Sony HWSBTA2W - Bluetooth wireless audio transmitter

Nov 03

Sony HWSBTA2W - Bluetooth wireless audio transmitter

Binding: CE
ASIN: B000P9CEV4
Manufacturer: Sony
Average Customer Review: (From 20 total reviews)
List Price: ~~$70.31~~
Amazon Price: $38.94 (15 new available)
You save: $31.37 (44.62%)

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon web site at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.

Features

Use as either transmitter or receiver (selection made by switch on device).
Stand for vertical storage included.
Supplied AC adaptor.
Dual functionality of transmitter and receiver.

Editorial Reviews

Product Description:
Now you can enjoy your entire music collection wirelessly via Bluetooth communication! Simply connect the HWSBTA2W Bluetooth Transmitter/Receiver to your current home audio system for instant music streaming. With a slim, compact design, this transmitter is compatible with both your home and car audio systems.

Customer Reviews

Versatile Little Unit! by I. Rymszewicz
I’ve read through some of the other reviews and find a few of them shouldn’t really be targeted at this particular unit. If you are a potential buyer, then there is a good chance you are familiar with Bluetooth, yet may not know much about the A2DP profile.

Bluetooth, is by far, not a flawless means of communication; for that matter, neither wired or wireless formats are flawless. This must be kept in mind when choosing which is right for you.

Bluetooth has quite a few limitations: range, compatibility between versions, and profile support, to name a few. A2DP is a fairly new profile, so there are hiccups and bumps along the path.

A2DP stands for Advanced Audio Distribution Profile. It is able to stream stereo sound from one device to another. In order for it to work properly (or at all), both devices you are attempting to pair together (ie: you want this unit to work with your music phone or laptop) must support A2DP. The Sony HWSBTA2W supports A2DP and no other profile! It does not support HSP or HFP! Which means it will not work with a headset or hands free Bluetooth device; you cannot answer your phone with it. It will, however work with Bluetooth headphones that support A2DP.

Again, this is streaming music from one device to another. If you have it connected to a computer, your Bluetooth Stack (program that manages your computer’s resources to communicate to and from other Bluetooth devices) will be running in the background continuously. If another program you are running prioritizes higher than your Bluetooth Stack, you may hear stutters, distortion or speed changes to your music. There is also a delay, for the music is being encoded at one end and decoded back to analog signal at the other end. If you ask me, I wouldn’t use it to watch a movie.

Believe it or not, all this information and more is in the instruction manual. I’m sure if you search on Sony’s support page, you will be able to download a .pdf of the manual.

Personally, I used this in conjunction with a Sony XA-300 auxiliary selector connected to my car stereo to stream music from my phone. If attempting to power this unit with a car adapter, I highly recommend the Sony DCC-E345 or Sony equivalent. I couldn’t find my power adapter as fast as I would have liked and ran out to a local Radio Shack and bought one of theirs. It powered the HWSBTA2W but with a substantial amount of Bluetooth radio noise. Luckily, I was later able to find my DCC-E345 after a few hours of searching. I then powered it off that and the noise was gone! I guess you get what you pay for (then again, I paid $12.99 for the Sony one and $25.00 for the Radio Shack one!).

All in all, a great unit and will continue to buy Sony products because of it!

Could be really nice if it worked.. by Shawn Gallagan
This is a neat device and would be great if it worked.

I had everything setup and it worked great for about 10 minutes, then it started cutting in and out and speeding up the music like some other reviewers had noted. It’s almost like it overheats and stops working.

I wish I could rate it -5 by Ben Peters
This thing could not be worse. I’m using it to connect to my stereo receiver which is all of 5 feet away, and have it set up as headphones on my Mac Book Pro running Leopard.

First, it can’t connect to the device unless I run the pairing routine EVERY TIME, even though it’s listed as paired in Bluetooth Assistant.

When it does manage to connect, the reception is awful. I think I’ve gotten about 10 seconds max of uninterrupted audio…most of the time it drops out every 2 or 3 seconds.

I’ve moved it closer and turned off all non-essential wireless services to absolutely no effect. I have no 2.4gHz devices in the house that would interfere, just a microwave oven 20 feet and three walls away.

Once I figure out how to put it back in the packaging it’s going back asap. Avoid at all costs.

Easy to hook up, but unusable due to audio problems! by Peter F. Hamilton
Hooked up without a hitch to my Lenovo T61 laptop. Sounded great at first, but then the problems started. The audio slows down and speeds up! Enough as to make it very annoying and essentially unusable, as it changes the pitch of the whole song. This is inexcusable for an audio product! Hopefully the seller will allow me to return the item.

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