[FiiO]

The Verdict of Headfonics

The FiiO BTA30 connects with almost everything, boots instantly, and is stunningly convenient to pair up with different devices. The sound performance and stability are more than satisfactory, so also the user experience.

It is a unique product and works great as a complement to other gears, breathing new life into devices that once shine but were left idling in the wireless era. Just click to connect and your setup turns wireless the next time.

The BTA30 is a small device and may be underlooked at just $89.99 but it fuses a lot of modern functions with an advanced control app that empowers it to be extremely flexible and functional.

This is easily the best Bluetooth receiver and transmitter in the market right now at this price point, filling the void between wireless and traditional devices.

https://headfonics.com/fiio-bta30-review/

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi，
Thank you very much for your support!
The BTA30 is a product that came highly recommended by users who said there was no such product on the market, so we used some of our resources to make one just to satisfy some of our users and to test the market.
We are pleased that the BTA30 has a high rating among users.
As we've explained before, if USB DAC is to support sample rates above 192k, additional modules such as the Xmos circuit need to be added, which will increase the cost and design cycle.
The BTA30 is not going to upgrade the USB DAC to a higher sample rate. But this is a real demand for HiFi users, and we will make a note of it and perhaps enhance it when we have the development resources to design our next product.
We currently recommend that most users use the optical or coaxial output of their computer to solve this problem, or use the FiiO K3 to connect BTA30 if they have one.
However, the feedback we've received so far is that many people like the product so much that some users are buying several wired devices at a time for their homes to upgrade to wireless.
I am the product manager of the BTA30, if you have any other needs, please let me know, so that we can consider more carefully the next time we design a product!
Thank you very much.

Hi,

Thanks a lot.

It is not every day that I get to talk witha product manager of a product I like and so that i am able to say what I would be looking for

Of course, price is important. But FiiO has several product lines and some of them are pretty expensive .

So if there can be a suggestion about a new product, my wish would be an "upgraded" Fiio BTA-30 that would include following improvements :
- unleashed USB DAC feature so the DAC could be used via USB without any limitations (and thus with Linux with no file editing) ;
- somewhat improved DAC Chip (a 4493 or higher, but given the fire at AKM it may be difficult to bet on AKM on a short term ) ;
- like the picture on the opening page : a double selector for each paired device over bluetooth ;
- a really nice and powerful headphone amp (maybe class-A even, would be a sublime surprise) ;
- bluetooth part can stay as it is as I do not see what there is to wish for there... LDAC, aptx-HD and UAT support are what we can hope for the best.

Of course, this will probably not be super cheap... But if it is all with the 350€/400USD price range, I would go for it immediatly

Regards.

 

[FiiO Willson]

Hi,

Thanks a lot.

It is not every day that I get to talk witha product manager of a product I like and so that i am able to say what I would be looking for

Of course, price is important. But FiiO has several product lines and some of them are pretty expensive .

So if there can be a suggestion about a new product, my wish would be an "upgraded" Fiio BTA-30 that would include following improvements :
- unleashed USB DAC feature so the DAC could be used via USB without any limitations (and thus with Linux with no file editing) ;
- somewhat improved DAC Chip (a 4493 or higher, but given the fire at AKM it may be difficult to bet on AKM on a short term ) ;
- like the picture on the opening page : a double selector for each paired device over bluetooth ;
- a really nice and powerful headphone amp (maybe class-A even, would be a sublime surprise) ;
- bluetooth part can stay as it is as I do not see what there is to wish for there... LDAC, aptx-HD and UAT support are what we can hope for the best.

Of course, this will probably not be super cheap... But if it is all with the 350€/400USD price range, I would go for it immediatly

Regards.

You seem to have a deep understanding of the product, and you're really good at it.

We collect information and feedback from our users, and then try to design next product to meet the needs of most people.

Thank you for your support.

 

[kgs51]

I want to use the device as a transmitter for my radio which has a headphone jack. From the radio I would like to transmit to my wireless headphones. Can I use
3.5mm Mini to coaxial cable whereby I put the 3.5mm end into the headphone jack of the radio and then connect to the BTA30 using the coaxial in end of the cable

 

[Ichos]

What is your cable?
If an analog to digital converter or just a 3.5mm jack to coaxial?

 

[kgs51]

It would be a 3.5mm jack to coaxial. The other thing I thought of was using a 3.5mm jack to usbc cable

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

You seem to have a deep understanding of the product, and you're really good at it.

We collect information and feedback from our users, and then try to design next product to meet the needs of most people.

Thank you for your support.

Hi,

Thanks

If you're looking for testers for your next products, count me in...
I'm always glad to helpand would like to work on product improvement

Regards.

FRED

 

[Ichos]

It would be a 3.5mm jack to coaxial. The other thing I thought of was using a 3.5mm jack to usbc cable

In order to input analog to coaxial you need an A/D converter.

