Chris, The way I look at it, if you like the sound better through BlueTooth then that is probably all that should matter. As a matter of accuracy, though, the cable should really give you better sound because it will be passing the full analog output from a digital source without any of the side-effects of possible BlueTooth bandwidth restirctions. If you are plugging your cable into a computer, it is receiving its analog signal directly from the computer's sound card which has on it a digital to analog converter. When you use BlueTooth, the signal is being transferred digitally via a wireless connection, just as you said, but it undergoes some processing and possible data compression as it is transmitted. These parameters can vary, though. At the very least, though, Bluetooth cannot make the sound any better than it originally was. When it gets to your earphones, it is decoded and turned into an analog signal probably by a less expensive digital to analog circuit than exists in your computer. The signal then passes along wires, although they are very short, from the output of the digital to analog converter in your headphones to the earpieces, just like your cable does.
So are you wrong to think it sounds better? No, I don't think so. Something in the Bluetooth circuitry is changing the sound in a way that fits your preferences. The earphones may even be better matched to the output of the built-in digital to analog converter than they are to your computer's sound card via the cable. While I like my BlueTooth headphones, I think I sometimes hear some data compression effects that are a little like low rate MP3 files but the convenience is worth it. The point here is really just to point out that the reason it sounds better to you is probably not because BlueTooth is digital. There may even be some settings that might explain it. Some bluetooth devices in computers actually act like separate sound cards with their own settings and may differ from the settings applied to the output jack of your computer's sound card. Best regards, Steve Jacobson er r On Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:57:49 +0100, chris hallsworth wrote: >Hello all. >As you know I have a pair of Sennheiser headphones that supports both >bluetooth and the traditional 3.5mm audio cable. My observations are >that the bluetooth output is louder and better in audio quality than the >3.5mm cable. Why is this? My reasoning is bluetooth audio is digital >output whereas 3.5mm cable is analogue. Ok the cable provides good >quality audio but it is not as loud as the bluetooth option. I have >checked my volume in Windows 7, and it is set to 100%. There is a small >latency in the bluetooth audio output but who cares; I am still able to >listen to high quality stereo audio. >Thanks for any comments on this. >Chat soon. >-- >Chris Hallsworth >Sent from Thunderbird >To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: >pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org
