# Shure rmce-bt1 (Bluetooth Communications Cable)



## JarryS88

Shure have just released a new Bluetooth Communications Cable which converts existing Shure SE215, SE315, SE425, SE535 and SE846 to Wireless Bluetooth with Microphone and Sound Isolation of up to 37dB.

http://www.shure.com/americas/products/accessories/earphones/earphone-headphone-cables/rmce-bt1

Product details are listed as:

Bluetooth® enabled communication cable with MMCX connectors for most Shure Sound Isolating™ earphones provides hour after hour of listening enjoyment with the freedom of wireless and simplicity of Bluetooth.
*Features*

*MMCX connectors for most Shure Sound Isolating™ earphones* provide hour after hour of listening enjoyment with the freedom of wireless and simplicity of Bluetooth.
Compatible models include SE215, SE315, SE425, SE535 and SE846. Earphones not included.

*Bluetooth 4 pairs with most phones, laptops and tablets*, with up to 8 hours of battery life and 30 feet (10 meters) of range.
Multi-point pairing enables pairing of up to two devices transitions from the office to on-the-go between multiple sources and media types.

*Control your world at your fingertips*: three-button remote and mic offers audio for phone calls, voice commands and other voice-activated device features.
*Enclosed, rechargeable lithium polymer battery *delivers up to 8 hours of listening from a single full charge; 15 minutes of charging delivers up to 2 hours of listening.
*Clothing clip stabilizes the wire* for security and stability during exercise and travel.

I'm very curious about the quality of these.  Unfortunate its using Bluetooth 4 and not 5.

No reviews up as of yet.  Price is $99 on Amazon


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## steveoidm

Not aptx or aptx-hd. Criminal for a new release.


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## joshnor713 (Sep 20, 2017)

steveoidm said:


> Not aptx or aptx-hd. Criminal for a new release.



This. What is Shure doing?

This appears to be targeted to their lower-end earphones, which is why they bundled them. Frankly, although it says it's compatible with higher end SE models, it defeats the purpose of doing that. You spent all this money on them and this cable will reduce the tracks to sub-par quality.

Wish we knew if Shure is planning a higher end model of this BT cable, with aptx.


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## viljamip

I looked at the FCC aproval images at: https://fccid.io/DD4-RMCE-BT1/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-3459429
It lookes like they use the ISSC IS2021S chip for the Bluetooth connection. http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/IS2021
It indeed does not support APTX. However it seems to support AAC which should work with at least iPhones which don't support APTX anyway. I could not find any mention of any name brand headphones that use that particular chip but Microchip is a reputable brand. I might give the Shure's cable a try.


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## joshnor713

viljamip said:


> I looked at the FCC aproval images at: https://fccid.io/DD4-RMCE-BT1/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-3459429
> It lookes like they use the ISSC IS2021S chip for the Bluetooth connection. http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/IS2021
> It indeed does not support APTX. However it seems to support AAC which should work with at least iPhones which don't support APTX anyway. I could not find any mention of any name brand headphones that use that particular chip but Microchip is a reputable brand. I might give the Shure's cable a try.



Nice find! Thanks


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## audioagni

This one claims to support AptX. It uses Qualcomm's CSR8645 chip. Anyone tried?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MMC...E215-SE535-SE846-SE315-UE900/32811698743.html


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## Ungaro

I found this on amazon 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QQMB1C?ref=emc_b_5_t

it's a great deal for 150$ with the se215 but am not sure if this cable is the same as the one priced at 99$ alone

because am planning to buy it for my se846


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## joshnor713

Ungaro said:


> I found this on amazon
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QQMB1C?ref=emc_b_5_t
> 
> ...



It's the same, this is just a bundle. I think they did this because this cable is more practical for the lower-end models. I hope that Shure throws its higher-end users a bone in the future.


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## theGatMan

I'm using the cable with my SE535's and have zero complaints.  Sounds great.  Battery life is good as well.


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## Ungaro

any reviews with the SE846?


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## johnston21

I’ve been using the Westone version with my 846’s for almost 1 year, and it has apt-x.


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## JarryS88

theGatMan said:


> I'm using the cable with my SE535's and have zero complaints. Sounds great. Battery life is good as well.


whats the noise isolation like?



johnston21 said:


> I’ve been using the Westone version with my 846’s for almost 1 year, and it has apt-x.


how much are they and where can you buy?  Do they also have noise isolation?


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## johnston21

Noise isolation is dependant on how your iems fit. Where to buy is a google away.


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## JarryS88

johnston21 said:


> Noise isolation is dependant on how your iems fit. Where to buy is a google away.



