# FiiO RC-BT Bluetooth Cable with MMCX Connectors



## FiiO

In response to the needs of transforming wired headphones into wireless, we specially made this Bluetooth cable RC-BT to ensure you get the best out of your music, anytime anywhere.


The RC-BT is a Bluetooth cable with MMCX connectors for IEMs designed to work best with FiiO earphones, such as FH1, F9, F9 Pro and FH5. Its standard MMCX connector means you can transform many over-the-ear wearing earphones out on the market into a wireless set with the RC-BT. 


* Qualcomm CSR8645 Bluetooth 4.1 chip
* Supports the SBC, AAC, and aptX audio formats

* MMCX connector is compatible with many brands

* Three-button multi-function in-line control center

* Make calls with just one button

* 10 hours of continuous playback

* Supports connecting with 2 separate Bluetooth devices at once

* Visible battery meter on iOS devices

* Simple blue and red indicators

* Lightweight for easier carrying


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## Marco Angel

This is more like the competition to the shures and westone? I'm looking into them for my f9 and the gym.
But I also want the future btr3 for the f9 and also your fh5. Any news on them?


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## FiiO

Marco Angel said:


> This is more like the competition to the shures and westone? I'm looking into them for my f9 and the gym.
> But I also want the future btr3 for the f9 and also your fh5. Any news on them?





> We are testing the engineer sample of BTR3 now, and all the features have been finished but we are working in the RF , anyway, we should release it in June . also there will have another model call BTR5 in the future with BAL output and better DAC/AMP, the BTR3 used the same AKM4376A as BTR1.We are testing the engineer sample of BTR3 now, and all the features have been finished but we are working in the RF , anyway, we should release it in June . also there will have another model call BTR5 in the future with BAL output and better DAC/AMP, the BTR3 used the same AKM4376A as BTR1.





JamesFiiO said:


> some photos of FH5 ( 1 dynamic + 3 BA ). noted that the final color has not decided yet. but should be grey or black , and the red+blue CP maybe limited edition.


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## dualsyste

Nice! Look forward to testing this one with IT01.


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## Marco Angel

is the BTR5 will keep the mic for making calls?
And how about the date release of the btr5 and the FH5?
Jus curious is there plans on a F10 as an update of the F9. Cause my F9 is in perfect conditions  but a new member of the fio family is always welcome (and i love the metal construction)


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## Researcher

Actually we need fast charging !!!  2 hours of charging time are really long considering battery capacity is only 120 mah.


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## slumber86

New Etymotic IEMs have MMCX but is not 100% standard, RC-BT will work with them?


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## FiiO

Researcher said:


> Actually we need fast charging !!!  2 hours of charging time are really long considering battery capacity is only 120 mah.


Dear friend,

The charging current of the RC-BT is small so it may take some time for charging. Fast charging is not supported. 

Best regards


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## Ynot1

Is there a way to know the dac and if this is single ended mode? Or it doesn't matter because sound is at least as good as wired?


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## Marco Angel

I'll wait for mine and also wait for the btr3. Best hope to me


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## FiiO

Ynot1 said:


> Is there a way to know the dac and if this is single ended mode? Or it doesn't matter because sound is at least as good as wired?


Dear friend,

The RC-BT doesn't have the DAC chip. You may have a try in the audio show in North America first: http://www.fiio.net/en/story/645 

Best regards


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## xtinct

how is the quality of the mic of rc-bt? i am using Shure BT1 and the phone call quality of the mic is below average. The other party could not hear me unless i pull the mic next to my mouth. And even so, it doesn't sound clear.


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## Ynot1

There is a F9 basic version. How about a F9 basic basic version with this hard wired?


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## Researcher

it would better have aptx-HD and LDAC.


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## Marco Angel

Researcher said:


> it would better have aptx-HD and LDAC.


I know! But price wise, and its target, like for gym or run porpoises, its ok I guess. A better btr3 btr5 or bigger to start a fight with Ifi, would be exiting


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## FiiO

Ynot1 said:


> There is a F9 basic version. How about a F9 basic basic version with this hard wired?


Dear friend,

It is a pity that this version could not pair with the RC-BT.

Best regards


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## Ynot1

I meant could Fiio make a new F9 with a hardwired cable? Just curious.


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## kamcok

Any chance these will be in 2-pin format?


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## greenkiwi

When is it going to be available on Amazon?

I've noticed that the prices seem to always be a bit less on Amazon.


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## Reddog333

Hello Fiio,
Thanks for bringing more ble options. I also would have liked more updated specs compared to the competition. The only stand out on paper here is a 10hr battery. We want the same physical design/package however including the latest chip 5.0 and codecs aptx HD or LDAC. We will pay for it too!


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## dweaver (May 2, 2018)

Recieved my unit yesterday and am loving it so far. It works great with my Mackie MP-220 IEM's. The connectors are nice and flush so no wiggle movement on them to cause MMCX issues (so far). Will post if this changes at some point.

