Bluetooth technology for old/new devices

[Spektral]

Hi everyone. I will be moving house shortly. I have some old equipment I think I'd want to hook up to some new equipment via Bluetooth.

I have just bought a new LG TV, with Bluetooth, according to the box. I haven't been able to try the TV yet. It is for my new front room. I'm not sure whether it beams Bluetooth yet or just receives it.

I currently have an old TEAC hifi separates stack and two old speakers from the 1970s (which I plan on replacing the speakers).

I have a Pioneer DDJ Ergo unit (used via Traktor on a laptop) which will probably be relocated to the new front room along with my Teac hifi.

Until I hear the sound on the TV to assess the quality, I can't really decide, but, at the moment I expect it to be quite thin and tinny like most TV's these days.

I could get a soundbar, but seeing as my hifi will be in the room anyway, I'm thinking I might as well use it and use normal speakers. (I don't really like the idea of trailing wires all over the floor for a 5.1 surround, but I've never tried surround sound. The room isn't massive either).

My plan, I think, is to try and get the TV to play through the inbuilt TV speakers as the 'front' speakers and try and simultaneously use my hifi and speakers at the rear of the room to boost the sound quality when I want to watch films. I may also want to play things on the hi-fi wirelessly from my Bluetooth on my laptop, and use the Pioneer DDJ unit this way.

So, the way I see it.....

I would get two new floorstanding hi-fi speakers for my Teac, some Bluetooth transmitter/receiver boxes to convert my old hi-fi to Bluetooth via the RCA ports and send something from my TV to it. Then I can watch the TV and have sound out of the inbuilt speakers at the front and also have higher quality sound coming through the hi-fi at the rear of the room, then when done with the TV, I can
play some tunes from my laptop or mix on the DDJ unit and also pump that into the hifi via the receiver box.

Ideally, I'd not want to keep faffing with connecting and disconnecting Bluetooth devices or making selections...I'd want them all to be able to play simultaneously, so I think I need some kind of transmitter/receiver that allows multiple devices without disconnecting each other to be 'master'.

Does this sound feasible?

(I'm needing to get cracking with it, this has been in moderation for about 6 days, so I wouldn't bother replying after Tuesday this week).

Cheers!

 

[billyrave]

Hi Spektral,
the inherent issue with bluetooth is the delay created in converting, sending, and then decoding the signal. bluetooth cant be used where timing is critical, such as watching films where a lip sync error would occur, akin to the old monkey magic scenes in the 80's.

some TV's can compensate this by offsetting the delay created but you could only use one source at a time (either your hifi or tv speakers direct).

with regards to the DDJ, it would make mixing unmanageable because the output from the speakers could be 2 or 3 tenths of a second behind realtime, which could be a beat or so. As your headphones would be connected directly to the DDJ for cueing, you would be creating a nightmare, and i dont suspect the DDJ or the speakers would see out a full day without being kicked through the wall.

In summary:
You could connect your hifi to your TV via bluetooth but would probably need to faff with the settings to correct the delay.
DJing is a no no - it just can't be done (although I could be wrong, but to the best of my limited knowledge)

hope this helps and doesn't cause further confusion
good luck, and let me know what you end up with, I might get educated phones:

 

[Spektral]

Thanks Billy, although that does sound like bad news for me.

I was just hovering over the 'basket' to order some of this stuff as it happens, and I thought I'd take one more look here before I did....and now, I'm not so sure again!

I have been believing the tech-blurb on the sales pitches a bit too much I suppose. Like this: AICase Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter Receiver,Dual Antennas 265ft 3 in 1 Bluetooth Audio Adapter for TV,Home Stereo,Optical Digital,3.5mm AUX,aptX HD,aptX Low Latency,USB Rechargeable: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

"Bluetooth 5.0 ,Perfect for Video Recording - you can enjoy HD stereo sound quality wirelessly over Bluetooth connections.you will be able to make the video recording with no lip sync delay between image and sound."

"*No lip sync delay & Perfect Hi-Fi sound:AptX Low Latency technology eliminate Bluetooth audio delay"...

It would drive me potty if it was not actually in time, and you're right, I'd never manage to mix if it wasn't spot-on time. I was never all that good at it anyway!

I could perhaps trail some leads to the hi-fi for the laptop/DDJ but it wouldn't be ideal. However, if that's what I have to do, that's what I have to do. They'd at least be close to me and the hi-fi.

For the TV, that's a bit of a bummer. That'd be the furthest away and not nice at all for cables. I may have to start looking for soundbars again.

The thing is, I have spotted some very nice looking speakers to go with my TEAC separates that will match my new decor I've spent many months crafting together. They're also very enticing for the price, so I was hoping I'd get away with spending on those and not having to bother with anything else.

I do need some for my turntables and amp though, which will be upstairs. So maybe I should get the speakers anyway and if it all goes tits up in the front room, send them upstairs to the back bedroom....or maybe I am just trying to justify myself spending on these speakers...!

 

[Spektral]

Right, I think I am going to ditch the bluetooth for now.

I might get my floor stander speakers anyway and try and neatly trial a 5 meter headphone cable around the chimney breast and fireplace instead. If I add a stereo jack to RCA adaptor at each end, I'm assuming I can send audio out of the TV to the hi-fi and still have the TV speakers working at the same time, and, I will use similar method from the output socket on my laptop.

This would solve any delay lags and also end up a bit cheaper cos I don't have to buy transmitters and receivers.

 

[Spektral]

Well, the plot thickens.

Turns out that my new TV doesn't have any proper audio outs (oldskool ones) - and apparently this is common now. It has optical audio out and HDMI ARC. Reading up on these has been a bit of a confusing time.

I think I will need either an SPDIF/Toslink to analogue converter, or a HDMI ARC to analogue converter, one which can handle Dolby output from the TV as well as PCM. I think I have found one of each, but, the problem is, I want the TV remote to be able to adjust the volume.

I am getting conflicting information on this, most saying optical out is fixed and cannot be controlled with the remote, and some saying they have managed it with the HDMI ARC, whilst others are saying it is fixed too.

Meanwhile, the traditional floor stander speakers I want to buy are running out of stock, so I think I need to get those ordered and just risk it that this can be solved somehow - then get the rest later, whether bluetooth, digital or HDMI ARC or both and cables...

I can't believe it is so difficult just to connect up a hifi to a TV these days! :| Kinell fire.

 

[billyrave]

I feel your pain mate - its not easy these days. . . .
you problem comes with wanting both tv and hifi running in parallel i think.

I would go for the easy option and have all the sound coming through either the TV with sound bar, or hifi via hdmi/toslink convertors (which will probably create some latency, but hopefully not enough to matter.

or just listen to music, and sack the TV off