Posts Tagged ‘wireless headphones’

15 November

How Can Today’s Wireless Headphones Handle Interference?

Wireless audio is now popular. Numerous consumer products which include wireless headphones are eliminating the cable plus offer greatest freedom of movement. I am going to take a look at how newest wireless systems are able to deal with interference from other transmitters and just how well they perform in a real-world situation.

The most common frequency bands that can be used by wireless gadgets include the 900 MHz, 2.4 Gigahertz and 5.8 GHz frequency band. Mostly the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands have started to become clogged by the ever increasing quantity of gizmos just like wireless headphones, wireless telephones etc.

Conventional FM transmitters usually operate at 900 MHz and don’t possess any particular way of coping with interference but changing the transmit channel is a strategy to cope with interfering transmitters. Digital sound transmission is normally used by modern-day audio products. Digital transmitters usually function at 2.4 GHz or 5.8 Gigahertz. The signal bandwidth is higher than 900 MHz transmitters and thus competition in these frequency bands is high.

Several cordless systems for example Bluetooth gadgets and also cordless telephones use frequency hopping. Hence simply changing the channel is not going to prevent these kinds of frequency hoppers. As a result today’s audio transmitters use special mechanisms to deal with interfering transmitters in order to ensure consistent interruption-free sound transmission.

One of these approaches is known as forward error correction or FEC for short. The transmitter will transmit extra information besides the sound data. Using a few innovative algorithms, the receiver is able to restore the information which may in part be corrupted by interfering transmitters. Because of this, these systems may broadcast 100% error-free even when there is interference. FEC is unidirectional. The receiver will not send back any kind of information to the transmitter. Thus it is often employed for systems such as radio receivers where the number of receivers is large.

In cases where there’s just a small number of receivers, frequently another mechanism is utilized. The cordless receiver sends information packets to the transmitter in order to confirm good receipt of information. The information which is transmit includes a checksum. Using this checksum the receiver can detect whether any particular packet was received properly and acknowledge. As lost packets must be resent, the transmitter and receivers must hold information packets in a buffer. Employing buffers causes a delay or latency in the transmission. The amount of the delay is directly related to the buffer size. A larger buffer size enhances the dependability of the transmission. Nonetheless a big buffer will result in a large latency that may bring about problems with loudspeakers not being in sync with the movie. Products which integrate this particular procedure, nevertheless, are limited to transmitting to a small number of receivers and the receivers use up more energy.

Often a frequency channel can get occupied by another transmitter. Preferably the transmitter is going to recognize this fact and change to a different channel. To do this, a few wireless headphones constantly monitor which channels are available so that they can quickly switch to a clean channel. Since the transmitter lists clear channels, there isn’t any delay in looking for a clean channel. It is simply chosen from the list. This technique is frequently named adaptive frequency hopping spread spectrum.

2 September

Suggestions For Building As Well As Benefitting From Your IPod Music Collection

CDs and albums have been the most popular ways to purchase and keep music for many years. However, lately MP3s and portable players have begun to substitute these classic mediums. I will explain how to create and maintain an iPod music collection. I am also going to highlight some terrific features of MP3s. Lastly, I will highlight some cool accessories which may complement your setup.

Storing songs as MP3s on a PC or media player provides lots of benefits over keeping CDs. Tracks are instantly accessible without having to search for CDs. No more skipping tracks due to scratched Compact discs. MP3s can store additional data including title, artist, album, category and also pictures. Having properly tagged MP3s helps keeping your song collection organized and instantaneously play every track you yearn for.

There are several methods to build your song collection. The first way is to convert your existing CD collection. This is done by utilizing a so-called CD ripper. The track is read from the CD by the ripper and stored on a PC. The ripped songs still miss proper tags that either need to be generated manually or by employing an automatic service.

Yet, these services are not 100% consistent and do not function on all tracks. An alternative is to buy music online. Such songs will already be tagged. There are some other tools available for getting larger amounts of songs without having to buy or download individual tracks such as iGetMusic. These tools record online music services and will tag each track.

Audio quality will mostly depend on which bit rate is utilized. A higher bit rate will generally result in better sound quality but a larger file size. If you have enough disc space, you most likely won’t have to worry about file size. If you want to put music on a portable player though such as an iPod, you’ll have to compromise between audio quality and the quantity of songs you can put on your player.

