Does Bluetooth Sound Quality Reach the Level of Wired Headphones?
Bluetooth, where would we be these days without it?
Without any doubt it has considerable advantages for many aspects of day to day life - taking calls when you are driving, for example, or linking up peripherals to computers and home appliances has the potential to be quick, convenient, and most importantly wire-free. It is fair to say that Bluetooth has done, and continues to do much towards making our daily lives just that little bit easier.
The majority of people, however, use Bluetooth for listening to audio; go anywhere these days and the chances are that you will come across someone listening to music on their phones or mobile devices. You may well notice their headphones or in-ear headphones, but usually, the device throwing out those tunes is in a pocket or a bag, out of view, with not a single connecting cable to be seen.
Yet there are still some music lovers who shun Bluetooth for music, claiming that the quality of audio doesn’t quite compare to that played with a wired connection. Are such claims justified? Giving a definitive answer to that question is a little complex, but addressing the most common facts and myths about Bluetooth will stand you in good stead to make an informed choice. Let’s cut through the technical jargon and look a little closer at what Bluetooth can and can’t do.
What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth is the name given to a standard, in this case, the standard for transmitting information over a short distance by radio waves. It is over twenty years old and was pioneered by the industry giants of the time, such as Toshiba, IBM and Nokia. At first, Bluetooth wasn’t taken as seriously as it might have been, particularly by competitors. However, things have changed now and they will surely keep changing as the limitations of the past become distant memories.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth has been one such limitation. A good analogy regarding bandwidth is cars on a road - if there are lots of cars on a road full of potholes, the journey takes longer, and that isn’t good. Whereas a wide, smooth, quiet road will let you enjoy a fast, much more enjoyable journey.
Sonic information works in much the same way as those cars, give it a wide open path to stream down and it will. Bluetooth, however, was originally designed for linking phone headsets and speakerphones, so from day one that bandwidth was narrow by default, great for taking calls but for music, not quite as optimal.
That is where data compression comes in which relies on small pieces of software called codecs (coder-decoders) to compress the music in a way that makes it fit much better into that narrow bandwidth. Does that affect sound quality? Yes but not nearly as much as those early days of Bluetooth, if you listened to your favourite track on a high-end sound system and your wired sound cancelling headphones, then listened to that same track again via your mobile device and Bluetooth over-ear headphones, you may well have noticed a change in quality. Is the difference enough to make you decide against the sheer convenience of wireless audio today? Perhaps not and there is one very good reason for that.
Sheer convenience
Remember we said that if you venture out, leaving your beloved high end stereo at home, you will probably see quite a few people enjoying Bluetooth audio. They might be on the bus, out for their morning jog, or just walking along enjoying their day. Those people might have beloved high-end sound systems of their own, yet here they are enjoying their Bluetooth audio. Ask them, and they might tell you that pristine audio and incredible fidelity aren’t really a priority when they are running, commuting or just enjoying their day with their own favourite playlist. Their music sounds amazing and their wireless sport headphones are doing exactly what they want, and they are doing it incredibly well. Convenience has played a massive part in Bluetooth audio’s meteoric rise but it is also about the quality of hardware too.
Device manufacturers have learnt to make devices that utilise Bluetooth in a way that minimises any differences in audio quality. Combine that with today’s sport and in ear headphones which aren’t just wireless, but water resistant and designed to be light, strong, and to stay-on during the most rigorous workout, as well as a wide range of stylish, functional and impressively practical Bluetooth over-ear headphones for casual and urban use, and it suddenly becomes clear.
You can’t carry your high-end sound system with you when you leave home, but with today’s mobile devices coupled with the best Bluetooth headphones; you don’t have to.