Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Tim Hodzic photo
1 Level
813 Review
30 Karma

Review on 🎧 BTunes Wireless Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter for Bose Quiet Comfort 15 & QC2 Headphones by Tim Hodzic

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Great concept, good build quality, great sound, but with two fatal flaws.

I really wanted to fall in love with this adapter. I already have a Bose QC15 AirMod adapter, but I was *very* disappointed that I had to remove the AirMod to charge it, which could result in losing the dedicated charging adapter in the process. I was also *very* disappointed with the built-in microphone. To others, it always sounded like I was talking in a tunnel from afar. So I bought a BTunes QC15 adapter hoping it would solve both of these problems. First the good news. The sound quality is quite good. When listening to identical recordings of well-known classical music with both AirMod and BTunes, I noticed a slight improvement in quality with BTunes. More clarity in the mids, a little less "noise". I can't explain it as "Bluetooth is Bluetooth" and there shouldn't be a noticeable difference since the codecs are the same. But I couldn't deny it. BTunes sounded better. It's also *great* to leave the device plugged in and not take it out to charge. MicroUSB is everywhere, so you can safely travel the world and charge without having to remember your custom charging key. Third, while the built-in microphone isn't perfect, it's definitely usable. It's not noise cancelling, so it picks up a lot of ambient noise, but it's still much better and more sensitive than the AirMod. Calls were clear and the worst comment I got was "Looks like you're on speakerphone." Not perfect, but good at least. However. Here the good news ends. Now it's time for the deal breaker. This may not be the deciding factor for you, according to YMMV. First, *don't* try this on Skype unless you're prepared for poor audio quality. You sound like you're calling from a pay phone. The Windows Headset Profile codec is notoriously bad on almost all Bluetooth headsets. And that's the only way you can use this module with Skype Windows. For example, the Jabra Evolve 75 Overhead Noise-Cancelling Headphones have modest noise-cancelling capabilities, but are fully Skype-compatible *and* support headphone protocols, not just headsets. When I tried setting up Skype using the headphone protocol I was able to complete the setup but it never worked properly. He cut everyone. Other. Word. So. bad. What. (You get the point.) Second, and this is the *biggest* hurdle for those of us who love nuance in our music, there's a HUGE jump between two button presses at the bottom of the volume range. No, it's not just the fault of the phone or the computer. I've tried this on multiple platforms and the answer has always been the same. Pressing the volume up or down buttons once resulted in a sound jump of about 5 dB. It's huge. I'm sorry but I don't like blowing my eardrums. I bought the Bose QC15 specifically to be able to hear audio at a lower volume but still block out a variety of ambient noise. With the BTunes adapter, I got stuck at either whisper volume or volume too loud. Yes, it's a significant leap. Airmod does not suffer from this problem. The same volume range on the Airmod is covered by pressing the volume up or down buttons 4 times. That's a HUGE difference. Jumping 4 increments at the touch of a button is a showstopper. To be honest I am shocked that this device came out with such a bug. So if you never listen to low-level audio and never intend to use this adapter in Skype, you can be very happy with the results. It's well made, has good battery life, is easy to use, and has a decent microphone for "calls". However, if you use Skype OR want finer control over volume, you might want to think twice. Both of these shortcomings will likely be addressed in a future release, but for now it may not be usable by those of us who enjoy hearing audio in a 'specific range'.

Pros
  • Audio and video accessories
Cons
  • I'll write later