Wireless Stereo Bluetooth Option for iPod Touch (other iPods too!)

**berniej** · 10-08-2007, 09:08 AM

Last week, I attended a podcentral meet and one of the people there was Bon (yup! our very on Bon). He showed me a curious collection of Bluetooth devices. He then proceeded to insert a thingie on my iPod Touch and allowed me to listen in on a paired stereo headphones -- viola! Instant wireless stereo music!

I think here's what he used:

To enable BlueTooth on my iPod, he used this and to receive the audio signal, he used this.

Well, thanks to Bon, I have two more items on my to-buy gadget list

**Sponsor** · 10-08-2007 09:08 AM

**jepaz** · 10-08-2007, 09:20 AM

Very promising indeed...I want one.

**Godfather** · 10-08-2007, 09:41 AM

if the Touch has a regular iPod 30 pin connector, you can also use this Anycom bluetooth transmitter :

although originally made for the 1st gen nano, it works great with any ipod with a 30-pin connector.

http://www.anycom.com/products/bluet...&partno=CC3315

i've been using it on my 3G nano paired with Motorola HT820.

**jepaz** · 10-08-2007, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Godfather

if the Touch has a regular iPod 30 pin connector, you can also use this Anycom bluetooth transmitter :

Yes, the touch has the same iPod 30 pin connector but I rather use it for charging purposes.

The BlueCON35 II and CLIP R35 combo has lots of advantages over your Anycom in a lot of things:

1. It has it's own rechargable battery.
2. I can use my own headphone.
3. The Clip R35 has a built-in remote control feature and mic.

**tech.junkie** · 10-08-2007, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by berniej

I think here's what he used:

To enable BlueTooth on my iPod, he used this and to receive the audio signal, he used this.

ooohh, i like!

are those available locally?

**berniej** · 10-08-2007, 10:09 AM

The dongle is available at PowerMac center (according to Bon) and the bluetooth clip headsets are also widely available, I actually saw a kiosk at Park Square 1 that sells those.

**bhengko** · 10-08-2007, 10:42 AM

how much would each cost?

**bon** · 10-08-2007, 11:41 AM

Power Mac sells the dongle for P2450; I bought the BT headset clip for P2280 at Digiking, a small store in 2/F Robinsons Pioneer EDSA.

Note that Power Mac sells a similar headset also made by iTech. However I opted not to get it from them because the Power Mac headset's headphones aren't detachable from the clip (i.e., you can't use your own headphones).

Both dongle and headset clip charge via USB (both have included USB cables) or via AC (the headset includes and adapter, which will also work with the dongle). The clip contains a microphone for phone use, and has volume and forward/back controls for phones that support the Audio Video/Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) - this allows you to control the phone's media player controls via the headset alone. However, when used with the dongle, only volume up/down will work.

A caveat: the dongle will probably not work with most non-iTech brand A2DP bluetooth headsets. The Bluetooth key of the dongle is hard-coded to 8888 (vs the 0000 that most other headsets expect).

Some of the advantages of this combination are as follows:

1) My 6-year old son, who sits in the back of the car, prefers to hook up the Nano to the car's speakers than use headphones. Instead of running a long cable from the head unit to the back, I just connect the AUX IN to the headset, which I leave in front, and connect the dongle to the Nano. No more tangled cords! We also use a similar setup for his handheld games (e.g., PSP, DS)

2) Using the same setup described above, I can control the iPod from the living room sofa while keeping it hooked up to the stereo.

3) I can also pair the clip headset to an A2DP-capable phone (e.g., my Nokia E90), and use it to transmit music to external speakers or better headphones.

4) The headset can be paired to an A2DP phone and the dongle simultaneously. If the dongle is connected to an iPod, music will continue to flow from dongle to headset until a call comes in, upon which the headset will shift input from the dongle to the cell phone. I wouldn't have discovered this feature until Bernie asked me about it.

**tech.junkie** · 10-08-2007, 12:12 PM

tnx for that informative post bon. you forgot to menton just 1 thing, how's the audio quality?

**bon** · 10-08-2007, 12:46 PM

Ultimately it's only as good as your headphones are. if you have good cans, it's better sounding than any other bluetooth stereo headset i've used (since I use my own headphones rather than the cheap ones that are bundled), and the bass is well defined. Of course, quality is not up to par with a directly wired connection, but for most of my purposes, it's good enough.