Help me find a dongle!
October 11, 2018 10:22 AM Subscribe
Desperately seeking a dongle which will allow me to pair bluetooth headphones to a device, and that I can plug into EITHER a headphone jack OR a USB port. Does this thing exist?
Response by poster: No, I don't want it to have both USB and headphone INPUTs, I want it to be able to plug into EITHER a USB port OR a headphone jack and allow me to pair a set of bluetooth headphones to whichever I happen to be plugged into currently.
posted by radiosilents at 10:35 AM on October 11, 2018
posted by radiosilents at 10:35 AM on October 11, 2018
I think a two-dongle solution may be your best (only)
option here. I've not encountered a thing such as you describe.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:44 AM on October 11, 2018
option here. I've not encountered a thing such as you describe.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:44 AM on October 11, 2018
Can you clarify what your use cases are?
This Pyle mixer is not a dongle but will plug into a computer via USB or you can use the 3.5mm output or RCA outputs for analog out. It appears that it might do what you're looking for, but has fairly dodgy reviews (which is common with that brand).
Here's another small mixer, but again with the mixed reviews.
If you hunt around with the search terms "usb audio interface bluetooth" and "usb mixer bluetooth" you might find something better.
I don't think there's anything small and inexpensive that does what you want, at least not reliably. It's just too much of an edge case.
posted by Candleman at 10:50 AM on October 11, 2018
This Pyle mixer is not a dongle but will plug into a computer via USB or you can use the 3.5mm output or RCA outputs for analog out. It appears that it might do what you're looking for, but has fairly dodgy reviews (which is common with that brand).
Here's another small mixer, but again with the mixed reviews.
If you hunt around with the search terms "usb audio interface bluetooth" and "usb mixer bluetooth" you might find something better.
I don't think there's anything small and inexpensive that does what you want, at least not reliably. It's just too much of an edge case.
posted by Candleman at 10:50 AM on October 11, 2018
Response by poster: Use case: I have a pair of bluetooth headphones. I'd like to pair them with multiple devices. Some of these devices will accept a USB input, some will accept a headphone jack input. I'd like one dongle to work in either situation.
Maybe this doesn't exist.
posted by radiosilents at 11:02 AM on October 11, 2018
Maybe this doesn't exist.
posted by radiosilents at 11:02 AM on October 11, 2018
They exist. You'll probably have to carry around both USB and 3.5mm cables as well as the transmitter puck with whatever you end up getting, I think that's the catch.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 11:11 AM on October 11, 2018
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 11:11 AM on October 11, 2018
Some of these devices will accept a USB input
Explaining what devices you're trying to connect to is important. If you need something that will support Android, that's a lot more limiting than something than computers that will have better driver coverage.
@I EAT TAPAS - that appears to a Bluetooth transmitter only according to the feature matrix. The two that are shown as having Bluetooth input appear to lack USB output.
posted by Candleman at 11:40 AM on October 11, 2018
Explaining what devices you're trying to connect to is important. If you need something that will support Android, that's a lot more limiting than something than computers that will have better driver coverage.
@I EAT TAPAS - that appears to a Bluetooth transmitter only according to the feature matrix. The two that are shown as having Bluetooth input appear to lack USB output.
posted by Candleman at 11:40 AM on October 11, 2018
A bluetooth transmitter is what you want. The transmitter needs to accept an audio input over 3.5mm or present itself as a USB Audio device to whatever you connect it to, which the device I EAT TAPAS does. It looks like it would do exactly what you want. (The feature matrix is a bit confusing, as it shows the outputs from the devices it connects to, rather than the inputs it accepts from said devices.)
There are also transmitters that only take audio inputs (typically 3.5 mm/RCA analog in), like this one; if you want to use one of those with USB, you can get a cheap USB Audio device like this USB-C model (for smartphones, newer Macs or PCs with a USB-C port) or this USB-A model (for Macs & PCs with an older USB-A port).
I'd go with the device I EAT TAPAS linked though, as that's one fewer dongle to worry about.
posted by Aleyn at 3:25 PM on October 11, 2018
There are also transmitters that only take audio inputs (typically 3.5 mm/RCA analog in), like this one; if you want to use one of those with USB, you can get a cheap USB Audio device like this USB-C model (for smartphones, newer Macs or PCs with a USB-C port) or this USB-A model (for Macs & PCs with an older USB-A port).
I'd go with the device I EAT TAPAS linked though, as that's one fewer dongle to worry about.
posted by Aleyn at 3:25 PM on October 11, 2018
Sorry, I'm still confused what's an input and what's an output. You have the headphones, USB devices, and headphone jack devices. You want a dongle that speaks USB, headphone jack, and bluetooth. But you don't want the dongle to have both USB and headphone inputs.
Which direction do you want the audio to flow?
I'm imagining you want a dongle where audio flows from the devices (via USB or headphone jack, depending on the device connected at the time) into the dongle, and the dongle then emits bluetooth to speak to the headphones. Is that right? But a couple of your comments seem to indicate you want the audio to go another direction?
Also, do you need a portable on-the-go device (battery powered?) or something that doesn't need to move a lot?
posted by zachlipton at 3:48 PM on October 11, 2018
Which direction do you want the audio to flow?
I'm imagining you want a dongle where audio flows from the devices (via USB or headphone jack, depending on the device connected at the time) into the dongle, and the dongle then emits bluetooth to speak to the headphones. Is that right? But a couple of your comments seem to indicate you want the audio to go another direction?
Also, do you need a portable on-the-go device (battery powered?) or something that doesn't need to move a lot?
posted by zachlipton at 3:48 PM on October 11, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
If not, then there are a lot of USB Bluetooth dongles. NewEgg has them. So does Amazon.
posted by Etrigan at 10:32 AM on October 11, 2018