[Prognathous]

I just ordered a Philips SHP9500 headphone and am considering to get the V-MODA BoomPro microphone cable for them. Is there a BT receiver I could attach to this cable which would transmit my voice to a PC or phone? I own EarStudio ES100 and FiiO BTR3, but since they both include built-in (and pretty bad) microphones I assume they don't support external microphones over the 3.5mm jack.

Thanks!

 

[ClieOS]

FiiO BTR5 for now, Qudelix-5K if you are willing to wait 3~4 months.

 

[Prognathous]

Thanks for replying. It turns out a separate microphone isn't the only thing needed for high quality calls over BT, but also support for FastStream codec. At least according to Avantree. Unfortunately it doesn't seem there's any BT receiver that supports this codec at the moment. Only some headphones/headsets do, but all of them are closed-back, which in my opinion makes them barely usable for calls.

 

[ClieOS]

Thanks for replying. It turns out a separate microphone isn't the only thing needed for high quality calls over BT, but also support for FastStream codec. At least according to Avantree. Unfortunately it doesn't seem there's any BT receiver that supports this codec at the moment. Only some headphones/headsets do, but all of them are closed-back, which in my opinion makes them barely usable for calls.

FastStream is a hack developed by CSR (same company that develops aptX, now part of Qualcomm) that is not compatible to Bluetooth's standard, thus almost no one supports it. I won't bet on it getting widespread adoption anytime soon.

 

[Prognathous]

Is there any other BT codec that's supposed to offer good support for voice (e.g. Skype)? If not, then I'll settle for a hack. Being tethered to my seat when making calls gets old after a while...

 

[ClieOS]

Is there any other BT codec that's supposed to offer good support for voice (e.g. Skype)? If not, then I'll settle for a hack. Being tethered to my seat when making calls gets old after a while...

By default, voice is handled by A2DP to either CVSD or PCM codec, but with limited bandwidth as neither is meant for high quality audio (as bandwidth is reserved for sending audio to the BT receiver, nor for sending voice back). The problem for you is that you need both your smartphone (which I don't know any that does) as well as the receiver to support FastStream in order for the codec to work, and gears are few and far between.

 

[Prognathous]

Update: I didn't find a BT receiver that supports FastStream, though Avantree's upcoming AS70 is supposed to. In the meanwhile I bought the Creative SB Jam open-back BT headphones which support FastStream and I'm glad to report that they work great for voice coupled with Avantree Leaf USB dongle.

 

[ClieOS]

Creative BT-W2

 

[Prognathous]

Creative BT-W2

This seems to be a transmitter, not a receiver. I already have a transmitter (Avantree Leaf) which support FastStream. Unfortunately none of the receivers I have (ES100, BTR3 and others) support this codec.

 

[john61ct]

What about standalone wireless mic units? including high SQ for broadcast journalists

Sure best if integrated, but I don't want to be at all restricted in my choice of cans, or BT transmitter /receiver.

 

[RockSloth]

@Prognathous did you ever find a faststream receiver?