Features:

  • BLUETOOTH RECEIVER WITH aptX HD CODEC Add great-sounding Bluetooth audio from your device to any music system. Simply plug the B1 into your sound system and it syncs with nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices like phones and tablets.
  • BLUETOOTH RANGE up to 100 feet. The B1 has special circuitry and a precision-tuned antenna to extend the wireless range, providing much more versatility than other Bluetooth receivers.
  • FEATURES: Supports all Bluetooth-enabled devices with high-fidelity Bluetooth aptX transmission and extended range. Stream high-resolution 24-bit digital audio from the Audioengine B1 to any music system. Includes built-in AKM4396 DAC for superior 24-bit upsampled playback, aluminum case with audiophile-grade connectors, analog, optical outputs and 2.0Vrms maximum output level.
  • WHAT IS INCLUDED: B1 Bluetooth Music Receiver, RCA audio cable (3ft/1m), power adapter with detachable cable, microfiber bag, setup guide.
  • COVERAGE: Audioengine builds quality audio equipment that they stand behind. All Audioengine products come with 3-year transferable coverage.
Suited for Audiophile System

I was looking for the best BT receiver I could find in order to run Spotify streams through my older equipment. I've so far tested it with two systems, streaming from a Samsung tablet on a satellite wi-fi connection. It's not a great connection, but I live in a rural area and it's what I have to work from: 1. System 1 - AEB1 connected via TOSLink optical to Musical Fidelity V90 DAC, feeding a Quad 405/2 power amp joined to a Quad 44 pre-amp driving Mission 771 bookshelf speakers. 2. System 2 - AEB1 connected via TOSLink optical to MHDT Havana tube/SS DAD, feeding an Acurus A/150 power amp joined to an Acurus LS11 pre-amp driving vintage Spendor SP1's that I bought new in 1984. Note that in both tests I am bypassing the AEB1 internal DAC by going optical to my own DACs. System 1 (Quad/Mission) sounds fine. It is in my bedroom. I am comparing it to a straight BT stream to a Marshall Stanmore BT speaker. Neither one is close to greatness - the Stanmore has better bass, but does not have the dimension of the Quad/Mission comparator. I think I'm disenchanted with the Missions - they should sound much better being powered by the Quad electronics, but that's not the fault of the AEB1. System 2/MHDT Havana/Acurus/Spendor is VERY GOOD. I was switching back and forth between Pops Staples' version of "World in Motion" - one from streaming Spotify and the other a Rotel CD player going into the same electronics and speakers. The CD has a richer, fuller sound with the voluptuous mid-range sound that is characteristic of these old Spendors. But the AEB1 version is very listenable. It has less "fullness" to it, and less bass, but it also has an imaging that sounds like you are acoustically in the recording studio more than the CD-based sound. Head-to-head, I'd prefer the CD, but given that Spotify opens the door to everything you've ever owned or loved, even though your turntables and vinyl are now gone, EITHER are fine options. I have thousands of dollars worth of mid-range audiophile equipment that has been constrained by my no longer having all the input sources (vinyl and CD) that I once had. With the $189 addition of the AEB1, I feel like a kid in a candy shop. It may be that some of the cheaper options work about as well - I don't know - but for $189, why fool around - this thing is a passport to the soundtrack of your life. Highly recommended.

Its friggin awesome. I received it in excellent condition

So i HAD to get up off the couch after sitting for several hours listening to music to get my Mac and write this review. Just go buy this thing. Its friggin awesome. I received it in excellent condition , plugged it into my B&K pre amp feeding my B&K power amp driving two Paradigm Studio 100s. I believe i will need a feeding tube. My wife just brought me a drink and says she has not seen this look on my face in a long time. Set up was a breeze - powered it up and it paired with my iPhone 6 immediately. I have been listening to all types of music from my iTunes library and Spotify. Truly amazing sound - no drops, no flaws, crystal clear - I really can not believe it - not sure why I did not know about this technology as its not new. Using this component to take advantage of my existing stereo system with the ease of use of iTunes and Spotify is amazing. Thanks to the Wirecutter for the nudge. I am using the KabelDirekt RCAs paired by amazon for this purchase. I know the manual says to give it 40 hours to break in but - this sound is amazing.

