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I recently bought USB-powered aux (line-in, 3.5mm audio jack) speakers for a PC. Unfortunately they seem to pick up interference so I'm going to return them.
If I replace them with USB-data [1] or Bluetooth speakers am I just as likely or less likely to suffer from interference? [2]
[1] Are USB-data speakers rather than headsets a thing?
[2] Ignoring the inherent differences between lossy and lossless audio
david.libremone
Posted 2017-11-21T14:39:59.183
Reputation: 1 128
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Both USB and bluetooth are digital signals capable of error recovery so apparent interference is reduced.
In addition to this usb uses twisted pair and shielding and uses digital signals which makes it far less susceptible to picking up interference.
While bluetooth uses frequency hopping spread spectrum which limits the amount of time interference matters and guard bands which limits how much interference can degrade a signal.
An aux line in uses a fairly large copper conductor to carry a signal but this signal is not shielded so its susceptible to interference, hum and popping. This is further complicated by the fact that USB powered line-in is usually cheap and may not have a shielded amplifier within either.
Yes USB speakers are a thing. Logitech S150 are an example. The marketing lingo appears to be "digital" if you want to look for them.
jdwolf
Posted 2017-11-21T14:39:59.183
Reputation: 1 974
another post mentioned audio delays with bluetooth, noticeable when watching a video, is this caused by some form of interference or a different issue? – david.libremone – 2017-11-22T05:19:15.133
@d3vid This is caused by latency usually because the bluetooth headset uses a codec that its to slow at decoding. This isn't in principal a limitation of the bluetooth protocol. Although arguably earlier versions of bluetooth codec choices could be deemed the culprit. In any bluetooth device made in the last 5 or so years this is simply bad implementation. – jdwolf – 2017-11-22T06:39:11.137
There is obviously more latency with bluetooth but it shouldn't be noticeable. Its similar to wireless vs wired keyboards. – jdwolf – 2017-11-22T06:41:02.500
1Not answering, but this depends on tons of things from my experience. The reality is that even a “pure” digital setup will have to go analog at some point. So knowing that depending on how bad the interference is, some setups won’t help. I live in the U.S. and have a neighbor with a line-boosted CB setup. You know what that means? Even if I put headphones on my iPhone I can hear his yammering. Through the phone speaker, it doesn’t seem to exist but that small bit of wire from the phone to my head is enough to pick it up. – JakeGould – 2017-11-22T02:14:20.343