I get wanting Aptx HD and do hope Fiio releases a new model with that feature and hopefully LDAC but so far APTx is sounding very good to me. I will have to do an actual AB test but right now I think the Rc-bt Mackie combo I am using sounds better than my Sony WI-1000 which uses APTx HD (my phone is the LG V20). I am noticing sonic loss between the Rc-bt and a physical connection but that would happen even with APTx HD or LDAC. For my out and about needs this meets my needs very well.

I am a happy camper!


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## dweaver

So had some time today to do a quick AB between my RC-BT MP-220 combo, my WI-1000X, and finally the MP-220 with its manufacturers cable.

I used the song Other Arms by Robert Plant all on my LG V20.

Now before I start I need to explain that the WI-1000X as an IEM has its own signature as compared to the MP-220. So I will avoid discussing specific areas of the Audio spectrum or specific instruments and try to discuss just detail retrieval so we are focusing more on the RC-BT instead of the IEM's.

Detail retrieval between the 2 BT devices was one by a small margin by the WI-1000X as it appeared to be able to portray more details and give a slightly more rich experience.

The difference between the MP-220 on the RC-BT versus physical cable was more stark, a bit more than expected. Where the IEM sounds lively and engaging wired it becomes a bit more sterile through BT. But given the use requirements it is a trade off that I can live with, but wish I didn't have to.

Bottom line, for the price this is a very good BT option for MMCX IEM users. But I would not hesitate to pay more for one that offered HD and LDAC codecs...


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## Amber Rain

dweaver said:


> So had some time today to do a quick AB between my RC-BT MP-220 combo, my WI-1000X, and finally the MP-220 with its manufacturers cable.
> 
> I used the song Other Arms by Robert Plant all on my LG V20.
> 
> ...




Thanks for the review, could  you confirm if the cable goes around  the back of your neck or the front?

Is the cable heavy, will it pull on the earphones (I didn't like the cable with the Mic that came with the F5 for this reason).

Thanks


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## dweaver

The cable can go around the back or the front, which ever way you prefer. It is super light and very comfortable.


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## Amber Rain

dweaver said:


> The cable can go around the back or the front, which ever way you prefer. It is super light and very comfortable.


 
Thanks for confirming, undecided whether to wait for the BTR3 or go for this product.


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## FiiO

Amber Rain said:


> Thanks for confirming, undecided whether to wait for the BTR3 or go for this product.


Tried both if possible.  LOL

Best regards


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## dweaver

Amber Rain said:


> Thanks for confirming, undecided whether to wait for the BTR3 or go for this product.


after a couple more days I would suggest waiting. The Rc-bt is good but quirky. I find I occasionally don't get connected when I turn it on, have noticed more dropouts when walking around, and my wife finds my voice distant and muffled when talking to her using it. This combined with the drop in audio quality has me using the audio cable again.


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## FiiO

dweaver said:


> after a couple more days I would suggest waiting. The Rc-bt is good but quirky. I find I occasionally don't get connected when I turn it on, have noticed more dropouts when walking around, and my wife finds my voice distant and muffled when talking to her using it. This combined with the drop in audio quality has me using the audio cable again.


Dear friend,

When working around? Maybe can you check whether it may be an issue becasue of the MMCX connection. Sorry for bringing inconvenience to you.

Best regards


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## dweaver

Thanks for the suggestion. I am familiar with MMCX issues and how they sound. I have had 1 instance of that but the rest are bluetooth related as one happens when I turn the cable on and the other happens when walking around and has happened with other BT solutions I have owned just more frequently with the RC-BT.


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## greenkiwi

@FiiO I was looking that the aliexpress page linked from your home page
http://fiio.net/en/products/88
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...477.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.1e24e728MRtWc0

Two issues:
1. Is says unavailable -- is it coming back?
2. Is the warning at the top correct?  Does it not work with iPhones and iPads?  Is this a special edition?

{quote}
*Purchase Note: Please kindly note that this edition RC-BT is NOT compatible with iPhone, iPad, Google nexus series, Smartisan Pro 2 and ZUK Z2. If your device is not included in the list, please be assured to purchase.  *
*{quote}*


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## FiiO

greenkiwi said:


> @FiiO I was looking that the aliexpress page linked from your home page
> http://fiio.net/en/products/88
> https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...477.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.1e24e728MRtWc0
> 
> ...


Dear friend,
1. It is available now, you could have a check.
2. For iPhones or iPads, it is recommended to wait for the next batch.
Best regards


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## greenkiwi

FiiO said:


> 2. For iPhones or iPads, it is recommended to wait for the next batch



Thanks, since I'm pretty much only in the i-world, I'll wait.  

Will you post here when that batch is available?

I'm assuming that your store page in aliexpress will not have the warning as soon as the second batch is available?


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## FiiO

greenkiwi said:


> Thanks, since I'm pretty much only in the i-world, I'll wait.
> 
> Will you post here when that batch is available?
> 
> I'm assuming that your store page in aliexpress will not have the warning as soon as the second batch is available?


Dear friend,

Will try to inform you when next batch is available.

