Worship Musician Magazine September 2020 | Page 154

GEAR REVIEW
RADIAL BT-PRO V2 BLUETOOTH STEREO RECEVIER | Doug Doppler
KEY FEATURES
• Phantom or USB C Powered
• Output Level Control
• Sum to Mono Button
• Pair Button
• Ground Lift
• Dual XLR Female Outputs
• Headphone Output
The Radial BT-Pro V2 is the perfect tool for
extracting hi-fidelity audio from Bluetooth
enabled devices like laptops, tablets, and
smart phones. While it’s highly probable that
your church is already using at least one Radial
product, but if by chance you’re not, you can
rest assured that churches of all sizes around
the globe have come to depend on Radial’s
rock solid engineering and build skills, and the
BT-Pro V2 is no exception.
BLUETOOTH’S BENEFITS
Given the overwhelming popularity of Apple’s
AirPods, Bluetooth has more than proven
itself in the sonic fidelity department. That
said, where this technology excels most is
in its ability to pipe high-fidelity audio directly
into your PA without the tangled web of cables
usually required to connect Bluetooth enabled
sound sources like laptops.
LAPTOP FRIENDLY
If you’re running tracks, MainStage, and/
or Ableton LIVE, chances are you’re using
a Mac laptop to do so. While being able to
use the 1/8 ” headphone jack is sufficient for
wired headphones, be it the size or reliability
of the connectors or cables, this is a sub-par
methodology for getting service-critical audio
into your stage box or PA.
NOT JUST FOR SUNDAY
The BT-Pro V2 is not only great for connecting
your smartphone for pre and post-service
playlists (don’t forget to use airplane mode),
it’s perfect for hosting events where you don’t
need a full sound team or large PA. There are
a ton of great mini-mixers on the market, and
the BT-Pro V2 eliminates the need for 1/8” mini
terminated cable and related adapters that
always are easily misplaced – and are prone to
breakage.
PAIRING
Each BT-Pro V2 has a unique ID which is
displayed on the side of the box. The ‘first time’
set up password can always be found in the
manual. As a failsafe, I would strongly suggest
using a label maker to denote the Bluetooth
password as well as the device it is intended to
be paired with. The Pair Button and associated
LED are key to a number of user-friendly
functions. When you first power up the LED will
glow red, and then alternately flash between
red and yellow, indicating it is in pairing ‘search
mode’.
In testing, my iPhone immediately recognized
the device and its unique identifier ‘BT-Pro V2
XXXXXXX’ (please note that the identifier is not
the same as the password). Once I entered the
password I was up and running sans drama.
Once the unit is operational, you can double
tap the pair button to pause and restart the
flow of audio, which is convenient for muting
playlists during soundcheck or service.
FIDELITY
While I’m used to using Bluetooth for wireless
154 September 2020
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