Id google it if I knew the full name of the product.

So they don't have active noise cancellation?


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## Ungaro

JarryS88 said:


> Id google it if I knew the full name of the product.
> 
> So they don't have active noise cancellation?



The IEM: Shure SE846

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DIUGW6A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_qJiYzb2C7VZE2

The Westone bluetooth cable

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H3XS2ZQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_7KiYzb7JEHRFZ

The IEM has sound isolation not active noise cancelling


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## swenak

What about audio quality? Differences BT vs cable? Thanks!


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## theGatMan (Sep 25, 2017)

JarryS88 said:


> whats the noise isolation like?
> 
> 
> how much are they and where can you buy?  Do they also have noise isolation?



Noise isolation is a function of the IEM - in the case of the 535, -37 dB.  In other words, you can be in a plane with a screaming baby in the row behind you and you won't hear it.  Arguably far superior to active cancellation.

The retail price was 99.00 USD and I bought them from an authorized Shure dealer on Amazon.  The 535's cost around $500 USD, have had two sets of them for many years now.


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## Ungaro

theGatMan said:


> Noise isolation is a function of the IEM - in the case of the 535, -37 dB.  In other words, you can be in a plane with a screaming baby in the row behind you and you won't hear it.  Arguably far superior to active cancellation.
> 
> The retail price was 99.00 USD and I bought them from an authorized Shure dealer on Amazon.  The 535's cost around $500 USD, have had two sets of them for many years now.



All the shure's SE series has -37dB noise isolation from 215 to 846 
It depends on the fit of the ear tips


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## zolom (Sep 30, 2017)

I used the Westone Bluetooth cable with the Se215, the sound was somewhat muddy. Tried it with my Se846, with more satisfactory results, but I am afraid  that a pricy se846 earbud might get lost with this unsecured cable.

Two days ago I received the new FiiO F9 IEMs. Those are wired MMCX esrbuds at 110$. Connected them to the Westone cable (needs some trimming to the connectors' plastic). Boy, this combination sounds GREAT!!! much, much better than the Se215. These are triple hybrid drivers IEMs.

Also, do have a look at the bluetooth cable of the Beyerdynamics Xelento wireless. This cable may be sold separately (price unknown yet). It has MMCX connectors, 5.5 hours battery, but most importantly, it supports APTX-HD!


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## viljamip

I got mine today and they paired with my iPhone without problems. There's just a slight hiss when no audio is playing on my SE535 but it doesn't bother me too much. I checked that the codec used for the audio stream is infact SBC despite the fact that the chip they used could have handled AAC. The audio cues telling how many hours battery you have left are quite of quite horrible quality. I guess they had little space for the audio files on the system. I have already had a few issues with the connection breaking up but I'll have to see if it is usable.


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## viljamip

viljamip said:


> I got mine today and they paired with my iPhone without problems. There's just a slight hiss when no audio is playing on my SE535 but it doesn't bother me too much. I checked that the codec used for the audio stream is infact SBC despite the fact that the chip they used could have handled AAC. The audio cues telling how many hours battery you have left are quite of quite horrible quality. I guess they had little space for the audio files on the system. I have already had a few issues with the connection breaking up but I'll have to see if it is usable.








It seems like they actually support AAC. I just could not get them to use AAC on either my Mac or iPhone.


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## Ungaro (Oct 4, 2017)

viljamip said:


> I got mine today and they paired with my iPhone without problems. There's just a slight hiss when no audio is playing on my SE535 but it doesn't bother me too much. I checked that the codec used for the audio stream is infact SBC despite the fact that the chip they used could have handled AAC. The audio cues telling how many hours battery you have left are quite of quite horrible quality. I guess they had little space for the audio files on the system. I have already had a few issues with the connection breaking up but I'll have to see if it is usable.



How do you know if they're using AAC or not?

and would the AAC support improve the sound quality for the SE846 with the apple music?

I got mine yesterday and am so disappointed with the BT1 and SE846 in sound quality 

Check my review on amazon

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2QJHTS14U6EEL/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm


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## viljamip

Ungaro said:


> How do you know if they're using AAC or not?
> 
> and would the AAC support improve the sound quality for the SE846 with the apple music?
> 
> ...


I followed this guide to see the codec used:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions...-bluetooth-device-supports-over-a2dp/42190656

I don’t know if there is a way to see the logs without a Mac. 
I believe that AAC would improve the sound quite a bit. But the problem with the SE846 might be their higher power demand so the bluetooth cable has hard time driving them.


