Auracast transmitter tests

Adjusting the volume of the iPad has no effect. Adjusting the volume on the phone does change the volume, but at lowest volume it is still loud.

Here’s a brief comparison of the C82 Aura and the Voyager in practice. I am sure some of the things I mention will be addressed in future updates, but I want to describe how they are currently working.

At the moment, the C82 Aura is too loud.

The Voyager has a physical switch, when it it is set to Auracast, the stream begins immediately. It doesn’t need to be receiving an audio stream. This is nice, because you can connect the hearing aids before streaming audio.

In contrast, the C82 won’t start an Auracast until it receives an audio stream. This is a little annoying because you have to connect to a stream after it has started. Sure, you can go back to the start of a recorded audio but not so good for video calls.

I don’t want my Auracasts to be public. Both are now private with passwords. Avantree doesn’t let you set your own password (or name of Auracast). You are assigned one. My Voyager has a four numeric password, the C82 Aura has an eight digit alphanumeric password. I can remember four digits but not eight. The problem is the Jabra app doesn’t remember passwords. You have to enter the password each time you connect. You can copy and paste each time, but just typing in four numbers from memory is much quicker.

The Voyager has some physical buttons and a little screen letting you know what it’s doing. It is easy to switch it to transmitting standard Bluetooth and connecting earbuds.

The Voyager has a battery and needs charging but it lasts for many hours. The C82 draws its power from the device it’s plugged into. The advantage of the Voyager is it can be plugged into 3.5 mm audio outlets. I plan to use it on planes with earbuds.

Overall, I really like the Voyager and use it exclusively.

I should also say that Avantree’s very responsive to questions and their reps are really helpful.

Right, Jabra and GN has assumed the sound level of third party Auracast streams be relatively low by default. And since USB volume is locked at full scale when you stream through the FlooGoo 120, it may be very loud at your EP20. The only way is to lower down the broadcast volume. If you are interested in trying out the HomeSpot BA210 v2 and its broadcast volume adjustment, drop a message to cs@homespotdigital.com and mention this forum thread. I have already asked the HomeSpot CS team to reserve a free trial unit for you.

Doing some experimenting and found that when I used the app and put the hearing aids in the Hear in Noise program it did take out some of the volume. So that helped! But thanks for your tip, Deenovan! I’m going to stick with the FlooGoo for now.

@jwerner said:

Avantree

I have the (relatively inexpensive and quite small) Avantree Voyager, which I recently updated to the latest firmware V0.5.9 (on July 15, 2025), using Avantree Firmware Updater V1.0.4.3 software for Windows.

Interestingly, Avantree Voyager now (i.e., with FW V0.5.9) supports Auracast at 48kHz; it previously only supported Auracast at 24kHz.

I have my Avantree Voyager hooked up to my bigscreen TV 3.5mm audio jack, with the USB-C connector connected to a spare USB port on the TV in order to keep the Voyager internal battery fully charged.

Don’t all bigscreen TV’s already support Bluetooth? Almost all do, but Classic BT can pair with only one – or possibly two – BT receivers, whereas Auracast can handle any number of Auracast receivers – provided that they are close enough – e.g., in the same room. (I’ve heard rumors that some Samsung TV’s support Auracast, but my TV isn’t Samsung, hence the need for the Avantree Voyager.)

I have the external physical switch on the Voyager set to “Auracast”, so that when the TV turns on, the Voyager immediately starts transmitting sound from the TV to Auracast, without any fiddling with the Voyager.

I set the speaker volume on the TV to the lowest non-zero value “1”, as setting it to “0” mutes not only the speaker, but also mutes the audio jack. At speaker volume “1”, I can’t hear anything from the speaker, even close up.

I don’t currently have Auracast-enabled HA’s, but I do have 3 different kinds of Auracast-enabled earbuds: MoerLab “hearClear” earbuds, Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds, and EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds.

All 3 earbuds can receive the Avantree Voyager Auracast broadcasts in both 24kHz and 48kHz modes.

My current favorite earbuds are the MoerLab hearClear earbuds, because they do not require any phone app in order to choose and receive Auracast broadcasts. If you tap the R earbud 4x, it switches between “BT Classic” and “BT Broadcast” (i.e., Auracast), and when hearClear is in “BT Broadcast” mode, if you then tap the R earbud 3x, it will scan for any Auracast broadcasts in your vicinity and then play the chosen one – all w/o any need for a phone app – which is wonderful if you have an older phone that doesn’t support BT Auracast (ahem, iPhone? Apple: are you listening?).

