INTRO:-
Bluetooth connectivity modules are not very common, not very popular either, but they have plenty of uses. They can turn any of your wired devices into a BT device. Let it be your T.V., gaming console, wired speaker or your headphone and earphones, everything can be turned into an audio device.
The Biggest trick under the sleeves of the Phoenix is that it can transmit the data from non-BT PC or T.V. to your Speakers or headphones. You can use two Phoenix to connect two non-BT audio devices.
The Signature Acoustics Phoenix from the house of Pro audio home sold by Pristine Note has a few more tricks under its sleeves. The Phoenix works around a CSR 8675 APTX HD Qualcomm chip which can pair up with 2 devices at the same time with BT 5.0. It can connect with TV PS3 or PS4 with the optical cable or 3.5mm female to RCA male connector. And the best thing is, the Phoenix supports all Android, Apple and Windows Operating environments.
The Phoenix is priced at 2799rs or around $39, with its no stone turned approach with connectivity options, still has some competition from other lesser known brands but most of them don’t have optical cable option.
Let's find out how it fairs against my $160 creative E5 BT receiver, who am I kidding.. E5 is a full fledged amp. But still, I will just compare the Audio quality through BT, and the Bt on the E5 is 4.0, E5 should be at disadvantage, let's find out.
Before that..
ACCESSORIES:-
The Phoenix comes with plenty of accessories. First and the most used accessories is the 3.5mm line in cable. There are a 3.5mm female to RCA male cable and a optical cable to use with console devices.
There is a charging cable and the instruction manual sums up the list of accessories..
CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS:-
The Phoenix can transmit and receive audio signals with APTX HD quality with just a flick of a switch. TX mode transmits and RX mode receives. One can use one of those out of the box accessories to connect the Phoenix for optimum performance.
In TX mode, just hold the on button on the top, a blue light will start blinking and it will connect automatically to the nearest BT device ready to be paired. IN RX mode, hold the on button for 4-5 sec and a red and blue light starts blinking, means it is ready to be paired.
For an instance, if you want to connect your non-BT T.V. with your BT headphone, you can use the 3.5mm lineout cable or RCA cable. To connect console, one can use optical cable for this. Simply use the lineout cable to connect with Non-BT speaker. One of the best use is to use it with car stereo system.
Use the RX mode and make your non-BT earphone or headphone a BT accessory.
Connected to my TV
+
Connected with TRN BT in TX mode.
BUILD QUALITY and BATTERY:-
The build quality of Phoenix is acceptable, its all plastic, the upper Plastic cover is a button which makes it feel slightly less sturdy. The overall build quality of the Phoenix is average. It doesn’t feel very sturdy, not much fragile either, just make sure you don’t drop it.
There are two switches and the DC charging port is on one side. First switch is the TX/RX, the other one is a AUX/SPDIF switch.
The Phoenix has 400mah of battery which can handle up to 16 hours of auxiliary and 14 hours of SPDIF operation. Charging it is for around 90mins fills the battery to 100%. I found the battery to last around 12 hours with RCA and around 17 hrs with aux cable. Battery life is very good.
SOUND QUALITY:-
The Phoenix has CSR8675 BT5.0 chip which has faster transfer speed, better response time (if you want to play games) and supports higher sample rate. Does this means it can deliver better sound quality?
I am using Flac files (DSD and DSF and ISO.. transfer speed is not that fast) and my Pixel 2 & a loaned LG V30+ thinQ for this review, both support APTX HD.
To test its driving ability I will use the Brainwavz HM100 (which I am reviewing alongside the Phoenix) and a BA based earphone, the Shozy Pentacle.
Pitting it against the Creative E5 which can only receive and is equipped with only BT 4.0.
The overall quality of the BT 5.0 is evident, it has more depth and more minute details compared to the Robin. The tussle with the E5 took a different turn as I found out that the Signal is processed by the AMP chip too.. Making the comparison not in favor of the Phoenix, but still, it’s a comparison, let's find out.
BASS:-
The Phoenix delivers accurate bass notes, it doesn’t lose any extension and delivers most of the bass body. If I had compared it only with the Robin I would have said that its far better but the E5 delivers better body and slam. The slightly smaller body makes the decay faster with the Phoenix hence everything sounds more cleaner and clearer. Extension of the E5 is on par, but the E5 costs around 5 times more than the Phoenix.
