Hi Marie, If you connect an optical Toslink cable to your TV’s optical output then whatever you connect it to on the other end must also have an optical input and support this. You can’t easily connect this to a 3.5mm analogue device although there are optical to analogue adapters out there. It just all becomes complicated. Your TV most likely would also have some sort of analogue output so you could connect one of your existing Anker transmitters to that. This Miccus device I bought supports optical and it can be either a transmitter so you can connect it to a source and it then transmits a bluetooth signal which can be received by a bluetooth headset or speaker or it can be a receiver where you could connect it to a set of powered speakers or an input on a stereo and you could then stream audio from say your iPhone to the non-bgluetooth speakers or receiver via that device.
The Sony headset is over the head, I thought when I said over the ear that implied over the head, but you are correct, there are a few headsets out there which have that strange behind the neck thing which personally I don’t care for very much. I believe Airplay should start to work at some point this year via a Sonos software update. I am on the Sonos Beta program and while I can’t give details, they do have some neat new features coming especially if you like audio books. Regards, Sieghard From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Marie Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2018 9:41 AM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Thoughts about some new bluetooth toys I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind. I have never used an optical digital cable so am not exactly sure how it works. But if I am understanding correctly I could plug it into my TV and then connect a BT transmitter with a 3.5 Plug? I have two small Anker transmitter/receiver devices which I love. they allow me to turn a Victor Reader or the PlexTalk devices into BT so I can pair a BT headphone to them. Also could you tell me if the Sony headphones you mention are over the head or just over the ear. The descriptions never seem to make this clear and I have a problem with over the head devices.I have really like the Sony headphones I have had so it would be great if these were over the ear with the strap or whatever behind the neck. One more thing, have you heard anything more about the Sonos speakers offering airplay in the near future. Mine have no input jack so this would be great. Thanks, Marie From: Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2018 8:35 AM To: viphone@googlegroups.com<mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> Subject: Thoughts about some new bluetooth toys Hello, I’m a huge Audible/audio book fan and often listen at night after my wife goes to bed. I therefore am always on the lookout for the perfect way to listen so it doesn’t disturb my wife but so it’s also comfortable for me since I often fall asleep listening. I often just use my iPhone and wired Earpods, but sometimes that of course results in me waking up during the middle of the night lying on my iPhone and with Earpods wrapped around me. I have tried a pillow speaker which I purchased from Amazon, but it wasn’t for me. I sometimes use my Plantronics Voyager Edge which just a single earpiece and if it ends up somewhere in the bed under me it’s not so bad, but it’s also not quite perfect yet. I recently purchased two larger headsets and something called a bluetooth receiver/transmitter, here some links: Jabra Move – link to the canadian Jabra website<https://www.jabra.ca/music/jabra-move-wireless> Jabra Move – link to Best Buy Canada<https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/jabra-jabra-move-on-ear-bluetooth-headphones-blue-100-96300001-20/10358809.aspx>, regular $109.99 on sale until today for $69.99 I actually bought this on Amazon.ca for $88 so seeing on Best Buy Canada on sale for $69.99 is a bummer, but anyhow, I quite like this headset. It’s an on-ear headset which is very comfortable and well-built. Only thing for me is that the on/off switch which is a slider is on the right ear and the play/pause button and volume up/down is on the left which I find a bit awkward. It claims 8 hours of battery life and can be used in wired mode as well and I quite like it when headsets offer both options. Sony MDRXB950BT/B on Amazon.com<https://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDRXB950BT-Extra-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B00MCHE38O> $118.00 Sony MDRXB950BT/B on Amazon Canada $199.99<https://www.amazon.ca/Sony-MDR-XB950BT-Bluetooth-Extra-Headphones/dp/B00NBR6QMK> Sony MDRXB950BT review<https://medium.com/@Xander51/sony-xb950n1-xb950b1-extra-bass-wireless-headphones-review-a-feature-packed-update-of-an-old-46a8750021d4> These are over-the-ear headphones which have noise cancelling and a base boost feature and they are awesome, but a bit larger than the Jabra Move. I was able to get them on sale on Amazon Canada during Boxing Week for $124.99 Canadian which is under $100 US so that was a really good deal. I love the controls, the on/off is a button, but the headphones have a very pleasant and high quality female voice and say things like “Power On”, “Power Off”, “Pairing mode” etc. The play/pause is on the right ear and it’s a button but it ccan also be pusshed up/down for skip/jump back and if you push and hold it it will fast forward/rewind. They sound fantastic, are very comfortable and what I would expect from Sony. I have seen reviews where they are favouribly compared with Bose and Beats headsets which cost much more. The last item I bought is a dual mode bluetooth receiver/transmitter, it can connect to a TV, stereo etc. by 3.5mm/RCA analogue or optical digital connection and this allows you to make a non-bluetooth device into one you can listen to with a bluetooth headset or speaker. Here the Amazon.ca link: Miccus LONG RANGE Dual Link Bluetooth Transmitter and Bluetooth Receiver, aptX Low Latency audio. Wireless adapter for TV, stereo, speakers, Phone, PC. Auto optical pass through - (Home RTX 2.0)<https://www.amazon.ca/Miccus-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Receiver-Wireless/dp/B075J4RKGH/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1515687519&sr=8-6&keywords=miccus+bluetooth> It’s a little box, maybe the size of an iPhone 7 (not a Plus) and it has a 3.5mm analogue input and output in the back as well as an optical digital input and output and it comes with a little antenna which is attached in the back in the middle. It also has a micro USB port for power. I bought this in order to basically bluetooth enable my Sonos system. I have waited for a long time for Sonos to come out with a Sonos headset, but at this point Sonos is all about listening out loud via speakers, they now are focusing on their voice smartspeakers which support Alexa and soon will support Google Assistant and Cortana and I have a feeling that a headset is not coming soon although I’m sure it will come at some point since you find many posts on forums where people want one. Anyhow, I plugged it into one of my Sonos Connect players using the optical digital cable and at first it seemed to work great with the Jabra Move headset. However, after you listen for a while there are little drop-outs, just a second or less, but annoying. I have it just next door to the bedroom in my office and up on a shelf about 5 feet high and when I am in bed at night that is literally 10 feet away and through one wall (just a regular interior wall with drywall) so I’m not too sure if I want to keep this. Alternatively I could go with any of the many Sennheiser wireless speakers which are not bluetooth but which plug into a stereo or other source with a base and then transmit via the 900 Mhz band (their less expensive models) or via 6 Ghz digital. Some of these have a super-long range of at least 100 feet or more and the digital models can also plug into an optical digital output and sound probably better than bluetooth. Anyhow, thought I share my thoughts on these devices, as for listening to audio books in bed I am starting to think that something with the form factor of the Airpods which can be used in one ear or both would probably my best choice, if it falls out when I go to sleep it would hopefully paus the audio which would be nice and if I lie on it I don’t think it would be a problem, but of course I am still not willing to shell out over $200 Canadian for these things. I am almost sure the second generation of Airpods will be released this fall so I’ll wait just a bit longer. Best regards, Sieghard -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu<mailto:mk...@ucla.edu>. 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