Question Reducing latency between wired and wireless speakers

Crataegus

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Oct 31, 2021
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Hello,

Sorry for diving straight in with a question. I have had a look through the archives and I can't find an answer.

I have a Cambridge Audio Topaz SR20 with a turntable and cd player connected to it. I have 2 sets of wired speakers hooked up. I use a Chromecast audio which is connected to the receiver if I want to listen to the radio or stream music.

I also have an Avantree Bluetooth transmitter connected to the back of the receiver which supports aptX, but only has Bluetooth 4.1. I use this to transmit to a Bose Soundlink Revolve + which is in the kitchen. The sound quality is adequate but obviously there is a delay. The Bose supports Bluetooth 4.2.

I would like to reduce the latency if it's possible. A Bluetooth 5.2 transmitter and speaker would do this, but to what extent? Would the latency still be perceptible? I have lath and plaster walls with bricks behind the plaster so I don't fancy replacing the receiver with something that has an extra speaker output and running a cable into the kitchen. My assumption is that making the two wired speakers wireless could solve the problem but would reduce sound quality. I don't want to do this.

My guess is it's possible to reduce the latency but that it would still be perceptible. Does anyone have any experience of a similar set up that they could share with me please?
 

EvShrug

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Mar 4, 2022
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Hey!
Bluetooth 5.2 didn’t really improve on Latency over Bluetooth 4.2… it’s really more about codecs, and the operating system of your audio source.

Obviously, latency doesn’t matter much if you’re listening to purely audio content, like a CD or record player, or radio. For streaming video, one of the best things to happen is that the Android and iOS based devices (including an Apple TV or AndroidTV based device) actually receive information from supported Bluetooth devices about exactly how long the lag is, and then delay the video playback to put them exactly into lip-sync.

So, then the issue only becomes with gaming (where you can’t really delay video, unless you’re watching someone else stream) and when you use a different Bluetooth source, like a Windows computer or your Aventree Bluetooth transmitter. I bought my mother an Aventree bluetooth transmitter… if it’s the same as yours, it may support aptX Low Latency or aptX Adaptive. These codecs have very low latency, like 0.08 or 0.04 seconds, and for a lot of people this fraction of a second is imperceptible. Of course, the receiving end has to support these codecs too… if you really LOVE your Bose speaker, you could potentially just buy another Bluetooth receiver/transmitter (like the Aventree) that you’re sure has an aptX LL mode, and plug that into the AUX port of your active speakers.

If you’re watching TV in one room and trying to prevent an “echo” effect where you hear the timing slightly different straight from the TV and the speaker, probably the best system on the market that addresses multi-room audio is Sonos. I just bought my mom the new Sonos Soundbar (the smaller Beam, I believe, but it’s a great fit for her 37” TV and honestly fills her condo’s open floor plan living room/dining room remarkably well), and if she wanted she could get additional Sonos or IKEA Symphonisk speakers for synchronized wireless (either as Surround speakers or multi-room speakers). They use WiFi and a proprietary codec instead of Bluetooth.

But for most people and most situations, a little AndroidTV device with Bluetooth support built-in is the easiest solution. There’s a ton of cheap AndroidTV streaming boxes on the market, including Roku and I think even the Amazon Fire sticks. I spent a bit more and got the NVIDIA Shield (the tube shaped one) which does an EXCELLENT job of 4K video and running extra apps and games, and it’s built-in Bluetooth (and Chromecast) works well while keeping everything in sync.
 

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