Yes, the warning will not be there any more when the next batch is available.

Best regards


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## nutcasey

Sorry is this correct? This currently *won't* work with an iPhone? Can I cancel my order then from aliexpress? This is no use to me.


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## trellus

That's very strange -- why would it not work with iPhones?  Bluetooth is a standard.


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## trellus

@FiiO any plans for a configuration in which the cables don't have to be placed over the ear?  I have an existing third-party MMCX BT cable, but the problem is that they don't work well with my Monoprice Monolith M300 in-ear planars because the M300 are designed to be used with a straight cable, and not go over the ear -- so it's hard to use with the cable I'm using it with now because it forces me to go from the connector on the bottom, below my ear, back up over the top -- it's a rather clumsy solution.


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## FiiO

nutcasey said:


> Sorry is this correct? This currently *won't* work with an iPhone? Can I cancel my order then from aliexpress? This is no use to me.


Dear friend,

No that's not mean that currently the RC-BT can not work with the iPhone. Actually, the volume adjustment for this edition RC-BT and iPhone is synchronous. So you may feel the minimum volume is still big when adjusting to the minimum value. So if you are using the iPhone, we would recommend for waiting the next edition. But if you don't care about that, the RC-BT could work with your iPhone without problem. 

Best regards


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## FiiO

trellus said:


> @FiiO any plans for a configuration in which the cables don't have to be placed over the ear?  I have an existing third-party MMCX BT cable, but the problem is that they don't work well with my Monoprice Monolith M300 in-ear planars because the M300 are designed to be used with a straight cable, and not go over the ear -- so it's hard to use with the cable I'm using it with now because it forces me to go from the connector on the bottom, below my ear, back up over the top -- it's a rather clumsy solution.


Dear friend,

We will report your suggestion to our product manager and consider about that.

Best regards


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## nutcasey

Just to be sure then, it still works with AAC as advertised?


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## Marco Angel

@FiiO i bought the mmcx small cable from yours, now im waiting for the btr3 for use it. As well im just waiting for the rc-bt to arrive from the post office cause i want something light for the gym

Saying that, im using the F9 so the rc-bt is quite fine as i can tell from the pics, but the mmcx small cable from yours doesent have any cable guide for use with the f9 over ear like earphones. it would be great to implement the same ear cable guide but detachable. this could have use for any cable of yours and this RC-BT could be used over the ear and straight.
Right now im also waiting for some cable guides from aliexpress and hopping to get use to them cause it seems a little big


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## FiiO

nutcasey said:


> Just to be sure then, it still works with AAC as advertised?


Dear friend,

Yes, AAC code is supported.

Best regards


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## FiiO

Marco Angel said:


> @FiiO i bought the mmcx small cable from yours, now im waiting for the btr3 for use it. As well im just waiting for the rc-bt to arrive from the post office cause i want something light for the gym
> 
> Saying that, im using the F9 so the rc-bt is quite fine as i can tell from the pics, but the mmcx small cable from yours doesent have any cable guide for use with the f9 over ear like earphones. it would be great to implement the same ear cable guide but detachable. this could have use for any cable of yours and this RC-BT could be used over the ear and straight.
> Right now im also waiting for some cable guides from aliexpress and hopping to get use to them cause it seems a little big


Dear friend,
What cable guide would you need? You did not get the quick guide for the RC-BT?



 
Or you need this instead?

Best regards


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## Marco Angel

FiiO said:


> Dear friend,
> What cable guide would you need? You did not get the quick guide for the RC-BT?
> 
> Or you need this instead?
> ...


My comparison was between the restriction of the RC-BT by having the cable guide in contrast of the of the RC-MMCX1s. Personally i prefer the cable guide as all my inear are like the F9 (shures)
I suggest to include some kind of cable guide in all the earphone cables for better compatibility
btw, i order some cableguide for my rc-mmcx1s (https://es.aliexpress.com/item/2pai...491.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.6e8663c0X3NjH9)


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## FiiO

Marco Angel said:


> My comparison was between the restriction of the RC-BT by having the cable guide in contrast of the of the RC-MMCX1s. Personally i prefer the cable guide as all my inear are like the F9 (shures)
> I suggest to include some kind of cable guide in all the earphone cables for better compatibility
> btw, i order some cableguide for my rc-mmcx1s (https://es.aliexpress.com/item/2pai...491.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.6e8663c0X3NjH9)


Dear friend,

Oh, sorry for misunderstanding. Thanks for sharing this with us. Maybe we could share this to other users who are using RC-MMCX1S and needing the 'cable guide'. 

Best regards


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## dprtsk

I've got the FiiO F5's and an allergy to over-ear cables. Do you think I could surgically remove the cable guides from this cable and wear it cable down? Weird question, but I'm on a quest for a good BT cable, and this looks good technically.


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## bigtim

Hi @FiiO 
This page no longer shows the iphone/ipad message - https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...477.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.1e24e728MRtWc0

Are these the next edition ones mentioned earlier in this thread? Thanks.


