Bluetooth audio monitoring

adam

Well-known member
We're about to go "hands free" whilst driving and phone talking in Washington State and I'm considering a purchase of a decent Bluetooth headphone.

Simultaneously I'm thinking about getting a Bluetooth 3.5mm stereo audio dongle to plug into my SX cam (or whatever we're upgrading to in the near future, likely XD) and using the nice Bluetooth headphones to wirelessly monitor audio.

Has anyone done this, heard of this?

Do I need to capitalize Bluetooth?

Unless one of you stops me it's all but done.
 

photogguy

Well-known member
I did it, and liked it. It was very helpful to not be tethered to cam, especially during live shots.

keep in mind, though, that there may be a delay of audio. And, the one I bought wasn't very robust.

all in all, though, I liked it.
 

adam

Well-known member
What kind of delay are we talking about; sat shot from Waziristan or 40 rows away from home plate?
 

Flaca Productions

Well-known member

adam

Well-known member
Thanks Brian, I remember that thread now. That looks very good indeed.
I'm sort of looking to kill two birds with one stone. Since I need a hand free thing for driving I would love to use the same thing for shooting.
It would seem the Kleer product is superior (but does the dropout thing still occur that I read about in the earlier thread?) but I would still need a separate phone thing.
I know you're a committed Kleer guy, but given the circumstances what would you suggest? Is the Kleer really that superior?
 

canuckcam

Well-known member
You'll need a headset that does two Bluetooth profiles:
HANDSFREE (phone)
A2DP (camera)

However, every BT headset I've come across can only be active with one unit at a time. It gets quite tedious as the headsets are all minimalist in design nowadays, and one button does several things.

I had a Logitech BT stereo headset. Well, I still have it... but the delay drove me nuts especially for interviews and such where you hear both sides. Ask your reporter how it drives them nuts when audio doesn't do a mix-minus for them on lives where there's a slight delay. Or better - ask your audio guy to not do it, and have a listen to the IFB while you're talking. BT sounds about the same. The delay is a technical thing where the driver and device buffers a small amount of information before sending it out. It's not something that can be fixed in a live situation (eg. delay video by 2 frames.)

I've gone back to earbuds. Them getting ripped off or stepped on, they're only $10. (cheaper earbuds break much easier, spending $10-$20 on a good pair outlasts 5 $5 pairs easy.)
 

adam

Well-known member
You might have just stopped me. I was worried about using both devices but I hadn't thought through the process of turning one off and the other on all the time. Thanks.
 

photoguy603

Well-known member
i had bluetooth and didn't like it. for cell phone hands free use its ok....it's not the best quality...at least mine wasn't. I don't think I would trust it for monitoring audio while out on a shoot.
 
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