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## Ungaro

viljamip said:


> I followed this guide to see the codec used:
> https://stackoverflow.com/questions...-bluetooth-device-supports-over-a2dp/42190656
> 
> I don’t know if there is a way to see the logs without a Mac.
> I believe that AAC would improve the sound quite a bit. But the problem with the SE846 might be their higher power demand so the bluetooth cable has hard time driving them.



but the SE846 is 9 ohm only?


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## PakaPaka

On a Mac, you can enable AptX and AAC over bluetooth using a developer utility called Bluetooth Explorer. I have a pair of Beats X and ran into the same issue where music was streaming in SBC initially but now I'm getting AAC. Here's a link that explains how to do it:

https://www.areilly.com/2017/07/29/enabling-aac-and-aptx-over-bluetooth-on-macos/


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## viljamip

PakaPaka said:


> On a Mac, you can enable AptX and AAC over bluetooth using a developer utility called Bluetooth Explorer. I have a pair of Beats X and ran into the same issue where music was streaming in SBC initially but now I'm getting AAC. Here's a link that explains how to do it:
> 
> https://www.areilly.com/2017/07/29/enabling-aac-and-aptx-over-bluetooth-on-macos/


I tried to do just that but I could not get it to work on the Shures. But I have never done that before so maybe I just missed something.


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## atarim (Oct 6, 2017)

I have this cable for few days now. The quality itself is very good, sound cues are very low quality tho, connection is solid I'd say about 98 proc of time. You get few drops here and where, but it is better than mine sennheiser wireless, which have quite an unreliable Bluetooth performance outside.

I don't have wires to test difference between it and wireless performance, but with some experimentation with tips (I found foam tips kill sound quality, silicone ones sounds great) se215 sounds nicely. I really don't miss apt-x, using only Spotify, so dunno if apt-x would give any advantage? Using Sony phone as source. Will update in the future if something good or bad comes out.

Also would like to hear if anyone take a shot and bought one of those cables from aliexpress with apt-x support?


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## HeadphoneBrnout

It's sad to see SHURE sell such a basic product at such a price. I mean, come on. At $100 you'd at least expect aptX, if not the amazing aptX HD. This thing has a cost of $30 at most and they're asking three times that. No thanks.


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## theGatMan

HeadphoneBrnout said:


> It's sad to see SHURE sell such a basic product at such a price. I mean, come on. At $100 you'd at least expect aptX, if not the amazing aptX HD. This thing has a cost of $30 at most and they're asking three times that. No thanks.



Your loss.  These things are great.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

theGatMan said:


> Your loss.  These things are great.



Just purchased a pair. Waiting for their arrival. XD


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## ecopicture (Oct 15, 2017)

I had been using the Shure BT-1 cable for about 3 weeks. Loving it.

Pairing it with my iPhone 7plus. Playing music with itunes and downloaded hi res Tidal files.

I had use it to drive Shure 215, Westone W10, Fenders Fxa5 and Mee audio Px (massdrop version)

BT 1 works well with those iems and its near wired quality. Infact W10 seems to sound clearer using BT1.

Even the hard to drive Px seems to be ok on it. Except the sound stage seems abit smaller for Px.

I had tried BT1 against westone bluetooth cable and purdio 840. (Both with better declared specs like aptx etc.) Both cable lost to BT-1. The volume seems lower and under powered. And had to tune like max audio to drive a Px when using a purdio 840. While BT-1 can do it with like 60-70% when driving a PX.

Overall i find its the best performed and best valued cable in the market.

Note: i find the sound to be weaker when pairing with my macbook air. Guess having an older bluetooth player will affect the sound quality too.


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## pubtronic

JarryS88 said:


> Shure have just released a new Bluetooth Communications Cable which converts existing Shure SE215, SE315, SE425, SE535 and SE846 to Wireless Bluetooth with Microphone and Sound Isolation of up to 37dB.
> 
> http://www.shure.com/americas/products/accessories/earphones/earphone-headphone-cables/rmce-bt1
> 
> ...


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## pubtronic

I am in the market for the SE215 with Bluetooth. I plan to listen to music and also use this for my Webex conferencing and answering phone calls. How good is the clarity on phone calls , specially the mic.


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## JarryS88

So is there any third party mmcx Bluetooth cables with atx or atxhd?


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## NeoteriX

JarryS88 said:


> So is there any third party mmcx Bluetooth cables with atx or atxhd?



The Westone Bluetooth Cable is MMCX and supports Apt-X. Unfortunately it has its own share of reception issues.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

I've been using this module for about a week now and the biggest issue I have with it is a constant static sound caused by low quality electronics used in this made in China trash product. Don't waste your $100, I have done it and regret it since the "Legendary Performance" company hasn't even implemented the APTX (HD) codec compatibility, which would have surely outweighed the annoying static sound. And absolutely don't purchase it if you have the 400s or higher. Wait until the next gen Bluetooth module from Shure if you have patience, I think they'll get it right next time.

