KVR Audio

MogwaiBoy · Post by **MogwaiBoy** » Wed May 18, 2016 12:22 am

Is latency a potential issue with Blueooth headphones in regards to music production (time between hitting a midi key and hearing it, etc)?

lnikj · Post by **lnikj** » Wed May 18, 2016 4:16 am

Unfortunately (or should that be, allegedly) yes.

Some IOS backend routing apps such as AUM and AudioBus will not send audio (on principle!) to the bluetooth headphones that I otherwise use when out and about.

I am not sure of the precise reason though. I have seen developers blame it on Bluetooth being a very old spec, and I have seen Bluetooth device providers blame it on poor implementation in operating systems, rather than on Bluetooth per se.

PapaLazarou · Post by **PapaLazarou** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:05 pm

Yes it is definitely an issue. On standard Bluetooth the latency is noticeable just watching a film or something - lip sync can be noticeably out. The aptX Low Latency standard (needs to be supported by both the headphones and the transceiver) with claimed latency of 32ms is the best you'll get on Bluetooth.

I have some Sennheiser wireless headphones which use a proprietary standard (KleerNet) which is lower latency, uncompressed and specifically designed for audio. It works great but you have to use them with the special transmitter, unlike BT which is more or less universal.

nachenko · Post by **nachenko** » Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:31 am

I'm bringing this thread back from the grave to ask if things have changed. I'm really enjoying the free version of Korg Gadget, but the iPad Pro has no minijack, so Bluetooth is the only alternative for me. Latency with my Sony headphones is horrible to the point of barely usable. Is there anything I can do about it?

yellowmix · Post by **yellowmix** » Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:25 pm

Since the thread is necro'd it should be mentioned Bluetooth audio is lossy compressed. Even the current best codec, aptx-hd is lossy compressed. Whether you can tell the difference is another question.

PeterP_swe · Post by **PeterP_swe** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:37 am

nachenko wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:31 ambut the iPad Pro has no minijack, so Bluetooth is the only alternative for me.

No, you can still get a lightning to 3.5mm adapter and use regular headphones. It's inconvenient, but the only realistic option that I can see.

nachenko · Post by **nachenko** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:25 am

PeterP_swe wrote: ↑Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:37 am
nachenko wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:31 ambut the iPad Pro has no minijack, so Bluetooth is the only alternative for me.
No, you can still get a lightning to 3.5mm adapter and use regular headphones. It's inconvenient, but the only realistic option that I can see.

Thanks, PEterP! Yes, I discovered those adapters are not that expensive nor big... they're just inconvenient. But they seem to be the only option.

Thanks everybody for your help!

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:35 am

yellowmix wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:25 pm Since the thread is necro'd it should be mentioned Bluetooth audio is lossy compressed. Even the current best codec, aptx-hd is lossy compressed. Whether you can tell the difference is another question.

Another "issue" is that there's a lot of noise. At least i haven't run across a speaker/receiver/headphone, which doesn't produce that noise via Bluetooth.

IMO, it really doesn't make sense if you are serious about this. Better use cables.

Bluetooth headphones - is latency an issue?