I'm a big fan of Bluetooth technology. When I see a good value on something I can use I find it hard to resist. There is not much to say about this little Bluetooth adapter except that it works well, is inexpensive, and will eliminate the wires from your iPod. Apple doesn't seem to know the value of Bluetooth, but fortunately a small investment will overcome that shortfall. 
The wiREVO A100 is small, but is a holdover from earlier iPod design trends. It works just fine with my iPod Touch and Nano, but isn't the most stylish compliment to either. At 3/8" thick by 1.o625" by 1.5625" and only 12 grams in weight, you'll notice but not feel much addition to your iPod.
The A100 has it's own lithium battery and will charge from your iPod cable. You can charge it alone or charge both the iPod and A100 at the same time. 
Pairing is easy. The first time it is plugged into an iPod it will go immediately into pairing mode with it's led flashing blue and red. I had a little more trouble pairing it a second time to a different device, but it just took more careful timing. Once connected your Bluetooth headset will have control over the iPod. You can toggle between Play and Pause, and also go forward or backward one track at a time. Your headset will have volume control as well. Instructions are complete and easy to understand. It was well packaged.I found mine at Buy.com. No tax and free shipping kept the final price below $20. MSRP was originally $99. I'll just warn you that free shipping wasn't the default choice, so make sure you look for it when checking out.
Sound quality is great. I challenge anyone to tell the difference between this adapter's wireless audio and the same source through a cable to similar headphones. Signal strength is typical. I could walk about 40ft away from my iPod outdoors with no obstructions before the signal dropped out. Indoors this adapter is the same as all others I've tested. The number of walls and your orientation to the source device will affect the signal distance. When signal is lost there is a quiet break, and the audio resumes once you move back into range.
I recommend the wiREVO (wireless Revolution) A100. It's a tremendous value at $20. You won't be disappointed.
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I wonder if this is also compatible with the iPhone and if it handles calls when used with a stereo headphone that has a microphone.
ReplyDeleteGreat question, Jon. My wife now has an iPhone so I may get a chance next week to give it a try. The supported modes are only A2DP and AVRCP, and the include documentation doesn't mention the iPhone. I suspect it'll work fine for music and video(audio), but since the iPhone already has bluetooth for mono headsets there may be a conflict.
ReplyDelete4D
After several days of browsing and researching I come to a conclusion that A100 is the best option for now...as it has its charge port (none of the other has it)...Questions:
ReplyDelete- will it work with different headset (brand)
- can it pair with ipod touch 2gen, and will charging through a100 will charge ipod touch 2gen...because 2gen has diffent charging configuration (it won't be charge using 1gen or other ipod charger)
- can it switch between music and phone mode.
Please advise...cause i'm about to make a purchase.
Thanks
Ian Kloer
ikloer@yahoo.co.id
Kloer,
ReplyDeleteI haven't tested it with the iPhone or 2nd gen Touch, but since they use the same USB charging cables I suspect it will work. It works wth my 1st gen Touch and will charge by itself or charge both the Touch and the A100, although take a little longer.
Yes, you can pair it with more different headsets, but only one at a time.
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Thanks for posting this. I purchased this for my Ipod Touch and wasn't sure if i made a mistake(I just received this today). I have the WiRevo S300 headset that I got for $12 on buy.com also. What headset do you have?
ReplyDeleteI've used it with my Sony BT50s, a JBL headset, an Insignia NS-BTHDP headset, and a no-name bluetooth headset I found at my local Target. It is a minor challenge to get it paired with each new device, but do-able.
ReplyDeleteIs your Touch a 1st gen or 2nd gen, anon?
This may sound dumb, but I have no idea if its first gen or 2nd. However, it definitely still charges through this adapter. If you tell me how to check i'll look at it. I bought a refurb ipod in Aug of 2008.
ReplyDeleteDoes this unit have clips like on the cables where you have to squeeze the sides? I already own a dongle without those clips and it pops out all the time.
ReplyDeleteNo, the A100 doesn't have clips, however it does fit snuggly into both my iPod Touch and 4th gen Nano.
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I just received my A100. I'm using it with an iPhone 2G. It paired right away with a Samsung SBH 500 stereo headset, and I was getting very clear stereo, but the headset wasn't receiving phone calls. I was getting concerned, but then discovered that the headset can pair with the iPhone and the A100 at the same time and seems to do so automatically. Everything appears to be working correctly now and I'm very pleased. The A100 should do fine until Apple supports Bluetooth protocols more completely in the iPhone. Then I'll use the A100 with one of my underutilized iPods.
ReplyDeleteI tried using A100 with 2nd generation ipod touch . It paired properly- i can change songs using my headset but i did not hear any sound. I am not sure is this prob with headset or A100 not compatible enough with ipod touch 2G. please comment if you have any idea.
