BrightPlay Home Bluetooth 4.0 HD Music Receiver Review

I am a pragmatic audiophile.The bluetooth receiver is not a new toy for me. Before this BrightPlay receiver, I tried some Bluetooth music receivers of old generations like Belkin Bluetooth HD music receiver and Logitech Bluetooth music adapter. I must be honest the sound is not satisfied enough. It’s probably fine for all but not me. If I were critic "Unlistenable" would be the word I had chosen for those receivers. It is not the fault of products or their manufacturers. Let us just blame the lower transmission bitrates of old Bluetooth SBC(Subband Coding) codec. Things have changed after apt-x entered the consumer market. As a codec widely used among cinemas and commercial radio broadcasters, in fact thousands of DTS cinema theatres choose Apt-X for 5.1 channel playback,apt-x has higher broadcast bitrates and, as a consequence, the ability of high quality sound over Bluetooth.

Protocol	Source device	Bitrate
SBC(Subband Coding) codec	Most smart devices with Bluetooth	128Kbit
AAC streaming	iPhones Old Android phones	256Kbit
aptX	New Android phones Macbook pro USB Dongles released by Creative and Sennheiser	380Kbit

What’s apt-X can offer:

Excellent near CD-quality sound via Bluetooth
Low sound decoding delay.
Non destructive broadcasting
When aptX is not available in target device, Automatically switch into SBC mode

What’s in box:

Brightway bluetooth HD music receiver
3.5mm stereo male set to RCAs
1/8" 3.5mm stereo cable
Warranty and quick manual

–>Click to View Pricing, Availability, and Reviews On Amazon.com

Connection and Pair

BrightPlay has no power button or pair button like other receivers. To initiate the pair process you need to plug the receiver into the AC power output and then attach stereo cable to the output interface. 20 seconds later the led sparks to indicate it is ready for pairing. I had some little trouble at the beginning but it finally "got through". Once paired I get a pretty solid connection with no dropout from my aptX-capable Android devices. My laptop can’t use aptX(iMac pro after 2011 has apt-X). The connection is good, but without the supporting of higher codec, the sound quality drops into unlistenable level again. When I walk in the room, it connects with my phone, and the music is ready to go. The most I ever have to do is select the music source and push play on the phone.

Sound Quality

As mentioned above apt-x offers a higher broadcast bitrates and improves sound quality over Bluetooth. It preserves more sonic details via the BrightPlay. The BrightPlay with apt-x sounds much better than any of those I tried. Scale and bass are good. Sense of space and positional feeling are evident, no audio drop-outs. It doesn’t sound Bluetooth. It gives not all same details on high compared with the direct wired connection. Because so far, it’s not. On the whole, the BrightPlay sounds way, way better than others.It is a most pleasant experience for all BT receivers I’ve personally tried,

Summary

BrightPlay Home HD Music Receiver is a new member of Bluetooth music receiver. It has apt-x codec and it means it can give you the same high quality sound as SONY BM10, GDI-BTAR502 and Mass Fidelity Relay can offer. Unlike receiver with a separate AC power, BrightPlay music receiver has built-in volt converter so it can be plugged directly into the Power Outlet. This design cut at least one wire of your home sound system.As a low-end device BrightPlay Bluetooth 4.0 Music Receiver definitely has some quirks, it really does seem to work pretty solidly much of the time and sounds pretty good. You’ll instantly experience significantly improved wireless sound for an affordable price.

–>Click to get BrightPlay Home Bluetooth 4.0 HD Music Receiver On Amazon.com

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Summary

Reviewer

Natalie Jean Sanders

Review Date

2014-02-18

Reviewed Item

BrightPlay Home Bluetooth 4.0 HD Music Receiver

Author Rating

Posted on Feb 18, 2014
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Reviews
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5 Comments

5 Comments

Rob Goldstein November 4, 2014 at 8:27 pm - Reply

Can I have multiple devices connected at one time? I have a laptop and 2 cell phones that I would like to use this with.
- portablehifi November 5, 2014 at 12:59 pm - Reply
  
  Sorry I can not connect multiple Bluetooth device with this Bluetooth adapter. If you really have the need for that try the product below.
  Grace Digital GDI-BTPB300 3-Play Jukebox Bluetooth Adapter
  This adapter allows to connect up to 3 device, just the number you want, at the same time.
Chap February 18, 2015 at 9:44 pm - Reply

Does it sound good via earphones? Thanks.
- portablehifi February 19, 2015 at 2:35 am - Reply
  
  It can transmit audio signal to earphones you prefer,but I suggest you get a tiny one like these for mobile purpose.
Evan December 27, 2018 at 10:55 pm - Reply

This bluetooth receiver gets the job done well enough on initial use but has some drawbacks people should be aware of:

*Used on both Android and iPhone.

Pros:
Good sound quality as review above talks about.

Simple functionality, plug in and go.

Good range, functions well up to 30 feet away in my experience.

Cons:
Does not remain readily accessible for pairing which can be very frustrating since there is no button to activate pairing mode. This seems to have gotten worse over time (I’ve owned one for around 5 years). Phone does not auto-pair on proximity nor can I select the device on my phone to pair if I haven’t used it in a day or two. Every time I come into the room I have to bend down and unplug and plug it back in.

Device does not communicate well with transmitting devices through people/body parts. It does well enough through regular construction excluding brick walls. However, if you place your body between the device and transmitting device the signal begins to break up. This can be annoying for this who want to leave their transmitting device in their pocket to be able to move about.