Bluetooth Audio

Curious on the thoughts of a Bluetooth receiver vs a regular wired signal through the 3.5mm jack.


While I know running an iPod off the bottom into a USB port or RCA input is the best solution, curious about how Bluetooth audio quality would be as I am looking for a new head unit at the moment and a Bluetooth connection would simplify me running wires again across the boat

Originally Posted by xstarrider

Curious on the thoughts of a Bluetooth receiver vs a regular wired signal through the 3.5mm jack.


While I know running an iPod off the bottom into a USB port or RCA input is the best solution, curious about how Bluetooth audio quality would be as I am looking for a new head unit at the moment and a Bluetooth connection would simplify me running wires again across the boat

In your quiet garage, you can probably hear a difference. On the water in the open air, doubtful. Still sounds better than FM.

I ran mine of Bluetooth all season last year. I can't tell the difference, even in the garage.

doesn't bluetooth suck a lot of juice?

I have an iPod dock connection and a Bluetooth connection in my truck, cant tell the difference between the two sound wise. I notice very little difference in battery life too. The only downside is that the data tags stopped working since the latest IOS update and my work phone(droid) never was able to display the music information.It does make it harder for other people to plug into you receiver and play music though, good or bad depending on your point of view. Blue tooth and don't look back in my opinion.

Bluetooth is the way to go... Installed a bluetooth adapter to my 3.5 jack and it works perfect.. Can not tell the difference and it's receives up to 40 feet away.. Only way to go..

I installed an Apple Airport Express on my boat and use AirPlay to play music wirelessly from time to time, usually when we are parked. AirPlay sounds much better than any Bluetooth option I've heard.

which one did you go with jager?

Houstonshark...can you link stereos with what your talking about?? I. Want to link boats wirelessly but still sound good!! When is someone going to come up with something like this!?!?

Chase, I tested this out in the off season, managed to get the source plus 4 remote receivers all linked up. I put a splitter on the 420 output on my boat and both transmitters connected, then linked to 4 Bluetooth receivers connected to 4 different locations. All playing the main location music. Not bad for 120 dollars worth of parts. Distance at the farthest was just at 40 ft. Still sounded good. Plan to use on the lake this year. Pairs up easily.

2 transmitters, and 4 receivers. I used 2 white (USB powered) and 2 black (battery powered) ones.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

While in Vacation I used the Bluetooth to connect to the rental cars audio.
It seems as if the Bluetooth runs down the battery a lot more then just running threw the 3.5
I haven't tested it but that would be a good "toDo" test how long you can run via blue tooth vs run threw 3.5 my guess would be 2-3 hrs of Bluetooth audio transmission Vs 4-6 hrs of 3.5 jack use. IMO the blue tooth is a great tool for when your in a jam but its not a full time choice cause you eventually going to have to plug in for power. This is just my 2c I would rather just plug in and then you have got the best possible signal and your charging issues are a non issue.
It is nice to have the ability to UN plug and make some adjustments, ie change a song or answer a text and not stop any audio transmission. I guess if your addicted to your phone Bluetooth is a good choice

Wetsounds is supposed to have a wireless boat link solution out soon. I'm still waiting to see what it has to offer. We tried linking via bluetooth last season and ran into some delay issues between boats hooked in with Bluetooth and those that were wired.

Originally Posted by tn_rider

Houstonshark...can you link stereos with what your talking about?? I. Want to link boats wirelessly but still sound good!! When is someone going to come up with something like this!?!?

The output of the Airport Express is not wireless, it's a 3.5mm analog audio output. So you could split that output but you can't AirPlay to multiple devices from a single source.

I bought this one for testing and was surprised at the sound quality.. USB to charge of cigarette lighter.. It's worth the $20 to test it out on your system.. Pairs up easily to my phone, MP3, and Ipod...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-Blu...item5d392e10c3

I'm using the $20 monoprice buetooth unit in my boat and truck. It's powered via usb. I hacked up an old mini usb phone charger. I replaced the mini usb end with a regular usb plug and wired it in to the 12v on the boat. I had to add a line driver in the boat because the output was a little low. It's running straight into the ws420

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2