Nordic-powered audio transmitter delivers high quality Bluetooth LE Audio from legacy devices

Shenzhen Feasycom’s FSC-BP401 Bluetooth Audio Transmitter employs nRF5340 SoC to stream low latency, hi-fidelity audio to hearing aids, headphones, and speakers

IoT products company Shenzhen Feasycom has released a USB-based Bluetooth® transmitter that enables older televisions, PCs, or any sound source to stream hi-fidelity LE Audio to any compatible end device. The ‘FSC-BP401 Bluetooth Audio Transmitter’ integrates Nordic Semiconductor’s LE Audio- and Auracast-capable nRF5340 high-end multiprotocol SoC to provide high quality, low latency LE Audio connectivity between the transmitter and receiving devices, such as hearing aids, headphones, or wireless speakers. In addition to the nRF5340 SoC, the transmitter integrates a Bluetooth Classic chipset to connect to the audio source devices.

Low latency, quality wireless audio

“We developed the FSC-BP401 so that everyone can have a great audio experience with the most advanced Bluetooth LE Audio technology,” says Onen Ouyang, CEO at Shenzhen Feasycom. “The audio transmitter delivers consumers super low latency, high quality wireless audio that can be conveniently shared with an unlimited number of receiving devices.”

The 32.8 by 16.3 by 8.5 mm audio transmitter dongle provides easy-to-use plug-and-play operation. Once inserted into the USB-A port of any host device—for example a Windows PC or MacOS computer, tablet or a television—it can be configured via a drop-down menu and includes a push button to pair with one or more receiving devices and for audio broadcast.

The nRF5340 SoC provided the size, Arm CPU capability, and reliability we needed for our Bluetooth Audio Transmitter, while the nRF Connect SDK helped us get up and running quickly with our application code

Onen Ouyang, CEO at Shenzhen Feasycom

Auracast broadcast audio enabled

The Nordic-powered LE Audio transmitter delivers low latency (~25 ms) True Wireless Stereo and long range wireless connectivity (up to 100 m line-of-sight), while significantly reducing power consumption compared to Bluetooth Classic. Auracast enables the audio source to broadcast audio streams to an unlimited number of devices allowing, for example, the wearer of Auracast-compliant hearing aids to hear the audio stream clearly, while their family members can simultaneously listen at a comfortable volume directly via the audio source, or through their own Auracast-compliant headphones or earbuds.

The FSC-BP401 Bluetooth Audio Transmitter employs the nRF5340 SoC’s dual Arm® Cortex®-M33 processors – comprising a high performance application processor capable of DSP and Floating Point (FP) alongside a fully programmable, ultra low power network processor. The application core manages both the LE Audio codec and the codec for Bluetooth Classic audio, while the Bluetooth LE protocol is supervised by the network processor. The LE Audio connectivity is made possible through the nRF5340 SoC’s 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio featuring 3 dBm output power and -98 dBm RX sensitivity for a link budget of 101 dBm.

“The nRF5340 SoC provided the size, Arm CPU capability, and reliability we needed for our Bluetooth Audio Transmitter, while the nRF Connect SDK helped us get up and running quickly with our application code,” continues Ouyang. “Nordic also has first class engineers and a friendly technical support ecosystem that provides excellent documentation and fast response.”