We spotted something interesting over at Kickstarter: Natus One is a receiver and transmitter system that lets you turn any headphone into a wireless one. The transmitter connects to your mixer or controller’s headphone output and your headphones plug into the receiver, allowing you to monitor and hear your mix without being tethered to your mixer or controller.
This is impossible with Bluetooth headphones and speakers because of Bluetooth’s latency, which results in a slight delay between the audio coming out of your gear and what you’re hearing in your cans, making it difficult (if not impossible) to mix. It claims to make that problem a thing of the past, and is its raison d’etre: The Natus One uses a wireless technology that is faster than Bluetooth, and the company says there is only 16 milliseconds of latency between the transmitter and receiver whereas Bluetooth reaches upwards of 150ms.
Natus One packs a rechargeable battery that runs up to 24 hours on a single charge and plays back at a maximum 48kHz / 16-bit resolution which is good news for DJs with high-res music files.
It remains to be seen whether or not Natus One can be as reliable as a pair of good ol’ wired headphones, but if it is then it’s got a variety of uses outside the DJ box too: you can connect it to your speaker monitor system and make that wireless, or you can use it in your home production studio so you have the freedom to move around or place your studio monitors in different spaces while listening to your production. We’re watching this one closely and we’ll give you more updates if and when production begins.
Check out the promo video below.
Promo video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKjSlS00_E4
• The Natus One is live now on Kickstarter. Check its campaign page for more details.
What are your thoughts on this Bluetooth system? Think its latency is low enough to be used in a DJ or production situation? Or do you prefer the simplicity of just plugging your cans in to your mixer? Let us know below.
Joey Santos