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## Marco Angel

@FiiO my rc-bt arrived yesterday. Sound quality is great for on the go IF it keeps a steady connection

Please give your advice before try to return them to aliexpress.
I use them plugged like your images (the cable goes on the back of my neck). My celphone is a Galaxy S8 with Oreo, i had no issues with bluetooth before.
my celphone is always on my left pocket or my left inner pocket of my jacket.

Now, my problems with this rc-bt.....
with my S8 in my pants pocket, the connection is complete unbeareble the music cuts every second.
with my s8 in my jacket pocket, i can have some cuts, its now listeneable (if this is a word) but if i the s8 is completely close to my body, the cutoff began to apear more often, like every 4-5 secs
all this can only be resolved by taking of my s8 of my pockets and be in the "sight" of the rc-bt

I have a sony sbh-56 with no problem at all in the same circunstances, this can pass at least a wall of my home (no more than 4mts)
pd: the sbh56 are clipped in my backpack at my shoulders

And since also my bluetooth speakers can work with my s8 in the same pockets and my walking around. i guess i have a defective unit (or this are no fiio quality)
had a lot of fiio products and this is the first with problems


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## greenkiwi

bigtim said:


> Hi @FiiO
> This page no longer shows the iphone/ipad message - https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...477.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.1e24e728MRtWc0
> 
> Are these the next edition ones mentioned earlier in this thread? Thanks.



Inquiring (and excited) minds want to know...


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## FiiO

bigtim said:


> Hi @FiiO
> This page no longer shows the iphone/ipad message - https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...477.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.1e24e728MRtWc0
> 
> Are these the next edition ones mentioned earlier in this thread? Thanks.


Dear friend,

Yes, next batch is available now. 

Best regards


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## greenkiwi

@Fiio audio fan  Thanks for the heads up!  I've ordered my pair.  I'm really looking forward to using them.  I have some $8 BT mmcx cables that work OK, but their battery life isn't great.


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## FiiO

Marco Angel said:


> @FiiO my rc-bt arrived yesterday. Sound quality is great for on the go IF it keeps a steady connection
> 
> Please give your advice before try to return them to aliexpress.
> I use them plugged like your images (the cable goes on the back of my neck). My celphone is a Galaxy S8 with Oreo, i had no issues with bluetooth before.
> ...


Dear friend, 

Here is some explanations about Bluetooth Connection — From James: http://fiio.me/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=43331&extra=page=1
Human body would absorb Bluetooth signal. Since the human body absorbs the2G-3G high frequency signal most strongly, it is necessary to prevent the body from blocking the Bluetooth signal during use. For example, putting your Bluetooth transmitter in your back pocket and put your Bluetooth receiver on your chest will seriously affect the Bluetooth transmission. Therefore, please try to putthe Bluetooth receiver and transmitter on the same side of your body to avoid signal blocked by your body.
We will also report to the engineers about the issue you met and try to improve it. Sorry for bringing inconvenience to you.

Best regards


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## greenkiwi (May 29, 2018)

@FiiO Three quick questions:

1. Is the BT antenna only on the control side?  The non-control? Or both?
2. I assume that all orders after your comment earlier will be for the second batch.  Is there an easy way to confirm that it is indeed from the second batch?
3. Will it automatically use AAC when connected to an iPhone?  Or do I have to change settings?


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## FiiO

greenkiwi said:


> @FiiO Three quick questions:
> 
> 1. Is the BT antenna only on the control side?  The non-control? Or both?
> 2. I assume that all orders after your comment earlier will be for the second batch.  Is there an easy way to confirm that it is indeed from the second batch?
> 3. Will it automatically use AAC when connected to an iPhone?  Or do I have to change settings?


Dear friend,

1. The Bluetooth antenna is only on the control side.
2. The volume control is non-synchronous when connecting to the iPhone, if the one you own is the second batch.
3. Automatically.

Best regards


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## Marco Angel

Im not an expert but i had some experience with other bluetooth earphones, smartwatch and speakers and this are the first they gave this problems
I now there are a lot of stuff that affects the connection, even like passing in between of the device. but that only happens if some of the devices have a poor BT. sad to say but this rc-bt have poor connection
my iconx 2018 never had had a disconection and any glitch playing music. (but they sound mehh).
SInce returning this to china is a cost for me, i guess i will keep them just for the gym


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## jeromec

FiiO said:


> 2. The volume control is non-synchronous when connecting to the iPhone, if the one you own is the second batch.



Hi.
Just to be sure In understand: on the second batch of RC-BTs, the buttons on the earphones change the earphones' volume but do not affect the iPhone's output volume?
(I have just received mine and would like to be sure in which batch they were)

Thanks in advance


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## jeromec (Jun 11, 2018)

Hi.

