The Hi-Fi + Hi-Res Audiophiles' Bluetooth Headphone Adapter Thread - [17.Oct.21] iFi GO Blu impression added
Aug 27, 2019 at 8:40 PM Post #106 of 1,308
Aug 27, 2019 at 9:34 PM Post #107 of 1,308
Not sure what you are trying to say, but that isn't a BT adapter that this thread is for.
Probably he said that 9038 can come in small form factor. E1DA 9038s suck so much battery from phone. They even provide with the Y-splitter USB cable so it can be powered with powerbank. It's not ideal for bluetooth adapter. If a bluetooth adapter can run only 1-2 hour than it's not ideal.
 
Aug 30, 2019 at 1:11 PM Post #108 of 1,308
Seems pointless to make a separate thread so I'll mention it here as I think it does tie in slightly with all these devices. I'm talking specifically about Bluetooth 5, aptX HD transmitters with optical input and without a DAC. I think it will be a while before consumer devices (not adapters) start having Bluetooth 5 and aptX HD be the new standard.

PC / TV / Receiver / Speakers etc. with optical output -> cable to transmitter(which I'll mention below) -> receiver adapters in this thread
In my personal use case which I'll keep brief, at work I want to be wireless with my IEM's. Why not go wired? Because I don't want a cable in the way of my typing hands and keyboard. At home, for my media room, this one is even more easy to make an argument for. Most people don't upgrade their TV's, speakers, receivers etc. that often and all their current gear plus any gear they buy in the near future will most likely not support Bluetooth 5 and aptX HD. You'll need these low cost transmitters. Maybe some will argue just buy 2 BTR5's for example and I'd like to hear people's thoughts on it. Some considerations: will battery life degradation play a part compared to some of these transmitters that are not battery operated meaning they'll work the same on day 1 as they will 5 years later. Also, auto on/off, need to research this one more as I think it's model specific.

All of these hi-res adapters are great, but there should in my opinion be at least a very brief mention of some respected and compatible desktop / home audio transmitter solutions as well. I currently own the BTR3 and am glad I stumbled into this thread as now I know I'll be upgrading to a BTR5 in October. With the BTR3 and a Avantree Oasis Plus (aptX HD compatible, however only Bluetooth 4.2), I'm not happy with my setup as I know I can squeeze a bit more out of my IEM's with a BTR5 but also out of the transmitter -> receiver connection. The problem is there is a lot of transmitters out there but they're almost all from questionable companies. Take a look at Amazon, there's some really cheap, ugly ones. My favorite is their marketing pictures look from 10 years ago. Customer support from them? I wouldn't risk it. FiiO for example responds to my emails within 24 hours, I respect that. I'm looking into one Monoprice makes but they haven't replied to my question of which Qualcomm chipset they're using (it is Bluetooth 5 so maybe my question is irrelevant). Theirs however is battery powered so not sure how 5 years from now it will work.
 
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Sep 2, 2019 at 12:16 AM Post #109 of 1,308
List updated: Shanling UP4
 
Sep 2, 2019 at 11:01 AM Post #111 of 1,308
Tricky now to decide on Shanling UP4 or Fiio BTR5....:sweat:
 
Sep 2, 2019 at 6:41 PM Post #113 of 1,308
Tricky now to decide on Shanling UP4 or Fiio BTR5....:sweat:
The USB DAC on UP4 limited to 16bit/48khz and the BTR5 higher bitrate and DSD (if you into that). If you just use it as bluetooth adapter it should just be fine. I plan to use them as bluetooth when I'm out and USB DAC when I'm at home. But I'm sure the price for UP4 going to be cheaper. I saw the pre-order price of the BTR5 kept increasing.
 
Sep 2, 2019 at 9:15 PM Post #114 of 1,308
The USB DAC on UP4 limited to 16bit/48khz and the BTR5 higher bitrate and DSD (if you into that). If you just use it as bluetooth adapter it should just be fine. I plan to use them as bluetooth when I'm out and USB DAC when I'm at home. But I'm sure the price for UP4 going to be cheaper. I saw the pre-order price of the BTR5 kept increasing.

A lot of these are just hearsay. From what we do know so far, the two share very similar hardware, and the only thing we can say in some certainty is that FiiO has better app support, given Shanling has yet to release any.
 
Sep 3, 2019 at 8:26 PM Post #115 of 1,308
I wish more bluetooth receivers can also do transmit of the relevant ones for enthusiasts like LDAC, Aptx HD and Aptx LL.
Additionally I wish usb DAC meant that you can use usb dongled dacs so that you can use a variety of DACs to match the variety of iems.
Further additionally I wish there was bidirectional optical input/output at half the cost. I'm thinking wishing is a good thing.
 
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Sep 7, 2019 at 6:03 AM Post #117 of 1,308
Think I'm just going to go for the Fiio BTR5...I guess either one may be bit a buggy with their control apps anyway.
Not much between the two in hardware specs, but I think I prefer the separate buttons on the Fiio vs Shanling..never used these all-in-one buttons on Shanling DAPs etc before.
 
Sep 7, 2019 at 6:39 AM Post #118 of 1,308
Sep 7, 2019 at 9:40 AM Post #119 of 1,308
@peter123 there from the Chifi LZa2/a3/a3s/a4 mania days... :wink:
OPA1622 on that Qudelix BT adapter above...stellar detail retrieval and neutrality (wrt DAC incoming tonality) and common mode noise rejection...almost as good as discrete amp chips performance...Have a couple of those chips on an ES9038Q2M chip rolling board...

..AND it has true DAC-out (bypassing the amp chip) reading the specs list to the bottom.

EDIT : weird how its only using the DAC chip on 2.5" balanced-out but you have option of
- DAC or DAC + amp chip on single-end...
 
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Sep 7, 2019 at 10:26 AM Post #120 of 1,308
@peter123 there from the Chifi LZa2/a3/a3s/a4 mania days... :wink:
OPA1622 on that Qudelix BT adapter above...stellar detail retrieval and neutrality (wrt DAC incoming tonality) and common mode noise rejection...almost as good as discrete amp chips performance...Have a couple of those chips on an ES9038Q2M chip rolling board...

..AND it has true DAC-out (bypassing the amp chip) reading the specs list to the bottom.

EDIT : weird how its only using the DAC chip on 2.5" balanced-out but you have option of
- DAC or DAC + amp chip on single-end...

Don't forget about the LZ A6, my all time favorite IEM's but it's quite new though :wink:

Always nice to see a familiar name in here.

This is most definitely an interesting device, I'm very impressed with the ES100 but this 5k looks like the next generation devic. From what I understand retail price will be $99 for this one also and estimated release date is early next year.
 

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