In addition to MP3, there are quite a few other formats available such as WMA or AAC. A few more advanced formats such as AAC Plus will accomplish the same audio quality at merely half the file size of MP3. However, several MP3 and media players do not so far support several of these newer audio file formats.

You can take pleasure in your MP3 collection on any home media player, computer or upload your tracks onto a portable player, like an iPod and easily access any track or album and display album cover artwork during playback.

If you want to enjoy your sound collection on your PC or media player all through your home, you can connect a wireless audio transmitter to your PC and install wireless receivers to attach to speakers in other rooms. If you prefer listening over headphones, utilizing wireless headphones will help you enjoy your music without being tethered to your PC by a cord. Some models of wireless headphones utilize digital audio transmission. These types avoid the loss of audio fidelity of older wireless headphones.

1 August

A Brief Peek At A Few Of The Coolest IPod Accessory Products

Due to the huge popularity of Apple’s iPod, a lot of suppliers have been scrambling to offer a high array of iPod accessory devices ranging from wireless headphones to docking stations. I will review a few of the trendiest accessory gadgets. I will also give some buying advice to aid you choose the perfect device.

Headphones are employed by the majority of iPod consumers to listen to tracks. On the other hand, loudspeakers are often a better alternative for interior use. A large number of vendors produce speakers with an iPod docking cradle. A large amount of these speakers, however, have fairly small output power and low sound quality.

An additional option that provides superior sound quality is utilizing a pair of good-quality bookshelf loudspeakers together with a miniature audio amplifier such as Amphony’s microFidelity amplifier. Active speakers are an additional alternative. Regardless of whether or not you choose passive speakers and a miniature amp or active loudspeakers, make certain the amplifier has low harmonic distortion, a high signal-to-noise ratio and large power efficiency. This will guarantee optimum sound quality and keep the amp cool during operation.

One of the pitfalls of iPods are the headphone cables which become tangled and therefore several suppliers are providing solutions for this problem. The newest models of iPods and iPhones come with integrated wireless. Bluetooth enabled iPods can stream audio to any wireless headphones or loudspeakers which support the Bluetooth audio protocol.

If your iPod doesn’t have built-in wireless, you can utilize a separate wireless audio transmitter to broadcast sound wirelessly to headphones or loudspeakers. WiFi-enabled iPods can connect to your wireless network and you can easily move tracks wirelessly and also access a number of of the iPods options through your PC similar to having your iPod connected to your PC by USB cable.

Building and expanding the iPod tracks collection is usually time-consuming and expensive. Ripping music from CDs and tagging the tracks requires a lot of time. Downloading tracks from online vendors is expensive when building a large collection. A much more hassle-free and less costly method is using 3rd-party software such as iGetMusic for building a song collection by recording from online radio stations and automatically tagging each track with title, artist, album and genre information and adding album cover artwork for import into iTunes and move to an iPod.

30 June

Newest Accessories Make Setting Up Surround Sound Systems A Breeze

The process of setting up multi-channel audio speakers in home theater systems is relatively tedious and suppliers have invented new products and technologies including wireless surround sound speakers or surround sound wireless headphones lately to help simplify the installation. I will take a look at a number of of the products and technologies that have appeared and give some pointers about choosing proper components for a hassle-free installation.

Many of recent TVs will be installed as a multi-channel audio system. While traditionally TVs would contain built-in stereo speakers, these days a number of external speakers are used to let the viewer experience surround sound. The most commonly used 5.1 surround sound format requires setting up a total of 6 speakers. These are one center speaker, two front side speakers, two rear speakers and a subwoofer. The more recent 7.1 standard increases this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.

As a result the installation of home theater systems has become a fairly complicated procedure. Many houses are not pre-wired for surround sound. Also, long speaker cables are often unattractive. Component vendors have created several technologies to simplify the setup.

The first method is called virtual surround sound. This technique will take the audio components which would normally be broadcast by the remote loudspeakers. It then uses signal processing to those components and inserts special cues and phase delays. Next these components are mixed with the front speaker audio. The sound is next sent by the front loudspeakers along with the front speaker sound components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It uses the knowledge about how the human ear can determine the origin of sound. The viewer is in effect deceived into believing the audio is coming from a location other than the front speakers.

