Several years ago I looked into IEM and found the commercially available systems cost more than I wanted to spend. So I designed my own system using bluetooth (BT). I learned not all BT are created equal! Most BT systems have significant latency problems, so much so as to render them useless for playing in a band. The answer that has worked for me for the past few years is Apt-X Low Latency BT transmitter/receiver (Tx/Rx) pairs that can be had for well under $100 for both from Amazon.
I use BT Tx/Rx with Apt-X LL from Avantree (no association except as a consumer) which states their Tx/Rx pairs have no more than 40 mSec latency. A year or two ago I tried putting this forth here on TB and I was lambasted by audio techs who said 20 mSec is barely acceptable. Fine. I continued happily on my way using my budget system but thought it was a shame more people didn't know about this. Thus I decided to test my system and provide the results for my fellow TBers to decide for themselves. My test layout is below.
My bass signal was fed into my Zoom H4 digital recorder in 2 separate paths: direct into the recorder by MIC-ing my amp; using the XLR output from my amp to go into a MIC input on my mixer which was then directed to the Apt-X LL transmitter connected to the headphone jack. The Receiver was connected to the other channel of the recorder. Using the PAN control on the mixer I ensured the 2 signal paths had no cross over.
Importing the recording into Audacity I confirmed the 2 channels exhibited a 35 mSec latency relative to each other. The audio track is below. I can't perceive a lag between the L and R channels and neither do I when I'm gigging with this setup. Give a listen and judge for yourselves if 35 mSec is tolerable. If, like me, you find it is, you can save yourself a bundle !! Hope this helps some of you .
Joe
I use BT Tx/Rx with Apt-X LL from Avantree (no association except as a consumer) which states their Tx/Rx pairs have no more than 40 mSec latency. A year or two ago I tried putting this forth here on TB and I was lambasted by audio techs who said 20 mSec is barely acceptable. Fine. I continued happily on my way using my budget system but thought it was a shame more people didn't know about this. Thus I decided to test my system and provide the results for my fellow TBers to decide for themselves. My test layout is below.
My bass signal was fed into my Zoom H4 digital recorder in 2 separate paths: direct into the recorder by MIC-ing my amp; using the XLR output from my amp to go into a MIC input on my mixer which was then directed to the Apt-X LL transmitter connected to the headphone jack. The Receiver was connected to the other channel of the recorder. Using the PAN control on the mixer I ensured the 2 signal paths had no cross over.
Importing the recording into Audacity I confirmed the 2 channels exhibited a 35 mSec latency relative to each other. The audio track is below. I can't perceive a lag between the L and R channels and neither do I when I'm gigging with this setup. Give a listen and judge for yourselves if 35 mSec is tolerable. If, like me, you find it is, you can save yourself a bundle !! Hope this helps some of you .
Joe
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