Create a wireless sound system

Filling a home with electronic goodies can present problems. For example, take those faced by anyone contemplating installing a surround-sound system.

To enjoy the all-enveloping audio, numerous speakers must be positioned strategically around the listening spot. Each noise-making box needs to be connected to the device outputting the sound and traditionally, this means yards of cabling trailed along skirting boards, across ceiling beams,down walls and under carpets. Messy stuff.

Headphones, meanwhile, aren’t so much untidy as restrictive. The private listener using a plugged-in pair of audio ear-muffs can’t move further than the cable’s length from the connected device; and anyone indulging in a spot of silent boogying risks an entangled fandango.

Good reasons to cut the cords, surely? Quite right. So read on for some wireless audio earache, Computeractive-style, of course.

Wires and wherefores
First off, understand that there’s no mystery behind how wireless speakers and headphones work.

Put simply, they receive radio signals from a transmitting device connected directly to the output device, like a hi-fi or DVD player. Said radio signal carries the audio and the receiving speaker plays the transmitted sounds. It’s a one-way walkie-talkie, if you will.

The world of wireless technology is awash with branding and abbreviations. When using a wireless earpiece in conjunction with a mobile phone, for example, the cordless connection will invariably rely on Bluetooth.

When sending digital music from a PC to a normal set of hi-fi speakers, for instance, then an audio-streaming device reliant on Wifi may come into play. This offers longer range and better bandwidth, thus affording higher quality, in terms of streamed audio.

However, when it comes to wireless speakers and headphones designed for use in the home, these technologies generally do not apply. Most wireless systems for the consumer market, and this includes the Bluetooth and Wifi standards, use the 2.4GHz band of the radio spectrum.

However, the problem is that so do many wireless speakers and headphones, but it would be wrong to refer to the technology as either Bluetooth or Wifi, because it is neither. It’s just a wireless connection via radio.

Crossed wires
In fact, there’s any number of proprietary technologies at work in the arena of domestic cordless audio-emitters. In essence, this means that a wireless speaker or headphone set from one company almost certainly will not work with a wireless transmitter from another. The trick, then, is not to attempt mixing and matching components manufactured by different firms.

In practical terms, though, this hardly matters. For instance, there’s unlikely to be any benefit in buying a transmitter from one manufacturer and a set of receiving wireless headphones from a competitor – even if the two items could be bought separately and were able to work together.

The reality, at least at the kind of price level that most consumers would consider affordable, is that wireless headphones and speaker sets are sold as packages, with everything needed to get going included in the box.

If nothing else, this makes for an easier life both when buying and setting up, as the consumer needn’t worry about competing standards or attendant compatibility concerns. However, do see the final section on the next page entitled ‘Wireless wisdom’ for information about potential installation snags.