ReplyDeleteif your BT headset supports multiple profiles then (most likely) you'll need to pair it with iPhone BT and A100 BT separately. Then turn on iPhone BT, link it to headset. Plug in A100 and wait till it'll link to headset too. At least this is how my Jabra BT8010 works with iLuv BT dongle with iPhone2G/3G
ReplyDeletehai,i got my new wirevo a100 today and having trouble to pair it with my iphone 3g and plantronics voyager855 headset.can anybody tell me how to do it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a novice question, can this be paired with the car's (Acura)built in bluetooth so we can play the music through the car's speakers.
ReplyDeletewelli just tryed it on my iphone 3g and it tells me its not compatable.. hmmm? is there a way around it and if so plz explain.. thx
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I won't be able to solve any iPhone challenges related to the a100. I have gotten it to work with iPod Touch 1st and 2nd generations. Volume doesn't work from either Touch so you'll need to use the volume controls on your headset.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Acura, you'll just have to loan me the car if you want me to figure that out. If your car's manual has a bluetooth section I suggest studying it. You'll need to put it in pairing mode, and put the a100 in the same mode. Kind of tricky, but should be possible to get them working together.
I can't hear with my first gen ipod touch. I can only change and pause songs with the bt headset. PLEASE HELP! :(
ReplyDeleteDrew, Your headset may simply need to have the volume turned up. You don't mention which headset you are using, but usually there are + and - buttons for volume control. I have one pair that always lowers the volume when turned on so that once connected you don't get a blast of sound that is bad for your ears.
ReplyDeleteIf the headset does pause and play + change track, then it's not the A100 at fault.
Good luck.
my headset is a plantronics voyager 855. i don't know if my a100 doesn't have a good battery because it starts to blink red every half hour
ReplyDeleteThe red blink is ON with no established connection. Hold down the button (below the LED) for a few seconds to turn it OFF. To put it in pairing mode you'll need to now hold the button down for 7-10 seconds, until it starts flashing red/blue/red/blue/etc.. Put your 855 in pairing mode and the two should find each other. Once a connection is made the A100 will flash an occasional blue.
ReplyDeleteHow do you pair the 1st gen iPod touch with the wirevoa100 and the motorolla s9
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don't own the motorolla, but to put the A100 in pairing mode you start with it OFF. Then press and hold down the button below the LED for up to 10 seconds until the LED begins alternating between red and blue flashes. The S9 will need to be in pairing mode at the same time. Good luck.
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Hey, I have an ipod touch 1st gen 8gb firmware 3.0
ReplyDeleteWith this adapter can I use peer to peer and the other bluetooth features of 3.0?
Plus I really don't like how it covers up the audio port.
Anthony: As far as I can tell, the 1st gen Touch doesn't recognize it as anything more than a speaker dock. The A100 itself just supports A2DP (stereo audio) with remote control from your headset.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to pair the A100 with my computer to use the computer as my bluetooth audio device and run the audio to a stereo...the computer won't even find it to attempt to connect...any ideas?
ReplyDeleteI had the A100 blinking blue/red trying to find something to connect to and then searched for bluetooth devices on my PC and no luck...My PC connects with my other bluetooth devices with no problem.
Your PC expects to be the host of music files instead of the speakers. You'll need a Bluetooth receiver for your stereo, a more direct route. Once you get one you'll also be able to play music off your PC wirelesssly to the stereo. Amazon carries several. I've used a Sony transceiver. Search for "bluetooth receiver".
ReplyDeleteI just purchased a wiREVO A100 and a pair of Motorola S9 bluetooth headphones. I found your site doing a search for how to pair them. They should find each other automatically, but nothing happens. The A100 flashes blue and red until it basically "times out". The S9 headphones flash on and off blue until they time out, but they never seem to pair up. I've tried starting one first and then the other and vice versa. Is there a trick to this? Am I missing something? Or did I get a lemon (or two)? Thanks! :^)
ReplyDeleteI don't have the Motorola S9 to try, so I can't verify if it works with the A100 or not. A previous comment also mentioned problems with the S9, so those headphones may simply not be compatible. If you've got the user manual, see if they support A2DP. The A100 also uses a pairing code of 0000, so if the S9 expects something else it'll never work.
ReplyDeleteBoth items are A2DP compatible anbd don't require a code to be entered. I finally got the A100 to pair with my S9 headphones by turning both items off and then simultaneously holding down both power buttons at the same time for about 10-15 seconds. The instructions in no way indicate to do this, but after trying every other possible combination of techniques, this was the one that worked. Hopefully it will help someone else who might be having the same issue.
ReplyDeleteDoes this adapter also work with games? So that I can play games for the ipod touch over bluetooth?
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I have no idea if it works with games that use the 2nd gen Touch bluetooth. My iTunes wouldn't sync any apps using bluetooth to my 1st gen touch.
ReplyDeleteHi, have a technical question. Sorry to have to use this site as customer support but the Wirevo website apparently doesn't exist and others claim that emails sent to them come back unanswered.
