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Topic: Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality? (Read 14801 times) previous topic - next topic
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Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality?

Hi guys, my first post here

I picked up a pair of these earphones yesterday and while they work great with my Galaxy Note II, my main intention was to use them with my Cowon J3.  To my horror I discovered the bluetooth quality on the Cowon is not up to much and sounds like 64kb MP3 so I have decided to purchase the Jaybird uSport Bluetooth Adapter which should hopefully alleviate these problems.

My question is I can't seem to get a straight answer of whether these earphones utilize the APT-X bluetooth quality that the adapter will provide.  From what I have gathered, these buds use this "Shift" technology which Jaybird have created, but this seems to be based on the standard bluetooth protocol.  My question is whether this "Shift" feature is comparable to APT-X.  The earphones seem very highly regarded so it seems unfatomable that the quality would be worse than ones that have APT-X support.

Google doesn't seem to give a clear answer on this or on whether shift is better or worse that APT-X.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality?

Reply #1 –
Quote from: Chris-AFC on
My question is whether this "Shift" feature is comparable to APT-X [and] whether shift is better or worse that APT-X.

Welcome to HA.  Here is someone who has collected information on this topic and may also be able to give you an opinion based on personal "hands-on" experience:
http://www.jessebandersen.com/2012/05/list...le-devices.html

Should you wish to claim on this forum that one technology is "better" sounding than the other, you know from reading TOS#8 the acceptable ways to do so.

If the Cowon device sounds markedly different from other players, it's possible that you have turned on some audio feature (e.g. equalization, compression) that is degrading its sound quality over BT or that its internal BT radio is not functioning properly.  If the latter is true, an external transmitter should help.  As Jaybird claims that SHIFT provides its benefit with "standard" Bluetooth, the transmitter needn't be apt-X capable so that can save you some money.

Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Apesbrain on
Quote from: Chris-AFC on
My question is whether this "Shift" feature is comparable to APT-X [and] whether shift is better or worse that APT-X.

Welcome to HA.  Here is someone who has collected information on this topic and may also be able to give you an opinion based on personal "hands-on" experience:
http://www.jessebandersen.com/2012/05/list...le-devices.html

Should you wish to claim on this forum that one technology is "better" sounding than the other, you know from reading TOS#8 the acceptable ways to do so.

If the Cowon device sounds markedly different from other players, it's possible that you have turned on some audio feature (e.g. equalization, compression) that is degrading its sound quality over BT or that its internal BT radio is not functioning properly.  If the latter is true, an external transmitter should help.  As Jaybird claims that SHIFT provides its benefit with "standard" Bluetooth, the transmitter needn't be apt-X capable so that can save you some money.

Hi, thanks for your response.  Will look into it.

In regards to the Cowon, it is definitely the onboard bluetooth that is causing the problem.  Hopefully this will be sorted once my bluetooth transmitter arrives tomorrow.

Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality?

Reply #3 –
I do read a lot of marketing blurp on the Jaybird website about this Sprint but no technical information at all.
APT-X is straight forward, you need both a sender and a receiver supporting APT-X
Small wonder as it is a not a standard protocol.
If you don’t need a “Shift” at the sender then it simply uses standard Bluetooth protocols.
Likewise their uSport. It is a universal Bluetooth adapter.
This means the portable converts the digital to analog then the adapter converts it back to lossy digital and as it is universal, it will use the standard A2DP/SBC protocol.
Not SHIFT in sight and as they don’t claim to support APT-X, it won’t.
Likewise their earbuts don’t support APT-X

Unless they produce something substantial, I believe this Shift is at the receiver only and probably some kind of DSP.
Observe that as long as you don’t have to install something at the sender or use dedicated hardware, you won’t have the “Shift” at the sender so it uses standard Bluetooth

TheWellTemperedComputer.com

Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Roseval on
I do read a lot of marketing blurp on the Jaybird website about this Sprint but no technical information at all.
APT-X is straight forward, you need both a sender and a receiver supporting APT-X
Small wonder as it is a not a standard protocol.
If you don’t need a “Shift” at the sender then it simply uses standard Bluetooth protocols.
Likewise their uSport. It is a universal Bluetooth adapter.
This means the portable converts the digital to analog then the adapter converts it back to lossy digital and as it is universal, it will use the standard A2DP/SBC protocol.
Not SHIFT in sight and as they don’t claim to support APT-X, it won’t.
Likewise their earbuts don’t support APT-X

Unless they produce something substantial, I believe this Shift is at the receiver only and probably some kind of DSP.
Observe that as long as you don’t have to install something at the sender or use dedicated hardware, you won’t have the “Shift” at the sender so it uses standard Bluetooth

The uSport specifically seems to support APT-X.

Music sounds so much better from my Note II and One X (both support APT-X) and sound terrible on my Cowon J3 (bluetooth 2.0) and XPS 17 laptop (doesn't have APT-X)

This seems to suggest to me it does make a difference, and I have no idea how they could get it to sound "good" or "best in ear bluetooth headphones" if it doesn't support the standard of bluetooth which offers better sound quality.

All a bit strange..

Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality?

Reply #5 –
The Jaybird website says
Compatible Products:  Any A2DP Bluetooth stereo device

Can you provide any information/link  supporting your claim they do support APT-X?
As far as I can see, they don't and don't claim it either
TheWellTemperedComputer.com

Jaybird BlueBuds: Do they use APT-X or something of similar quality?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Roseval on
The Jaybird website says
Compatible Products:  Any A2DP Bluetooth stereo device

Can you provide any information/link  supporting your claim they do support APT-X?
As far as I can see, they don't and don't claim it either

Yeah

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002PU9...=UTF8&psc=1

Even if I didn't bother to read the description, the big APT-X logo on the front is a dead give-away.