How Do Bluetooth Speakers Work

 In recent years, Bluetooth connectivity has become more and more prevalent in our everyday lives and how we listen to audio (through speakers and headphones). You may have wondered how exactly your Bluetooth speaker works, and by reading this article, you’ll find out.

 

How do Bluetooth speakers work?

 

Bluetooth speakers receive digital audio wirelessly via the Bluetooth protocol when paired with Bluetooth-enabled digital audio devices. BT speakers accept digital audio via BT wireless transmission; convert it analog audio; amplify it, and convert it into sound just as regular speakers would.

 

This article was written to help you understand how Bluetooth speakers work and how they connect wirelessly. We’ll dive deeper into Bluetooth speaker functionality and go through several BT speaker examples to further our comprehension. On top of that, we’ll also list out the steps required to connect (pair) our Bluetooth speakers to our other Bluetooth devices.

 

Primer On How Speakers Work : Before getting into the substance of this article, let’s quickly go over how speakers work.When it comes down to design, Bluetooth speakers are really no different than most other active speakers (with built-in amplifiers). The big difference is the wireless transfer of audio via Bluetooth rather than the typical wired connection (or other wireless methods).  The main purpose of a loudspeaker is to act as a transducer that converts electrical energy (audio signals) into mechanical wave energy (sound waves). This is true regardless of if the speaker is wired or wireless.

 

The transducer element of a speaker is called the driver. Speakers may have many other components (enclosures, crossovers, amplifiers, etc.), but the driver(s) are the key transducer components that turn audio signals into sound waves.

 

Every loudspeaker works upon this function: an analog audio signal (alternating current) passes through the driver and causes proportional movement in the driver’s diaphragm.

The diaphragm movement pushes and pulls the air around it and effectively produces sound waves that mimic the form of the AC voltage of the audio signal.  This critical action in speaker design is required regardless of the speaker type, the number of drivers, crossover network, enclosure and form factor, how it receives its signal (wired or wireless), or any other specifications that differentiate one loudspeaker from another.  The overwhelming majority of loudspeaker drivers are electrodynamic (otherwise known as “dynamic” or “moving-coil dynamic”).

 

Bluetooth profiles determine the kind of data that is exchanged using Bluetooth technology.  For two Bluetooth devices to be compatible, they must support the same profiles. These profiles allow for each of the applications mentioned above.  The profile that sends audio to Bluetooth speakers (and headphones), for example, is the high-quality audio A2DP transmission profile. This profile has its own codecs to transmit audio signals wirelessly properly.