and they've dramatically reduced our callouts to rehearsal rooms etc. If you can, spend the money on the right tool, rather than fussing around with the cheap ebay units.

[sunray]

I hate using bluetooth live, especially as there are apps which can take charge of it, but I usually use an Adastra MM321 mixer. Not the best quality machine in the world but blue tooth is a last resort AFAIC.

I also have a button cell powered device for an even 'laster' last resort but I attatch it to a twin AA batteryholder  and never leave the power connected when not in use.

I've used the DN-202WT/ DN-202WR combo a few times for a music link with very good results, very impressive but a fairly distinct distance limit which I suspect has something to do with timing. On that basis I'd not hesitate to get a DN-200BR if I found I needed something better than my other B.T. devices.

[bruce]

We've put several of the Denon units into a sports centre for visiting dance teachers etc. Work great- only issue is that you can't change the bluetooth ID, so if you have several units in close proximity, you can't be 100% sure you're paired with the right one...

The klark teknik dw20br does a similar job, at a similar price. Don't think I've used one though.

I've also got one of the cheap eBay units in my "get out of jail" bag - powered off a USB phone adaptor, phono outputs. Seems to work O, haven't really used it in anger.

 

[alistermorton]

I've got of the logitech ones. It works OK, nothing special. 

[richard_cooper]

I picked up one of these from Thomann which has worked well for me. No XLRs but (I think!) balanced 1/4" and a handy magnet in the base. Plastic construction, but cheap! You'd probably want to factor in a UK PSU however as he Euro one supplied with a UK adapter is not particularly practical.

[richardash1981]

Thank you for the pointers - I notice the Klark Teknik (https://www.thomann.de/gb/klark_teknik_dw_20br_air_link.htm) does AptX codec as well as the base playback one. The Fun Generation one looks like another Thomann own-brand, but (as often) a well thought through one. PSU swap doesn't look hard for a 5V / 2A PSU (might even manage an IEC connector rather than 13A plug).

[TonyMitchell]

We bought the Radial Engineering BT-Pro v2 DI box for this purpose.   Nice piece of kit, does the job well and seems to have a good range.   So much better than fighting with different adaptors, phones that need to be shoe-horned out of their cases to connect a mini TRS.   The best thing is being able to let the phone / tablet owner operate their own audio stops & starts.

BT-Pro V2 - Radial Engineering

[Sound Man]

I've got the Logitech unit mentioned in the first post and have had excellent results with it. What drew me to it was the fact that it was powered by a mains adapter rather than rechargable batteries.

David

[richardash1981]

Thank you again for feedback. The Radial Engineering BT-Pro v2 certainly isn't cheap (it's the most expensive I've yet seen), but I remember someone wanting a phantom powered bluetooth interface, and for them this is it! I'm surprised that it's possible to run bluetooth on the limited power available from phantom - but not surprised that doing so with good audio quality doesn't come cheap!.
As Thomann are out of stock of it, they suggested me another product I hadn't seen before in the form of https://www.thomann.de/gb/sirus_di_usb_bt.htm Sirus DI USB/BT (which seems to be another own-brand), the interesting thing being you get USB and Bluetooth in the same box. Some reviews aren't very positive about the bluetooth sound quality however.

[sunray]

1 hour ago, richardash1981 said:

I'm surprised that it's possible to run bluetooth on the limited power available from phantom - but not surprised that doing so with good audio quality doesn't come cheap!.

I know it's a different beast entirely but the self contained device (built in 3.5mm jack & cr2032 cell) I have ran from set up on a thursday to pack up on the tuesday and linked for roughly 12 hours per day for the 4 days of a bank holiday event so 50+hrs idle and 48hrs use, on a 250mAh battery without it going flat  is <2.5/5mA. IIRC the old C451's were knocking 10mA

[Jon Wiles]

have a look at These Not tried them yet, as they've only just become available, but planning to get a couple for our stock

[MixingWizard]

I use an xDuoo X3 II lossless player for this. It doubles as a high quality player, a USB DAC for your laptop and a very reliable Bluetooth receiver (you can also use the Bluetooth to change tracks on it remotely).

On top of that it has a line output as well as a headphone output so you can get proper line level into your desk - it always seemed sketchy to me that you would tune a PA using the headphone amp on a phone, which is designed to drive a completely different source impedance. I'm not quite clever enough to know if that actually has any real world difference though. 

[richardash1981]

In the end, I've now got the Sirus DI USB/BT from Thomann. Not used it properly yet, so no idea what the XLRs sound like, but the 3.5mm headphone jack is fine, drives some 140 ohm over-ear headphones. No trouble pairing to Windows or Android. Will update when I've got it connected to an actual mixer and run a few test tones.