Does any wireless EARBUD setup exist? (w/out significant delay)

[jamiefind]

I have reviewed all of the threads related to wireless headphone setups, and there doesn't appear to be any advice out there directly addressing this question:

Is there any good option for a wireless earbud setup?

I am going to dip my toe in the water of MDing in a public place, and though my activity will be legal I would really like to look as innocuous as possible swinging my detector. I am going to try out some of the great advice I've read on this forum to accomplish that goal: wear a reflective vest, hardhat, workboots, etc. so that most people will just assume I'm some kind of utility worker or something. I know that sounds contradictory since I stated that I want to appear innocuous, but the goal is to avoid looking like a treasure hunter because of the subset of people that don't like to see it...not to protect their feelings but to avoid hassles to the extent possible.

So again, is there any way to have a wireless ear piece or earbud that doesn't suffer from a lot of substantial problems like delay or poor signal?

If the answer is "no," I'd love to know that so I can quit wasting my time searching for a non-existent product. I see that a lot of people like the TDK WR700 wireless on-ear headphones, the Rapoo H3070 wireless on-ear headphones, and the Signstek 0.2W high power FM transmitter setup for wired phones/buds, but the glaring omitted category is a WIRELESS EARBUD / EAR PIECE.

Thanks in advance!

 

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[jamiefind]

Had a thought...if a good wireless earbud solution isn't on the market, the next best thing might be one of those single-ear earbud things (maybe the kind that wraps around the outer ear) with a wire going down to my waist. My waist would have the wireless receiver on it (the 0.2W FM version).

This setup would provide a good signal, negligible delay, and minimum head equipment, and the only "compromise" I would be making would be having one single wire from my waist to one ear.

Really hoping to benefit from others' trials and errors here. Thanks!

 

[wmpwi]

If you've read all the threads, and there are a few, you'll see a couple of opinions; FM and Bluetooth. If you go Bluetooth, you have to get low latency transmitter and low latency head set. Try to avoid ones with a microphone. In either case, spend for quality or you'll regret it later. I'm still experimenting with both. Some pricy BT option and the Rappo setup. I don't think you'll find a single ear but that's life latency.

 

[jamiefind]

If you've read all the threads, and there are a few, you'll see a couple of opinions; FM and Bluetooth. If you go Bluetooth, you have to get low latency transmitter and low latency head set. Try to avoid ones with a microphone. In either case, spend for quality or you'll regret it later. I'm still experimenting with both. Some pricy BT option and the Rappo setup. I don't think you'll find a single ear but that's life latency.

Thanks much, wmpwi. A couple gems of intel in your reply. A few followups:

1) You mentioned FM and BT (low latency) being the two general camps of opinions. Rappo and some others operate at 2.4GHz. Is that FM? Didn't think so, but could be wrong.

2) I'm obviously fine for avoiding a microphone, but why do you say that? I just figured that would be additional needless cost. Maybe battery drain?

3) You said I might not be able to find a single ear setup, but by that are you implying that you don't know of any wireless headsets of any kind that avoid the headband?

 

[rick67]

I think your making to much of this for nothing. No body is going to care what your doing. The Orange vest will really make you look like you crave attention.
As far as wireless goes. I gave up on that journey. I found a good pair of headphones don't tangle and get annoying in the woods like the cheap ones.

 

[jamiefind]

I think your making to much of this for nothing. No body is going to care what your doing. The Orange vest will really make you look like you crave attention.
As far as wireless goes. I gave up on that journey. I found a good pair of headphones don't tangle and get annoying in the woods like the cheap ones.

You're probably right.

I think the way to go is going to be a BT transmitter and a BT jawbone style earpiece.

 

[wmpwi]

Thanks much, wmpwi. A couple gems of intel in your reply. A few followups:

1) You mentioned FM and BT (low latency) being the two general camps of opinions. Rappo and some others operate at 2.4GHz. Is that FM? Didn't think so, but could be wrong.

2) I'm obviously fine for avoiding a microphone, but why do you say that? I just figured that would be additional needless cost. Maybe battery drain?

3) You said I might not be able to find a single ear setup, but by that are you implying that you don't know of any wireless headsets of any kind that avoid the headband?