*I just received my RC-BT and here are my first impressions.*

*I use them with an iPhone 6s and Shure SE535* earphones with replacement shells (that's what happens when you walk upon your earphones).
I also use the SE535 :
- with a Dragonfly Black DAC,
- with Shure's BT1 bluetooth adapter.
*I only tested them with Apple Music, which uses AAC*.
As a reminder, iOS, and therefore iPhones, do support AAC over Bluetooth, but not AptX or AptX-HD

First, I miss the iPhone controls (which work on the BT1), namely previous/next track and Siri.

Regarding the *quality of the Bluetooth connection*:
- it is very good indoors (as expected),
- outdoors, with my iphone in the front-left pocket os my pants,
  - it is *very bad with the cable in the back of my neck*,
  - *with the cable in the front of my neck, the connection is as good as other Bluetooth devices* (and the Shure BT1), but not Airpod-good.

*Audio quality is very good and infinitely better than Shure BT1*.
*I guess that's due to the RC-BT supporting AAC and the BT1 not supporting it.*
(this is using Apple Music's AAC tracks)

*I have yet to test call audio quality* (that is a big problem on the BT1 where my correspondents regularly complained about how they heard me) but it looks OK using Voice memos.

The battery level can be seen on iOS in the battery widget (I edited the post because at first I did not see it).

The travel box is way smaller than the one provided with the Shure SE535, but does not offer the same level of protection.

*The volume on the earphones is independent from the iPhone volume (that s the second batch of RC-BT if I understand well) and that is a good thing*: the SE535 are very loud and the adjustment steps on the BT1 are too big (the BT1 adjusts the iPhon's volume). For info, I use an attenuator (Shure provides one with the SE535) when using them with a wired connection.

To finish, 1 small issue: the box of the RC-BT indicates a battery life of 8 hours, instead of the 10 hours advertised on Fiio's web site.


*Overall, for now I am very satisfied, in particular because I do not loose too much audio quality compared to a wired connection,* which is definitely not the case with the Sure BT1.


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## FiiO

jeromec said:


> Hi.
> Just to be sure In understand: on the second batch of RC-BTs, the buttons on the earphones change the earphones' volume but do not affect the iPhone's output volume?
> (I have just received mine and would like to be sure in which batch they were)
> 
> Thanks in advance


Yes, you could have a try.

Best regards


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## FiiO

jeromec said:


> Hi.
> 
> *I just received my RC-BT and here are my first impressions.*
> 
> ...


Dear friend, 

It would be appreciated if you could share your experience in the show case page as well : https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-rc-bt-bluetooth-cable-with-mmcx-connector.23169/

We have confirmed with the engineer that the 8hs shows in the packing box is a conservative value. The RC-BT could work 10hs or so after fully charged.

Best regards


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## kaleci07

left fit oky but right mmcx module dont turn as it should be . bluetooth connection cuts randomly all the time ,volume %30 percent lower than fiio's orginal cable. There is back noise all the time when listening something .by the way im using Fiio F9 with it. Worst product i bought from fiio.


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## greenkiwi

My connection cuts out if I wear them behind my neck and have my phone my left pocket. This is a bit disappointing. My $8 bt mmcx cables didn't have this problem. 

That being said, I just wear them in front and it's fine and they sound much better.


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## Marco Angel

greenkiwi said:


> My connection cuts out if I wear them behind my neck and have my phone my left pocket. This is a bit disappointing. My $8 bt mmcx cables didn't have this problem.
> 
> That being said, I just wear them in front and it's fine and they sound much better.


Same here, i could returned but the shipping cost isnt covered by fiio (bought in aliexpress) so i kept them. at least i use them in the gym. I even have thoughts in selling them but anyone would reclaim this defect to me =( 
Its just a sad and poor designed cable from @FiiO


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## Monstieur

Does this have audible white noise in the background? What IEMs are you using them with and what is their sensitivity?


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## jeromec

Monstieur said:


> Does this have audible white noise in the background? What IEMs are you using them with and what is their sensitivity?


No audible white noise in the background for me at all.
Very decent audio quality (using an iPhone 6s, therefore AAC) and good bluetooth connection, as long as I put them in front of and not behind my neck.
Using SE535 IEMs.


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## Monstieur (Jun 30, 2018)

What about when a song is playing but the audio is silent, like at the end of a song? Can you hear any noise then? My Sony MUC-M2BT1 does not have white noise while it's switched on, but it does have audible noise in the right channel alone when the audio playing is silent.


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## jeromec

Monstieur said:


> What about when a song is playing but the audio is silent, like at the end of a song? Can you hear any noise then? My Sony MUC-M2BT1 does not have white noise while it's switched on, but it does have audible noise in the right channel alone when the audio playing is silent.


Just tried a song that has 30 seconds of silence at the end and I could not hear any white noise while playing it.
No difference pausing/playing the audio while playing the silent section either.


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## Monstieur

Do you consider the separated RC-BT and iPhone volume controls an advantage or disadvantage? Does the RC-BT always remember its last volume setting? Can you leave it on maximum volume permanently between uses and use just the iPhone's volume control?


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## greenkiwi

I pretty much always adjust with the iPhone.  I actually think that a unified control is simpler.


