Unofficial Mackie User Forums > DL1608/DL806/DL32R/ProDX Mixers

Bluetooth and Apple

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WK154:
My recent design and installation of an audio system for a chorus left me with one additional missing feature I didn't think about before. They can handle all the traditional media you can throw at it but were missing wireless playback. As it turns out quite a useful feature since the director has an iPad that she uses for playback, keyboard and recording. Holding her lapel mic to the iPad speaker! Well needless to say I thought that's a simple solution get an Airport Express and your done. Well I thought about it some more and finally realized I was there about 6 years ago with a Zoom Telecom Bluetooth device that worked just fine thru a couple of walls and about 40 ft. I had two of these collecting dust. I tried it with the iPad and no go. As it happens Apple doesn't like Bluetooth and would like it to go away, unfortunately after a couple of billion devices out in the world it's not going to be. Turns out that Apple insists on encrypted devices only not a requirement for most Bluetooth devices especially older ones. Hence my device won't pair. No problem the unit has it's own transmitter that can be plugged into any 3.5mm stereo output. I used it with an early iPod that had no wireless connection. After 6 plus years Bluetooth has not stood still and you can get Apple friendly versions for a mere $28 that are more reliable than Airplay. Why is that? In the 2.4Gig arena a fixed frequency  WiFi connection with a whopping 3 clear channels or a total of 11 with overlap can't compete with a 79 channel Spread Spectrum Technology. It came from the military's desire to prevent radio message interception from the enemy. There are several versions I won't go into here but suffice it to say that dropouts are few and far between compared to WiFi. Net results more reliable. The new version drops the channels to 40 but doubles the bandwidth still far from WiFi's 11 on the 2.4Gig frequency. Throw in the 5 Gig and your still not there. If you want a current Apple friendly receiver: http://www.amazon.com/HomeSpot-NFC-Enabled-Bluetooth-Receiver-System/dp/B009OBCAW2/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1408832253&sr=1-4&keywords=rca+bluetooth+receiver 
For the latest Bluetooth technology check out CSR, one of the mayor players in this field.
http://www.csr.com/milestones
Yes your going to point out that Airplay is free with an Airport Express access point that you need anyways but for those that value reliability or don't have a Airport Express this is a better solution. Most current phones have Bluetooth so you don't need to buy into Apples ecosystem.

Wynnd:
I don't find Apple hating Bluetooth.  I use it with my iphone, both ipads and my MacBook Pro.  Bluetooth hasn't stopped marching and I'm hoping that my next helmet Bluetooth communication device will have Siri giving me corner to corner directions straight to my helmet.  (Something missing with my Scala Q2 and iphone 4S.)  I can dictate text messages and have Siri dial up anyone in my phone book.  (As well as have Siri read any NEW messages to me.)

WK154:
Apple would much rather see Airplay as your choice. About a year ago Apple updated the Bluetooth driver and suddenly a large number of devices stopped working especially in high end Autos. Apples answer get yourself a newer Beamer and it'll work. Needless to say most got a new phone instead.

Wynnd:
My Wife uses my iphone all the time and I avoid her Android like the plague.  We both think the iphone is easier to use and much more logical about shutting off any timers and alarms than Android is.  (Androids you need to know the sub menus to shut things off.  Iphones always have whatever noisemaker's shutoff on the top.  ALWAYS!)  Just to let you know that this is a geek household.  We met studying Computer Science in 1979.  We're both comfortable with Windows, Macs, Linux machines.  Android has a stupid learning curve.  The iphone has nearly none at all.  (Not familiar with the windows phones today.) 

WK154:
It's about a communications technology not about phones and 70% of the World would rather deal with Android. ;)

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