16 replies to this topic

[The Kaiser Chief]

Hi,

I'm about the buy a Parrot PMK5800 to pair with my Kaiser (HTC TyTnII).  I've seen it listed as compatible and I'm assuming the Kaiser has A2DP (although I don't actually know ).

My question is: if my phone is playing music (e.g. with Media Player) and I'm synced up to the bluetooth receiver in the car, will the music automatically stream over or do I need to activate that function on the phone somehow? I've seen a program called BTMusic which would maybe be necessary but the beta expired at the beginning of this month so I guess it's useless.

Any ideas gratefully received.

[Neil5459]

The Kaiser Chief, on Sep 21 2008, 00:41, said:

Hi,

I'm about the buy a Parrot PMK5800 to pair with my Kaiser (HTC TyTnII).  I've seen it listed as compatible and I'm assuming the Kaiser has A2DP (although I don't actually know ).

My question is: if my phone is playing music (e.g. with Media Player) and I'm synced up to the bluetooth receiver in the car, will the music automatically stream over or do I need to activate that function on the phone somehow? I've seen a program called BTMusic which would maybe be necessary but the beta expired at the beginning of this month so I guess it's useless.

Any ideas gratefully received.

The  Kaiser definitely includes the A2DP profile, but A2DP on WM devices is not always that reliable, and some devices just won't pair correctly.

The way to go is to get the Parrot on the understanding that if it won't work, you can return it. Create the Bluetooth partnership and set it on the Kaiser as Wireless Stereo.

In theory, now whenever you turn BT on, and the Parrot is also on, it ought to pair automatically, and send all music via the BT channel. Some users have found it necessary to switch on the Kaisers BT before the other device is switched on, others have found the reverse.

A useful little utility is A2DP Toggle from Teksoft. Scroll down the freeware page to find it. This is a small Today Screen plugin which handles A2DP switching once a partnership has been created. It can turn BT on/off as required, and also be set to launch a program (like a music player) when it's activated.

[The Kaiser Chief]

Neil5459, on Sep 21 2008, 09:52, said:

The  Kaiser definitely includes the A2DP profile, but A2DP on WM devices is not always that reliable, and some devices just won't pair correctly.

The way to go is to get the Parrot on the understanding that if it won't work, you can return it. Create the Bluetooth partnership and set it on the Kaiser as Wireless Stereo.

In theory, now whenever you turn BT on, and the Parrot is also on, it ought to pair automatically, and send all music via the BT channel. Some users have found it necessary to switch on the Kaisers BT before the other device is switched on, others have found the reverse.

A useful little utility is A2DP Toggle from Teksoft. Scroll down the freeware page to find it. This is a small Today Screen plugin which handles A2DP switching once a partnership has been created. It can turn BT on/off as required, and also be set to launch a program (like a music player) when it's activated.

Thanks Neil for such a comprehensive response. I've downloaded A2DP Toggle which looks great. Hopefully pick up the Parrot tomorrow from Expansys (I live in Manchester so saves messing about with deliveries). I'll ask them if it's returnable - thanks for the tip.I'll let you know how it goes, I'm really hoping it'll work!

[Mysterious Stranger]

Have you read the support forum for this model?

http://www.expansys....t.aspx?k=102083

Lots of different experiences, not all good..

Depending on your car stereo setup you might want to consider a bluetooth audio gateway instead. You can still route the phonecall sound to the car speakers and use the phone's mic. A little bit echoey but good enough for me.

Motorola's DC800 is available on fleabay for £15+ postage *NEW* - it's bluetooth transceiver with line in and out powered by mini USB.

If you collect then distance selling regs don't apply but from experience you should be OK within 7 days. Don't forget your £10 modaco voucher....

M.S

[The Kaiser Chief]

Mysterious Stranger, on Sep 21 2008, 20:54, said:

Have you read the support forum for this model?

http://www.expansys....t.aspx?k=102083

Lots of different experiences, not all good..

Depending on your car stereo setup you might want to consider a bluetooth audio gateway instead. You can still route the phonecall sound to the car speakers and use the phone's mic. A little bit echoey but good enough for me.

Motorola's DC800 is available on fleabay for £15+ postage *NEW* - it's bluetooth transceiver with line in and out powered by mini USB.

If you collect then distance selling regs don't apply but from experience you should be OK within 7 days. Don't forget your £10 modaco voucher....

