Ultimate Ears in-ear monitor owners can now enjoy wireless listening as the new Ultimate Ears Bluetooth Cable provides the ability to stream to UE IEMs via Bluetooth version 4.1, multipoint. Operational controls are via a small three-button control switch located near the right IEM. In addition to controls, the enclosure houses a microphone for phone operation. The cable is designed to go behind your head, mimicking the typical placement while mixing or playing a concert, but I’ve had better results letting the switch fall below my chin, as that puts the microphone in a better position and gives easier access to the controls.
IEM Manufacturers Team for New Trade Group
Syncing to a Bluetooth device is easy and a voice prompt lets you know when a successful connection has been made. A voice prompt will also announce the current battery level when powered on. The battery level announcement can also be triggered by pressing the Volume + or Volume – button when connected to a Bluetooth device that isn’t playing.
The Ultimate Ears Custom app, a free download, allows the user to customize the EQ settings by choosing from a library of presets optimized for different listening sources or creating and saving their own.
The Ultimate Ears Bluetooth Cable includes a Charging Clip that must be attached to the button control switch. The Charging Clip includes a built-in battery. Both can be charged simultaneously if the IEMs are not in use. The battery life of the device is 4 hours without the Charging Clip and 8 hours with it. A 20-minute quick charge will give you an hour of playing time. Charging takes place via the Charging Clip’s Micro USB port.
I have yet to be impressed with the sound quality of any Bluetooth device, including the UE Bluetooth cable. That said, I think it sounds as good as Bluetooth is able, and the convenience of wireless operation it provides will be worth the hit in sound quality to many people. I did notice the difference between uncompressed and compressed audio files to be much more apparent when listening via Bluetooth compared to wired. This is equally true when contrasting the sound quality between TIDAL and Spotify.
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Users expecting to hear the same amazing sound quality that wired UE IEMs are known for will be disappointed, but anyone wanting the ability to operate wire-free while casually listening will love the Ultimate Ears Bluetooth Cable.
Ultimate Ears • pro.ultimateears.com
