iPhone and APTX-HD finally works with extra peripherals

@Roman_Benvenuti, I am not quite sure what you’re asking…
This is from their website and you can tell from the color of the LED what codec it is running. (same information can be found on the product insert which comes with the product)
Sometime it will default back to SBC or aptx, you can press the button once to change to back to aptx-HD (yellow LED)

Its strange, Even though I’m connected to my sennheiser true wireless momentum 2 earbuds, the BTw3 still flashes blue, the LED doesnt change color

@Roman_Benvenuti , try pressing the button and see if it will change from blue to green.
image
According to Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2
Your earbuds can do SBC, AAC, and APTX, but not APTX-HD or APTX-LL

I tried this option as well.
It does work, but the sound is very low, even on a maximum volume level.
Seems to be needs more power or maybe chip itself is limited.
Ended up returning back.

Any updated solution to make working iPhone and most recent AptX adaptive? I want to get the new Sennheiser Truewireless Momentum 3 for my iPhone 13 Pro.

As they all seem to be USB-C now, has anyone sourced a lightning to USB-C adapter that works will the latest Creative adapters?

I have my iPhone 13 Pro Max working with the Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones with the aptX Adaptive codec. The sound is outstanding with Roon and Qobuz. There is a huge gap between the Momentum 4 and the Sony WH-1000XM4 that I still own working with an Android phone with the LDAC codec. The pictures show the three required devices.

At the beginning it is a bit confusing. Phone calls come in thru a regular Bluetooth connection between the iPhone and the Momentum 4. For music the Sennheiser BTD 600 Bluetooth Dongle - USB A / USB-C Adapter connected to the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter connects to the Momentum 4 with the aptX Adaptive codec. The Momentum 4 allow the connection to 2 different devices simultaneously on Bluetooth. The app from Sennheiser creates the confusion. Soon you will realize that you will not use the app. It is quite simple!

Just to follow-up with my experiences here.

I realized belatedly that the BT-3 and BT-4 both come with usb-C to usb-A adapters in the box.

Naturally I bought the latest BT-4, and sadly, it’s reported power draw is too much for directly connecting to the iPhone - you have to add an inline usb hub (the actual drain is apparently fine). This one was the smallest I could find: Amazon.com: USB 3.0 Hub, VIENON Aluminium 3-Port USB Hub USB Splitter USB Expander for Laptop, Xbox, Flash Drive, HDD, Console, Printer, Camera,Keyborad, Mouse : Electronics

On a whim, I went back and bought the BT-3 and it works without the hub, so much more convenient.

Lesson here - go buy the BT-3 while it is still available.

I didn’t try the Sennheiser one.

And yes, the sound over APTX is very noticeably crisper and livelier to me than the native Apple bluetooth - well worth the minor inconvenience of a dongle for me.

Next experiment - see if the BT3 works with any USB-C connectors in order to drop the usb-C to usb-a adapter. Will check in again as I get to that.

I have the BT3 but haven’t used it for a while. I’m sure it gave me aptx with the MTW1, but I can’t get anything but SBC with the MTW2. Once paired it goes to straight to blue SBC light and pressing the mode button seems to have no effect.

Any ideas?

I have the BT-W4 and are using it with iPads that have USB-C and it works perfect. No need for adaptors or anything.

With B&O Beoplay H95 the connection is APTX Adaptive, and using the iPad with Roon → BT-W4 → Beoplay H95 sounds amazing (but still better with my wired rig)

I believe the iPads put out enough power to run the dongle, but the iPhones don’t. I’ve seen other posts with users being successful with the Sennheiser BTD-600 being partnered with iPads but getting the ‘insufficient power’ error with iPhones.

My ideal solution would be iPhone > camera kit adapter > aptx dongle. Anyone know of a dongle that definitely works in this config?

Managed to sort the BT-W3 issue out. A full reset of the dongle brought back the Aptx connection to the MTW2 earphones.

For me the best SQ solution is… native. AAC 256kbps still. aptX HD with dongle? Hmmm. Maybe Apple will introduced own protocol with i.e. AirPods Max 2 like LDAC near lossless solution for BT. You know, all streams via Bluetooth lossy now.

I have this adapter designed originally to get pictures or any other data OTG from the iPhone to USB 3. It has to be this one, otherwise the iPhone won’t work because due to a matter of power. Then I connect the Sennheiser BMD 600 and that is it! Aptx Adaptive from the iPhone. I have been using it with Roon on my IPhone since December with no issues at all. But the key it is that iPhone to USB 3 adapter that consumes very low power. I got in in Amazon Spain but it is available in Amazon all over the world. This the link:
https://amzn.eu/d/hkG6jpV

Thank you for sharing. I ordered the exact same dongle and it works like a charm, in my case with a Sennheiser BTD 600 and Focal Bathys.

I think I prefer the AptX Adaptive codec over AAC, I think… :wink:

From my point of view, AptX Adaptive codec is much better than AAC.

Do you have a UK link to that lightning to USB cable? I have the Apple version but it gives me the ‘too much power’ error when using it with the BTD 600.

Nope. Couldn’t find it in the NL store either, so I just ordered it from Spain. Took a few days, but arrived in good order.

Thanks, will give it a go.

A quick update and some success! I was trying to replicate what @Mathesis_Corp_SL had set up using the Apple USB 3 camera adapter but not having much success at first. The components in use were an iPhone 14 pro, Apple USB 3 camera adapter with the lightening power port and the Sennheiser BTD-600 (I was after the Aptx Adaptive codec to feed B&W Px7 S2 headphones). Despite using a genuine Apple power supply I kept getting the ‘insufficient power’ error. I also noticed that the phone wasn’t charging either. I swapped in a 20w 3rd party charger with the same result.

I then switched out the iPhone for an old iPad mini (2nd gen), which was running ios 12. I had the original 12w charger for this device. Plugged it all together and hey presto, everything charges and works fine. So the take away seems to be that the genuine Apple USB 3 adapter is very fussy about being paired with the Apple power supply that is matched to the device, even though the wattage may be lower than that from a 3rd party charger.

With that sorted I set the private zone in Roon to ‘no’ and enabled the option to keep the screen alive. That now enables me to control the iPad Mini endpoint from my phone or any other Roon controller.

Hope this helps for anyone else pulling their hair out with Apple and Aptx and thanks to those on here who nudged me towards this solution.