[hmscott]

Howdy all!
I recently got the BTR3K and as much as I want to love it I'm having a bit of an issue w/ noise when music becomes quiet, mostly the issue is occurring w/ higher frequencies, for example piano music playing on low volume or when music fades out at normal/mid volume. The sound is generally some strong fragmentation as if it's beginning to lose connection and dropping the bandwidth.

This is coming from the single end out on two low impedance iems(Oriveti OH500 and Shure se535). I don't have a balanced cable to try(all my toys are elsewhere currently but both of my other bluetooth devices, the Shure BT2 and Fiio BTR1K don't seem to do this.

Is anyone else experiencing this or is my unit potentially faulty?

Are you using BT or USB DAC mode? I've heard no noise during silence on either the BTR5 or BTR3k with 2.5mm or 3.5mm on USB DAC mode. Very quiet.

When BT is at the edge of it's range then I do get partial cut out until I go past the range limit and it cuts out completely. Same goes for all of my current and previous BT units. If you ride the limit of a devices BT range you will get "noise" as the signal drops and recovers / re-sync's.

The BTR3k gives better BT range for my than my BTR5. I did just receive my backup BTR5, so I'll be testing that out over the next couple of weeks, looking for differences between my first BTR5 and the new one. I'll post if I hear anything different with the new BTR5.

 

[Ichos]

Would BTR3K in wired mode performed better than BTR5 in wireless mode? I want to my iPhone X with relatively efficient IEMs. Cheers

No , BTR5 would be better in technical performance and they still will sound different.
It is ESS vs AKM sound.
Bluetooth connection mostly affects high frequencies and overall clarity.

 

[hmscott]

Would BTR3K in wired mode performed better than BTR5 in wireless mode? I want to my iPhone X with relatively efficient IEMs. Cheers

Technically perhaps it would be a push - given lower resolution BTR3k USB and lower resolution BTR5 in BT mode with iphone AAC, and you'd really need to find someone that has listened to both, but even so it's subjective - you're own reaction to the sound might / could be different than someone else's preference.

I prefer the BTR3k on 3.5mm vs the BTR5 3.5mm sound-wise on youtube / Netflix / Amazon HD, but between their 2.5mm outputs I prefer the BTR5 - I could easily enjoy either the BTR3k or BTR5 alone without comparison. The BTR3k on 2.5mm is driving my SendyAudio Aiva's just fine, even though the Aiva's do sound better on the BTR5 2.5mm with more power - if I didn't have them side by side to compare I wouldn't miss the BTR5, and would enjoy listening to the BTR3k alone.

Maybe buy both and then listen to both over a couple of weeks, then decide which to keep

You might find keeping both is a good option. It's nice to have one on the phone, PC, and one on the Nintendo switch, either acting as a spare should something happen to the other.

I've decided to keep 2 BTR5's and 1 BTR3k, for now.

 

[dikmorf]

Are you using BT or USB DAC mode? I've heard no noise during silence on either the BTR5 or BTR3k with 2.5mm or 3.5mm on USB DAC mode. Very quiet.

When BT is at the edge of it's range then I do get partial cut out until I go past the range limit and it cuts out completely. Same goes for all of my current and previous BT units. If you ride the limit of a devices BT range you will get "noise" as the signal drops and recovers / re-sync's.

The BTR3k gives better BT range for my than my BTR5. I did just receive my backup BTR5, so I'll be testing that out over the next couple of weeks, looking for differences between my first BTR5 and the new one. I'll post if I hear anything different with the new BTR5.

I'm only using it in bluetooth mode. I just tried using it in usb mode and the computer recognizes the device as an audio-peripheral but output gets cutoff after about 10 seconds.
BTR1K does fine in USB mode so I'm finding it unlikely that this is driver error.

Range isn't much of an issue here as i'm using the device a few feet away from the source device.

USB issue is making me lean closer to the fact that the unit is faulty.

 

[Ichos]

Strange!
I have used BTR3K extensively with USB mode without an issue.

 

[hmscott]

I'm only using it in bluetooth mode. I just tried using it in usb mode and the computer recognizes the device as an audio-peripheral but output gets cutoff after about 10 seconds.
BTR1K does fine in USB mode so I'm finding it unlikely that this is driver error.

Range isn't much of an issue here as i'm using the device a few feet away from the source device.

USB issue is making me lean closer to the fact that the unit is faulty.

Darn, that's too bad.

