I’ve been slowly getting the wires under control my home office/studio, which I use for recording and mixing, but also writing, work teleconferencing, occasional podcasting, casual music listening, and playing videogames. All of this has its audio routed through an analog mixer. I’d like the headphone output of the mixer to lead to a wireless transmitter and use wireless cans to monitor most of this stuff. (I will use my wired headphones for mixing, because of the audio quality and because I know them well.)
I guess I’m interested in wireless headphone recs (The AT ATH-M50xBT2 and AIAIAI TMA-2 studio wireless seem to come up a lot), though the main thing I want to know is the mechanism for making this work. Are current bluetooth standards low-latency enough now for, say, tracking audio? If so, what transmitter should I get? If BT isn’t fast enough, what standard is acceptable, and how affordable is it? Do most studio-grade wireless headphones have a recommended transmitter of the same brand, or do all of the basic models use the same standard(s)? (It seems like the AIAIAIs are very low-latency and come with their own transmitter, but are other brands like that as well?)
Thanks!
Alpha Theta has their new HDJ-F10 headphones which have only 4ms latency. They’re aimed at DJs, but the overall sound is relatively flat still more like studio cans. It uses their own Sonic Link technology, but I’ve had great luck with it pairing my Omnis Duo to their Wave 8 speakers. Easy to use, sounds good, latency is more than acceptable for wireless music making.
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Wireless shouldn’t be part of a recording studio at all, better to use cables. BT is a very handy utility at a barbecue, when you want to send music from your smartphone to the boombox. That said, if you really can’t do without it, look for devices that support the aptX protocol: this is a codec developed by Qualcomm that provide better sound quality with lower latency than SBC (most common) or AAC (Apple)
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Yeeesssss…but you’ll still feel something being slightly off. If you’re trying to do anything intricate/fast it’s gonna mess with your timing. Also wakeup delays when you start audio and little clicks/abrupt releases when you stop it. I used some Sony BT headphones for a month or two after my regular cans died earlier this year but eventually I got irritated and had to buy regular wired ones again.
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Anybody try the Yamaha YH-WL500? These seem specifically marketed to musicians, not that that means anything, but I do like that 1) the transmitter also serves as a desktop stand and charger for the heaphones, and 2) the connection is established automatically when you pick up the cans. These are mentioned in another thread here about the TMA-2 but nobody seems to have tried them.
OneOdio Studio Max 1. 20ms.
Not bad for the price.
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We’re not talking about BT though. For instance the AIAIAI TMA w+ uses an uncompressed wireless connection.
Yeah same as the yamahas, which seem to promise 4ms
Ive got a pair! They say its under 4ms latency. They aint bad - I couldnt detect any latency if honest but its been a while since I used them so my memory not the best!!
I bought a snazzy pair of Audeze so was prob going to sell them as cant justify both lol
They come with the most ridiculous short USB-C cable - not sure what they were thinking so used a different one.
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Oh nice! Can you literally just pick them up off the stand and use them without messing with buttons, re-pairing, etc?
I think so from memory! Will dig them out and let you know!
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The Venn diagram for “wireless” encompasses more than “bluetooth.” The Aiaiai’s, for example, have transmitter pack that connects to the audio source and then uses a 2.4GHz band to connect to the headphones.
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but which is the best, of the non-blue tooth realtime headphones that are available, or is there no clear consensus at this time?
Well…I ordered the yamahas and will give them a try and write up a review here. On paper they’re perfect for my needs but we’ll see!
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have you tried the AiAiAi as well?
Mentioned it above, but I like that the yamaha has a stand/charger/transmitter unit and connects automatically when you pick it up. Will report!
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I have the Aiaiai’s (such a dumb name to type out!) and have enjoyed them a lot.
I’ve noticed no latency. I would guess the frequency response curve is a little U shaped but not extreme. There is a relatively high noise floor, so you want your source volume maxed and the on-the-headphones volume as low as possible.
The headphones are comfortable, though it is not a super tight clamp like sennheisers so you can’t bop around too much. Build quality seems good. Website indicates that replacement parts can be ordered easily if needed.
Both the transmitter and headphones need to be recharged relatively frequently. The transmitter is not too bulky, in fact I’ve put a strip of velcro on it and can use it attached to the back of my Circuit Tracks without any issue.
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