Wired vs Bluetooth

[BinkieHuckerback]

How would one conduct a trial to determine whether there is an audible difference between wired and Bluetooth headphones?

 

[Jimbob54]

There's an audible difference between all headphone models, wired or wireless.

Plus, there is a difference in phones like the bose qc35 etc when driven passive /wired and active

So I'd say there was little to no point devising your test.

 

[Blumlein 88]

You could get a headphone which can be used either over bluetooth or wired. Conduct listening tests.

Or you could use only wired phones. But for test tracks some files have been sent over bluetooth and recorded at the other end.

AKG 371 phones are available in a wired or bluetooth model. Which would make it easy to do. Just need a way to fake having the wire plugged in while it is actually working over bluetooth.

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

There's an audible difference between all headphone models, wired or wireless.

Plus, there is a difference in phones like the bose qc35 etc when driven passive /wired and active

So I'd say there was little to no point devising your test.

Good point. Would a better question be something about whether one can tell the difference between wired and Bluetooth?

 

[DVDdoug]

A Bluetooth headphone will sound different from a wired headphone because every headphone sounds different.

It's probably better if you create an experiment that uses regular wired headphones and an optional Bluetooth connection so you can level-match the Bluetooth and direct signals and switch between them.

An ABX Test will "prove" if you can hear a difference.

There are lossless Bluetooth protocols but someone else will have to jump-in with more information.

 

[Jimbob54]

You could get a headphone which can be used either over bluetooth or wired. Conduct listening tests.

Or you could use only wired phones. But for test tracks some files have been sent over bluetooth and recorded at the other end.

AKG 371 phones are available in a wired or bluetooth model. Which would make it easy to do. Just need a way to fake having the wire plugged in while it is actually working over bluetooth.

Trouble is, when in active mode there tends to be DSP engaged you can't disable. So yes they would sound different, but not for the reasons OP is suggesting (I think)

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

A Bluetooth headphone will sound different from a wired headphone because every headphone sounds different.

It's probably better if you create an experiment that uses regular wired headphones and an optional Bluetooth connection so you can level-match the Bluetooth and direct signals and switch between them.

An ABX Test will "prove" if you can hear a difference.

There are lossless Bluetooth protocols but someone else will have to jump-in with more information.

Thank you.

Trouble is, when in active mode there tends to be DSP engaged you can't disable. So yes they would sound different, but not for the reasons OP is suggesting (I think)

I don't think I could determine a difference between an optimally performing wired and an optimally performing Bluetooth headphone. There are so many variables though. My original question might be meaningless. We live and learn. Thanks for replying.

 

[Berwhale]

Good point. Would a better question be something about whether one can tell the difference between wired and Bluetooth?

You could switch inputs between USB and Bluetooth on a DAC/Amp like my Topping EX5. This could be done blind as you wouldn't need to change the headphones.

 

[Jimbob54]

You could switch inputs between USB and Bluetooth on a DAC/Amp like my Topping EX5. This could be done blind as you wouldn't need to change the headphones.

True- or even cheaper the Qudelix 5K. But even that isnt easy as I dont know how you ensure the level of the input signal is the same between what the source device sends as BT and what it sends wired. Is full volume on (say) the Spotify app the same level over the phones BT to the 5k vs the wired output.

Suppose you would level match at the output socket of the dac/amp.

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

You could switch inputs between USB and Bluetooth on a DAC/Amp like my Topping EX5. This could be done blind as you wouldn't need to change the headphones.

Ah, now that's what I'm getting at. Would that be just a 'flick of a switch', and would one hear the difference between the two in the switch between one on the other?

 

[Berwhale]

Ah, now that's what I'm getting at. Would that be just a 'flick of a switch', and would one hear the difference between the two in the switch between one on the other?

Pushing the volume knob cycles through the inputs on the EX5. You'd have to perform the test to see if you can tell the difference!

 

[Jimbob54]

A Bluetooth headphone will sound different from a wired headphone because every headphone sounds different.

It's probably better if you create an experiment that uses regular wired headphones and an optional Bluetooth connection so you can level-match the Bluetooth and direct signals and switch between them.

An ABX Test will "prove" if you can hear a difference.

There are lossless Bluetooth protocols but someone else will have to jump-in with more information.

LDAC (built in to any reasonably new Android phone) is close to lossless- taps out around 900 kbps- lots of the desktop and portable DAC/amps can do LDAC. As to whether the conversion and broadcast chain have an audible impact, ABX testing will tell you as you say. Should be an easy enough test to do.

Im pretty sure Amir has run some tests with devices that can run wired and BT, cant remember which device though. IIRC LDAC came out pretty good but not quite as good as wired whereas the aptX didnt look pretty.

 

[izeek]

the reality is that bluetooth isn't able to deliver sound quality a wired connection will afford.
it has to do with delivery processes.
easily found.
true some of them sound damn good.
but between reasonably the same quality and maybe price range, even without level-matching, you can tell.
i cant imagine you would not be able to tell in even a subjective test.

 

[Berwhale]

I wonder if there is a way to process a FLAC file through a Bluetooth codec (e.g. LDAC) without actually transmitting it over the airways. If you could do this, you could simply ABX test the unprocessed and processed files. I guess you'd need some kind of Bluetooth loopback adapter.

 

[escksu]

Wired headphones are clearly superior. OK, I have never listen to them before, 2 points which makes me feel wired headphones are clearly better.

1. For a wired headphone, power/DAC/amp comes from an external box. For the bluetooth, everything is in the headphone. You have limited power and limited space in headphones, so compromises has to be made to fit everything inside.

2. bluetooth does not have sufficient bandwidth to handle loseless audio.