ReplyDeleteI purchased these for use with my iPod 5th Gen (30gb Video), and my Plantronics Voyager 855 stereo bluetooth headset. I got the adapter and the headset paired, and I can control the iPod remotely, but there's almost no sound. What sound there is comes in bursts of less than a second long. So, basically I get no audio.
I've tested it on another bluetooth headset (Logitech Freepulse) and another iPod (iPod Touch 8gb). Sam results
Any ideas as to what's up with this?
Hi Country,
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert on ipods or plantronics or the Wirevo. That said, you should see if the Wirevo works with another iPod. You get the same results with any headphones you've tried, so that leaves only two other things it could be. By trying with another iPod you can eliminate either your iPod as where the defect is or the Wirevo as defective. You might also make sure the Wireve has a good charge. Leave it plugged into your iPod cable and PC/Mac but not the iPod for a couple of hours.
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I have just purchased the A100 too, waiting for it to arrive, I want to pair it with the philips tapster shb 7110, hope it will work!
ReplyDeleteMerry christmas, and thanks for answers in the blog.
please could someone test this with gaming. The only reason I would buy this is if it worked for gaming. (I've got a 1st gen iPod touch)
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, the Touch doesn't even realize it has bluetooth. The A100 just acts like a dock, and take what would normally play through speakers and send it over bluetooth to bluetooth headphones. So no, it won't turn you 1st gen Touch into a second gen one.
ReplyDelete4D
Thanks anyway
ReplyDeleteHi, will this also stream sound while playing videos? Reason I'm asking is that my friend's 1st gen 16GB Touch has a water-damaged headphone jack and was wondering if this is a good work around for being able to hear sound from both music and videos. I have tried a $5 a/v data port connector with headphone jack and it works for songs but when I tried playing videos, the sound played but there was no video because it thinks you are trying to hook up to a TV through the a/v port.
ReplyDeleteYes, it will stream sound as you play a video. The audio might be a little out-of-sync with the video though, as it takes a little time to process and transmit the audio over bluetooth.
ReplyDelete4D
4D, I bought the A100 recently to use in my new Mazda 3 which came with bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and AVRCP. It paired right away with no problem. When it connects to the car it automatically pauses my iPod nano 1st gen but when I hit play it immediately disconnects from my car stereo and reconnects shortly after pausing the ipod again. When I did get music to play it skipped to the point of not being usable. I have used an iLuv i151 and it works great but I really wanted the pass through charging. Any suggestions to get the A100 to work?
ReplyDeleteI don't have a Mazda 3 to check. You say you are charging it. If the car has a USB or iPod dock it is likely that it is trying to play over that cable via it's connection to your head unit. The Bluetooth connection sets up a conflict, as it is a second connection. The iPod doesn't know as it just thinks of the A100 as another dock connection to speakers. I can't help you with no access to a 3 with the same head unit. I suggest looking for a way to disable the AUX pathway from the USB cable, although I'm not even sure if that's the problem.
ReplyDelete4D
There is no USB connection to the headunit. While trying to use it I wasn't even charging, just using the A100 by itself.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but without your car, your iPod, and your A100 you've got the best I can give.
ReplyDelete4D
I recently purchased the A100 for my son. He can pair it with his cell phone and play music through his rocketfish blue tooth headset. We can not get it to pair with his 1st gen ipod touch. It never asks for the access code when we try to pair it with his ipod touch. Do you have any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteAll I can suggest for the 1st gen touch is to keep trying. The A100 may have a limit to how many devices it can pair with. It may have to be reset, or "forget" a previous pairing to work with another device. It's been so long since I reviewed the A100 I can't find mine or it's instructions to be more help.
ReplyDeleteGood luck,
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Do you know if this would allow me to transfer pictures from my phone to my 1st generation iPod touch (iOS 3.1.3) through the bluetooth connection? Thanks for your help.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe file transfer is a feature of the A100. It is just intended to allow you to play music from your Touch to Bluetooth stereo headphones.
ReplyDeleteOh, okay. Do you happen to know of any bluetooth adapters for the 1st gen iPod touch (iOS 3.1.3) that would allow file transfer? Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteNope. Apple discourages file sharing, and even the latest Touch with built-in bluetooth is problematic for file transfer.
ReplyDeleteSamsung's P2, P3, and M1 devices have a good degree of bluetooth capability including file transfer. After that, you'll need an android device or a phone.
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right now, for my first generation ipod and itouch, what should I do to make it comptabile with bluetooth wireless tehnology...get an adapater, update OS (how do I do that ?) and what would be a reasoanably good wireless headphone to purchase ? Sorry for the series of the questions. Thanks, Viny
ReplyDeleteViny,
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, the first gen Touch doesn't have Bluetooth. Later models do though. As for adapters, the one above works fine, but I don't know if it is even still available. Do a Google search for "iPod Bluetooth adapter" and you should find a few good solutions.
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