Yamaha pushes Bluetooth support on new audio range

Yamaha is moving away from iPhone-only docks to embrace wider user base.

In addition to its Series III Aventage range, Yamaha has released a range of audio devices, including portable speakers and micro-systems, that feature Bluetooth connectivity for the first time in the company's line-up.

The company stated that it had chosen to add Bluetooth connectivity options, because of its simplicity and solid data compression for streaming music. Yamaha has also produced an app, DTA Controller, which uses Bluetooth rather than requiring a Wi-Fi connection to control devices.

Bluetooth has been added to a number of Yamaha audio products as well, that still feature an iPhone/iPod dock, such as the ISX-B820 or the TSX-B232. However, the update to the PDX-11 portable dock — the PDX-B11 — does away with a physical dock altogether, relying solely on Bluetooth.

Yamaha product manager Wes Fischer said that while the uncertainty around Apple possibly updating its 30-pin connector may have been a motivating factor in the introduction of Bluetooth, the company was equally interested in broadening its appeal to all consumers, including Android users.

Bluetooth has been criticised in some audiophile circles for its compression, with people complaining that it has limited dynamic range. Proponents of the technology, however, maintain that the current Bluetooth audio quality is a vast improvement over earlier incarnations and that, certainly in the realm of portable docks, only the keenest of ears could notice any genuine degradation.