If You Want Real Audio Quality, Don't Bother With Anything Less

Excellent, easy to use Bluetooth interface as an addition to an older but studio monitor-quality system. Plug and play. All I had to do was hook up the USB power adapter, RCA cable to an unused set of inputs on my amp, and pair it with my phone, which was instantaneous. Off to the races with various streaming radio services in less than 10 minutes. Nothing to set or adjust. No app or software to install. Piece of cake, at least with my phone. Bluetooth connectivity is always a bit of crapshoot but this was as easy as it gets. Audio quality is unbelievable, far better than any cable I've used in this application. and I don't even believe this phone (old but very reliable Galaxy S7) has Bluetooth 5.0, think it's only 4.2. The DAC in this puppy blows the DAC that drives the headphone jack you've been using as an output absolutely into the weeds. Without testing (which I may yet do some of), by my fairly well-trained ears alone, almost as good as a CD on terms of clarity. I'm always a little afraid to crank something like this up over my nice Yamaha monitors because that's when I discover all the schmutz in the signal. None here. Little to no audible compression artifacts or aliasing. Cymbals are painfully clean. Bass is fat and punchy like a vinyl record, something that's also totally missing from the low-voltage headphone output on most devices. Reggae is worth listening to again without firing up the ol' Stanton (I love vinyl, but it does feel a little more like steampunk tech every time I put one on)... Just a tiny black box. Beautifully made, solid metal and hex bolts. Good quality power supply and cable (I bought a top shelf one, wish I had a spare optical input on my amp, its own DAC is amazing). Reception range covers my entire house and much of the yard without dropping a single audible packet. It's a small place, but... well, I don't need it to reach halfway down the block, which I suspect it would easily! If this thing lasts as well as its look and feel of engineering and construction would imply, it's an awesome purchase. Listed on a couple reviewer's top 10 Bluetooth interfaces as "best splurge" - ie if you can afford this one, don't bother with a cheap one. Concur. Best birthday present anyone's given me in ages...

Excellent!

I have held off on making a purchase of a Bluetooth Receiver for my audiophile music system due to the fact that most of them are just very simple devices that can seriously degrade the sound. Yes, I know MP3 files are not high quality music and they comprise the majority of files due to their small size. I wanted something that would take those files and present them at their best. Hookup was fast and the Bluetooth connection was even easier. The sound quality is nothing short of amazing. I played a CD on a high end transport run through a high end DAC to a preamp. All connections are solid silver interconnects. Two mono amps pour 400 watts into ribbon speakers. Then I switched over to the Bluetooth Receiver and played the same CD as MP3 files. Don’t get me wrong, there was a difference. However, the difference is much less than I expected. I can certainly live with it. There are many other high end receivers on the market but they are price prohibitive in my opinion. While many will feel that the price of this item is too high, I think it is the perfect sweet spot. You won’t be disappointed.

Superior sound quality, easy pairing and stellar customer service

When I purchased the Audioengine B1 in 2016, I was looking for a Bluetooth audio interface that was built to last with great sound and easy to pair with all of my devices. The B1 did not disappoint. Pairing could not be easier and the sound quality is superb plugged into my 1970s Sansui receiver. I would highly recommend this product. It's more expensive than many other Bluetooth receivers but you are paying for quality. What compelled me to write this review was the excellent customer service I received from Audioengine. Two weeks ago my B1 seemingly died out of nowhere. I contacted Audioengine and was directed to send my unit in to them so they could assess it. Apparently the usb power connector inside the unit had failed which was strange since I never moved the device after it was initially set up. In any event, they sent me a replacement within a week which I just set back up with my Sansui and listening to tunes off my iPhone again. If you're looking for a top quality Bluetooth receiver/adapter, look no further than the Audioengine B1. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Brings vintage amps to life!

Great device turns any old vintage stereo (the 60s all the way up to the late 80's and early 90's) into the centerpiece of you entertainment system. Most of them are overbuilt with great sound quality, remember they were not designed for our modern day lower quality compressed audio. no, these babies were built for full spectrum vinyl records. they sound as great today and the B1 allows you to play from your computer or mobile devices. you can get info here [...] Sound quality: Great sounding, tried it with several different amplifier and speaker setup. Size: small footprint Looks: beautiful, unassuming, classy. What I love: sleeps when not in use, connects very effortlessly. plug it in and forget it. you can hide it because you never need to touch it again. What I hate: none yet

This little doohickey may be my favorite part of my stereo

This little doohickey may be my favorite part of my stereo. Solid connection from anywhere in my home (although I confess 99% of its use is streaming Spotify from my laptop 10 feet away). Nice rich sound whether streaming Spotify or my collection of Mp3s. As with any component, the source material going in is going to define the majority of the sound you get out, so make sure to go into options on Spotify and select "High Quality Streaming" and make sure your mp3s are at the very least 192kbps (CD quality). I'm not an audiophile but I will say that streaming through this little beast is practically indistinguishable to me from listening to a vinyl LP or a CD. It's the size of the palm of my hand and has a very solid weighty feel to it. I had it up and running rocking out within 10 minutes of opening the box. Very easy to setup. My setup, for reference: Onkyo A-9150 Stereo Amplifier, Q Acoustics 3050 Speakers, Onkyo C-7030 CD Player, Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Turntable.