The Rappo is FM. I tried some others and the ones where the transmitters have a range of frequencies you can select allow you to avoid other FM traffic, the headphones however come in two configurations (I believe) with one being a scanner where they seek the signal from the transmitter, but could also find other FM signals like broadcast FM radio. The other version would be a preset frequency that would match the transmitter ie:88.1 and that's it. The Rapoo is paired to it's own transmitter and I don't know the frequency, but I have found it to be very clean and free from ambient distortion or bleed from FM radio signals. I can't say that wasn't a problem for the other FM set ups I tried. As to the BT option. After reading everything I could, I ended up w/ Amazon.com: Acode(TM) Stereo Bluetooth Sports Headsets AptX Csr4.0 Patent Smart Design Wireless Headphones Noise Cancelling for Iphone 6, 6 Plus, 5 5c 5s 4 and Android: Cell Phones & Accessories Amazon.com: Coredy BT01 Wireless Bluetooth Audio Transmitter Adapter Dongle with RCA Cable A2DP aptX Low Latency Transform Any Non-Bluetooth Device into Wireless Bluetooth Audio Enabled for Tv Pc iPod MP3 etc: Electronics Again, I have to stress the low latency issue.

I'm still testing both out, but I did learn that having my cell phone close to the transmitter with BT on (on my hip about 4 inches from where the transmitter is) may have screwed with the headset a little. Jury still out. I do like both the Rapoo FM and low latency BT options I've purchased, but also look a battery life.

 

[wmpwi]

I highly recommend the the Coredy transmitter.

It's small and seems to work well, but someone else on another forum highly recommended this Amazon.com: Indigo BTR9L Low Latency Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Transmitter and Receiver 2-in-1 Switchable Adapter for TVs, Computers, MP3 Players, iPods, Headphones: Electronics I think you get two and one plugs into the MD while the other goes on your belt or pocket and you can used any corded headset / earbuds you want. I was temped, but I already sprung for the other set up and thought I'd rule them out 1st before spending more.

 

[jamiefind]

As to the BT option. After reading everything I could, I ended up w/ Amazon.com: Acode(TM) Stereo Bluetooth Sports Headsets AptX Csr4.0 Patent Smart Design Wireless Headphones Noise Cancelling for Iphone 6, 6 Plus, 5 5c 5s 4 and Android: Cell Phones & Accessories Amazon.com: Coredy BT01 Wireless Bluetooth Audio Transmitter Adapter Dongle with RCA Cable A2DP aptX Low Latency Transform Any Non-Bluetooth Device into Wireless Bluetooth Audio Enabled for Tv Pc iPod MP3 etc: Electronics Again, I have to stress the low latency issue. I'm still testing both out, but I did learn that having my cell phone close to the transmitter with BT on (on my hip about 4 inches from where the transmitter is) may have screwed with the headset a little. Jury still out. I do like both the Rapoo FM and low latency BT options I've purchased, but also look a battery life.

Well, after a lot of research I have determined that although quality BT transmitters are readily available, the single-ear BT earpieces on the market give me no clue whether they are compatible with BT transmitters, or if they do, they don't specify whether they are aptx low latency. All of the single-ear BT earpieces market themselves as for use with a cell phone or tablet. I have no idea if any of them would be compatible with the quality BT transmitters out there recommended by MDers.

Therefore, I am giving up on the completely wireless single-ear earpiece dream for now.

On to my second choice: a wireless transmitter on the MDer and lightweight wireless headphones. Without trying them out in person, I guess I would rather have both ears plugged than have a wire down my side/waist. So I'm going to order the Coredy transmitter and Acode wireless headphones that you have. At least that way I will have something that someone has told me will work until something else better comes along.

I'll let you/everyone know how I like them. If you have any additional thoughts to share before I order them later today, share away.

Thanks

 

[jamiefind]

... So I'm going to order the Coredy transmitter and Acode wireless headphones that you have. ...

I'll let you/everyone know how I like them. ...

Wmpwi, these two products came in today. I got them to pair, but there's a substantial delay. Seems like as much as 0.5s from the TV. The Coredy transmitter is blinking blue once per 4s, which according to the instructions means that it is operating in SBC mode, whatever that means (as opposed to APTX mode or APTX low latency mode).

The instructions for each product are obvious and hilarious computer English translations.

 

[jamiefind]

I highly recommend the the Coredy transmitter.
View attachment 1228930
It's small and seems to work well, but someone else on another forum highly recommended this Amazon.com: Indigo BTR9L Low Latency Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Transmitter and Receiver 2-in-1 Switchable Adapter for TVs, Computers, MP3 Players, iPods, Headphones: Electronics.

::bump:: See my post directly above. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[wmpwi]

Sorry, I missed your post here. I tested out the coredy with normal BT headphones and there was a noticeable lag. Quite noticeable. I then tried with the coredy and the buds and the difference was significant, but not zero. Low is not zero. I'm just not sure how close it should be, but the delay your seeing may be why I've been digging moving targets. The only thing I can think of that might improve it is if they didn't have the built in mic. I wonder if the extra time it takes to monitor the mic adds to the lag.