M.S

Cheers MS, that Moto gadget looks the business, and a whole lot cheaper, too. So I could stream from Kaiser to Moto and then use a cable to plug into my car's AUX in (3.5 I think)?You say it is powered by mini USB. Is it rechargeable or would I constantly have to plug it in to my car's 12V cigar socket? That will be the decider for me as I don't want any wires showing if poss. The one from moto to AUX would be Ok as the AUX in socket is hidden under my armrest.Cheers

[The Kaiser Chief]

The Kaiser Chief, on Sep 21 2008, 23:14, said:

Cheers MS, that Moto gadget looks the business, and a whole lot cheaper, too. So I could stream from Kaiser to Moto and then use a cable to plug into my car's AUX in (3.5 I think)?You say it is powered by mini USB. Is it rechargeable or would I constantly have to plug it in to my car's 12V cigar socket? That will be the decider for me as I don't want any wires showing if poss. The one from moto to AUX would be Ok as the AUX in socket is hidden under my armrest.Cheers

Well, I've just picked up my PMK5800 and... it's AWESOME! Within seconds I was syncd to my radio and paired with the Kaiser. A2DP Toggle kicked in and I got the music icon. Opened WMP and music streamed across. Sound quality a LOT better than my expectations. Then opened up HD WOW and selected Treble Reduce, turned the treble on my tuner and bass down a bit and really nice sound. Obviously not as good as CD but really not far off - and I am a classically trained pianist so sound quality is important to me.Then driving along my wife called. Nice loud ringing sound and flashing lights on the Parrot so you definitely won't miss a call. Nice clear voice through the speakers and apparently nice and clear at the other end - she said you could not tell the difference from a normal call. No echo, etc.So, so far so good. I would definitely recommend this set up as a cheaper alternative to hard wired kits.... although I'm tempted now by the new Parrot bt streaming kit coming out - the 9100 I think it is :-) Thanks to Neil and MS for your help.

[Neil5459]

Glad it worked out OK- sounds like an excellent piece of kit!  Filed in the grey matter for future reference

[The Kaiser Chief]

Neil5459, on Sep 23 2008, 08:02, said:

Glad it worked out OK- sounds like an excellent piece of kit!  Filed in the grey matter for future reference

Cheers, Neil. Am really enjoying it and got it well sussed now. The sound quality is just brilliant. Apart from a bit of hiss which you don't even hear when you are playing most music and a bit of occasional interference (when you just change channel), the depth and richness of the music is actually even better than my car CD player (BMW Business system). I didn't realise the Kaiser was such a good MP3 player - WOW HD really brings it to life. Has to be better than an iPOD!

[Neil5459]

The Kaiser Chief, on Sep 29 2008, 21:19, said:

Cheers, Neil. Am really enjoying it and got it well sussed now. The sound quality is just brilliant. Apart from a bit of hiss which you don't even hear when you are playing most music and a bit of occasional interference (when you just change channel), the depth and richness of the music is actually even better than my car CD player (BMW Business system). I didn't realise the Kaiser was such a good MP3 player - WOW HD really brings it to life. Has to be better than an iPOD!

     WM devices are capable of better sound than iPods because the bit rate can be turned up (I use 256); standard iPod bit rate is 128 and aacPlus is 256 (I think?)

[The Kaiser Chief]

Neil5459, on Sep 30 2008, 07:33, said:

     WM devices are capable of better sound than iPods because the bit rate can be turned up (I use 256); standard iPod bit rate is 128 and aacPlus is 256 (I think?)

Aha! That is interesting. I've always avoided buying an iPod, firstly because I would much rather have everything on one device (hence WM purchase) and secondly because of Apple's rip off anti-competitive AAC format which they stick on music YOU have paid for on iTunes but can't do what you want with - unless you want to copy it to your APPLE iPod! And now I have a third reason - the sound quality isn't even as good.Btw, how do I increase bit rate to 256? Does WOW HD already do this or do ai need to hack the registry somehow?Cheers

[Neil5459]

The Kaiser Chief, on Sep 30 2008, 17:50, said:

Aha! That is interesting. I've always avoided buying an iPod, firstly because I would much rather have everything on one device (hence WM purchase) and secondly because of Apple's rip off anti-competitive AAC format which they stick on music YOU have paid for on iTunes but can't do what you want with - unless you want to copy it to your APPLE iPod! And now I have a third reason - the sound quality isn't even as good.Btw, how do I increase bit rate to 256? Does WOW HD already do this or do ai need to hack the registry somehow?Cheers

Once the music is on the Kaiser there is not a lot you can do apart from use a decent music player. WOW HD is a sort of shaping/enhamcement application that makes the best of the available resources, but if the track is a low bit rate to start with theres no way to overcome that (rubbish in/rubbish out sydrome!). My favoured music player on the mobile is Pocket Tunes, which has an excellent sound quality, but costs $30. TCPMP is fair, and WMP probably the least good.

So, the answer is to try and make sure the source material is of a high quality. I have to assume you are copying/syncing tracks to your Kaiser from a library on the PC?  Downloaded tracks will always be quite low bit rate (128 or 192 for most music download shops, with a few at 256). Ripping CD's to the PC can have a default bit rate set. I try to rip music at the highest possible consistent with space utilisation. A full WAV rip will of course be about 600MB-700MB per CD, but a decent MP3 or WMA rip can be around 90-150MB per CD.