This technology reduces the quantity of needed loudspeakers and eliminates long speaker cables but each human will process sound slightly differently due to the shape of the ear. The signal processing is based on measurements which are done using a standard human ear model. If the shape of the ear changes, sound will travel differently. Consequently virtual surround will not work equally well for each person.

A different approach for simplifying home theater installations and eliminating long speaker cable runs is to use wireless surround sound products or wireless speakers. A wireless solution will usually include a transmitter component that connects to the TV or source and in addition wireless amplifiers that will be connected to the remote loudspeakers. The transmitter will normally have amplified speaker inputs and also line-level inputs and come with a volume control to adjust it to the source audio level.

While a few wireless speaker kits have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other devices offer individual wireless amplifiers for every speaker. The most basic wireless kits use FM transmission. FM transmission is prone to noise and audio distortion. More advanced systems make use of digital audio transmission to perfectly preserve the original audio. To make certain that all loudspeakers are in sync in a multi-channel application, be sure that you choose a wireless system that has an audio latency of a few milliseconds at most. Otherwise there will be a noticeable echo type result. Many wireless products operate in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. A number of products use the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and consequently have less competition from other wireless devices.

A third technology employs side-reflecting speakers. This option is called sound bars. In this case the audio for the remote loudspeakers will be broadcast by individual loudspeakers positioned at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to appear to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The effect heavily is dependent upon the interior, especially the shape of the room and the decoration. It will work well for square rooms with no obstacles and sound reflecting walls. On the other hand, realistic scenarios frequently will vary from this ideal and reduce the result of this solution.

23 June

Newest Accessories Make Setting Up Surround Sound Systems A Breeze

The process of setting up multi-channel audio speakers in home theater systems is relatively tedious and suppliers have invented new products and technologies including wireless surround sound speakers or surround sound wireless headphones lately to help simplify the installation. I will take a look at a number of of the products and technologies that have appeared and give some pointers about choosing proper components for a hassle-free installation.

Many of recent TVs will be installed as a multi-channel audio system. While traditionally TVs would contain built-in stereo speakers, these days a number of external speakers are used to let the viewer experience surround sound. The most commonly used 5.1 surround sound format requires setting up a total of 6 speakers. These are one center speaker, two front side speakers, two rear speakers and a subwoofer. The more recent 7.1 standard increases this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.

As a result the installation of home theater systems has become a fairly complicated procedure. Many houses are not pre-wired for surround sound. Also, long speaker cables are often unattractive. Component vendors have created several technologies to simplify the setup.

The first method is called virtual surround sound. This technique will take the audio components which would normally be broadcast by the remote loudspeakers. It then uses signal processing to those components and inserts special cues and phase delays. Next these components are mixed with the front speaker audio. The sound is next sent by the front loudspeakers along with the front speaker sound components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It uses the knowledge about how the human ear can determine the origin of sound. The viewer is in effect deceived into believing the audio is coming from a location other than the front speakers.

This technology reduces the quantity of needed loudspeakers and eliminates long speaker cables but each human will process sound slightly differently due to the shape of the ear. The signal processing is based on measurements which are done using a standard human ear model. If the shape of the ear changes, sound will travel differently. Consequently virtual surround will not work equally well for each person.

A different approach for simplifying home theater installations and eliminating long speaker cable runs is to use wireless surround sound products or wireless speakers. A wireless solution will usually include a transmitter component that connects to the TV or source and in addition wireless amplifiers that will be connected to the remote loudspeakers. The transmitter will normally have amplified speaker inputs and also line-level inputs and come with a volume control to adjust it to the source audio level.

While a few wireless speaker kits have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other devices offer individual wireless amplifiers for every speaker. The most basic wireless kits use FM transmission. FM transmission is prone to noise and audio distortion. More advanced systems make use of digital audio transmission to perfectly preserve the original audio. To make certain that all loudspeakers are in sync in a multi-channel application, be sure that you choose a wireless system that has an audio latency of a few milliseconds at most. Otherwise there will be a noticeable echo type result. Many wireless products operate in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. A number of products use the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and consequently have less competition from other wireless devices.

