ETHER Transmitter: Wireless monitoring for DJs and musicians
A new system designed to offer low latency for monitoring live
Ether Transmitter is currently seeking to raise $15000 via Indigogo for their wireless headphone solution for DJs and recording musicians. Using Bluetooth technology and a new set of AD converters that don’t suffer from standard Bluetooth latency issues, they are confident they can untether your performance.
Latency
Bluetooth usually has a latency of around 100ms or more and for beat-matching, this just isn’t acceptable. Braxton Tomasello has designed the Ether Transmitter and in under a year, and his R&D team has managed to get the latency down to around 10.5ms with a maximum latency of 40ms.
The company’s AD converters are apparently where the issue is solved, as they have managed to get the conversion of the analogue signal to happen a lot faster into digital. This will allow you to use a regular set of Bluetooth headphones and pair them to the Ether Transmitter.
Hopefully, the headphone’s DA won’t add too much latency at the other end when it converts the signal back into the analogue domain for your earpieces.
Monitoring
The idea is a useful one, as in theory, you could use them anywhere, so not just for DJing. Now you could now be in a vocal booth monitoring your tracks wirelessly, whilst you lay down a vocal track for example without the worry of cables getting snagged or any noticeable lag in audio.
If the system works, Ether might let artists enjoy playing live and recording without the hassle of cables. There have been Bluetooth transmitters around for a while now, all the ones I have seen have been bulky and the ones I have tried have been a little ‘buggy’ and suffered dropouts or interference. So if the Ether Transmitter can do what they say it can, then I am sure it would be popular with performers.
If they reach their target, they say they will be able to start shipping around July 2017. See the video below for a full explanation of the ETHER Transmitter.
Ether Transmitter details here
RRP USD $99 plus shipping if you pledge via Indiegogo
https://youtu.be/MBKUfri3n2w