Best regards!


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## HeadphoneBrnout

pubtronic said:


> I am in the market for the SE215 with Bluetooth. I plan to listen to music and also use this for my Webex conferencing and answering phone calls. How good is the clarity on phone calls , specially the mic.


I've asked the person on the other end about the quality and it seems like the mic is quite good. Read my previous post for more info.


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## ecopicture

HeadphoneBrnout said:


> I've been using this module for about a week now and the biggest issue I have with it is a constant static sound caused by low quality electronics used in this made in China trash product. Don't waste your $100, I have done it and regret it since the "Legendary Performance" company hasn't even implemented the APTX (HD) codec compatibility, which would have surely outweighed the annoying static sound. And absolutely don't purchase it if you have the 400s or higher. Wait until the next gen Bluetooth module from Shure if you have patience, I think they'll get it right next time.
> 
> Best regards!




Hi, Had you tried and compared Shure BT 1 with other on paper stats packed bluetooth cable? e.g. westone and purdio etc? 

I had tried and compared them. The short of codex didnt really caused it to loose out. Infact it drives the iem much better than the rest.


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## ecopicture

Recently saw a new Audio techinca AT-WLA 1. Have SSC and Aptx too. but not sure if they will faired better. 

I only get to try the Audio Techinca ATH-CKR 75 BT BK earphones, which seems to use the same cable. It didnt sound great to me thou. 

https://www.audio-technica.co.jp/atj/show_model.php?modelId=2963


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## pubtronic

I saw the Bluetooth Adapter from FIIO. The BTR1. So you can actually attach your SE215 cable to BTR1. FIIO also sells a short MMCX type cable.  

http://www.fiio.net/en/products/77


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## HeadphoneBrnout (Oct 31, 2017)

pubtronic said:


> I saw the Bluetooth Adapter from FIIO. The BTR1. So you can actually attach your SE215 cable to BTR1. FIIO also sells a short MMCX type cable.
> 
> http://www.fiio.net/en/products/77


What about pricing?

P.S.: I've searched for it and it sells for $50 on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FiiO-BTR1...p-PRE-ORDER-AVAILABLE-EARLY-OCT-/302468751647. Go figure.


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## Amber Rain

I've been considering both the Shure and Fiio options (I already have the Fiio short MMCX cable which I use with my 535s - _just_ about the right length to fit your DAP in a shirt pocket). I'd only likely be using it with my iPhone (6) when I walk my dog (and not my DAP as it doesn't have bluetooth), so Apt X isn't really an issue. However the Fiio seems more versatile in that you can plug in any IEMs / headphones and of course it's half the price. Any thoughts from those that have / or tried both?


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## deepee (Nov 24, 2017)

I just bought this BT1. First one, did not charge for more than 10 sec at a time, had
to return it to the shop.

Second one: For music it works well with my SE215 and my SE535. Good sound, fluent.
But the phone calls are catastrophic: the sound I get is broken, sometimes repeated. 
This is on my Samsung Note4, which works well on phone calls with other bluetooth devices. 
Basically, it is useless for calls. Anyone else had this problem?


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## m4rkw

I've had the BT1 cable for a few weeks now. I bought it with the 215s and although they were good, I've now upgraded to the 535 ltd editions.

I mostly like the cable but it has at least 3 software defects, the first two of which I consider to be fairly serious:

1) When paired with low impedance / high sensitivity earphones like the 535s the battery and connection voice prompts are ear-piercingly loud and there doesn't seem to be any way to turn them off or even down a bit (please correct me if I'm missing something!)

2) When the battery is very low the battery voice prompts repeat over and over again every 30 seconds or so making them unusable even though there's still enough power left to play audio.

3) When connected to two devices, whenever either of the devices tries to play audio it will interrupt the other one. Bose headphones don't do this - once one device is playing it retains priority until it stops playing. With the shures, you can be watching a movie on your computer and if the phone is connected at the same time, any sound playing on the phone will interrupt the movie which is quite annoying.

I tried talking to a UK customer support rep to ask if there will be firmware updates in the future but the guy didn't really seem to have a clue. I've sent an email to the EU support address in germany, hopefully they'll have a bit more information.

I think the first and second issues are serious defects and we should try to put pressure on shure to address them even if it means we have to send the cables off to be re-flashed. Still crossing my fingers that they support user software updates.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

m4rkw said:


> I've had the BT1 cable for a few weeks now. I bought it with the 215s and although they were good, I've now upgraded to the 535 ltd editions.
> 
> I mostly like the cable but it has at least 3 software defects, the first two of which I consider to be fairly serious:
> 
> ...


