Bluewave Get portable headphone amp/DAC

Taking in the afternoon sun for a spot of al fresco coffee action, I discovered the one big flaw to the Bluewave Get Bluetooth headphone amplifier from Canada. With a dark-coloured headphone cable blending into the table, I was asked several times by people if they could borrow my lighter. From 10 feet away, the Bluewave Get looks like a good quality Ronson. That’s about it though; being mistaken for a smoker is the biggest downside to owning a Bluewave Get!

With Apple removing the 3.5mm TRS headphone jack sales of wireless headphones, earphones, and headsets have increased exponentially. However, many of us still use good headphones and earphones that don’t have a Bluetooth capability, and the amp dongle that Apple supplies, while not hopeless, is ‘mostly hopeless’. The Get is a legitimate attempt at improving the performance of Bluetooth headphone listening. Bluewave packed this little tool with a host of goodies, including Bluetooth 5.0, a 200mAh Li-Po battery (good for up to six hours playback from a two-hour charge), USB charging, and a MEMS microphone that improves your voice on a call immeasurably. It also has a provision to play 24bit aptX-HD files, and decode up to 24/96. The amp inside is remarkably tasty too, and volume level is controlled from a thumbwheel at the top of the Bluewave Get.

Using it is easy; pair it with your phone using Bluetooth, then use it! Job done. OK, with my ‘Buddy’ in the car and my FitBit on my wrist, and a whole bunch of other things used then forgotten in test, my list of devices gets longwinded and contended, but the Get is a firm fixture. Bluewave claims the Get delivers a better sound than a wired link and that bold claim is not far from being absolutely right. Given the lip service paid to headphone connections by most phone brands, this is perhaps not so big a deal as it first seems, but yes… there really is a more dynamic, more refined, more detailed, and more bass-precise, fun sound through the Get.

Bluewave’s Get is an extremely useful device. It means you get to keep those wired headphones you love, in an increasingly wire-free environment. You could even use it as a Bluetooth DAC for a conventional two-channel system, and it wouldn’t embarrass itself in performance terms. It sounds damn good in both applications. The obvious choice: Go get a Get!

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Type: Bluewave portable headphone amplifier/DAC
• Controls: Play/pause/call answer/call hang-up/FFWD/FRWD
• Supported codecs: SBC, MP3, AAC (iOS), AptX, AptX Low latency, AptX-HD
• Price: $129, accessories $14.99

Manufactured by: Bluewave

URL: bluewaveaudio.ca

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