Not exactly CD sound quality via bluetooth

[ludwigs3rd]

btw, this is what I wrote in response to the previous email from tech support, I have not received a reply:

I purchased it new, sealed in package, from an store called we-sell-xs. Would you be willing to test an Insignia Pilot or issue an RMA for the unit? Also, is this compatibility issue going to be across the board for all your BlueLife products? I ask that considering that the entire line might use the same bluetooth implementation.

Thanks,

[CrowdAds]

[Tobey]

Originally Posted by ludwigs3rd

The Scosche UBRH isn't cheap, it's $99 in stores. I'll try to contain any litigious tendencies when contacting tech support.

That's just MSRP, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a quality unit. As you know, there are several eBay stores selling these things brand new for 8-20 bucks and still making a profit. Surely that says something.

[ludwigs3rd]

I don't know the economics of these online auction stores, so I can't say whether they are making a profit or not... they may just be trying to get rid of this item from their inventory and at the same time may be taking a loss. I agree though that if the market (eBay auction representative of the market?) is only willing to pay 10% of what MSRP is (or what bricks and mortar stores are selling it for) then it probably isn't that great.

Anyone looking to buy a Scosche product beware.

btw, I haven't heard back from tech support... go figure.

I'm pretty pleased with my Pilot. I really do wish (as well as other forum members) Insignia would get around to releasing a firmware update though reading from the wish list. I haven't figured out how to listen to an artist's album, like select an artist, than an album. It seems like you can either select and album, or an artist then flip through all the songs in every album. Kind of a pain if you're a Beatles or Led Zeppelin fan. Does anyone know if the Pilot does this? Maybe I should start another thread.

[Tobey]

Assuming I've understood you correctly... Go to the artist tab, scroll to the artist you want and press the 'down' button. Then highlight the album you want, and press 'down', then select the song you want and press 'down' again.

[ludwigs3rd]

Wonders never cease! I must have missed that page in the manual.
Thanks!

[amarand]

Tobey Phillips reviewed this player two weeks ago, and mentioned:

"Sound quality is very good for Bluetooth. I did immediately notice one oddity though; occasionally the audio pitch seems to slowly bend up or down slightly for no apparent reason."

I just noticed that my Samsung T10 paired with the Motorola S9 headset gives me this odd, indiscriminate audio pitch bending. Has anyone else experienced this? I realize most of the folks here are talking about "quality" in the sense of signal-to-noise, compression/loss and sampling frequency but this pitch bending thing also impacts the overall quality of any player.

Has anyone else experienced this? Better yet, can anyone explain it...and extra points for helping to resolve the issue.

[woof]

Originally Posted by amarand

Tobey Phillips reviewed this player two weeks ago, and mentioned:

"Sound quality is very good for Bluetooth. I did immediately notice one oddity though; occasionally the audio pitch seems to slowly bend up or down slightly for no apparent reason."

I just noticed that my Samsung T10 paired with the Motorola S9 headset gives me this odd, indiscriminate audio pitch bending. Has anyone else experienced this? I realize most of the folks here are talking about "quality" in the sense of signal-to-noise, compression/loss and sampling frequency but this pitch bending thing also impacts the overall quality of any player.

Has anyone else experienced this? Better yet, can anyone explain it...and extra points for helping to resolve the issue.

It may be as simple as the RF handshake between bluetooth devices. Part of BT's spec is the ability to not only change RF power levels to the minimum needed to maintain the linkup but also change the bitrate over the link as needed. The BT sources (players) and sinks (headsets) both have data buffers built into them and this works in conjuction with the variable bit rate feature. The SBC (sub-band codec) has many possible bitrates and all these are required by the BT SIG to be compatible on these devices.

Of note on the new Sony NWZA829 player is a 3-position BT setting that allows for 1. best audio quality verses RF link, 2. balanced audio quality/RF link and 3. RF link priority over audio quality.

I noticed a very small audio difference that might be called an occasional "shift" when using setting #2 but not when using #1. To me it really sounds more like shifting of data/rates to take more/less advantage of the buffers.

I'll just add here that as I mentioned in my mini-review that the best BT combination I've heard to date hands down is the A829 paired with the Sony DR-BT50 headset. Form factor aside, the audio quality is actually quite good. Everything else, the other Sony headsets, Insignia, Logitech, Cardo, etc. didn't have nearly the same fidelity. And just as interestingly, the BT50 headset when paired with other BT players (Insignia & Samsung) didn't sound as good with bass bloat being one of the worst offenders.

Do I get extra points??

Woof

[Student Driver]

I haven't noticed any issues such as "pitch bending" (nice term, seems to describe the sensation well enough) with my T-Mobile Dash or Insignia Pilot, using Motorola HT820, S705, S9; BlueAnt (from Radio Shack, can't remember the model), or Jabra BT3030. I will say that I love the BT3030 the most of the units I have used, even with the stock earbuds. I have also used my Sony MDR-EX51 (better sound, but longer cable) and V-Moda (redefines muddy bass) and they also function well. I haven't tried it with my Sony MDR-V6 yet, but I might give it a shot. I wonder if it will have enough juice, or if hearing all the artifacts will just make me cry...