Sony WH-1000XM4 Wifi Headphones & Connect Amp & TV

So your set with the spare Connect and a bluetooth transmitter (preferably future proof, so with RCA)! Good luck!

Yeah and thinking on whilst a little overkill, I can keep the Sonos CA to the B&W’s and I have a spare RJ45 in there so the headphones will work there. A heavy solution but a solution all the same.

Thanks for the steer

Exactly that 106, it and in a strange way that works well as that is in fact the missing architecture links to get all my S1 stuff into the gym, and move all the others around plus one new Sonos Amp to ensure all other rooms will be S2.

And later on when funds allow and we get some genuine HD audio, a new Port for the gym.

Thanks for your guidance. Sometimes it’s the wood for the trees. You helped me steer to a solution that will definitely work. many thanks again

Just in case anyone else interested in this type of solution, it appears some of the mid range bluetooth audio transmitters have quite a range.

This one ( Avantree Oasis Plus Certified aptX HD Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter Receiver for TV, Low Latency Wireless Audio Adapter for Headphone, Long Range, Voice Guide, Touch Screen, Splitter for Wire & Wirelessclaims 295ft.) claims quite a range

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Avantree-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Receiver-Wireless-Black/dp/B07BQYYDNJ/ref=sr_1_12_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=bluetooth+audio+transmitter&qid=1597748212&sr=8-12-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyN0ZJUElWV1ZKODkzJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDAwODMxMlZVMVk2WVpDTVI2NiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDk0MDI4MzJZUVdUMUdUQTJEWSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

In theory (can’t say as I’ve used bluetooth a great deal) the Connect I’m thinking of (which feeds a Pioneer VSA-AX10i to outside garden speaker system) could connect to the Sony headphones in the gym? Is two rooms away, maybe 10-12 meters.

Interesting.

The Avantree Oasis Plus is a powerful transmitter. It can reach down one floor and through several walls, including a double-skin brick outside wall, even with aptX-HD.

However, I suggest researching an alternative to the WH-1000XM4. According to the Sony site it supports only SBC, AAC and LDAC. AAC is principally found in Apple devices, and LDAC in Androids. I’ve yet to encounter a standalone LDAC transmitter. This means the headphones would fall back to the thoroughly indifferent SBC on the Oasis Plus.

In any case, if video watching is included in the use cases you’d want aptX Low Latency, or perhaps aptX Adaptive.

Hi Ratty, long time no see.

You bring good news and bad news :-) ….good to hear the Avantree device has potential. I bought a similar branded and form device for a severely disabled relative who used it to connect to TV and headphones at night time with great effect.

Disappointing news on the Sony. It’s predecessor the WH-100XM3 and the new XM4 appear almost entirely to have stellar reviews and more than a match for Bose and the like. 

Apologies my detail understanding to that degree is limited. Does it mean it will not work or not work to it‘s potential?  I don’t have any Apple equipment only Android. I will do a little reading now on those formats to try to understand.

But thanks for advising. Don’t mind the spend but a frustrated spend no. So close yet so far :-) 

I do suggest you familiarise yourself with the quality and latency of the various Bluetooth audio codecs.

If you have an Android which offers LDAC you’ll get the best quality from the XM4 (or XM3), at least at short range where LDAC can exploit its maximum bitrate. Moreover the Android could well be able to lipsync the audio with the video by compensating for the known BT audio delay.

However with a transmitter such as the Avantree the XM4 would have to use the default SBC codec -- the one which originally earned BT a bit of a bad name for audio quality -- since that’s the only codec the TX and RX would have in common. As it happens the XM3 would fare a good deal better as both it and the Oasis Plus have aptX-HD (and aptX).

In neither case though would audio lipsync well with the picture on a separate TV. For that you’d need a lower latency codec. The Oasis Plus sports aptX Low Latency, but neither of those Sony models do.

Nice as the Sonys are, for your mixture of use cases you’d probably want to look for an alternative.

Yes I need do some reading for sure here.

Yes the phone is a brand new (in fact first ever smartphone) … I’ve moved from a 2003 Nokia E61 which has at last given up the ghost to a Sony Xperia 1 II which does boast what I think are some decent audio credentials. I’ve pasted a couple of links that I think read well and indeed does have LDAC….

https://audioxpress.com/news/sony-announces-new-flagship-xperia-1-ii-smartphone-with-360-reality-audio-decoding

https://www.sony.net/Products/LDAC/

Ironically it seems audio wise to be near top of the tree. And of course designed to go with the XM4’s ... just not Sonos alas this time

And now I’m wandering if (as 106 mentioned earlier) if I’d be better off using the same streaming services  (apps) and NAS to playback between Sony’s without over leveraging the Sonos just for the sake of Sonos.

I do want to keep the infrastructure simple and predictable.

On that same note, does anyone have word of this well reported but never confirmed Sonos headphone release? Well reported in 2018 but no idea if is still on any formal or informal road map. 

Have to say, would be even more interesting if there was a candle there

You could always bypass Sonos entirely for the headphones. That way the Xperia could feed the XM4s direct using LDAC, and there’d be no need to fuss with BT transmitter compatibility.

I don’t know about anything QNAP-specific but VLC for Android will play from network shares.