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## FiiO

greenkiwi said:


> I pretty much always adjust with the iPhone.  I actually think that a unified control is simpler.


Dear friend,

For the first batch of the RC-BT, the volume control is unified. However, when using the headphone with high sensitivity, some users mentioned that the last volume has lower volume while the next one is too loud. So we change the design to separated volume control in later batch.

Best regards


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## 8u5t3r

I have the RC-BT cable paired with f9pro for a few months now. it is my daily driver for commutes and during work. 
Although I love the convenience of it, the sound quality leaves so much to be desired.  
Qualcomm has announced the QCC5100 series bt chip with aptxHD and bt 5.0.
Will you release an upgraded cable with that chip anytime soon Fiio?
If possible with more robust construction and sweat proof for working out.
I dont mind paying a premium for it if it means i get better quality audio.


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## jeromec

Monstieur said:


> Do you consider the separated RC-BT and iPhone volume controls an advantage or disadvantage? Does the RC-BT always remember its last volume setting? Can you leave it on maximum volume permanently between uses and use just the iPhone's volume control?


I have a Shure BT-1 which has unified volume controls and the volume is way too high with my Shure SE535. Only the 2 lowest volume settings are usable, which is not much!
So I really prefer separate iPhone/RC-BT volume controls.
The RC-BT remembers the volume level, as the iPhone also does for each output device.

I miss the Siri and next/previous track controls though, but it's not a deal breaker for me.


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## jeromec

8u5t3r said:


> I have the RC-BT cable paired with f9pro for a few months now. it is my daily driver for commutes and during work.
> Although I love the convenience of it, the sound quality leaves so much to be desired.
> I dont mind paying a premium for it if it means i get better quality audio.


I suppose you're using the RC-BT with an Android phone (or at least  a device that is not an iPhone).

With an iPhone (as I have), the RC-BT receives AAC audio, which sounds great to my ears.
*It seems most people who have tried them find AAC superior to aptX HD, and vastly superior to aptX for bluetooth audio.*
Although AAC does not benefit from Qualcomm marketing pressure.

*I have a Shure BT-1 and the RC-BT sounds infinitely better using my iPhone* (the BT-1 does not support AAC so probably uses SBC for audio).

*So the sound quality with the RC-BT might be significantly better if you use an iPhone (AAC) than an Android phone (aptX).*


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## kaleci07

jeromec said:


> I suppose you're using the RC-BT with an Android phone (or at least  a device that is not an iPhone).
> 
> With an iPhone (as I have), the RC-BT receives AAC audio, which sounds great to my ears.
> *It seems most people who have tried them find AAC superior to aptX HD, and vastly superior to aptX for bluetooth audio.*
> ...



on paper aptx can play more mbit/s then aac stream but i dont have iphone so i cant compare


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## 8u5t3r

jeromec said:


> I suppose you're using the RC-BT with an Android phone (or at least  a device that is not an iPhone).
> 
> With an iPhone (as I have), the RC-BT receives AAC audio, which sounds great to my ears.
> *It seems most people who have tried them find AAC superior to aptX HD, and vastly superior to aptX for bluetooth audio.*
> ...



Yeah, I am using Pixel 2 XL which have both aptx and aptxHD.
But RC-BT only supports aptx. That is why I requested a bt cable that can support aptxHD.
I dont use iphone or use any apple products so i cant compare with AAC.

My other gripe is that sometimes the connection is weak when i put my phone in my pocket which causes the audio playback to be intermittently cut off.
I have read about the human body blocking the bt signal. is there anyway to mitigate that? maybe put stronger receiver on the next iteration? 

I also want to know how much can you push the bt cable further without sacrificing on comfort/weight/siza? maybe add in dedicated dac/amp if possible?

I saw a fb post mentioning the FT series. I am interested in that. any sneak peak on the product?
Although, I still would prefer to use my f9pro with better bt cable if possible and i can also use other iem with mmcx connectors.


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## greenkiwi

8u5t3r said:


> My other gripe is that sometimes the connection is weak when i put my phone in my pocket which causes the audio playback to be intermittently cut off.
> I have read about the human body blocking the bt signal. is there anyway to mitigate that? maybe put stronger receiver on the next iteration?



Do you wear the cable behind your neck or in front?  I find a big difference when I wear it under my chin.


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## 8u5t3r

greenkiwi said:


> Do you wear the cable behind your neck or in front?  I find a big difference when I wear it under my chin.



Behind the neck. like how it is meant to be worn.
I do get better connection wearing it down my chin. but it feels weird.


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## FiiO

*FiiO RC-BT Cable is Back with Over-the-Ear and Straight-Down Type: *https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fii...th-over-the-ear-and-straight-down-type.884942


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## greenkiwi

It's really cool to see these iterations as you respond to customer feedback.


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## jeromec

I now have Brainwavz B400.

They worked with the RC-BT for a few hours.

My RC-BT, which is not even 3 months old, does not work anymore.
I only get very low sound on the left earphone (even with the RC-BT's volume at its maximum), and nothing on the right one.
This includes the turn on/ turn off sounds so does not seem to be a Bluetooth or phone issue.

