I'm looking for a Bluetooth receiver unit - to use in applications like putting Bluetooth into old car stereos, or adding BT to home audio devices etc.
Online searches give suggestions, but if even if they are just a year or two old, sometimes either the items are no longer available or there's new and better models.
The features I'd like would be ...
* When pairing, only beeps are audible, not a voice at full volume announcing the pairing!
* Preferably aux input so the Bluetooth can be interchangeable with an aux in, particularly useful for car stereos.
* Power input can be anything but 5v-12v DC as they mostly are.
* Just line-level out, no further amplification.
* Preferably just circuit boards, rather than units in plastic casings.
I don't wish to buy every cheap Chinese unit on the market in a process of elimination, but I've had two so far and rejected them...
Bluetooth Audio Receiver Board Bluetooth 5.0 MP3 Lossless Decoder Module | eBay
(sometimes called XY-BT-Mini or JH-BT) It works OK but has the annoying, loud spoken pairing messages. If only there was a way to change that these might be ok.
DollaTek Upgraded version of Bluetooth 4.2 audio MP3: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
(Dollatek, or LQSC or Drok brand - seems to be all the same).
It pairs quickly, only has beeps to pair, and it has aux inputs, but the sound quality is terrible - thin, no bottom, plus there's a raspy whistle which seems to begin and end when an audio track is played. (Power supply was 9v battery to avoid power supply noise).
(This unit gets good reviews on Amazon, making me wonder if I just got a dud. If that was the case, is there any fixes which can be made to mine before I send it back?)
Any recommendations for cheap Bluetooth receivers?
Or on the other hand - suggestions of ones to avoid? At least it will help us know what not to waste time and small amounts of money on.
Thanks
Jim
Online searches give suggestions, but if even if they are just a year or two old, sometimes either the items are no longer available or there's new and better models.
The features I'd like would be ...
* When pairing, only beeps are audible, not a voice at full volume announcing the pairing!
* Preferably aux input so the Bluetooth can be interchangeable with an aux in, particularly useful for car stereos.
* Power input can be anything but 5v-12v DC as they mostly are.
* Just line-level out, no further amplification.
* Preferably just circuit boards, rather than units in plastic casings.
I don't wish to buy every cheap Chinese unit on the market in a process of elimination, but I've had two so far and rejected them...
Bluetooth Audio Receiver Board Bluetooth 5.0 MP3 Lossless Decoder Module | eBay
(sometimes called XY-BT-Mini or JH-BT) It works OK but has the annoying, loud spoken pairing messages. If only there was a way to change that these might be ok.
DollaTek Upgraded version of Bluetooth 4.2 audio MP3: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
(Dollatek, or LQSC or Drok brand - seems to be all the same).
It pairs quickly, only has beeps to pair, and it has aux inputs, but the sound quality is terrible - thin, no bottom, plus there's a raspy whistle which seems to begin and end when an audio track is played. (Power supply was 9v battery to avoid power supply noise).
(This unit gets good reviews on Amazon, making me wonder if I just got a dud. If that was the case, is there any fixes which can be made to mine before I send it back?)
Any recommendations for cheap Bluetooth receivers?
Or on the other hand - suggestions of ones to avoid? At least it will help us know what not to waste time and small amounts of money on.
Thanks
Jim
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I suspect your LQSC module is dud, as I have used a number of them to convert vintage radios with great success. Have you tried it with a phone charger or battery bank?
