Jump to content

Makro Racer Bluetooth Headphones And Transmitter Module


Recommended Posts

Hello all.. we see a lot of comments regarding Makro RACER BT headphones and dongle so I wanted to clarify a few things:

First of all, adding BT headphones was not an after-thought. From the concept stage of the product, adding wireless headphones capability to the machine existed. However, we had 2 options; making the module built-in to the machine or providing it in an external dongle.

For us, both were equal in terms of engineering but it would make a difference in terms of the pricing. If we had the module built-in we had no choice but to add the cost to the machine which in return would increase the final retail price. As wireless headphones are not preferred by all users and it is a personal choice, we did not want somebody to pay extra for a feature they would not use so we decided to keep it as an optional feature.

Second, the dongle provided is a Nokta/Makro developed dongle and it has been optimized and tested for use with the optional Philips BT headphones.

Users may use alternative BT headphones but we cannot guarantee the performance as we have no way of testing all the BT headphones out there.

Should you have more questions, please feel free to contact me at dilek@noktadetectors.com

Thank you!!

 

post-1-0-62954100-1422458999_thumb.jpgpost-1-0-39260000-1422412876_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Hi Dilek,

Has your company ever looked into KLEER technology??--it appears to be better than BT, but for some reason is not getting into the mainstream very well...

I just bought a set of TDK headphones with the transmitter and headphones for 155.00. If you wish i will give you a report on how they do.

paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the Makro engineers:

''We also tested APTX family protocols, as mentioned in the question, it is relatively new, only some BT headsets support it. We especially prefered a “regular and all-compatible” protocol for Racer because there is no guarantee that a newer and better protocol will arise and aptx will not leave its place to new brother. In any case, Racer BT module hardware supports APTX, but not using it because of headset compatibility issues, it is ready for APTX in next generations of Racer or modules if we decide to use it.''

and

"A delay in audio is of the nature of the Bluetooth audio, it always exists, the question is how long (or short to be acceptable) the delay is. A2DP and similar Bluetooth profiles provide a good (or at least acceptable) media quality sound but seems “not instant” because of the delay in signal processing and digital filtering algorithms they devise. Digital signal processing algorithms/CODECS, by their nature, require to process “the past of the sound” to improve sound quality and this causes a delay (in A2DP codecs, it is usually between 100ms-1000ms). This delay usually does not matter when the sound flow is unidirectional. In cases where “instantaneous” transfer required, such as bidirectional speech (such as hands free use of phones, handsets or similar communication equipment) Bluetooth is still able to transfer the audio signals quasi-instantaneously (shorter than 100ms delay), but with a noise that remain weakly filtered. HSP and HFP protocols are used for voice transfer, HFP is newer than HSP. The voice quality of these are acceptable for communication, furthermore for basic sound transfers.

Most metal detector people try to use a “commercial media transmitters” those are designed for one way media transfer (i.e. listening music), these devices cause a significant delay that the position of a metal cannot be located successfully. A metal detector is not practical with these pluggable equipment unless they designed to use communications purpose (not media).

In development of the Racer; we decided to use the HFP profile that required us dealing with the background noises. After several anti-noise improvements that took several months for reworks to implement the BT module, we succeeded to find an optimal SNR with HFP. This preference lead us to select headsets that the noise prevention combination was also optimal. Racer BT audio supports principally all BT headsets, but not all are not tested. That is why we strongly suggest Nokta/Makro supplied headset instead of cheap products or media optimized HQ headsets.

Briefly; The delay (lag) of audio from bluetooth of Racer is below 100mS (typically under 50ms, 1/20 of a second), and this is not predictable by the user.

Here, I have to include the information that the BT module is a module level design and is an option for Racer, but this is not a plugged third party BT device or a card from such a device. It contains an audio proven and ECC certified programmable audio BT module inside which is solely designed for this purpose, not different very much than using an integrated circuit which have an antenna. The purpose of BT in Racer is transferring the audio as fast and noiseless as possible to a BT headphone.

B. Kutlu YAVAS''

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

I have now used the Racer Bluetooth headphones a couple hours. The lag is tiny and frankly not something I noticed much as my swing and target perceptions adjust almost instantly to whatever detector I am using. In other words, if I did not think about it I would not notice it and it is a non-issue for me.

 

Others are far more sensitive to this sort of thing going by comments I have seen on other forums.

 

My main issue was with the audio clarity of the Phillips wireless phones. My Sun Rays just sound better to me. But the wireless option is compelling so I will have to play around with these more in the future to get a better idea whether I like them or not. Right now I am ambivalent on the subject.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After using the wireless headphones on the Deus for over a year now I must admit to being spoiled. IMO the Deus wireless is the standard other companies should aspire to. That being said, I have used my Sun Ray Pro Golds on my Racer the little I have used it and the cord irritates me now. I just don't have enough time on the Racer to know if I will love the machine enough to feel like popping for wireless phones.

Steve, do you have the elliptical 5x10 coil? If so what is your opinion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...