The same B400s work perfectly with their cable, a Shure-compatible cable, or Shure's BT1.

That's bad because I liked the audio quality of the RC-BT a lot.

Anyone from FiiO, what is the way to have my RC-BT repaired/exchanged/refunded? I contacted the AliExpress vendor I purchased it from, am waiting for its answer, but I am pretty sure the process will include shipping the defective unit from France to China at my expense (this is usually a lot mùore expensive than the other way around) and is sure to retake weeks or months.

Thanks in advance.


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## FiiO

jeromec said:


> I now have Brainwavz B400.
> 
> They worked with the RC-BT for a few hours.
> 
> ...


Dear friend,

Generally, we would need to receive the defective and confirm the issue first before replacing or repair.

You could send email to support@fiio.net about the issue.

Sorry for bringing inconvenience to you.

Best regards


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## acygni

Does it come in other connector types?


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## CalvinW

I just received it the other day and it stutters non-stop. I have my phone in my chest pocket which is less than half a meter away from the cable, so I don't know why the signal is so bad.


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## Marco Angel

CalvinW said:


> I just received it the other day and it stutters non-stop. I have my phone in my chest pocket which is less than half a meter away from the cable, so I don't know why the signal is so bad.


Duno my friend, sorry to say but this RC-BT isnt as polished as other BT devices,
Gladly it was the one that made my angry about itself and went to the radsone es100, a beautifull device (and balanced). dont take my wrong, Fiio is a great company but this one isnt Fiio quality


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## CalvinW

Marco Angel said:


> Duno my friend, sorry to say but this RC-BT isnt as polished as other BT devices,
> Gladly it was the one that made my angry about itself and went to the radsone es100, a beautifull device (and balanced). dont take my wrong, Fiio is a great company but this one isnt Fiio quality


First FiiO product for me, quite disappointed to say the least. Glad I went with iBasso for a DAP instead of FiiO.


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## Marco Angel

CalvinW said:


> First FiiO product for me, quite disappointed to say the least. Glad I went with iBasso for a DAP instead of FiiO.


fiio DAPs are awesome! i prefer them over iBasso 100%, just more musical and not dry-sound


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## FiiO

CalvinW said:


> I just received it the other day and it stutters non-stop. I have my phone in my chest pocket which is less than half a meter away from the cable, so I don't know why the signal is so bad.


Dear friend, 

Human body would absorb Bluetooth signal. Since the human body absorbs the 2G-3G high frequency signal most strongly, it is necessary to prevent the body from blocking the Bluetooth signal during use. For example, putting your Bluetooth transmitter in your back pocket and put your Bluetooth receiver on your chest will seriously affect the Bluetooth transmission. Therefore, please try to put the Bluetooth receiver and transmitter on the same side of your body to avoid signal blocked by your body.
We will also report to the engineer about that. Sorry for bringing inconvenience to you.

Best regards


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## CalvinW

FiiO said:


> Dear friend,
> 
> Human body would absorb Bluetooth signal. Since the human body absorbs the 2G-3G high frequency signal most strongly, it is necessary to prevent the body from blocking the Bluetooth signal during use. For example, putting your Bluetooth transmitter in your back pocket and put your Bluetooth receiver on your chest will seriously affect the Bluetooth transmission. Therefore, please try to put the Bluetooth receiver and transmitter on the same side of your body to avoid signal blocked by your body.
> We will also report to the engineer about that. Sorry for bringing inconvenience to you.
> ...



Thanks for the reply. The last time I checked, the front of my head and my chest are on the same side of the body.


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## CalvinW

Avoid this cable at all cost! What a waste of money and time trying to use it... I figured out a way to stop the stuttering, and that is to hold your phone right next to the bluetooth receiver on the cable.


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## Marco Angel

CalvinW said:


> Avoid this cable at all cost! What a waste of money and time trying to use it... I figured out a way to stop the stuttering, and that is to hold your phone right next to the bluetooth receiver on the cable.


sad story, been through the same and now I can't even sell it as a future buyer would return it the second he starts using it


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## takeitblue

@FiiO 
What is the SPL/sensitivity of this cable in dB/mW?
(It's worth to note how it possibly amplifies earphones, I mean even from a marketing point of view it's good for you to show it, because it is an advantage of having this cable if you have earphones with the MMCX that has a lower SPL)


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## takeitblue

@FiiO 
Guys when I'm in different room than my smartphone it constantly stutters and breaks signal, my Bluetooth headphones works perfectly fine in the same conditions
This cable is faulty, you have to work on it and improve, otherwise it make no sense to sell it, because you annoy and upset people instead satisfy them
I bought two versions straight and over-the-ears, I expect from you to replace these with the new improved and fixed versions.... THANK YOU!