Previously I used, and can recommend, the following:
Module recepteur Audio intelligent, stereo LN BT02, Bluetooth 4.0, haute qualite | AliExpress
If you wish to spend a bit more money, then put this on your list:
CSR8675 Bluetooth 5.0 carte de Module recepteur sans fil ES9018 carte de decodeur APTX HD I2S DAC DAC avec Support d'antenne 24Bit/96Khz | AliExpress
Previously I used, and can recommend, the following:
Module recepteur Audio intelligent, stereo LN BT02, Bluetooth 4.0, haute qualite | AliExpress
If you wish to spend a bit more money, then put this on your list:
CSR8675 Bluetooth 5.0 carte de Module recepteur sans fil ES9018 carte de decodeur APTX HD I2S DAC DAC avec Support d'antenne 24Bit/96Khz | AliExpress
Thank you Yatsushiro
I did try the LQSC unit with USB phone charger and 9vdc battery - both had similar results. Also, I compared it with the other BT receiver I'd bought (JH-BT-Mini) - as mentioned in previous post - and the JH-BT sounded much fuller, more bass (and as I said would be quite usable if it wasn't for the annoying pairing announcements.)
Thanks for your suggestion of the other units. Rather than keeping on buying cheap ones, I am thinking that I will buy the CSR8675 based unit you recommended - or something of similar specs.
If you have experience with various BT receivers, would you mind kindly answering several queries, which would help newbies like me understand them better:
* For audio use, is either APTX or APTX-HD to be recommended? Same with BT 4.2 vs BT 5.0? Or is it that certain types of chip are good or bad? It seems that the non-APTX BT receivers which sell for under €10 more frequently have complaints about sound quality from reviewers.
Thanks very much for looking at this.
I did try the LQSC unit with USB phone charger and 9vdc battery - both had similar results. Also, I compared it with the other BT receiver I'd bought (JH-BT-Mini) - as mentioned in previous post - and the JH-BT sounded much fuller, more bass (and as I said would be quite usable if it wasn't for the annoying pairing announcements.)
Thanks for your suggestion of the other units. Rather than keeping on buying cheap ones, I am thinking that I will buy the CSR8675 based unit you recommended - or something of similar specs.
If you have experience with various BT receivers, would you mind kindly answering several queries, which would help newbies like me understand them better:
* For audio use, is either APTX or APTX-HD to be recommended? Same with BT 4.2 vs BT 5.0? Or is it that certain types of chip are good or bad? It seems that the non-APTX BT receivers which sell for under €10 more frequently have complaints about sound quality from reviewers.
Thanks very much for looking at this.
Look for bluetooth devices that support APTX/HD, AAC or Sony Ldac. These codecs will have high quality audio. Any device not using these codecs will use the standard low bitrate bluetooth codec hence why people say the audio quality is poor.
If in doubt check what chipsets are being used and check the chipset manufacturers website for audio support.
Here are the specs for the CSR8675 chipset from Qualcomm
On this old 90s car stereo unit, where I am replacing the cassette with Aux and Bluetooth, I have followed what was the tracks from the cassette pre-amp to a chip which is an audio processor (DIP20 Toshiba TA7764P). I have cut into those tracks with new audio input leads, just leaving in the caps immediately prior to the TA7764P. I have a cheap Bluetooth device (waiting for the better one to arrive from China), and this seems to be working fine.
The question is - given that those caps are 30 year old 2.2uf 50v electrolytics - and that they are now receiving line-level signal from a Bluetooth unit, what would be a better choice of caps for this purpose? Or should I bypass them? Or simply replace them with like-for-like new LESR ones? Tantalum?
Thanks for looking at this
Jim
The question is - given that those caps are 30 year old 2.2uf 50v electrolytics - and that they are now receiving line-level signal from a Bluetooth unit, what would be a better choice of caps for this purpose? Or should I bypass them? Or simply replace them with like-for-like new LESR ones? Tantalum?
Thanks for looking at this
Jim
I’m looking to do the same thing for a couple of applications here soon.
Have some of the super cheep ones on the way, but am looking at another csr8675 board that has a pcm5102 for the dac.
Those electrolytic caps could be replaced with some Wima mks2, are very small yet are a film cap that should be better than an electrolytic.
Have some of the super cheep ones on the way, but am looking at another csr8675 board that has a pcm5102 for the dac.
Those electrolytic caps could be replaced with some Wima mks2, are very small yet are a film cap that should be better than an electrolytic.