With the B1, you actually get what you pay for

UPDATE 1/27/2016 CHECK YOUR BLUETOOTH VERSION! If your playback device uses an older Bluetooth standard (i.e. Bluetooth 2.1 or, God forbid, 1.0), the B1 will skip and stutter like an old CD player. While this has a certain nostalgic appeal, it soon becomes unbearable. Bluetooth 2.1 (which is what my aging computer has) can only transfer data at a theoretical maximum rate of 3.0 Mb/s (0.375 MB/s), which isn't enough bandwidth to stream high-quality audio—the files are simply too big. Newer versions of Bluetooth, meanwhile, can serve up 24 Mb/s (3 MB/s), which should be enough for even uncompressed audio (though why you'd send uncompressed audio over heavily compressed Bluetooth is a question worth asking). Fortunately, my phone supports Bluetooth 4.0, so I'm still keeping the B1. ORIGINAL REVIEW This is the first and only Bluetooth receiver I've ever bought. I looked at cheaper options, but given that I'm streaming 320 kbps Spotify tracks to M&K Sound MPS1611P reference monitors, it seemed like a tragic bit of false economy to cheap out on the device that's actually getting the music to the speakers. I've had a pair of Audioengine A2 White speakers for nearly five happy years now, so I have a lot of respect for Audioengine's products. They make superb, no-nonsense audio gear at prices that can only be called "disruptive" in an industry famous for bombast and snake oil. By way of example, the Pangea Audio AC 9SE MKII Signature Power Cable - 1.5 Meter costs more than the B1 and it's just a damn power cord. So when you consider just how much this little antenna box will improve your quality of life, especially compared to the comically diminishing returns to be had in the audiophile underworld of overpriced copper, $190 isn't just reasonable, it's CHEAP! Fortunately, the B1 performs like anything but a cheap device. Pairing has been quick and hassle-free with both my Mac computer and Android phone (LG Nexus 5). The signal strength has been rock solid, even from rooms away. The connectivity is simply flawless (at least for me), and that's the highest praise I can give any wireless gadget—as a category, wireless networking devices tend to be finicky, failure-prone, and frustrating. The B1 is not. Audioengine really doesn't make a big enough deal about the onboard DAC—it's the B1's secret sauce, and the reason it's worth the premium over much cheaper competing options. Poking around the "Tech Specs" sections of Audioengine's catalog, I discovered that the B1 contains the same DAC (AKM AK4396) used in their highly regarded D1 and D3 standalone DACs, as well as their new flagship HD6 powered speakers. This is a Very Good Thing, and makes the B1 a totally unique product (to my knowledge): perhaps the world's only 24-bit Bluetooth DAC. But what about the sound? I did a quick A/B listening test of the same track played through the B1 and the HRT - Music Streamer II, which is my wired DAC. I'm sorry to say that compared to a good wired DAC, there's really no contest—the sound quality penalty for going wireless is noticeable and significant, but the experience of wireless music through good speakers is magical enough that I'll take the tradeoff. That's not to say that it doesn't sound good, but where the Music Streamer renders music crisp, detailed, and clean, the B1 produces a more Bose-like sound with aggressive highs and exaggerated, rumbling lows. Mids are the B1's saving grace, though, and vocals sound beautiful. I suspect, however, that this is attributable to the limitations of Bluetooth and not because the B1's onboard DAC is inherently inferior. That said, unless you're used to the orchestral precision of a wired DAC, you're unlikely to find anything to complain about—with decent source files and decent speakers, this will absolutely blow the doors off any dedicated Bluetooth speaker, most of which sound like someone jammed a car speaker into a perforated tin can upside down.

The sound was really good and it matches it's price

It was what I have been looking for. The sound was really good and it matches it's price. Now my table music system is temporarily finished and finally I can enjoy the music. The design is convenient and the link is stable, never off and on. When using aptX link, the light turn stable red. When using ordinary link, it is stable white. I use my Macbook for transferring high quality output of bluetooth signal to this receiver and find that the sound could be equal to wired link! I love it!

Super sound

Just got this little beauty today. Hooked it up to my high end system -- McIntosh amp and preamp, B&W Diamond 802s and all Cardas cables-- and my iPhone 7+. The sound quality and the spacial imaging is superb. It's the little white dot on top of the tuner.

Full Reviews