I agree 100%. I've made quite the fuss with the Shure support guys and hopefully they'll forward the huge quality issues to the engineers and financial department since the price was horrific for what it did.


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## m4rkw

HeadphoneBrnout said:


> I agree 100%. I've made quite the fuss with the Shure support guys and hopefully they'll forward the huge quality issues to the engineers and financial department since the price was horrific for what it did.



Where did you complain to?  Maybe if we all complain to the same department in the same country it might help to put pressure on them to sort it out. I have a horrible feeling though that the software is baked on ROM and that isn't going to get fixed unless there's an enormous backlash. I know two people with this cable, one of whom has the 535s and he's pretty happy with it, so not sure how many people are going to bother complaining.

Another couple of relatively benign quality issues I noticed were the weird little white label that was stuck to the cable very tightly. No reason for it to be there and it's very difficult to get it off without marking the cable. Also the little plastic cable routing thing is totally useless as far as I can tell, it's presumably only there because whatever chinese manufacturer they used were told to stick one on so it looked more like a shure product. I'd love to see someone who can actually use that thing with enough cable left to run to their ears!


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## HeadphoneBrnout

m4rkw said:


> Where did you complain to?  Maybe if we all complain to the same department in the same country it might help to put pressure on them to sort it out. I have a horrible feeling though that the software is baked on ROM and that isn't going to get fixed unless there's an enormous backlash. I know two people with this cable, one of whom has the 535s and he's pretty happy with it, so not sure how many people are going to bother complaining.
> 
> Another couple of relatively benign quality issues I noticed were the weird little white label that was stuck to the cable very tightly. No reason for it to be there and it's very difficult to get it off without marking the cable. Also the little plastic cable routing thing is totally useless as far as I can tell, it's presumably only there because whatever chinese manufacturer they used were told to stick one on so it looked more like a shure product. I'd love to see someone who can actually use that thing with enough cable left to run to their ears!


Yeah, again, I totally agree. That cable routing gimmick is laughable at best. Anyway, I commented on the YT video presentation of the BT1, returned the item back to the store and also sent emails to their support and sales (if I remember correctly) departments in Europe. I don't care if they don't change it. It's their problem if they don't have a solid international communications channel for complaints, and if that's true, I want them to fail since the premium audio market is not to be tainted by some established, greedy manufacturer that thinks their past products have brainwashed our objective thinking.


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## m4rkw

For me it's still better than using a wired cable (I have the iPhone 8) so I guess I'll live with it and hope they fix the software issues.

I monitored the bluetooth connection from my mac and can see that it's using the SBC codec with a bitrate of around 315kb/sec. I tried forcing AAC but it doesn't support it, shame as that's what most of my music is in. So I got to thinking - if it's encoding to 315kb/sec SBC then it seems like there would be an advantage to using lossless audio because then the bluetooth encoder is starting with a higher quality source than if it was transcoding say 256kbps AAC or 320kbps MP3. So even though I won't hear the full depth of the lossless recording over bluetooth, the resulting SBC encoding should theoretically be better.

Is my logic right here?


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## HeadphoneBrnout

m4rkw said:


> For me it's still better than using a wired cable (I have the iPhone 8) so I guess I'll live with it and hope they fix the software issues.
> 
> I monitored the bluetooth connection from my mac and can see that it's using the SBC codec with a bitrate of around 315kb/sec. I tried forcing AAC but it doesn't support it, shame as that's what most of my music is in. So I got to thinking - if it's encoding to 315kb/sec SBC then it seems like there would be an advantage to using lossless audio because then the bluetooth encoder is starting with a higher quality source than if it was transcoding say 256kbps AAC or 320kbps MP3. So even though I won't hear the full depth of the lossless recording over bluetooth, the resulting SBC encoding should theoretically be better.
> 
> Is my logic right here?


I really don't know what to say. There are many variables that can influence the final experience of listening, at least that's what I'm guessing. But yeah, if you read my previous posts, I was also complaining that these don't have any high def codec support like aptX (HD). Then we wouldn't have to waste time calculating audio fidelity, we'd just play our favorite flacs and just enjoy.


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## m4rkw

You might, iOS doesn't support AptX anyway


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## HeadphoneBrnout

m4rkw said:


> You might, iOS doesn't support AptX anyway


That's kind of unfortunate. That's why I'm sticking to Android. The advantages of open source coding are just too good to drop. Anyway, isn't there any support for high-end codecs on iOS?


