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Music Without Cords? - A Close Look At Wireless Audio Transmitters
Avoiding the big mess of cords has lead to a variety of wireless audio transmitter products over the years which promise to untie your home audio equipment. We will take a look at latest products to find out if they can deliver on their promise to eliminate the cable mess and we’ll investigate how changing technology has impacted performance of these products.
AM and FM radio was introduced several decades ago and was the first kind of wireless audio transmission. FM radio is still popular until now though some newer technologies such as satellite radio and digital radio formats such as HD radio and DAB radio have begun to substitute traditional FM radio. Today's wireless consumer products such as wireless speaker kits, baby monitors, Bluetooth audio transmitters and wireless microphones cut the cord.
Setting up speakers in another room and distributing music throughout the house are some of the applications of wireless audio. Many houses are not wired for audio. We will take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of today's wireless audio technologies.
One of the most traditional technologies is FM broadcasting. Audio is transmitted via a radio-frequency signal which is modulated (changed in frequency) with an audio signal. This technique is called frequency modulation or FM for short. The biggest advantage of FM transmitters is their simpleness and thus cost as well as range. While the majority of today's 900 MHz products utilize FM transmission, FM has some major problems.
The first problem is the fact that the transmission will pick up noise and thus there will be some hiss or static. The amount of noise will in fact vary depending on the location of the radio or receiver. This is due to the fact that the radio signal is reflecting off walls and will cancel itself out at different locations. This phenomenon is called multi-path fading. Using two antennae is one approach some devices utilize to cope with this difficulty (diversity receivers). FM radios will easily pick up interference from other consumer products which is another problem.
Bluetooth has gained popularity lately for wireless audio transmission even though this protocol was primarily designed to connect computer peripherals. Before the signal is broadcast, Bluetooth transmitters will convert the audio into a digital format. One of the advantages is the high robustness against wireless interference. Still, Bluetooth was not designed for audio transmissions. Therefore is does have several problems. Bluetooth only offers a range of 30 ft or less and will compress the audio because it does not offer enough room to transmit an uncompressed CD-quality signal. This compression will result in a loss of audio quality depending on the degree of compression. Bluetooth will cause a delay or latency to the audio signal which is a drawback for surround sound and video applications because the wireless speakers will be out of sync with the remaining loudspeakers and video.
Satellite radio and digital terrestrial radio technologies offer high range but use extensive audio compression leading to deterioration of the audio signal and have an audio delay of more than a few seconds.
The technology used in Amphony's wireless audio transmitters sends audio in a digital format without audio compression. The signal will preserve the original quality by avoiding audio compression. The audio latency of this technology is less than 1 ms. Consequently it can be used for real-time applications such as wireless speaker kits in home theater setups.
This technology is quite robust against radio interference from other wireless transmitters by employing a technique known as forward error correction. Rather than using the crowded 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands, Amphony products operate at 5.8 GHz and thus offer high reliability. An advantage over Bluetooth is the ability to transmit audio to any number of wireless receivers from a single transmitter. This is important for distributing audio to several rooms in the house.
Innergie Magic Cable Trio integrates USB and Apple tips in a single cord (Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine)
The myriad of mobile devices in constant need of recharging that many people
now have in their possession can quickly lead to chronic cable clutter,
especially when hitting the road. Innergie's Magic Cable Trio provides a neat
solution by integrating connectors for micro USB, mini USB and Apple's 30-pin
dock connector in a single convenient cable... Continue Reading Innergie Magic
Cable Trio integrates USB and Apple tips in a single cord
**Section:** Mobile Technology
**Tags:** Adapter, Charger, Innergie, micro-USB, mini-USB, USB
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Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine
Devotec Solar Sound Wireless Bluetooth Speakers Review
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