If I do use the respective apps for their earbuds, it is relatively painful to get the apps to talk to their earbuds, and relatively painful to choose which Auracast broadcast to listen to. I’ve had the apps hang and/or crash, and the earbud firmware crash (a few seconds of silence, followed by “Power On” again). NOTE TO EARBUD VENDORS: Please debug and improve your Auracast “helper”/“assistant” apps !!

Although some of these earbuds claim “noise cancellation”, I cannot hear much difference between their NC modes and their non-NC modes. For reference, when I use my Bose noise-cancelling headphones, I can hear a tremendous difference between NC and non-NC modes; sadly, I’m not aware of any Bose NC headphones that can handle Auracast.

I have also tested other Auracast HW, which I will review in another post.

Thanks for the amazing real-world feedback — super helpful! You’re spot on about the current pain points with Auracast earbuds and apps.

We’d love to send you our Auracast earbuds “Infinity” to test — free of charge. They support name editing, saving sources, and reconnecting automatically via our app.

Auracast is still new, and insights like yours really help us improve.

If you’re open to it, please DM us your shipping info!

By the way — just curious, do you mind that your current Auracast setup is unencrypted?

We’re about to release a new firmware for Voyager that supports optional PIN-based encryption. You’ll be able to turn it on or off, and even customize the broadcast code. Great for situations where privacy or security matters (like shared environments).

Would love to hear your thoughts on that too!

As Auracast supports encryption/PIN in the spec why would you develop it without that as an option? Wait until more people use Auracast and people will want to keep it private so neighbors can’t hear the TV.

Also this could be a massive issue for phone/video calls because eavesdropping is illegal in most jurisdictions.

I would go further and say that connecting devices probably should include something like an audio statement upon connection as to whether the connection is encrypted or unencrypted. Fast forward a bit to when places like airports will have Auracast. How will users know the status of the connection, especially if an assistant is not used.

I agree. I use it, among other things, for video calls. I use a pin because I feel uncomfortable about one side of the conversation being publicly broadcast.

That will greatly enhance the usefulness of the Voyager for many users!

You do realize that password use is optional? The original discussion was about a specific piece of hardware which did not yet have the option for using a password but was working on implementing that option. An Auracast compliant setup will have the option for a password but not require a password if that option is not enabled for that broadcast.

If you’re trying to address when broadcasts should or should not use passwords, that will likely evolve over time as people gain experience with these systems. The password feature is about options and privacy not restrictions to limit deployment.

@user490 said:

The original discussion was about a specific piece of hardware which did not yet have the option for using a password but was working on implementing that option.

I understand that.

In talking about how the technology as a whole might be used, I would hope that the manufacturers would consider the broader picture. Omitting an option because one person said they didn’t think it was necessary might be the wrong choice.

Given the technology is still in its infancy, I think the manufacturers need to understand how their devices might be used. I think it is better to be able to turn an option off rather than have people wish the option existed.

There will be some circumstances where a password protected Auracast will be needed.

A bank transaction, a Doctor’s appointment, a court hearing, a lawyer’s office, among others.

This is an essential in these cases.

Thanks, @HalfEar and @Phil — totally agree.

Password (i.e., Auracast “broadcast code”) should be optional, not mandatory. It exists to unlock privacy-sensitive scenarios, not to limit deployment. There are plenty of open-broadcast use cases (sermons, tours, lectures), and there are also clear closed ones (counseling rooms, clinics, courtrooms, board meetings).

From a manufacturer’s side, our plan is:

• Have the option, default off. Public events stay frictionless; admins can enable a code when privacy is needed.
• Make it simple to use. Join via tap/scan/enter-code with clear on-screen prompts; no extra hoops.
• Per-session control. Quick toggle, easy code rotate, and time-limited sessions so rooms can switch from open to private fast.
• Venue-friendly signage. When codes are on, provide a QR or short numeric code that staff can change without IT.

If you have preferred workflows (e.g., always-on code vs. switchable, numeric vs. alphanumeric, code rotation cadence), I’d love to hear them so we can bake that into the UI/firmware.