A third technology employs side-reflecting speakers. This option is called sound bars. In this case the audio for the remote loudspeakers will be broadcast by individual loudspeakers positioned at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to appear to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The effect heavily is dependent upon the interior, especially the shape of the room and the decoration. It will work well for square rooms with no obstacles and sound reflecting walls. On the other hand, realistic scenarios frequently will vary from this ideal and reduce the result of this solution.

19 June

A Peek At A Few Of The Newest Wireless Audio Gizmos

Recent wireless audio gadgets such as iPods, wireless headphones and cell phones support latest wireless protocols. These protocols are supposed to cut the cord and deliver perfect high-fidelity audio. I will investigate whether or not these products keep their claim to provide perfect-quality audio. Moreover, I will take a look at the underlying technologies.

A number of products are available with wireless already built in while others, in particular streaming audio products, often have optional wireless functionality. Most recent touch-screen iPods and iPhones already have WiFi and Bluetooth built in.

Bluetooth is relatively widespread as a low-cost wireless solution. Nonetheless, Bluetooth does have some drawbacks. These weaknesses are frequently ignored but will have an influence on high-quality audio applications.

1) Restricted operating range

The range of Bluetooth devices is normally merely 30 ft. This excludes Bluetooth from multi-room applications.

2) Low data rate – audio compression

Bluetooth will use audio compression since it does not reliably offer a high-enough data rate for uncompressed audio. This is less critical though for compressed audio such as MP3 audio but excludes Bluetooth from use in high-quality audio applications.

3) Signal latency

As a consequence of audio compression, Bluetooth will cause a signal delay of no less than 10 ms which will cause the audio to be to some extent out of sync in case of video and real-time applications. This is yet again less of a setback for MP3 players.

4) No multiple headphone support

Bluetooth is fairly restricted in terms of supporting streaming to numerous headphones. Streaming to multiple headphones is practical for several people wanting to listen to the same transmitter. This is less of a problem for MP3 player applications.

Another widespread protocol is WiFi which supports uncompressed audio but also has problems simultaneously streaming to many receivers. It is suitable for streaming music from a PC due to the high availability but is in general not utilized in wireless headphone products as a result of the relatively high power consumption of WiFi.

Wireless speakers and wireless amplifier products for home theater speakers usually utilize their own proprietary protocol. Entry-level wireless headphones and speakers typically still utilize FM transmission which offers low cost but is susceptible to noise and audio degradation.

Modern wireless audio protocols eliminate audio degradation by using digital transmission. These often also have mechanisms including forward error correction to cope with interference from other wireless devices.

Newest-generation wireless amplifiers allow streaming to an unlimited number of receivers and support uncompressed audio transmission.

The audio latency ranges from below 1 ms to up to 20 ms. A small latency is important for wireless surround sound applications. Normally newer generation wireless audio transmitters will work at 2.4 GHz. Some transmitter products, such as Amphony’s line of products, work at the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band.

These wireless amplifiers also differ in terms of amplifier output power, standby power consumption and audio quality. A high-quality audio amplifier is vital for optimum sound quality. Digital amplifiers usually offer a power efficiency of at least 80% and standby power consumption of less than 5 Watts which keeps them cool during operation and helps save energy. However, some Class-D amps have rather high audio distortion. Choosing a low-distortion amplifier is crucial. Good-quality wireless amplifiers have audio distortion of lower than 0.05%.

17 June

A Peek At A Few Of The Newest Wireless Audio Gizmos

Recent wireless audio gadgets such as iPods, wireless headphones and cell phones support latest wireless protocols. These protocols are supposed to cut the cord and deliver perfect high-fidelity audio. I will investigate whether or not these products keep their claim to provide perfect-quality audio. Moreover, I will take a look at the underlying technologies.

A number of products are available with wireless already built in while others, in particular streaming audio products, often have optional wireless functionality. Most recent touch-screen iPods and iPhones already have WiFi and Bluetooth built in.

Bluetooth is relatively widespread as a low-cost wireless solution. Nonetheless, Bluetooth does have some drawbacks. These weaknesses are frequently ignored but will have an influence on high-quality audio applications.

1) Restricted operating range

The range of Bluetooth devices is normally merely 30 ft. This excludes Bluetooth from multi-room applications.

2) Low data rate – audio compression

Bluetooth will use audio compression since it does not reliably offer a high-enough data rate for uncompressed audio. This is less critical though for compressed audio such as MP3 audio but excludes Bluetooth from use in high-quality audio applications.