 

[kgs51]

ok thanks

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi guys,

Continuing my review of the BTA-30 and exploring it's features a little "in-depth".
In this post I'l like to give my impressions of the BTA-30 used as Bluetooth RECEIVER.

II. BTA-30 USED AS BT RECEIVER

A. Set-up

Set-up is as following.
The BTA-30 is powered by USB-C cable that is plugged into a wall charger, not into a computer.
The button is pushed to the far left, turning the BTA-30 into a Bluetooth receiver.
The Bluetooth emitter is a ZTE RedMagic 3 smartphone (rooted and with developer's options enabled).
The files are played over Tidal and over Qobuz.
The BTA-30 outputs to RCA and the RCA cable is terminated with 3.5 jack that plugs into an Oppo HA-2 SE portable headphone amplifier.
The amplifier itself feeds an Oppo PM-1 headphone.

B. Pairing the BTA-30 with the Smartphone

This is really easy
Push the button to the far left into BT RX position.
Open smartphone set-up to search/pair/connect Bluetooth devices.
Push the "Pair" button on BTA-30 for like 3 seconds until the LED flashes green/red.
When done, search for BT devices on the smartphone.
The BTA-30 will show up and you just select it... Done.

As I'll report in a later review, pairing the BTA-30 when used as a Bluetooth transmitter is not as easy

C. Recognizing different formats

Once connected, I began to stream files from my smarthpone to the BTA-30.
I went to developers settings on the phone and changed the transmitting codec : SBC, aptx-HD, LDAC.
The BTA-30 supports the change on the fly with no problems at all.
The small LED on top of the "pair" button changes colour accordingly.
And the button's colour shows as it is supposed to
So I guess the change in transmitting coded is handled quite nocely by the BTA-30.

D. Connection stability

There's nothing that irritates me more than an unstable Bluetooth connection.
When, all the sudden, for no obvious reason, the connection seems to be scrambled.
Well, I am happy to report that after 45 minutes of playback from the phone to the BTA-30, I have had no such problems.
And that was despite me touching the phone and moving it around.
OK, I did not went really far away from the BTA-30 but, on some devices, evenbeing at 2m and not moving, I sometimes had connection problems.
Well, none of this happened on the BTA-30 when used as a Bluetooth receiver...

E. Sound quality

The BTA-30 has been used with SBC, aptx-HD and LDAC.
The files used were Loreena McKENNITT "Live from the Royal Albert Hall", Pink Floyd's "Delicate Soud of Thunder - Live", Dvorak's Violin concerto by Eldbjorg HEMSING and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and DOVRAK's 9th symphony conducted by Leopold Ludwig.

First statement :
Despite all the fuss about the transmission codecs, I found that the differences between the several codecs used was more subtle than "night and day" change.
Well, all in all I think I would be able to live even with SBC.
Maybe my 50 years old ears aren't as accurate as they used to be...

Second statement : SBC
OK. If I'd have to tell, I'd say that SBC is slightly less detailed than aptx-HD and LDAC.
It kinds of "projects" treble.
Audible on Loreena McKENNITT's "The Bonny Swans" for instance...
And bass is less legible.
But as I said, if I would have to, I would be able to live even with only that.

Third statement : aptx-HD
Well, I must say that this was my favourite codec.
I found the sound coming out of this was the most "uniform" of all three used.
No frequency was pushed forward.
And no frequency is left out : bass makes the planars shake when they are available on the recording (listen to 15 first seconds of Yet Another movie on Pink Floyd's "Delicate sound of thunder - Live") is quite revealing for that )
In another style, Dvorak's 9th (First movement) is also quite revealing.
Treble and mids are also really nice and you can understand whatever Loreena McKENNITT sings in her Live at Royal Albert Hall.
And Eldbjorg HEMSING's violin can rip your ears off in Dvorak's violin concerto as far as treble goes.

Fourth statement : LDAC
This is supposed to be the best format available for wireless streaming (apart of the confidential UAT).
Well, I found is less appealing than the aptx-HD.
I found that the bass was not really legible. Kind of fuzzy... on all recordings I listened to
It was a little disappointment here.
Is it the codec or the way the device decodes it ?
That remains to be determined, but as long as I have aptx-HD, I won't really care

Regards.

 

[FiiO Willson]

Hi guys,

Continuing my review of the BTA-30 and exploring it's features a little "in-depth".
In this post I'l like to give my impressions of the BTA-30 used as Bluetooth RECEIVER.

II. BTA-30 USED AS BT RECEIVER

A. Set-up

Set-up is as following.
The BTA-30 is powered by USB-C cable that is plugged into a wall charger, not into a computer.
The button is pushed to the far left, turning the BTA-30 into a Bluetooth receiver.
The Bluetooth emitter is a ZTE RedMagic 3 smartphone (rooted and with developer's options enabled).
The files are played over Tidal and over Qobuz.
The BTA-30 outputs to RCA and the RCA cable is terminated with 3.5 jack that plugs into an Oppo HA-2 SE portable headphone amplifier.
The amplifier itself feeds an Oppo PM-1 headphone.