I just looked for a way to reset the BTR3k - I haven't needed to yet myself - and I didn't see a way to reset listed in the BTR3k FAQ - @FiiO how do we reset the BTR3k?
https://www.fiio.com/btr3k_faq

I did notice this:

17.The sound quality is bad when playing games. Is it possible to improve it later?
The poor game Bluetooth voice quality is due to the game apps and mobile phone system. When playing games on mobile phones, it will switch to mono mode, and the sound quality would be even worse. Basically it has nothing to do with the BTR3K.
https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/380496.html

Fortunately none of the games I've played on my phone have exhibited this "mono" behavior. Are you playing a game on your phone? What is your source material on the iphone?

If you have other devices I'd try them too. I use Android 10 on my Samsung S20 Ultra and Samsung S6 Tablet, along with Windows 10 PC. I haven't tried the BTR3k / BTR5 on any Apple hardware yet.

A number of times I've seen comments complaining about one problem or the other - and I recognize it's likely due to user error, your comments aren't so much that, but I'd try other cables and sources before giving up so quickly. The BTR1k and BTR3k are different hardware and might react differently to the same previous setup's you've been using the BTR1k.

Good luck, if nothing else, you can return that BTR3k and order another one and try again. And / or order a BTR5 and see if it's better for your set up.

 

[dh0licious]

Strange!
I have used BTR3K extensively with USB mode without an issue.

Can I assume it also charges the battery on the BTR3k while in USB mode?

 

[hmscott]

Can I assume it also charges the battery on the BTR3k while in USB mode?

Yes, both the BTR3k and BTR5 can charge while connected on USB DAC mode. Also, both the BTR3k and BTR5 can disable charging on USB DAC mode, for devices like the iPhone that shutdown when you don't disable charging (!!) @dikmorf !!

@dikmorf please give that a try - you can set Charge = Off for your BTR3k with the FiiO App - while connected with BT to your iPhone - not sure if the iPhone App Store has both the Fiio Control and FiiO Music, but both can connect as control with the BTR3k and BTR5 to change onboard settings.

The BTR5 displays many settings through it's OLED display and allows changing Charge On/Off on the BTR5 directly. The BTR3k requires you connect it with the FiiO Control / Music App and then you can set the Charge On/Off option in the settings.

I hope that works for you @dikmorf, thanks for catching it and pointing that out @dh0licious

 

[Ichos]

Can I assume it also charges the battery on the BTR3k while in USB mode?

When I use it with PC or Android I always disable charging if that matters.

 

[hmscott]

When I use it with PC or Android I always disable charging if that matters.

That probably runs coolest - without the added heat from the charging - I've since migrated back to charging while listening, so far no heat issues - knock on wood - the Aiva's earpiece shells are made of wood!!

FYI - For those of you looking for a SendyAudio Aiva review, here's the reviews on head-fi:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sendy-audio-aiva.23656/reviews

 

[Ichos]

All my sources are battery powered so I have disabled charging in order to prevent battery drain.

 

[hmscott]

All my sources are battery powered so I have disabled charging in order to prevent battery drain.

Running off of battery is supposed to sound better as well, so far I've not noticed the difference between Charge On / Off. There is definitely a heat generation difference.

Maybe a split charge cable might be a good purchase? I've seen them, but don't have any yet. IDK, if that allows charging both while listening? It's become more popular now that earphone ports have been removed and everyone else that isn't DAC'ing is using a USB connected earphone, and still want / need to charge.

 

[Ichos]

To tell you the truth I found battery duration very good so I don't care.
I charge it once every a day or two depending on use and I am OK.

 

[waynes world]

Nice.. kind of regretting getting the ES100 for $75 on sale yesterday. Oh well. May get the BTR3k in the near future too. or the BTR5. so many choices!

I'll be running it through Galaxy S10 and running low-end Chifi IEM's, if anyone cares to make the decision for me!

BTR3K is nice but way too weak for relative low sensitivity and high impedance phones. if you got ES100 for USD 75 you got the best price/performance of them all.

If you are in Canada, you can get the BTR3K for $100CAD which works out to about the same as when ES100 was selling for 75 USD (plus exchange).

 

[FiiO]

I'm only using it in bluetooth mode. I just tried using it in usb mode and the computer recognizes the device as an audio-peripheral but output gets cutoff after about 10 seconds.
BTR1K does fine in USB mode so I'm finding it unlikely that this is driver error.

Range isn't much of an issue here as i'm using the device a few feet away from the source device.

USB issue is making me lean closer to the fact that the unit is faulty.

Hi,

Does the BTR3K turn off when the output gets cutoff? Please try to hold the volume+&-button and connect to the mobile phone first. Then connect to the computer again for check?

Best regrds