MID RANGE:-
The mid range of the Phoenix is as good as it gets with the headphone or earphone you are using. Notes do lose some native sharpness. The difference is very small but is evident when I use the pentacle.
Instruments and symphonies have good amount of details, just like every other BT device when faced with high speed or busy tracks, details tend to clip, transparency, layering and separation do take a hit. But this time around the amount of damage received is considerably lower.
Vocals retain the most amount of details, the throaty feel of male vocals is slightly lost, the sharpness of female vocals is slightly less evident too. The presentation is much like a more ironed one compared to the default head gear character. A bit of the micro details is lost.
The stage size too is slightly smaller than default.
HIGHS:-
Highs are slightly hard to get a hold of, still. Its far better than what it used to be with some other BT earphones I have reviewed couple of years ago, but still the wired mode of Hearing delivers better extension and details, which is expected. I have to admit that the Phoenix delivers better highs when compared to the TRN BT cable which uses BT4.2.
The amount of details matter on the earphone too, as it is very much like a BYOG thing. Your gear, your quality.
With the Pentacle, it shows good extension, instruments have enough energy, there isn't much spark or energy, but its better than my E5 and TRN BT receiver.
CONCLUSION:-
Doesn’t matter what type of earphone or headphone you use, the timber and tonality of the head gear is well maintained. As it is with every wireless thing, sharpness do take a bit of hit. It still beats the Creative E5 when it comes to treble extension, energy and decay speed.
I find the Phoenix to be a nifty device, it delivers all one can expect from a Bluetooth audio adapter, it transmits, receives, and enables all the non-BT audio equipments with BT and does it with ease. If you are a wireless person who use BT on regular basis and want to make your no-BT device BT-licious, get yourself a BT 5.0 enabled Signature Acoustics Phoenix. It will serve you like a Phoenix.
The number of connectivity options it provides is outstanding.
There are other options too, why will you buy this? Buy this because its Signature Acoustics, one of the biggest Indian Audio companies and they have nicely responsible customer care team.
Buy yours From here:-
https://www.amazon.in/Signature-Acoustics-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Home-Theater/dp/B0188U2PLU
I hope you guys are enjoying your music, have a nice time, cheers.
Bluetooth connectivity modules are not very common, not very popular either, but they have plenty of uses. They can turn any of your wired devices into a BT device. Let it be your T.V., gaming console, wired speaker or your headphone and earphones, everything can be turned into an audio device.
The Biggest trick under the sleeves of the Phoenix is that it can transmit the data from non-BT PC or T.V. to your Speakers or headphones. You can use two Phoenix to connect two non-BT audio devices.
The Signature Acoustics Phoenix from the house of Pro audio home sold by Pristine Note has a few more tricks under its sleeves. The Phoenix works around a CSR 8675 APTX HD Qualcomm chip which can pair up with 2 devices at the same time with BT 5.0. It can connect with TV PS3 or PS4 with the optical cable or 3.5mm female to RCA male connector. And the best thing is, the Phoenix supports all Android, Apple and Windows Operating environments.
The Phoenix is priced at 2799rs or around $39, with its no stone turned approach with connectivity options, still has some competition from other lesser known brands but most of them don’t have optical cable option.
Let's find out how it fairs against my $160 creative E5 BT receiver, who am I kidding.. E5 is a full fledged amp. But still, I will just compare the Audio quality through BT, and the Bt on the E5 is 4.0, E5 should be at disadvantage, let's find out.
Before that..
ACCESSORIES:-
The Phoenix comes with plenty of accessories. First and the most used accessories is the 3.5mm line in cable. There are a 3.5mm female to RCA male cable and a optical cable to use with console devices.
There is a charging cable and the instruction manual sums up the list of accessories..
CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS:-
The Phoenix can transmit and receive audio signals with APTX HD quality with just a flick of a switch. TX mode transmits and RX mode receives. One can use one of those out of the box accessories to connect the Phoenix for optimum performance.
In TX mode, just hold the on button on the top, a blue light will start blinking and it will connect automatically to the nearest BT device ready to be paired. IN RX mode, hold the on button for 4-5 sec and a red and blue light starts blinking, means it is ready to be paired.
For an instance, if you want to connect your non-BT T.V. with your BT headphone, you can use the 3.5mm lineout cable or RCA cable. To connect console, one can use optical cable for this. Simply use the lineout cable to connect with Non-BT speaker. One of the best use is to use it with car stereo system.
Use the RX mode and make your non-BT earphone or headphone a BT accessory.