3) Signal latency

As a consequence of audio compression, Bluetooth will cause a signal delay of no less than 10 ms which will cause the audio to be to some extent out of sync in case of video and real-time applications. This is yet again less of a setback for MP3 players.

4) No multiple headphone support

Bluetooth is fairly restricted in terms of supporting streaming to numerous headphones. Streaming to multiple headphones is practical for several people wanting to listen to the same transmitter. This is less of a problem for MP3 player applications.

Another widespread protocol is WiFi which supports uncompressed audio but also has problems simultaneously streaming to many receivers. It is suitable for streaming music from a PC due to the high availability but is in general not utilized in wireless headphone products as a result of the relatively high power consumption of WiFi.

Wireless speakers and wireless amplifier products for home theater speakers usually utilize their own proprietary protocol. Entry-level wireless headphones and speakers typically still utilize FM transmission which offers low cost but is susceptible to noise and audio degradation.

Modern wireless audio protocols eliminate audio degradation by using digital transmission. These often also have mechanisms including forward error correction to cope with interference from other wireless devices.

Newest-generation wireless amplifiers allow streaming to an unlimited number of receivers and support uncompressed audio transmission.

The audio latency ranges from below 1 ms to up to 20 ms. A small latency is important for wireless surround sound applications. Normally newer generation wireless audio transmitters will work at 2.4 GHz. Some transmitter products, such as Amphony’s line of products, work at the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band.

These wireless amplifiers also differ in terms of amplifier output power, standby power consumption and audio quality. A high-quality audio amplifier is vital for optimum sound quality. Digital amplifiers usually offer a power efficiency of at least 80% and standby power consumption of less than 5 Watts which keeps them cool during operation and helps save energy. However, some Class-D amps have rather high audio distortion. Choosing a low-distortion amplifier is crucial. Good-quality wireless amplifiers have audio distortion of lower than 0.05%.

31 May

Selecting The Right Headphones – A Quick Guide For Dummies.

Are you overwhelmed by the flood of regular and wireless headphones? You never heard of the terms open and closed headphones or dynamic and static transducers? This overview will help you select the perfect model.

There are many different designs and styles of headphones on the market starting with in-ear headphones as being the smallest headphones, some of which have a bracket that is worn around the ear. These in-ear headphones are often bundled with iPods and other MP3 players and can easily be placed in a pocket. A larger type of headphones have earpieces that sit on the ears but are still quite small. These headphones have an elastic frame that connects the two earpieces. This frame either sits on the head or wraps around the neck. These two types of headphones are typically the least expensive  and you should consider them if you are on a budget.  Some in-ear models are specially designed to absorb exterior noise.

If you are looking for better sound quality then you should take a look at medium-end headphones which have soft ear cushions that depending on the model will be located either on your ear or around your ear. The second design eliminates the pressure on the ears and is preferred by many people. If you feel you would like to go with this type of headphones, you will then need to decide whether to go with an open, semi-open or closed design. An open design means that the audio can penetrate from the transducer to the outside and also cross-couple into the other earpiece. While some people feel that an open design sounds light, a closed design will tend to absorb exterior noise more and provide better insulation between the two earpieces.

Most of today’s headphones are so-called dynamic headphones. Dynamic refers to the type of transducer that is used. Another type are static headphones. Static headphones are fairly expensive and require special headphone amplifiers.

Wireless headphones are another option which eliminate the headphone cord. One type of wireless headphones are Bluetooth headphones. These headphones can be used with cell phones and other Bluetooth-enabled devices. These headphones are typically fairly small but do not offer the same sort of audio quality as medium to high-end headphones.

Other wireless headphones often work at 900 MHz and use FM transmission. These headphones are the least expensive wireless option. More advanced digital wireless headphones work at 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz. In addition to noticeable hissing and distortion, FM type wireless headphones are also very susceptible to wireless interference.

Digital wireless headphones, such as Amphony headphones, encode audio data prior to the transmission. This makes this type of headphones superior in terms of sound quality. Digital wireless headphones are also fairly robust against interference. Digital wireless headphones which work at the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band have fewer problems with competing wireless devices than headphones working at 2.4 GHz.