Portable rig advice please.

[speedyj]

Hi all. I am looking for a good quality portable audio setup to use in the garden via headphones as I will be spending quite a bit of time convalescing for several months.

Any suggestions appreciated. I'm not talking ultra high end stuff but definitely want to exceed a typical iPhone experience.

[Ali Tait]

How big is your garden, will Bluetooth work?

Dont laugh, having gotten pee’d off with long leads I recently bought one of these-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And a pair of these-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-WH-1...72.m2749.l2649

Whilst they may not quite equal the best phones out there, the sound is very good, and certainly trashes my iPhone and AirPods in the SQ stakes. I have a pair of Oppo PM3’s, and the Sony comes very close, and no bloody lead. 30 hours of battery too.

[speedyj]

I had not even considered that. My Garden is about 20m from the listening room through two walls.

Thats why we come here I suppose

Full portable would also be appreciated as I may be in hospital for a period of time also.

[Sherwood]

I spent nearly 2 months in hospital last year. One factor I would bear in mind is the hassle of recharging devices. I abandoned my BT headphones and went for a good wired in ear monitor. i used them with my Sony HD mp3 player and my android tablet both of which had extended battery life.

Another consideration is that in order to listen to FM radio on the Sony one needs a wired headphone as an antennae!

[speedyj]

I spent nearly 2 months in hospital last year. One factor I would bear in mind is the hassle of recharging devices. I abandoned my BT headphones and went for a good wired in ear monitor. i used them with my Sony HD mp3 player and my android tablet both of which had extended battery life.

Another consideration is that in order to listen to FM radio on the Sony one needs a wired headphone as an antennae!

Thanks for that. This crossed my mind earlier and I can see from your experience it is a big consideration.

[Sherwood]

Thanks for that. This crossed my mind earlier and I can see from your experience it is a big consideration.

You might also want to consider whether you want to sit in your garden in the sun with a pair of "on ear" or "over ear" headphones. Sweaty lobes not so nice!

[Vincent Kars]

What about a smartphone?
The LG measurers superb: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...artphone.4468/

Most smartphones allow for a additional SD card.
A 1 Tb is still expensive but a 500 Gb can be had at about Euro 40.
This gives you the option to be fully independent of any server and using AAC or high bitrate MP3, to carry a large collection.

Talking Android, players like Foobar Mobile support UPnP/DLNA. You connect your phone to the WiFi and enjoy lossless streaming.
As WiFi is a much stronger signal compared with Bluetooth, it might work in your garden.

If you are into iPhone, have a look at Airplay.

I'm a fanboy of these ones: https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones.html
Excellent noise isolation, works very well while listening to classical on tranes and planes.
Bit lean on the bass but you can always apply some EQ.

Hope you fully recover soon.

[twotone]

I've just bought a set of Shanling MTW100 in ear monitors which I use with an iPhone XR & Tidal and I can also bluetooth my Yamaha amp via Yamaha's MusicCast app to them but I can't control the volume which isn't ideal anyway they're £90 delivered via Ebay UK and worth every penny, amazing in fact.

Great site below BTW

https://www.scarbir.com/tws/shanling-mtw100-review

There's also this page for Cheap Chinese headphones recommendations.

https://medium.com/@scarbir/the-best...s-70d9f3f3bd57

[speedyj]

I've just bought a set of Shanling MTW100 in ear monitors which I use with an iPhone XR & Tidal and I can also bluetooth my Yamaha amp via Yamaha's MusicCast app to them but I can't control the volume which isn't ideal anyway they're £90 delivered via Ebay UK and worth every penny, amazing in fact.

Great site below BTW

https://www.scarbir.com/tws/shanling-mtw100-review

There's also this page for Cheap Chinese headphones recommendations.

https://medium.com/@scarbir/the-best...s-70d9f3f3bd57

I'm still very weary of in ears using bluetooth etc but will have to have a look. I have a set of little AKG K452's that I really like on the iPhone I have. That works fine for now and may infact be all I need in many regards. Not HD perhaps but with the right bitrate and rips it sounds good enough for casual listening.

[struth]

good bluetooth can sound pretty much as good as wired for majority of time tbh.. Getting a gignal to go far enough is trick.. class 1 long range can go quite far but doesnt like solid walls.. windows are ok tho.i can go all over house with my nura cans.. the buds are not quite as strong in picking up, but are much smaller