Sound quality when using bluetooth

[yesgrey]

Hi,

Right now I'm stuck at using only bluetooth (hopefully will fix it soon) fed using my phone (it supports aptx) and even though the bass is quite good I feel the mids are not very natural and the highs are very strident and harsh, almost like broken glass! I hope it's due to the bluetooth and that when I start using it normally the sound improves considerably...

What's your opinion regarding Phantom's sound quality when using a direct bluetooth connection vs Wi-fi and optical input?

[canyelles]

bluetooth uses a lossy transmission mechanism, that is probably the explanation. Haven't used it myself.

[nigelb001]

Hi,

Right now I'm stuck at using only bluetooth (hopefully will fix it soon) fed using my phone (it supports aptx) and even though the bass is quite good I feel the mids are not very natural and the highs are very strident and harsh, almost like broken glass! I hope it's due to the bluetooth and that when I start using it normally the sound improves considerably...  

What's your opinion regarding Phantom's sound quality when using a direct bluetooth connection vs Wi-fi and optical input?

What's your source? Listening to 6 Music on BBC I-Player right now from my I-Pad via bluetooth, certainly no broken glass here. Bluetooth is certainly most acceptable for general and party listening. Interestingly since the recent upgrade not getting any clicks and short dropouts on Bluetooth so to Devialet from me.

[actx76092]

I tried it for a morning and did not like it. . .seemed a bit thinner and harsher. At first I didn't think it was too bad but after a few hours I realized there was a bit difference.

[yesgrey]

What's your source?

I used my Samsung S3 mini which aptx website claims that supports it. I don't know if the aptx support is part of the OS (Android 4.1.2), or if the app that plays the songs also have to support it. I have used app "Play Music". I haven't tried with the new firmware yet - only yesterday I was able to setup my Phantom and get the new firmware (1.4.0.5) - but I confirm that with the previous one I got some dropouts once in a while... I will retry with the new firmware to see if the sound quality improved and report back.

[yesgrey]

One of the potential problems, besides the compression, is the volume control. We control the volume in the smartphone app, and probably the app does that by decreasing the bit depth, like a typical digital volume? With Spark I hope that the volume is set not by decreasing the bit depth but by changing the amplification level inside the Phantom(s), and that the full bit depth of the audio signal is preserved...

[Krisp]

...
With Spark I hope that the volume is set not by decreasing the bit depth but by changing the amplification level inside the Phantom(s), and that the full bit depth of the audio signal is preserved...

Yes, yesgrey, in another thread a fellow explained what he could monitor in the network traffic. He wrote, that the song is transferred to all the Phantoms when playback starts.
It surely looks different when using optical input and you control the volume e.g. on the Mac or from within iTunes.


Cheers,

Krisp

[yesgrey]

in another thread a fellow explained what he could monitor in the network traffic.

Do you still remember which thread was? I did a search but could not find it... it seems to be an interesting thread...

[ragwo]

I believe it is the Chromecast thread.