 

[jamiefind]

I then tried with the coredy and the buds and the difference was significant, but not zero. Low is not zero. I'm just not sure how close it should be, but the delay your seeing may be why I've been digging moving targets.

With this combo BT setup:


Without anything (MD speaker):


Like I said in my previous post, I think the problem is with the earbuds, not the transmitter. This is because the Coredy transmitter is telling me (through the blinking pattern) that no APTX low latency mode is being utilized. Perhaps these are fraudulent Chinese earbuds? I'd be curious to know whether your Coredy transmitter blinks 1x/4s or >1x/4s. That would troubleshoot and inform us both whether neither of us are getting the true APTX low latency mode from these earbuds or if yours is working for some reason. Thanks!

 

[jamiefind]

The above vids show that this particular wireless combo is beeping about 15" after the target, but what's really interesting to me is that even the factory MD speaker has a delay of about 3-6" at my swing speed. Still, that gets it to a 6-12" target area on the first two passes, but this wireless combo leaves a 30" target area on the first two passes.

 

[wmpwi]

Interesting. I'll start playing with it again tomorrow. I hope you're right. I like the coredy and more inclined to trust it. Still, I am getting tired of chasing the perfect wireless setup, I do love it though. Meanwhile, I have been playing with a FM option.

 

[wmpwi]

<snip> I'd be curious to know whether your Coredy transmitter blinks 1x/4s or >1x/4s. That would troubleshoot and inform us both whether neither of us are getting the true APTX low latency mode from these earbuds or if yours is working for some reason. Thanks!

Well, curiosity got the best of me so I checked it out and my timing is ~ 1x/4s. When paired with 'Acode' earbuds I got 8 flashes in 30 sec.
Now I'm looking back at the Acode box and realized it came with no manual or instructions.
I did notice the box says it features 'Echo and noise cancellation' which would be interesting I suppose. Still If true, I suspect that when more stuff (read more code) is added that it just increases the processing time to evaluate signals hence more lag time. Clearly something is working because normal BT w/ the Cordey is much slower than the Acode are, but as you pointed out, the Cordey seems to indicate it's not 'aptX Low Latency Mode' and there is a slight lag. Ratz.

*(edit) I just checked the Aptx website for products with aptX and while Coredy is listed [URL="http://www.aptx.com/product-low-latency/coredy-bt01-bluetoothr-transmitter[/URL], Acode is not listed. I sent aptX an email hoping for their thoughts. They're in the UK so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

 

[jamiefind]

I sent aptX an email hoping for their thoughts. They're in the UK so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Wow, awesome. You sound like you have a background in tech.

 

[wmpwi]

Nope. Just a little tech savvy and a lot old. I got a reply back from aptX this morning and she's out of town until Monday, but she'd check into it ASAP.

 

[wmpwi]

I haven't heard back from aptX yet, but in an effort to understand what's going on w/ the earphones I've come to believe there are two versions of aptX (per the website). One version offers compression and higher quality with more speed (but not low latency by their definition) and the other is faster and true low latency compatibility. The Acode may be aptX, but not the low latency version. That may account for why we see some improvement over the lag time when compared with regular BT earphones, but not as expected or reported by the Cordey transmitter.

I went looking for headphones that aptX identified as low latency and found them to be quite a bit more than I wanted to spend so I bought one of the switchable transmitter/receivers that aptX identifies as low latency. I'm supposed to have it tomorrow. I'll test it with the Cordey again and we should have that answered anyway, but I have a hunch it will be an improvement over the Acode.

As to the Acode, I think the box probably accurately lists the features and nowhere on it does it suggest low latency, rather all it says is that they're aptX (and have echo and noise cancellation). The Amazon ad by Formatop however does claim that the earphones are low latency so that would be an error or a lie an as such we probably have some recourse w/ them.

 

[jamiefind]

I bought one of the switchable transmitter/receivers that aptX identifies as low latency. I'm supposed to have it tomorrow. I'll test it with the Cordey again and we should have that answered anyway, but I have a hunch it will be an improvement over the Acode.

Great! We'll see. Please keep me posted.

As to the Acode, I think the box probably accurately lists the features and nowhere on it does it suggest low latency, rather all it says is that they're aptX (and have echo and noise cancellation). The Amazon ad by Formatop however does claim that the earphones are low latency so that would be an error or a lie an as such we probably have some recourse w/ them.

Yup. I'm returning them. Not only does the ad expressly claim that the product has "Apt-X Low Latency CSR 4.0" technology, the Apt-X "Low Latency" trademark is stamped right on top of the product image. Screenshots: