Wednesday 13 March 2013

First Look: 'auris' brings Bluetooth audio to legacy

The auris is an ultra compact Bluetooth adapter that promises to bring current iOS device compatibility to docks using Apple's now defunct 30-pin standard, equipment some owners spent hundreds of dollars on over the connector's ten-year reign. 



When Apple moved to the smaller Lightning I/O protocol with its latest iOS device lineup, more than a few users who upgraded to a new iPhone, iPad or iPod touch saw their legacy third party docks instantly become obsolete.

The hardware design is simple of the old 30-pin iPod shuffle, with a single multifunction button on the front and two volume actuators on the left side located directly above a pin-sized cutout for the built-in microphone. On the bottom, there's the old 30-pin connector and a 3.5mm line-out jack.

Interior, the celebrity of the display is a CSR8645 wired/wireless stereo ROM chip that sports Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, an ADC and DAC, provides for power administration and ascribing, encompasses a high value stereo codec and has built-in LED drivers, among other features.

Power is managed by a 250mAh electric battery good for 12 hours of off-dock use and the unit allegations when the closed into any powered dock, on the other hand, users can juice up using an vintage USB-to-30-pin twisted cord.


Sound quality from the little dongle was outstanding, delivering stereo audio over the A2DP1.2 and AVRCP1.4 Bluetooth profiles. The apt-X codec trials at 44.1kHz with a 16 bit deepness and permits for data rates up to 352kbps. CSR's DAC is more than adept of streaming the moderately compressed data to your dock of choice. There are a couple of niggling sound artifacts, though general the know-how is about 85 percent as good as plugging in a dedicated 30-pin apparatus.


When paired to an iOS device, the unit conveniently displays a electric electric battery grade icon in the rank bar. Interaction with the owner device, like altering tracks, is controlled via the capacity buttons.


At $49.99, the auris isn't precisely bargain. The concept to leverage Bluetooth in spanning the gap between legacy third party docks and new Lightning equipped iOS apparatus is innovative, but the product's execution is a bit needing. It is possible that future firmware revisions could rectify the issues we skilled, though, which would make the dongle a much more convincing purchase.

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