Creative BT-W3

I have recently purchased Beoplay H95 headphones, which feature Bluetooth AptX HD for optimal sound quality. The Bluetooth system built into my 2020 iPad Pro only supports AAC output. My 2017 MacBook Pro has a Bluetooth system that is apparently capable of AptX HD but this feature has been disabled in the latest operating system updates.I therefore purchased this BT dongle to see if it can provide AptX HD output that will make the most of HD sources such as Amazon Music HD.The dongle comes neatly packaged and is tiny. It will fit into a USB-C socket without crowding the adjacent socket which is ideal for use on devices that only have two sockets. The supplied Quick Start instructions are clearly written but only describe its setup with a PS4 or Nintendo Switch. I therefore went to the Creative website, looked at the FAQs and worked out the following method to use the device with my MacBook Pro.I first switched off the inbuilt Bluetooth system and plugged the BT-W3 into a spare USB-C socket. I then pressed and held the Bluetooth button for 2 seconds to put it into pairing mode. I then did the same on my Beoplay H95, sliding the power switch upwards for 2 seconds. It paired first time. I was then able to use the Bluetooth selection button to toggle between AptX HD (yellow light), AptX (green light) and SBC (blue light) Codecs. I didn’t see a white light when toggling between modes which implies that my headphones do not support AptX Low Latency mode.This also worked at first attempt. Putting the headphones into AptX HD mode created a far wider sound stage that sounded as if it was coming outside of my head. This made it much easier to identify individual instruments being played when listening to Amazon Music HD. I found that I was still able to control volume using the rotary control on the side of the headphone whilst I could also independently control sound output using the standard Mac sound controls.However, when I then used the headphones to watch Netflix, there was a noticeable latency in all three available modes (AptX HD, AptX and SBC). This is not present when reverting to the inbuilt Bluetooth module on the MacBook Pro. This is fine as the sound quality for watching Netflix via AAC is quite acceptable.The Creative Bluetooth dongle appears in the Mac’s System Report > Hardware > USB. This informed me that the module was running Firmware 1.0. I updated the firmware to v1.1 by downloading an installer from the Creative website, which was very straightforward. This did not improve the latency issue but apparently will improve connection stability.I then switched off the Bluetooth system on my iPad Pro and inserted the Creative BT-W3 dongle. As hoped for, the BT-W3 remained paired with the H95 and I was able to toggle between AptX HD output as well as AptX and SBC.This is an incredibly simple and cost-effective way to provide “High Definition” output to my new Bluetooth HD headphones. So good, that I wrote to Bang and Olufsen to suggest that they should bundle it with their headphones. They replied to say that they were also similarly impressed by the module and are considering my suggestion that it should be offered as an official accessory.

So I primarily bought this to use with my PS5 as I recently bought an external monitor to replace a TV that I had been using. The TV has bluetooth the display does not so I needed another solution for using wireless bluetooth headphones.The setup is fairly easy and it did not take long for me to get it working. The headphones I am currently using are the Bose QC 35 which do not support aptX so it defaults to the basic SBC codec. The sound quality is ok but nowhere near as clear as it was when I connected to the bluetooth from my Samsung TV. I then decided to try connecting it to my Mac to see if it made a difference. The codec was the same however the sound quality was on par with my Macs inbuilt bluetooth.So I can only assume that the PS5 has low power USB ports which might be why the sound quality is not the best. However if I had headphones that supported aptX the sound quality might be even better. That is something I will need to test when I get better headphones later.The bluetooth transmitter is USB-C however there is an adaptor for USB-A connectors so you can connect it to either port.

I love Apple but some of the things they do, like not supporting aptX HD, annoy the hell out of me.I have a pair of Audio Technica ATH-DSR9BT headphones, which are fantastic by the way, and they can receive aptX HD but my iPhone cannot transmit it.After reading a couple of reviews saying this dongle should solve my problem I decided to give it a go.I plugged it into my "Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adaptor" (official), via the USB-C to USB-A adaptor included with the BT-W3, and then connected the Camera Adaptor to my iPhone.I turned my headphones on and they paired instantly with no fuss or manual intervention required (turn your iPhone Bluetooth off first). Also there were no warnings about the BT-W3 requiring power, unlike something like a USB flash drive.I opened Tidal and played an MQA track to which the BT-W3 instantly changed the indicator colour light to transmit in aptX HD to my headphones.The sound quality has a fantastic improvement; much more bass, high end, tightness, clarity and breadth in the music than I was getting previously.Admittedly it won't be as good as when I plug the headphones in, via their dedicated USB cable, to the Camera Adaptor but that requires power to be input into the adaptor, so no good if you're walking about or on public transport.In all I'm incredibly pleased I took a chance on this and it works perfectly in all the aspects I wanted.

I bought this in order I could stream apt-x HD audio from my PC to a digital amplifier. I had expected, that it would behave like any other Bluetooth wireless radio device, in so much as Windows would recognise it as a Bluetooth radio, and show devices with which I can pair it from within Windows.This is not so - it does not behave like a normal Bluetooth radio, instead appearing as a USB audio device.This caused me some issues, so I returned it.Whilst researching alternatives, it seems the manufacturer offers an updated version of this product, this being the BT-W4. Not only does the BT-W4 offer a dedicated Windows application to manage pairing from within Windows via their app (which would have negated the issues I encountered with the BT-W3), but it also features the superior Apt-x Adaptive codec.I wish the BT-W4 was being offered for sale here, as I would like to purchase it, instead it seems to be available only on the manufacturer's website. Confused as to why the older version is still being offered here.