Sony bluetooth turntable

[tizzle84]

Hey everyone,
I’m having difficulties connecting my Sony turntable (PS-LX310BT) to the Wiim Pro via Bluetooth. The TT is about 15 feet away from the Wiim, so well within bluetooth range. I have connected the TT to an Echo prior to purchasing the Wiim, and it worked fine by having the Echo connected to my receiver (Yamaha A-S301) via 3.5mm->RCA cable.

What I’d like to do is go TT -> Wiim Pro -> (optical) -> Receiver

I’ve held down the bluetooth button on the TT for 10 seconds, it flashed orange/blue rapidly (this clears its pairing history). Then I held it for 2 seconds to place it into pairing mode, the blue light starts blinking rapidly. Then, on the Wiim, I held Vol Up + Vol Down for 2 seconds, and the green light starting flashing.

However, the TT never pairs with the Wiim. Has anyone gotten this to work? Any tips?
Oh, and I also made sure my audio input was set to Bluetooth on the Wiim app. It was previously set to ethernet, and casting from my phone via Airplay works great.

Thanks!!

 

[FreakyKiwi]

For full disclosure I avoid using bluetooth if at all possible and don't understand the appeal of connecting a turntable over bluetooth (the analog purity?), or turntables at all for that matter.

In any case the Wiim manual confirms that your procedure is correct.
It does also state this if it helps.

Bluetooth supports A2DP and AVRCP profiles, and both SBC and AAC codecs are supported.

What codecs does the TT support, SBC is mandatory but do you need to do something to enable it.

Otherwise my thoughts are that SBC is poop and AAC is quite poop (other than Apple who have optimised it well in their closed ecosystem audio chain).

Is there no way to connect the TT directly to the amp and avoid the many digital conversion in your setup?

 

[Wiimer]

Hey everyone,
I’m having difficulties connecting my Sony turntable (PS-LX310BT) to the Wiim Pro via Bluetooth. The TT is about 15 feet away from the Wiim, so well within bluetooth range. I have connected the TT to an Echo prior to purchasing the Wiim, and it worked fine by having the Echo connected to my receiver (Yamaha A-S301) via 3.5mm->RCA cable.

What I’d like to do is go TT -> Wiim Pro -> (optical) -> Receiver

I’ve held down the bluetooth button on the TT for 10 seconds, it flashed orange/blue rapidly (this clears its pairing history). Then I held it for 2 seconds to place it into pairing mode, the blue light starts blinking rapidly. Then, on the Wiim, I held Vol Up + Vol Down for 2 seconds, and the green light starting flashing.

However, the TT never pairs with the Wiim. Has anyone gotten this to work? Any tips?
Oh, and I also made sure my audio input was set to Bluetooth on the Wiim app. It was previously set to ethernet, and casting from my phone via Airplay works great.

Thanks!!

When the TT and WiiM are not successfully paired, does the TT LED stay flashing blue all the time? Or will it turn solid blue?

In the first case, try pairing again with the WiiM in close proximity to the TT.

In the latter case, I think you may be connected to a device other than WiiM.

 

[tizzle84]

For full disclosure I avoid using bluetooth if at all possible and don't understand the appeal of connecting a turntable over bluetooth (the analog purity?), or turntables at all for that matter.

In any case the Wiim manual confirms that your procedure is correct.
It does also state this if it helps.

Bluetooth supports A2DP and AVRCP profiles, and both SBC and AAC codecs are supported.

What codecs does the TT support, SBC is mandatory but do you need to do something to enable it.

Otherwise my thoughts are that SBC is poop and AAC is quite poop (other than Apple who have optimised it well in their closed ecosystem audio chain).

Is there no way to connect the TT directly to the amp and avoid the many digital conversion in your setup?

I was going to caveat my initial post by saying I understand the downfalls of bluetooth and audio quality, but instead decided to dive straight into my issue. But yes, I agree Bluetooth is sub-par for those audio purists looking to hear the original vinyl sound. My situation is: we have speakers in our ceiling, the wires all run back to one location in the corner of our TV room and hook into the receiver. This receiver is on the bottom shelf of a bar cart, hidden by a "pouf" pillow in front of it for aesthetics. On top of the bar cart are family photos, dried plants, etc.

The aesthetics part is all my wife. I cannot convince anyone in my home "but the quality of Dolly Parton's Christmas record will sound sooo much better if we just directly connect to the line-in!"... they don't care. They just want to hear the music coming from the ceiling, and would never claim to be audiophiles. My wife does not want the turntable sitting on the top shelf of the bar cart because... aesthetics. Alas, I ordered this bluetooth turntable so it could be placed in an acceptable-to-my-wife location in the next room over. My only option for direct-connect is to drill through 100-yr old hardwood floors and run cables under the house to the other room where the receiver resides, something I'm saving as a last-resort.