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## m4rkw

I don't know what "high-end codecs" means. I suspect Apple don't support Apt-X because they have their W1 bluetooth chip which is exclusively in their Beats headphones. If they supported Apt-X more people might buy sennheiser and other brands that support Apt-X rather than Beats headphones.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

m4rkw said:


> I don't know what "high-end codecs" means. I suspect Apple don't support Apt-X because they have their W1 bluetooth chip which is exclusively in their Beats headphones. If they supported Apt-X more people might buy sennheiser and other brands that support Apt-X rather than Beats headphones.


Beats... lmao


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## m4rkw

I didn't say there was anything good about Beats headphones. But that's the kind of thing I can see Apple doing, making their own proprietary chip/codec and then shunning the competitions ones.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

m4rkw said:


> I didn't say there was anything good about Beats headphones. *But that's the kind of thing I can see Apple doing, making their own proprietary chip/codec and then shunning the competitions ones*.


Oh, yeah. You can see that from a mile away.


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## m4rkw

Just discovered a trick, when turning the BT1 on just as it's about to say "POWER ON!" if you hit volume down it shuts up 

Haven't found a way to silence the other painfully loud alerts though   still waiting on a response from Shure about the issue. I was going to return it and get either the Westone cable or a Fiio BTR1 but neither have the kind of battery life i need. The BT1 lasts more than 12 hours which is awesome. Think I'm gonna wait for the Ear Studio and get that.


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## m4rkw

from Shure:



> Hi Mark,
> 
> Thanks for getting back in touch. I've heard back.
> 
> ...


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## m4rkw

> Hi Tom
> 
> So am I to understand that you don't intend to resolve this issue?
> 
> ...





> Hi Mark,
> 
> Unfortunately there is nothing we can resolve in this instance. The unit has been designed as a standalone unit and not to be firmware updateable. The BT1 voice was set at a level designed for the majority of earphones it would be paired with.
> 
> ...


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## HeadphoneBrnout

Lol


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## m4rkw

> ***UPDATE***
> 
> Hi Mark,
> 
> ...





> Hi
> 
> Not really sure I understand what you're saying.. do you mean you'll fix the issue and send me a fixed one?
> 
> Mark





> Hi Mark,
> 
> Whilst it's functioning ok, there's a suspicion that your unit is louder than it should be.
> 
> ...





> Hmm. Is there a difference between the standalone BT1 cable and the one that ships with SE215s? I bought the latter as I didn't have the 535s at the time. Everything I could find online suggested they were exactly the same but maybe that's wrong.
> 
> To be honest, it would be much quicker and easier for me to just order another BT1 (eg the standalone cable) from amazon and compare it myself, if you really think it's going to be different. I've seen a lot of people with the same issue though so I'm a bit skeptical.
> 
> ...





> A friend of mine at work has the standalone BT1 cable, also with SE535s. He said the same thing - the power on voice prompt and the off-beeps are painfully loud. I just tested his cable with my 535s and it's exactly the same.





> Given my testing of two separate cables and the many people I've seen leaving similar reviews on amazon and discussing this problem on forums, I'm fairly sure my unit is working as it was designed to. Rather than a manufacturing defect, it's a design flaw. They've obviously been tested with higher impedance / lower sensitivity models like the 215s without consideration to the higher sensitivity IEMs. Frankly I thought the prompts were a bit loud with the 215s but they at least didn't hurt my ears.
> 
> Why this has happened is more of a mystery. Shure are meant to be better than this. My 535LTDs are amazing, this BT1 doesn't even feel like it was made by Shure - more like it was outsourced to some low-level manufacturer who weren't given a very clear spec or any oversight of quality control.
> 
> ...




No reply yet. I don't think they're going to do anything about it. Sad times for Shure.


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## deepee

m4rkw said:


> No reply yet. I don't think they're going to do anything about it. Sad times for Shure.




I think Shure's customer service is great. But the points raised here are probably uniform for everyone who has bought the
BT1. Mine is also very very load with the SE535 but reasonable with the SE215 (although the voice is completely sibilant with both).
The other problems reported also happen here and there.

As its a new product, if Shure already has two kinds of products, where one of them is already improved, then it would be interesting
to know, and very appreciative if they can replace the problematic units. However, my intuition says that a new version is yet to come.


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## m4rkw

> Hi Mark,
> 
> Thanks for your mails.
> 
> ...



"strong" lol. EarStudio it is! This piece of junk is going back to amazon.


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## m4rkw

Hmm "decibel levels aside" - that's actually an interesting point. I've just replied asking them if they can measure the dB level coming from the BT1's prompts and off beeps.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

m4rkw said:


> No reply yet. I don't think they're going to do anything about it. Sad times for Shure.