Connected to my TV
+
Connected with TRN BT in TX mode.
BUILD QUALITY and BATTERY:-
The build quality of Phoenix is acceptable, its all plastic, the upper Plastic cover is a button which makes it feel slightly less sturdy. The overall build quality of the Phoenix is average. It doesn’t feel very sturdy, not much fragile either, just make sure you don’t drop it.
There are two switches and the DC charging port is on one side. First switch is the TX/RX, the other one is a AUX/SPDIF switch.
The Phoenix has 400mah of battery which can handle up to 16 hours of auxiliary and 14 hours of SPDIF operation. Charging it is for around 90mins fills the battery to 100%. I found the battery to last around 12 hours with RCA and around 17 hrs with aux cable. Battery life is very good.
SOUND QUALITY:-
The Phoenix has CSR8675 BT5.0 chip which has faster transfer speed, better response time (if you want to play games) and supports higher sample rate. Does this means it can deliver better sound quality?
I am using Flac files (DSD and DSF and ISO.. transfer speed is not that fast) and my Pixel 2 & a loaned LG V30+ thinQ for this review, both support APTX HD.
To test its driving ability I will use the Brainwavz HM100 (which I am reviewing alongside the Phoenix) and a BA based earphone, the Shozy Pentacle.
Pitting it against the Creative E5 which can only receive and is equipped with only BT 4.0.
The overall quality of the BT 5.0 is evident, it has more depth and more minute details compared to the Robin. The tussle with the E5 took a different turn as I found out that the Signal is processed by the AMP chip too.. Making the comparison not in favor of the Phoenix, but still, it’s a comparison, let's find out.
BASS:-
The Phoenix delivers accurate bass notes, it doesn’t lose any extension and delivers most of the bass body. If I had compared it only with the Robin I would have said that its far better but the E5 delivers better body and slam. The slightly smaller body makes the decay faster with the Phoenix hence everything sounds more cleaner and clearer. Extension of the E5 is on par, but the E5 costs around 5 times more than the Phoenix.
MID RANGE:-
The mid range of the Phoenix is as good as it gets with the headphone or earphone you are using. Notes do lose some native sharpness. The difference is very small but is evident when I use the pentacle.
Instruments and symphonies have good amount of details, just like every other BT device when faced with high speed or busy tracks, details tend to clip, transparency, layering and separation do take a hit. But this time around the amount of damage received is considerably lower.
Vocals retain the most amount of details, the throaty feel of male vocals is slightly lost, the sharpness of female vocals is slightly less evident too. The presentation is much like a more ironed one compared to the default head gear character. A bit of the micro details is lost.
The stage size too is slightly smaller than default.
HIGHS:-
Highs are slightly hard to get a hold of, still. Its far better than what it used to be with some other BT earphones I have reviewed couple of years ago, but still the wired mode of Hearing delivers better extension and details, which is expected. I have to admit that the Phoenix delivers better highs when compared to the TRN BT cable which uses BT4.2.
The amount of details matter on the earphone too, as it is very much like a BYOG thing. Your gear, your quality.
With the Pentacle, it shows good extension, instruments have enough energy, there isn't much spark or energy, but its better than my E5 and TRN BT receiver.
CONCLUSION:-
Doesn’t matter what type of earphone or headphone you use, the timber and tonality of the head gear is well maintained. As it is with every wireless thing, sharpness do take a bit of hit. It still beats the Creative E5 when it comes to treble extension, energy and decay speed.
I find the Phoenix to be a nifty device, it delivers all one can expect from a Bluetooth audio adapter, it transmits, receives, and enables all the non-BT audio equipments with BT and does it with ease. If you are a wireless person who use BT on regular basis and want to make your no-BT device BT-licious, get yourself a BT 5.0 enabled Signature Acoustics Phoenix. It will serve you like a Phoenix.
The number of connectivity options it provides is outstanding.
There are other options too, why will you buy this? Buy this because its Signature Acoustics, one of the biggest Indian Audio companies and they have nicely responsible customer care team.
Buy yours From here:-
https://www.amazon.in/Signature-Acoustics-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Home-Theater/dp/B0188U2PLU
I hope you guys are enjoying your music, have a nice time, cheers.
This device has optical input and output. If I connect my TV to the input (with an optical cable), is there any D/A conversion when transmitting data to wireless headphones? And when transmitting data from the optical output (to external DAC, for example)? The Topping BC3 receiver is able to do the latter without conversion. Thanks again.