The thing is, it worked great while BT connected to the Amazon Echo Dot. From there, I had the 3.5/RCA, and all was well. But since investing in several HomePods over the last few years we have transitioned away from Amazon, and now want to AirPlay to all the homepods and the ceiling speakers at the same time. That part was easy (and impressive! thanks WiiM!). The hard part is this BT connection from the turntable.

---

According to Sony's website, it supports SBC and Qualcomm® aptX™ audio only. AAC and LDAC aren't supported. The manual states (pg 15) that when only using Bluetooth to make sure the Phono/Line switch is in the LINE position, which I have verified.

---

When the TT and WiiM are not successfully paired, does the TT LED stay flashing blue all the time? Or will it turn solid blue?

In the first case, try pairing again with the WiiM in close proximity to the TT.

In the latter case, I think you may be connected to a device other than WiiM.

It flashes for about 5 seconds, then goes solid blue. I too thought it might be connecting to something else, so I held the BT button down for >10 seconds to forget all previous pairings. At this point in my troubleshooting, the only device it had previously connected to was unplugged (the Echo). So I moved the TT to the floor directly next to the WiiM, reset WiiM to factory, reset BT pairing on the TT, then started the setup process again. But this yielded the same results.

As a quick test, I attempted to connect my phone's bluetooth to the WiiM. At first I had the same results, but then after rebooting WiiM from the app, it paired straight away. With this in mind, I once again rebooted the WiiM, put it into pairing mode, then held down the Sony BT button for 10 seconds, then held it down for 2 seconds. It would flash for a few seconds, then go solid.

I suppose I can power-off all electronics in my home that have BT capabilities other than these two devices, and try again. Maybe the TT is connecting to something else without me realizing it.

 

[Wiimer]

I was going to caveat my initial post by saying I understand the downfalls of bluetooth and audio quality, but instead decided to dive straight into my issue. But yes, I agree Bluetooth is sub-par for those audio purists looking to hear the original vinyl sound. My situation is: we have speakers in our ceiling, the wires all run back to one location in the corner of our TV room and hook into the receiver. This receiver is on the bottom shelf of a bar cart, hidden by a "pouf" pillow in front of it for aesthetics. On top of the bar cart are family photos, dried plants, etc.

The aesthetics part is all my wife. I cannot convince anyone in my home "but the quality of Dolly Parton's Christmas record will sound sooo much better if we just directly connect to the line-in!"... they don't care. They just want to hear the music coming from the ceiling, and would never claim to be audiophiles. My wife does not want the turntable sitting on the top shelf of the bar cart because... aesthetics. Alas, I ordered this bluetooth turntable so it could be placed in an acceptable-to-my-wife location in the next room over. My only option for direct-connect is to drill through 100-yr old hardwood floors and run cables under the house to the other room where the receiver resides, something I'm saving as a last-resort.

The thing is, it worked great while BT connected to the Amazon Echo Dot. From there, I had the 3.5/RCA, and all was well. But since investing in several HomePods over the last few years we have transitioned away from Amazon, and now want to AirPlay to all the homepods and the ceiling speakers at the same time. That part was easy (and impressive! thanks WiiM!). The hard part is this BT connection from the turntable.

---

According to Sony's website, it supports SBC and Qualcomm® aptX™ audio only. AAC and LDAC aren't supported. The manual states (pg 15) that when only using Bluetooth to make sure the Phono/Line switch is in the LINE position, which I have verified.

---



It flashes for about 5 seconds, then goes solid blue. I too thought it might be connecting to something else, so I held the BT button down for >10 seconds to forget all previous pairings. At this point in my troubleshooting, the only device it had previously connected to was unplugged (the Echo). So I moved the TT to the floor directly next to the WiiM, reset WiiM to factory, reset BT pairing on the TT, then started the setup process again. But this yielded the same results.

As a quick test, I attempted to connect my phone's bluetooth to the WiiM. At first I had the same results, but then after rebooting WiiM from the app, it paired straight away. With this in mind, I once again rebooted the WiiM, put it into pairing mode, then held down the Sony BT button for 10 seconds, then held it down for 2 seconds. It would flash for a few seconds, then go solid.

I suppose I can power-off all electronics in my home that have BT capabilities other than these two devices, and try again. Maybe the TT is connecting to something else without me realizing it.

Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Do you always press and hold the BT button for 10 seconds when pairing?
Have you tried leaving it out?

In other words, after switching the input to Bluetooth in the WiiM app, all you have to do is press the BT button on the TT for 2 seconds.

 

[tizzle84]

Do you always press and hold the BT button for 10 seconds when pairing?
Have you tried leaving it out?

No stupid questions! Not always, only when I think it has paired to something other than the WiiM will I hold it for 10 seconds to clear the bluetooth pairings.

In other words, after switching the input to Bluetooth in the WiiM app, all you have to do is press the BT button on the TT for 2 seconds.

After switching input to Bluetooth, then pressing the Vol Up/Down on the front of WiiM simultaneously for 2 seconds (green light starts flashing), then I hold down the bluetooth button on the TT for 2 seconds to initiate pairing from it. The green light on the WiiM flashes for quite a long time (10 min?), but the TT blue light goes solid after 5 seconds or so.