Sad times indeed


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## m4rkw

> Hi Mark,
> 
> That's going to be really tricky to measure, especially to get a reliable result.
> 
> ...





> lol. if only one of us had access to a team of professional audio engineers that measure these kinds of things day in day out as part of the operation of their business selling audio equipment.


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## Gnawbert

I wanted to echo what a few others have said.  I bought the Shure Bluetooth cable for my SE846s, and when pairing with my iPhone these things were WAY too loud.  I could only go one or two from the very bottom without discomfort.  Frankly, I actually think I might have damaged my hearing a little by starting up Spotify from a previous volume on a different pair of headphones at close to 50%.  A week later and I'm hearing a faint _ssssssss_ in my left ear.  Hopefully it goes away.  When I paired the Bluetooth cable + SE846 with my iPod Nano (8th gen) there was a lot more flexibility in the volume range.  Additionally, these things are NOT silent.  There's an ever persistent _tssssscch_ in the background.  And, as others have said, it uses the SBC codec, not AAC.  Ultimately, I returned these via Amazon and went with the Westones, which I feel are better over all and don't drive my SE846s as loudly.  Your mileage may vary.


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## m4rkw

How’s the battery life with the westone cable? I got well over 12 hours with the BT1.


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## Gnawbert

m4rkw said:


> How’s the battery life with the westone cable? I got well over 12 hours with the BT1.



I can't say with any certainty as I've never used either for more than 6-8 hours.  I think the Shure seems to be rated for more hours, and I'd believe it based upon the larger size of the battery pack on the Shure cable.  Westone seems to have split it into 2 smaller parts.  I can't imagine the Westone getting 12 hours, but I'm also surprised the Shure one does.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

Gnawbert said:


> I wanted to echo what a few others have said.  I bought the Shure Bluetooth cable for my SE846s, and when pairing with my iPhone these things were WAY too loud.  I could only go one or two from the very bottom without discomfort.  Frankly, I actually think I might have damaged my hearing a little by starting up Spotify from a previous volume on a different pair of headphones at close to 50%.  A week later and I'm hearing a faint _ssssssss_ in my left ear.  Hopefully it goes away.  When I paired the Bluetooth cable + SE846 with my iPod Nano (8th gen) there was a lot more flexibility in the volume range.  Additionally, these things are NOT silent.  There's an ever persistent _tssssscch_ in the background.  And, as others have said, it uses the SBC codec, not AAC.  Ultimately, I returned these via Amazon and went with the Westones, which I feel are better over all and don't drive my SE846s as loudly.  Your mileage may vary.


Yep, that's exactly my experience. I think the _tssssss_ sound is definitely caused by low quality electronics; I wish I knew more about it so that I could give you specific parts, but yeah, that's the bottom line.

That's actually present in quite a lot of Bluetooth headphones, but at a $100 price point it shouldn't have been a problem.


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## m4rkw

I wonder if anyone makes (or could make) MMCX resistors. Male on one side, female on the other, 1kohm resistance between them and as small as possible. That should help with the volume issue if they could be made.


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## golfinggino

I picked up the se215 with this Bluetooth cable and I think it sounds pretty good, I tested some of my music tracks and was impressed.   I wont be listening to music on it though ( that is reserved for my isine 10 and edition x   )   I bought the shures mainly for podcasts and for watching iptv on my laptop and it sounds great for that better then my other Bluetooth earbuds.


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## tarasis (Feb 3, 2018)

Got one of these recently from a deal that Cyberport (Germany) did with the Shure SE535s (299 for the headphones + the BT1).

I'm shocked at how loud the announcement voice and other beeps are, and also the fact that the minimum volume (i.e 1 pip on the iPhone's volume bar) is about the same 4 or 5 pips when using the wire. I literally cannot turn the volume down, anything lower is off. Quality was perfectly fine (yes hiss was noticeable with no music playing, but once playing it wasn't noticeable).

Have sent an email to Shure's German support asking if there is any way to turn off the voices (happy to use the phone's UI) and recalibrate the volume. Although I know from reading the thread there isn't much hope and there isn't upgradable firmware (slightly shocking to me in a 2017 product that has a USB socket).

Now to try and find some other BT cable I can purchase in Germany and use with the Shure's.

