FiiOBTA30PRO Bluetooth Receiver Portable Transmitter Stereo Wireless High Resolution aptX/LDAC DSD256 Optical/Coaxial/Line-Out for PC/TV/Speaker/Home Audio

First off, I don't write a lot of product reviews, but I felt compelled to write this one because I think this little device is going to make you happy if it's even under consideration for you. Why so? Well, you're reading this, which means you care enough about sound quality that you're not satisfied with what's coming out of your device's 3.5mm headphone jack, and/or you're looking for a bluetooth audio receiver that's not a $30 piece of garbage (I tried one, then decided to up my budget a bit :) But you probably also don’t have such a high-end system that you're looking for a $500+ DAC or bluetooth receiver. If this sounds like you, I really think your search ends here.I’m an audio geek on a budget, with a stereo that cost me less than $1k for the receiver and speakers combined. That being said, both are very decent for their price point, and I know them to be able to provide engaging, immersive, spacious sound from stereo content… provided it’s coming from a CD player. For most of the last 20 years I've been lamenting subpar compressed music files and streaming services which, on my system, always sounded flat, narrow, and disappointing. My system includes an EQ which I like to use for music, so I try to feed it analog sources that allow that EQ to be part of the loop. For years I’ve tried phone or laptop headphone jacks, and over the years I’ve upped the ante twice, buying an Onkyo and a Creative “external USB sound card” (each was essentially an external DAC with proper RCA left and right outputs). Both processors generated a sound quality from my computer’s USB output that, to my ears, was nowhere near CD quality. Admittedly both were from 10+ years ago, after which time I gave up on the idea of truly good sound coming from my computer or phone. I’d play a file through the old Onkyo or Creative, then play a CD of the same song, and the difference was night-and-day, even as recently as the last few years (when the bitrate/quality of my source digital files was getting pretty decent).That all changed when I got this FiiO BTA30 PRO. Seriously, the DAC in this thing is no joke—playing 256 Kbps AAC files from iTunes (USB into the FiiO from my laptop, left & right RCA analog audio cables out of the FiiO to my stereo), I would absolutely say the quality was equal to CD quality through my same system. If someone said they’d spent $100 on this thing as a standalone DAC, I’d have no concerns, but THAT’S NOT EVEN WHAT I BOUGHT IT FOR. I bought it to see if it was possible to have true bluetooth-streamed audio from my phone that was worth a darn in terms of sound quality on my stereo. I didn’t even use an audio-quality-focused streaming service like Tidal—I just opened Spotify Premium (whose claimed sound quality has admittedly been climbing), paired the FiiO with my Samsung Galaxy S21 as a bluetooth audio source, hooked the FiiO to my stereo with RCA analog audio cables, and tried it out. Even through Bluetooth, it was the best thing I’ve heard this side of a CD, and when played back to back with a CD of the same song, I couldn’t give the nod decisively to one or the other.So basically I’m saying this is an amazing bluetooth receiver AND an amazing DAC. At the $120 I paid for it, I’m literally debating buying another, just in case I need a second one down the road & in a few years they don’t make this thing anymore. The one thing I haven’t tried is its bluetooth transmitter, so I can’t comment on quality there, but I have no reason to doubt it. Also, its build quality is nice—all sides but the bottom are metal, the controls feel good, RCA jacks are gold-plated and connectors fit solidly, and optical jacks include (removable) covers.As for complaints, they’re very minor:---If you’re excited about the volume control on this & thinking it’s going to give you a powerful (“loud”) output from the analog outputs, know that the max level is decent but probably not what I’d call loud. To be clear I’m happy with the level of the analog outputs and would say it’s basically identical to that of the two CD players I have with analog outputs. Just know that if you’re using the FiiO’s analog outputs, I’m betting you’re going to turn the volume knob to “Max” once, and leave it there forever.---FiiO’s support materials seem lacking—both the booklet & online directions seem to have been written in another language & Google-translated to English later, and I found it hard to find valuable troubleshooting guidance. That said, the device is pretty much plug & play—just remember to turn the FiiO’s volume knob to Max right out of the box (mine was pretty low & therefore I thought music wasn’t playing when it actually was—spent an embarrassingly long time figuring that out :)---The app seems forgettable—try it & see if you like it. I love the FiiO, but I’ll never be using the app again.---Control/input/indicator labels are tiny (probably not an issue unless you have poor eyesight like me).I should note that before this device I tried a Harman Kardon BTA-10 Bluetooth receiver. Its analog-output sound quality was quite decent, and it is truly tiny (check the dimensions—it’s less than half the size of this pretty-small FiiO). The deal breaker for me was that its analog output “loudness” was quite low, forcing my stereo’s volume to be turned very high (not great on an analog system). The FiiO has at least equal if not superior Bluetooth sound, generates a considerably louder (& adjustable) analog signal, and acts as a DAC for a wired USB input. Given all that, the $50 step-up from the Harman Kardon BTA-10 to the FiiO BTA30 PRO was a no-brainer for me.And there you have it. Given Amazon’s return policy, I’d definitely at least give it a try—I’m thrilled with mine.

