Would using a bluetooth adapter lead to worse audio quality?

Submitted by Zealousideal_Zone_69 t3_zz6x4j in headphones

I have a pc that i share with my brother, but he is buying a new one and so i will get the current weaker one. We agreed that he would keep the headphones which are wired, so i will have to buy new ones. I already have bluetooth headphones i use for my phone, but they are having problems and falling apart. The current pc i have doesn't have bluetooth, but i would like to be able to use my headphones for both pc and phone, and i know that i can buy a bluetooth adapter so i can connect them to my pc. Would using an adapter ruin audio quality or would it be the same as using it on phone?

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slackinfux t1_j29srdr wrote

It'll be the same as using it on the phone.

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szakee t1_j29u312 wrote

What headphones, dude

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Technical_Mixture550 t1_j29wm4o wrote

It really depends on the quality of ur bluetooth adapter. Check out Creative’s bluetooth adapter. It has aptx hd and bluetooth 5.0 and works great in my experience

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TagalogON t1_j2a21gt wrote

Yes Bluetooth adapters will have compression/etc. but it doesn't really ruin the audio quality since it's the best that we have right now with the technology for us general consumers.

For sound degradation, it depends on your environment and how loud your listening levels are. Some people will hear the inherent Bluetooth compression more, others will be able to ignore it after a while or so.

At safe hearing levels and also when outside, people probably won't be able to easily tell the difference due to the external noises competing with the sound/music. Like even when at home at louder volumes some people also can't tell between wired and wireless, when using LDAC, AptX, etc.

Like they just released the Qualcomm QCC 5171 chipsets and so for 2023, there should be some more Bluetooth stuff with Bluetooth 5.3, LC3 tech, AptX Lossless, et cetera.

Try to get the KB9P AptX Adaptive USB transmitter dongle, there's some software for it called Dongle Assistant, see here for more info on those AptX Adaptive and AptX Lossless dongles and Bluetooth stuff: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/aptx-adaptive-aptx-lossless-usb-transmitters.961856/page-55

Here's more (direct) updated info about the AptX Adaptive USB transmitter dongles (KB8P, KB9P, YET-T10P): https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/zr41fe/which_lossy_codec_to_use_compress_with_before/j12cdwt/

Here's more info on TWS adapters like the FiiO UTWS3/5, KZ AZ09 Pro, etc. alongside adapters/converters, AptX Adaptive dongles (KB9P, YET-T10P, etc.), and so on needed for them: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/zvmt4a/wireless_zero_other_wireless_earphones/j1q2s6f/

The KB9P is usually from AliExpress (often takes 1-3 weeks for delivery if you live near an international airport), but you can sometimes find the KB8P/KB9P/etc. on Amazon under different names, just look at the pictures on the product images if it seems like it'll be the KB9P and so on.

As for the PC motherboard, there's Intel AX210/etc. Bluetooth/WiFI (PCIe) cards available for like say $40 or so. Those only have regular AptX available but it lets you see the devices names, initial battery level, et cetera.

But ya better to get the KB9P AptX Adaptive USB transmitter dongle as it's like half the price at $20 and then you also get way more features for Bluetooth. As part of the cost for the Intel AX210 is the WiFi portion that isn't really relevant to Bluetooth audio.

Btw disable WiFi when not using it or make sure your routers/etc. are a bit further away as sometimes those can interfere with the Bluetooth TWS earbuds range and connection and so on. Like you'll maybe hear static/interference or having cutting out issues if you have like a congested area and such.

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Toronto-Will t1_j2ari7r wrote

Sound quality will probably be fine, the main thing to be weary of if you use Bluetooth, for anything other than music and phone calls, is lag. Depending in the implementation (codec, buffer size) you’ll see anything from 30 to 200ms of latency. Lips may be noticeably out of sync in videos, and game audio may be disadvantageously laggy. “Gaming headphones” that are wireless come with transmitters specifically designed for low latency so they’re on the low end of the lag scale where it’s not really noticeable, but your average Bluetooth implementation will be very noticeable.

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