 

[Wiimer]

No stupid questions! Not always, only when I think it has paired to something other than the WiiM will I hold it for 10 seconds to clear the bluetooth pairings.


After switching input to Bluetooth, then pressing the Vol Up/Down on the front of WiiM simultaneously for 2 seconds (green light starts flashing), then I hold down the bluetooth button on the TT for 2 seconds to initiate pairing from it. The green light on the WiiM flashes for quite a long time (10 min?), but the TT blue light goes solid after 5 seconds or so.

You don't need to press Vol Up/Down on the WiiM.
If you set the audio input of the WiiM app to Bluetooth, it will enter pairing mode.

However, isn't it too fast for the TT to change from flashing to lighting in 5 seconds?!
I think it's still connected to other devices.

 

[tizzle84]

You don't need to press Vol Up/Down on the WiiM.
If you set the audio input of the WiiM app to Bluetooth, it will enter pairing mode.

Oh interesting! I was going off the manual:
"Before streaming music from a device, you must pair your mobile device to the WiiM Pro. You can put the WiiM Pro into the pairing mode by pressing and holding the volume '+' and '-' buttons together for 2 seconds."

But in your experience, this isn't required?

However, isn't it too fast for the TT to change from flashing to lighting in 5 seconds?!
I think it's still connected to other devices.

I do believe you are correct here. When I get home today I'm going to shut off all other electronics and see what I can come up with. Boy I hope you're right!

 

[Wiimer]

Oh interesting! I was going off the manual:
"Before streaming music from a device, you must pair your mobile device to the WiiM Pro. You can put the WiiM Pro into the pairing mode by pressing and holding the volume '+' and '-' buttons together for 2 seconds."

But in your experience, this isn't required?


I do believe you are correct here. When I get home today I'm going to shut off all other electronics and see what I can come up with. Boy I hope you're right!

Yes, it isn't required.
If you already have a device paired with WiiM, it will connect to that device when you switch the input to Bluetooth. If not, it will go into pairing mode.

I hope your problem will be solved.

 

[tizzle84]

Welp, I can't figure this thing out. I consider myself technically inclined, but this has stumped me.

So, I'd like to know if throwing more money at the problem will help my issue. Could I get a WiiM Mini to put next to the turntable and use the Aux In on that? I figured I could line-in on the Mini, then use a WiiM Group to send the audio over to the Pro and get it to my receiver that way. This would go through my WiFi, and would (hopefully) be more reliable than bluetooth.

My hesitation is the guide for creating a group states "Select the other WiiM Mini," but I assume any other WiiM device is compatible?

 

[Mr Ee]

Welp, I can't figure this thing out. I consider myself technically inclined, but this has stumped me.

So, I'd like to know if throwing more money at the problem will help my issue. Could I get a WiiM Mini to put next to the turntable and use the Aux In on that? I figured I could line-in on the Mini, then use a WiiM Group to send the audio over to the Pro and get it to my receiver that way. This would go through my WiFi, and would (hopefully) be more reliable than bluetooth.

My hesitation is the guide for creating a group states "Select the other WiiM Mini," but I assume any other WiiM device is compatible?

You can mix and match pros and minis in the same group.

 

[Doublej]

Perhaps the Sony turntable thinks the WiiM is a computer. Why that should make a difference for BLUETOOTH pairing, I have no f'ing clue. It mentions this twice in the manual. Here one of the mentions:

You cannot pair your turntable with
smartphones, TVs, or computers. The
turntable can use the BLUETOOTH
function to send data to playback devices
that support BLUETOOTH wireless
technology; however, because the
turntable cannot receive data from
smartphones, TVs, or computers, the
turntable cannot pair with them.

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Perhaps the Sony turntable thinks the WiiM is a computer. Why that should make a difference for BLUETOOTH pairing, I have no f'ing clue. It mentions this twice in the manual. Here one of the mentions:

A computer (or smartphone or TV) is a Bluetooth source device. The turntable can only connect to a Bluetooth sink (playback) device (speakers, headphones etc).
The WiiM can be both a source and sink which shouldn't prevent it from pairing.

 

[Wiimer]

Welp, I can't figure this thing out. I consider myself technically inclined, but this has stumped me.

So, I'd like to know if throwing more money at the problem will help my issue. Could I get a WiiM Mini to put next to the turntable and use the Aux In on that? I figured I could line-in on the Mini, then use a WiiM Group to send the audio over to the Pro and get it to my receiver that way. This would go through my WiFi, and would (hopefully) be more reliable than bluetooth.

My hesitation is the guide for creating a group states "Select the other WiiM Mini," but I assume any other WiiM device is compatible?

That's very unfortunate news.

If you're considering an additional device, the WiiM mini is no problem either. Another suggestion is a Bluetooth transmitter that is even less expensive.