I see http://www.meeaudio.com/BTA-BTX1-BK/ online, Amazon DE which mostly seems to be units from Okcsc https://www.amazon.de/OKCSC-Bluetooth-Kopfhörer-Ersatz-Upgrade-MMCX-headphones/dp/B077GNBPX1/

At €9 these ones are ridiculously cheap https://www.amazon.de/Bluetooth-4-1...17699692&sr=1-4&keywords=bluetooth+mmcx+shure


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## freebil

Hello. I bought shure se215 blue with bluetooth cable, but the bass is completely disappointed. There is very little bass. If I buy a 3.5mm cable, it will be better?
Has anyone try se215 with bluetooth and with regular 3.5mm cable?
Thanks.


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## HeadphoneBrnout

freebil said:


> Hello. I bought shure se215 blue with bluetooth cable, but the bass is completely disappointed. There is very little bass. If I buy a 3.5mm cable, it will be better?
> Has anyone try se215 with bluetooth and with regular 3.5mm cable?
> Thanks.


Everything is disappointing in the Bluetooth thing. It doesn't have aptX, much less aptX HD, so the sound is garbage. Get the normal 3.5mm cable for the best performance.


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## eganist

Good afternoon, humans.

Came across this thread after reading about the Shure RMCE-BT1 volume issue once I received it and wondered why volume at 1 tick sounds like 5 ticks up with the cable. However, I've got a mobile development/reverse engineering background, and at least on Samsung (and possibly other Android) devices, there's a workaround for this issue. The following assumes the same specs as my current phone, a late-model Galaxy running Android 8 (Oreo).


Disconnect your RMCE-BT1 from your phone (no need to unpair!). You may also need to turn Bluetooth off on your phone, but I didn't.
Enable Developer Options on your un-rooted device (don't root. You don't need to root to do this!). You should google this (android developer mode) as I don't believe my new account status would/should permit me to post links. It's straightforward.
Once enabled, go to the base Settings menu. Scroll to the bottom to find the Developer options.







Once in there, scroll 1/3 of the way down to find "Disable absolute volume." Enable that setting.






Re-connect it back to your phone.

Keep in mind this disables absolute volume for all bluetooth devices. I'm not yet versed on how to make this setting apply per device (it might just not be doable). It also doesn't resolve the native loudness of the voice indicators on the device itself.

I'll probably still return it, but this at least made it usable for me on my Galaxy. I can't speak to whether similar settings exist on other Android or iOS devices, but hopefully it'll get you guys cranking to dig through your phones and see what you can find.


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## psikey (Mar 14, 2019)

I just got a 2nd pair of SE846's for use with my Fiio BTR3 and short cable leaving my other set with premium cable.

It came with the Shure BT1. What can I say...... absolute garbage sound via SBC plus the loud hiss. My old Samsung H3000 aptx adapter even sounds better.

Do yourselves a favour and get a BTR3. Sounds nearly as good as wired when using LDAC. Got my BTR3 new for ~£50 and has 10hr+ battery life.


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## hamikaze

Hello does anyone find the sound of the voice in the shure BT1 is incredibly loud ? Like the sound of "connected" etc. Also the bip when you have an incoming call or when you finish a call. I have been talking to shure support they don't quite get the problem, maybe it's just me that have low treshold for noise but it's painful when you are chilling with music when suddenly the beep sound of an incoming call blast in your ear like hell 

thanks


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## m4rkw

hamikaze said:


> Hello does anyone find the sound of the voice in the shure BT1 is incredibly loud ? Like the sound of "connected" etc. Also the bip when you have an incoming call or when you finish a call. I have been talking to shure support they don't quite get the problem, maybe it's just me that have low treshold for noise but it's painful when you are chilling with music when suddenly the beep sound of an incoming call blast in your ear like hell
> 
> thanks



Yes, it's awful. I complained to Shure about this and they just fobbed me off. It's much more noticeable with lower impedance IEMs like the SE535, with the SE215 that the BT1 generally comes with the volume is more reasonable. I found with the SE535s I had to always remember to turn it on or off with the earpieces out of my ears as it was so loud it actually hurt them. I don't know if there are any applicable laws but I would hope that selling devices that are so prone to damage your ears like that is illegal. The BT1 is clearly not fit for purpose and should be recalled imo.


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## hamikaze

Anyone have any experience with the BT2 ? Does it fix the overly loud volume problem of the BT1?

My SE315 died 2 days ago (the left earphone), my faith in shure is really melting down

Anyone can give me advice for an alternative for other good in ear Bluetooth earphones ?

Thanks


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## blockchainhero

I have the BTR2 and I’m very impressed with it. There is no shouting woman, and I have never experienced a drop out, even when walking a significant ways from my phone.


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## Opus131

Well, ran into this issue as well. Announcer just likes to rape my ears and minimal volume on phone is too loud.

No solution besides getting a new cable, right?


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