If you use Windows Media Player 10 or 11 there is a Sync option which allows you to sync direct to the device, or to a storage card in a card reader. Within the advanced Sync options for each device, you can set the default bit rate, and you can also adjust the bit rate for an individual session.  You can also set whether to use WMA or MP3 formats for the music. MP3 is probably the most compatible with music players, but the quality of WMA can be pretty good as well at the higher bit rates. I use about 192 in general which gives around 60MB per average CD.

[The Kaiser Chief]

Neil5459, on Sep 30 2008, 19:51, said:

Once the music is on the Kaiser there is not a lot you can do apart from use a decent music player. WOW HD is a sort of shaping/enhamcement application that makes the best of the available resources, but if the track is a low bit rate to start with theres no way to overcome that (rubbish in/rubbish out sydrome!). My favoured music player on the mobile is Pocket Tunes, which has an excellent sound quality, but costs $30. TCPMP is fair, and WMP probably the least good.

So, the answer is to try and make sure the source material is of a high quality. I have to assume you are copying/syncing tracks to your Kaiser from a library on the PC?  Downloaded tracks will always be quite low bit rate (128 or 192 for most music download shops, with a few at 256). Ripping CD's to the PC can have a default bit rate set. I try to rip music at the highest possible consistent with space utilisation. A full WAV rip will of course be about 600MB-700MB per CD, but a decent MP3 or WMA rip can be around 90-150MB per CD.

If you use Windows Media Player 10 or 11 there is a Sync option which allows you to sync direct to the device, or to a storage card in a card reader. Within the advanced Sync options for each device, you can set the default bit rate, and you can also adjust the bit rate for an individual session.  You can also set whether to use WMA or MP3 formats for the music. MP3 is probably the most compatible with music players, but the quality of WMA can be pretty good as well at the higher bit rates. I use about 192 in general which gives around 60MB per average CD.

Thanks Neil, I'll do a bit of experimentation (yes I use media player on the PC). Looks like it will be worth me upgrading to Pocket Tunes since I only currently have WMP on my device. Also, do you know what the maximum storage card for the Kaiser is and where to buy as I'm planning on syncing as much music as possible.Thanks again for your help.

[Neil5459]

The Kaiser Chief, on Sep 30 2008, 20:13, said:

Thanks Neil, I'll do a bit of experimentation (yes I use media player on the PC). Looks like it will be worth me upgrading to Pocket Tunes since I only currently have WMP on my device. Also, do you know what the maximum storage card for the Kaiser is and where to buy as I'm planning on syncing as much music as possible.Thanks again for your help.

Currently 16GB is the biggest MicroSD card- can be had from vendors (MyMenory/Mobymemory?) for about £50.

[The Kaiser Chief]

Neil5459, on Oct 1 2008, 07:38, said:

Currently 16GB is the biggest MicroSD card- can be had from vendors (MyMenory/Mobymemory?) for about £50.

Thanks once again. I've now purchased Pocket Tunes and am impressed so far, particularly by the hardware button friendly menu system.

One final question, if I may (!!):

Do you know if it is possible to map the music launch function on the HTC Home Plugin to open Pocket Tunes rather than WMP or Audio Manager? I know to change mapping from WMP to Audio Manager you just change HKLM->Software->HTC->Music PlugIn from 1 to 2 but is there a way of changing it to Pocket Tunes?

Thanks for all your help.

KC

[Neil5459]

The Kaiser Chief, on Oct 1 2008, 10:24, said:

Thanks once again. I've now purchased Pocket Tunes and am impressed so far, particularly by the hardware button friendly menu system.

One final question, if I may (!!):

Do you know if it is possible to map the music launch function on the HTC Home Plugin to open Pocket Tunes rather than WMP or Audio Manager? I know to change mapping from WMP to Audio Manager you just change HKLM->Software->HTC->Music PlugIn from 1 to 2 but is there a way of changing it to Pocket Tunes?

Thanks for all your help.

KC

Sorry- thats one I can't help with

[The Kaiser Chief]

Neil5459, on Oct 1 2008, 11:18, said:

Sorry- thats one I can't help with

No worries, thanks anyway. I've posted in Pocket PC Software so maybe someone will pick it up. It's not really necessary, I just like the look of it.

[The Kaiser Chief]

Just in case anyone else is interested, I got a response from Pocket Tunes support re the plug-in issue. They said HTC Home Music Launcher isn't compatible - 'HTC designed it and they control what you can do with it'.

However, the interesting thing they did say was that they are currently considering designing their own Home Plug-in which would obviously compliment Pocket Tunes. This project is not definite yet though.