Inexpensive 1Mii B06+ Bluetooth receiver talks AAC to Macs

I’ve had issues in the past with cheap Bluetooth devices not negotiating the AAC codec with my Apple devices, instead falling back to the dreadful default SBC codec, which sounds like ass. I wanted to add Bluetooth to an old Onkyo receiver I’m using in a “secondary” A/V system and gambled on this ___, which uses the Qualcomm QCC3034 chipset, which, in the BLT-2 I tried before, would only negotiate SBC.

As an impulse buy, I picked up the $25 1Mii B06 Plus Bluetooth receiver, after learning from the seller (1MiiDirect-US) that the “B06+ uses the Qualcomm QCC3040 chip.”

I’m seeing AAC negotiated, and (on a trial basis), patched into the unbalanced (RCA) inputs on a Schiit Jotunheim through a pair of Sennheiser HD 660S2 headphones, it sounds pretty damned good. Connected to my Sony Walkman (mine’s a long discontinued NW-ZX300 unit, which supports SBC, LDAC, aptX, and aptX HD), it negotiates aptX HD:

I would rate this unit a solid “good enough,” even “great” for the price point. 

The physical build quality isn’t amazing, and the 3.5 mm to RCA cable it comes with is on the cheaper end of the spectrum, but so far it seems to just work. One note, the RCA outputs are kinda buried in the plastic housing, and, e.g., these Monoprice Premium RCA cables would not connect securely to the outputs; something smaller and simpler (e.g., this UGREEN cable) probably would. 

All that said, at the price point, I’m definitely happy with it. It also comes with a USB A to what I think is an IEC 60130-10 Type A barrel connector (5.5 mm OD, 2.1 or 2.5 mm ID). This cable isn't the longest, and it’s not exactly standard, but it’s ubiquitous enough I should be able to replace it or find an extension, if need be. I’m also toying with the idea of building out an infrared switch to go inline, or a power switch that can be RF controlled by a $45 Broadlink unit that can replace one of my IR-only Mini devices and ... No! No feature creep! None of that. 

Stepping up to the $43 B06S+ adds support for the LDAC codec, which is supposed to be “superlative,” but I’ve also heard it may not work with Sony devices. Going up to the B06Ultra keeps LDAC support and adds optical and coax digital outputs, but loses the RCA connectors (keeping only the 3.5 mm TRS connector for analog output). The $70 B06Pro+ adds an LCD screen for more insight as to what’s going on. Not saying the other units don’t have add-ons I kinda want, but, this is going to be a relatively lightly used device not used for deep listening, but to have music playing while I clean house or snuggle with my dogs. And $25, AAC or AptX HD, and RCA cables is more than fine for that. (I mean, hell, I still have the ifi ZEN Blue 3, which has LDAC support and S/PDIF output (though I currently have it patched into the Jotunheim’s balanced inputs using this funky cable). That unit does get used for deep listening...)