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View Full Version : Thought I had a decent idea and then.......nope!



Shakermaker Promotions
26-07-2016, 04:46 PM
Afternoon all,

((Some of you 'Tech Heads' may be able to explain to me why I couldn't do it))

Totally forgot to mention this the other day but a week or so ago I just happened to nip into my local B & M store. First time in a place like that and I was just browsing really.
I ended up coming home with a little wireless bluetooth speaker made by Gear4 called a Street Party 3. It was only £19.99 and the reason I bought it was because I like to listen to music when I am relaxing in the bath or playing darts etc and I usually use my iPad or iPhone as I have a lot of downloads on those. Sometimes though it just isn't loud enough so something like this is perfect.

Connecting it and getting it work was a piece of the proverbial (lucky really because the instructions, or lack of....are pretty rubbish to be polite).

So, I'm really liking it. It's got a bit of oomph to it and it got me thinking, what if I had 2 of them, possibly 4 of them? They'd be great for background music during the day at a wedding. Just place the units around the room, get whoever is providing the playlist list to connect via bluetooth and boom, easy does it!
A 2 hour USB charge (I use my iPad or iPhone charger) lets the thing play for 8 hours.

So, I nipped back out and bought another unit to see if it would work in unison with the other unit but................it didn't!!??

Tech Heads or anyone with a bit of know how regarding bluetooth.....why was that!??
It is such a shame as I reckon it would make a decent little system......and a cheap one too. Easy to transport and install etc etc etc

I also had another idea too because I bought another laptop at the weekend and that is bluetooth. You could connect to the units when you are at a booking.
You could have the units at the back of the room or elsewhere (30m distance I think) so that the music is audible at the back too.
It also means that I can take it with me in the van if I want and play my tunes from my phone through it like I do at home so I don't have to listen to the rubbish radio or MP3 discs that I've previously made and I'm bored with. I don't have a bluetooth or MP3 compatible system in the van..........as yet.

Anyway, I took the second unit back and got a refund. I also saw it on sale elsewhere online for double the price.
Now I am over the fact it wouldn't work and I thought I had a decent idea but can someone explain just why it won't work.

I'd also like to add, it connects to my iPad, iPhone and new Laptop. If I am connected via iPad and try to connect with iPhone it won't do it and I get why.
I just want to know why it won't connect to multiple units. Is this generally the case with Bluetooth? (something I have never previously used that much).

Marc J
26-07-2016, 06:22 PM
Even if you could connect more than one Bluetooth speaker to one device, there'd be syncing issue. Only 20 or so milliseconds apart, but it would probably be enough to hear a phasing effect.

There are Bluetooth splitters on the market but I think they're more for sharing sound from one device between more than one set of Bluetooth headphones....which would be OK as the syncing isn't an issue.

Sonos or Chromecast Audio is what you need :)

Nakatomi
26-07-2016, 06:32 PM
Bluetooth is designed to go from only one device to another, not multiples. You might, with multiple bluetooth laptop devices, manage to sendvto several speakers but latency & interference will cause problems. Well that & the complexity of setting up an audio player to stream to multiple devices at the same time.

DeckstarDeluxe
26-07-2016, 07:47 PM
Might be able to combine it with an wireless audio transmitter like the LD watts? Would be pretty cool if you could I'd have one in each room of the house!

ppentertainments
26-07-2016, 08:50 PM
I have a bose soundlink mini for personal use which I have utilised for this very thing. One is enough for most medium sized rooms if just background music is required.

Last Saturday the Brides 2 teenage sons were in charge of the music choices and they really enjoyed it and was a good way for them to contribute something to the wedding.

Shakermaker Promotions
27-07-2016, 10:11 AM
Thanks for the info guys.