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Music Without Cables? - The Latest Generation Of Wireless Audio Transmitter Gadgets
Over the years a whole array of wireless audio transmitters have emerged which are supposed to eliminate the cords at home when connecting audio equipment. We will take a look at recent products to find out if they can deliver on their claim to cut the cable clutter and we’ll examine how changing technology has impacted performance of these products.
AM and FM radio was launched several decades ago and was the initial kind of wireless audio transmission. While still being popular today, FM radio is now being substituted by recent technologies including HD radio, satellite radio and DAB broadcasts. Today a multitude of consumer devices exist such as wireless microphones, wireless surround sound kits, Bluetooth audio transmitters, baby monitors etc which cut the cord by transmitting audio wirelessly.
Many homes which are not wired for audio are ideal for using wireless audio to distribute music all through the home. Not every technology is perfect when it comes to wireless audio as we will find out.
Let’s look at the most traditional technology first: FM broadcasts. FM audio transmitters send the audio by utilizing a high-frequency signal which is constantly changing in frequency according to the audio signal. This method 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 use 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 bouncing off walls and will cancel itself out at different locations. This phenomenon is known as multi-path fading. Using two antennae is one approach some devices use to cope with this problem (diversity receivers). In addition, FM transmissions will easily pick up interference from other wireless devices.
Another technology which has gained popularity recently is known as Bluetooth. Bluetooth was originally designed to connect computer peripheral devices wirelessly. Before the signal is sent, Bluetooth transmitters will convert the audio into a digital format. One of the advantages is the high robustness against wireless interference. On the other hand, Bluetooth was not designed for audio transmissions. Therefore is does have several problems. The range of the transmission is only 30 ft or less. Moreover, Bluetooth does not have enough space to transmit an uncompressed CD-quality audio signal. Consequently the audio is compressed prior to the transmission. As a result of the audio compression, the audio quality will decrease. Bluetooth will introduce a delay or latency to the audio signal which is a problem for surround sound and video applications because the wireless loudspeakers will be out of sync with the remaining speakers and video.
The technologies used for satellite radio and terrestrial digital radio offer high range. However, they also use extensive audio compression. Further, a delay of up to several seconds is introduced.
The technology used in Amphony's wireless audio transmitters sends audio in a digital format without audio compression. By avoiding audio compression, the signal will keep the original quality. This technology offers an audio latency of less than 1 ms. Therefore these transmitters can be used for wireless speaker kits in a home theater setup and other real-time applications.
This technology is fairly robust against radio interference from other wireless transmitters by employing a technique known as forward error correction. The Amphony transmitters operate at 5.8 GHz. This frequency space is less crowded than the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz bands consequently leading to a further improvement of performance. In contrast to Bluetooth, any number of wireless receivers can operate from a single wireless audio transmitter which is a consideration when sending audio to numerous rooms within a home.
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