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## CalvinW

takeitblue said:


> @FiiO
> Guys when I'm in different room than my smartphone it constantly stutters and breaks signal, my Bluetooth headphones works perfectly fine in the same conditions
> This cable is faulty, you have to work on it and improve, otherwise it make no sense to sell it, because you annoy and upset people instead satisfy them
> I bought two versions straight and over-the-ears, I expect from you to replace these with the new improved and fixed versions.... THANK YOU!


 they don't care at all. Even if they reply, they are just going to give you a half-assed response


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## greenkiwi

I've noticed an issue with the pair I have, second batch of curved that have better iOS support.

The battery level reports, but it effectively reports at 90% until suddenly the headphones beep and it says 10%, followed by shutting off.

I can't understand why the battery level doesn't have a normal degradation pattern.


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## takeitblue

CalvinW said:


> they don't care at all. Even if they reply, they are just going to give you a half-assed response



However I must admit to be honest, that it works perfectly fine if the smartphone is in my pocket (even outdoors, while commuting)


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## Coop

Recently found my Fiio RC-BT in a case stuffed in the back of my nightstand. As since I last used them, I've upgraded a few possible source devices. And with weather warming up & working from home due to the whole covid thing, a set of decent sounding wireless inears for calls & music would be a good thing.

To put this in perspective, I have some other BT stuff, nothing fancy, just in the "good enough for this kind of use"-category. I mostly use a set of Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT headphones for this kind of thing. They are good because they can connect to multiple devices at once, so I can have them connected to my PC and phone at the same time and sound ok, they just get sweaty and nasty real quick when the temperature outside goes over 20C. I also have the Hifiman TWS600 and Samsung Galaxy Buds. Both ok comfort wise (slight edge for the TWS600), sound wise (slight edge for the buds), and for calls the buds are the clear winner of the 2, but neither is as good as the HD 4.40. For all of them goes that the connection is rock solid. I can walk into another room 7m away from my source, a room full of sources of interference to be exact, close the door and everything is fine (occasional hiccup at most, usually nothing).

And then there was the Fiio RC-BT... I got these as a Christmas present a few years back. And back then, they were a pain in the ass. But, since then devices were upgraded, so I decided to charge them up and give them another go.
I hooked the RC-BT up to my Fiio F9, as that was the closest set of MMCX IEMs I had available. Put the RC-BT in pairing mode and told my work laptop (Dell Latitude 5590, 8th gen i7, 16GB running W10) to pair with the RC-BT. No issues there.

Once connected, I fired up Spotify (company policy isn't very clear on local storage of music). Selected an album (Jean Michel Jarre - Electronica Pt. 2), adjusted the volume and thought "This doesn't sound bad at a..." and then the music started cutting out. Exactly as I remembered from my previous experience with the RC-BT. It actually seemed even worse than before. In the past, I stopped using the RC-BT because of the frequent cut outs. But when I had my source on my nightstand and didn't move while in bed, it was somewhat usable. Not so much if I put my source in my pocket and moved about. But now, with my laptop not even 60cm from the antenna of the RC-BT and nothing in the signal path, there was almost as much cut out as there was music. Even turning off all sources of radio signals didn't make a difference. It was horrible. The sound was pretty good, but if you can't even listen for 10 seconds without a cut out, what use is it? I tried a few other sources (AK70, M6, Galaxy S10) and a couple of other IEMs (Rose Mini Mk2, Tennmak Pro) but the results were similar.

I just can't wrap my head around how incredibly bad the connection is. Even a low budget bluetooth earpiece given away for free by my operator does better. All my other bluetooth devices outperform the RC-BT when it comes to connection stability.

The RC-BT is completely unusable and is by far the worst Fiio product I have ever owned (and I've owned a few: E3, E5, E6, E7, E9, E12, A1 speaker amp, HS2, X3, F9, M6, a whole bunch of cables and this RC-BT, so close to approaching fanboi levels). The only thing usable about the RC-BT is the little pouch that came with it. This product is simply not worthy of the Fiio name and it's a good thing it was discontinued.


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## 405292

are you planning on bringing this back maybe with Bluetooth 5 and a better audio chip? I like this solution better than the bulky UTWS1 or LC-BT2 but i couldnt find it on your website anymore


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## FiiO

DreaMworX said:


> are you planning on bringing this back maybe with Bluetooth 5 and a better audio chip? I like this solution better than the bulky UTWS1 or LC-BT2 but i couldnt find it on your website anymore


Dear user, 

Thanks for your feedback. We will report your feedback to the product manger for reference.

Best regards


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## FiiO

*Comparisons Between LC-BT1 and RC-BT：*



FiiO said:


> Chapter 2 Born at Gloomy Times, but Survive Thanks to Uniqueness​As mentioned earlier, the LC-BT1 is an upgraded version of our hot-selling RC-BT yet with huge improvements in all aspects. See the attached pictures for a detailed introduction. But to be honest, due to the delay in research and development, it missed the best release time. At present, FiiO has the following Bluetooth products for mobile phones and earphones.
> 
> 1. Bluetooth cable: such as the LC-BT1, LC-BT2;
> 2, True wireless ear hooks: such as the UTWS1, UTWS3;
> ...


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