If you have high end Sony headphones then you need this transmitter or one like it to connect to your TV, amplifier or iDevice.It works but setting it up with Sony’s LDAC codec is not simple. The instructions are minimal with poor English as with too many gadgets made in Asia. Using LDAC is the only reason for buying this transmitter/receiver.It does transmit LDAC. And it works fine. Although my my hearing can’t tell the difference between LDAC and ACC. The definition is better with LDAC and I can hear that. I have severe to profound hearing loss and use costly hearing aids even with headphones. Definition means separation between instruments. The lead guitar is not muddied with the rhythm guitar. It is hearing instrument and section separation like you would hear it live.Sometimes even stage mixers amplifiers and speakers do a poor job of that but that’s a different topic. DJ equipment is probably intended to muddy instruments. Especially since most DJ music does not have instruments.The instructions say LDAC must be set to connect to only one device. That is done in the Smart Phone app. If you are buying this transmitter and have LDAC headphones you no doubt have a Smart Phone. This transmitter/receiver has apps for Apple and Android devices. It might work better with the Android App but I got it to work with my iPhone.Note that Apple does not have LDAC as that Codec is proprietary to Sony. Only Sony high end headphones have LDAC. Some Android phones have licensed the LDAC from Sony. If you are an iDevice person then you need to connect to headphones with LDAC with a transmitter like this. If you do not have LDAC headphones then you do not need this transmitter. Get a less expensive one.The headphones must also be set to connect to only one device or transmitter. It isn’t enough to only connect to a single device. Both this transmitter and the headphones must be set in their respective apps to connect to only one device at a time!It does not have a simple display screen. It uses Leds that have multiple functions. Would it be too much trouble to put a display on the transmitter to know which device it is connecting with? LCD displays are cheap and transmitters without LDAC that cost much less have LCD screens. If you are buying this and want/LDAC odds are you have other Bluetooth headphones it might try to connect with. It would be nice to have visual confirmation that it’s connected to the correct headphones. It helps when trouble shooting especially in the initial set up.Other than that it is a good choice for connecting in LDAC.

El pedido cumple con lo especificado, y entrega un buen sonido. Lo he utilizado en modo USB y bluetooh y ha funcionado sin ningún problema.Estoy conforme con el producto.

The goal: The option of listening to my vinyl and cd/sacd collections through my B&W PX8 bt headphones for quiet but still ‘hifi’ listening sessions. At the end of the day, the goal was achieved with exceptional results. But it took many extra steps and a major-to-me flaw was revealed.The flaw: lack of analogue input. I do not have any receivers with a digital out. To overcome this I had to use my Monster ADC/DAC and use a 3.5mm to rca cable going from headphones out to the ADC rca input, then a optical cable out to the input of the FiiO.Takeaway: If your stereo/av receiver has no digital output, don’t fear, there is a workaround. I noticed no degradation in sound quality from several vinyl records to test everything out. If anything it sounds more dynamic to me. Your mileage my vary as I can only tell you about my personal experience. I hope this long ramble will give potential buyers a little less to worry about relating to “how am I going to connect this??”Side note: the first picture was throwing everything together to see if it would work and give an idea on how things are connected. Then I cleaned it up for the second picture