B. Pairing the BTA-30 with the Smartphone

This is really easy
Push the button to the far left into BT RX position.
Open smartphone set-up to search/pair/connect Bluetooth devices.
Push the "Pair" button on BTA-30 for like 3 seconds until the LED flashes green/red.
When done, search for BT devices on the smartphone.
The BTA-30 will show up and you just select it... Done.

As I'll report in a later review, pairing the BTA-30 when used as a Bluetooth transmitter is not as easy

C. Recognizing different formats

Once connected, I began to stream files from my smarthpone to the BTA-30.
I went to developers settings on the phone and changed the transmitting codec : SBC, aptx-HD, LDAC.
The BTA-30 supports the change on the fly with no problems at all.
The small LED on top of the "pair" button changes colour accordingly.
And the button's colour shows as it is supposed to
So I guess the change in transmitting coded is handled quite nocely by the BTA-30.

D. Connection stability

There's nothing that irritates me more than an unstable Bluetooth connection.
When, all the sudden, for no obvious reason, the connection seems to be scrambled.
Well, I am happy to report that after 45 minutes of playback from the phone to the BTA-30, I have had no such problems.
And that was despite me touching the phone and moving it around.
OK, I did not went really far away from the BTA-30 but, on some devices, evenbeing at 2m and not moving, I sometimes had connection problems.
Well, none of this happened on the BTA-30 when used as a Bluetooth receiver...

E. Sound quality

The BTA-30 has been used with SBC, aptx-HD and LDAC.
The files used were Loreena McKENNITT "Live from the Royal Albert Hall", Pink Floyd's "Delicate Soud of Thunder - Live", Dvorak's Violin concerto by Eldbjorg HEMSING and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and DOVRAK's 9th symphony conducted by Leopold Ludwig.

First statement :
Despite all the fuss about the transmission codecs, I found that the differences between the several codecs used was more subtle than "night and day" change. Well, all in all I think I would be able to live even with SBC. Maybe my 50 years old ears aren't as accurate as they used to be...

Second statement : SBC
OK. If I'd have to tell, I'd say that SBC is slightly less detailed than aptx-HD and LDAC.
It kinds of "projects" treble. And bass is less legible.
But as I said, if I would hve to, I would be able to live even with only that.

Third statement : aptx-HD
Well, I must say that this was my favourite codec.
I found the sound coming out of this was the most "uniform" of all three used.
No frequency was pushed forward.
And no frequency is left out : bass makes the planars shake when they are available on the recording (listen to 15 seconds of Yet Another movie on Pink Floyd's "Delicate sound of thunder - Live) is quite revealing for that In another style, Dvorak's 9th (First movement) is also quite revealing.
Treble and mids are also really nice and you can understand whatever Loreena McKENNITT sings in her Live at Royal Albert Hall. And Eldbjorg HEMSING's violin can rip your ears off in Dvorak's violin concerto as far as treble goes.

Fourth statement : LDAC
This is supposed to be the best format available for wireless streaming (apart of the confidential UAT).
Well, I found is less appealing than the aptx-HD.
I found that the bass was not really legible. Kind of fuzzy... on all recordings I listend to
It was a little disappointment here.
Is it the codec or the way the device decodes it ?
That remains to be determined, but as long as I have aptx-HD, I won't really

Regards.

This should be a very honest assessment from you.
It's well written!
May I reprint to other media? Of course I will indicate that it is from you.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

This should be a very honest assessment from you.
It's well written!
May I reprint to other media? Of course I will indicate that it is from you.

Hi,

After your message, I have made some small changes just to iron out the typos (like "listend" was changed to "listened").

I am really honoured by your request. Of course, you can use what I write here elsewhere. That is no problem... as long as you do not change it.

Regards.

P.S. : one suggestion : change your signature to iron out the typo on "technolgoy" which I assume should read technology

 

[FiiO Willson]

Hi,

After your message, I have made some small changes just to iron out the typos (like "listend" was changed to "listened").

I am really honoured by your request. Of course, you can use what I write here elsewhere. That is no problem... as long as you do not change it.

Regards.

P.S. : one suggestion : change your signature to iron out the typo on "technolgoy" which I assume should read technology

Thanks for the reminder, I've emailed head-fi and asked them to fix it for me!

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Thanks for the reminder, I've emailed head-fi and asked them to fix it for me!

Hi,

I am probably the only one to notice this... But still

Regards.

FRED

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,

When used as a BT Receiver, the BTA-30 can be configured by the FiiO app.

I see that there you can choose between 4 filters.
But I admit that I don't understand what they are supposed to change.

Anyone would be able to explain that to me ?