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Bluesound Pulse Flex Ultra-compact streaming music speaker with Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® (Black)

Item # 813PLSFLXB

If you're serious about your music and its sound quality, here's good news.

If you're serious about your music and its sound quality, here's good news.

Item # 813PLSFLXB

Shop all Bluesound Wi-Fi Multi-room Audio

About the Bluesound Pulse Flex

Ralph Graves

Wireless music for the audio enthusiast

If you're serious about your music and its sound quality, here's good news. With the Bluesound system, you can play your high-resolution music and enjoy the convenience of wireless multi-room audio throughout your home. Bluesound was designed by the makers of NAD electronics and PSB speakers, both experts when it comes to delivering high-performance audio.

Wireless music for the audio enthusiast

If you're serious about your music and its sound quality, here's good news. With the Bluesound system, you can play your high-resolution music and enjoy the convenience of wireless multi-room audio throughout your home. Bluesound was designed by the makers of NAD electronics and PSB speakers, both experts when it comes to delivering high-performance audio.

Ultra-compact high-performance speaker

The Bluesound Pulse Flex is quite small — and quite powerful. It features a 1” tweeter and a 3-1/2” woofer, each amplified separately to ensure an accurate response. You'll enjoy clear, detailed mono sound that puts most similar-sized Bluetooth speakers to shame.

A universe of music options

Bluesound is compatible with virtually all digital music formats — including high-resolution files up to 24-bit/192kHz. Access the music stored on your computer or a networked hard drive. Stream from Internet radio stations and online services like Spotify®, Rhapsody, and TIDAL. You can also enjoy downloads from high-res music sites such as HDtracks. The player is compatible with MQA, an up-and-coming high-resolution audio format. The Pulse 2 also features a USB input for playing files "locally" from a thumb drive or hard drive — ideal when friends come over with their own music.

Bluesound Flex

High-quality Bluetooth

The Pulse Flex features aptX® audio coding, an advanced form of Bluetooth that allows higher-fidelity sound with compatible Bluetooth devices. The system is backward-compatible with earlier forms of Bluetooth, too. Bluetooth is a convenient way to play the sound from any app you might be using on your mobile device, including Netflix® and YouTube™. You can even share that Bluetooth source with other Bluesound music players around your house that are connected to the same network.

Create a high-resolution multi-room music system

Combine multiple Bluesound players to enjoy high-end sound throughout your home.

  • Pulse Mini: This compact, all-in-one speaker system is ideal for a bookshelf, desk, or nightstand.
  • Powernode 2: This amplified player connects to a pair of speakers. It may be small, but it's powerful enough to drive a pair of floor-standing speakers.
  • Node 2: Connects to your home audio system and makes it part of the Bluesound network.
  • Pulse 2: This all-in-one player is perfect for almost any room. It has built-in PSB speakers for great sound in a compact package.
  • Pulse Soundbar: Delivers powerful sound for movies and TV shows while giving you full access to music through your Bluesound network.
  • Vault 2: If you've amassed a large collection of CDs, then the Vault was designed for you. It's a storage drive designed with the audio enthusiast in mind. This drive defaults to bit-perfect recording of your CDs, letting you experience every detail without switching discs every time you want to hear a new track or album.
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Product highlights:

  • wireless music player with built-in amplifier and speakers
  • communicates with other Bluesound players via your home network (wired or wireless)
  • control the system with a free app for your smartphone, tablet, or computer (Android™, iOS®, Kindle Fire, Windows®, and Mac®)
  • plays MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, WMA-L, FLAC, MQA, ALAC, WAV, and AIFF files
    • supported sample rates: 32kHz to 192kHz
    • supported bit depths 16-24
    • plays Internet radio stations from TuneIn Radio and iHeart Radio
  • high-fidelity Bluetooth aptX® audio coding for greater sonic detail with compatible devices
  • Spotify Connect lets you play Spotify's streaming music library through your Bluesound system via your smartphone or tablet (requires Spotify app and a premium subscription)
  • includes support for Spotify, Deezer, TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music, Napster and Calm Radio
  • 20 watts total system power at 0.03% THD
  • top controls for volume and muting
  • USB port for connecting a thumb drive with music files
  • combination mini-optical/stereo minijack audio input
  • built-in Wi-Fi (2.4GHz only)
  • Ethernet port
  • compatible with Windows® (XP or higher operating system)
  • compatible with Mac®
  • requires AC power (AC adapter included)
  • 5"W x 7-1/4"H x 4-15/16"D
  • weight: 2.7 lbs.
  • warranty: 1 year
  • requires smartphone or tablet with free Bluesound app for control of system playback
  • requires high-speed Internet connection
  • MFR # Pulse Flex Black

What's in the box:

  • Wireless speaker
  • 6' AC power cord
  • Optical-to-3.5mm adapter
  • Quick Setup Guide
  • Warranty Sheet
  • "Important" booklet
  • "Spotify Premium" note

Customer reviews for Bluesound Pulse Flex

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Average review:

4.5 out of 5 stars
17 reviews

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More details on the Bluesound Pulse Flex

Stacey B.

Features & specs

Connections
Ethernet Port Yes
USB-A Port No
USB-B Port No
3.5mm Input 1
RCA Input
XLR Input No
Phono Input No
Digital Input Optical
HDMI Input No
Headphone Jack No
Subwoofer Output No
Wireless Features
Bluetooth Built-in
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Wi-Fi Bands 2.4 GHz
Audio Specs
Max. Digital Audio Bit Depth up to 24-bit
Max. Digital Audio Sample Rate up to 192 Khz
High-res Audio Playback
From Network Yes
From USB Thumb Drive (USB-A) No
From Computer (USB-B) No
Ecosystems
Apple AirPlay No
Apple AirPlay 2 No
DTS Play-Fi No
Chromecast built-in No
Roon No
Sonos No
HEOS No
MusicCast No
SoundTouch No
Bose Home Speaker No
WiSA No
BluOS No
Klipsch Stream No
KEF Stream No
Music Services
Amazon Music No
Apple Music No
iHeart Radio No
Pandora No
Qobuz No
SiriusXM No
Spotify No
Tidal No
TuneIn TuneIn,iHeart
YouTube Music No
Control
Handheld Remote No
Control by app Apple iOS, Android
Amazon Alexa No
Google Assistant No
Other Specs
Width (Inches) 5
Height (Inches) 7.25
Depth (Inches) 4.9375
Parts Warranty 1 Year
Labor Warranty 1 Year

Product Research

Features

Bluesound Wireless High-Resolution Audio Eco-System: The Pulse Flex wireless speaker is part of Bluesound's wireless high-resolution audio eco-system. The Bluesound wireless high-resolution audio eco-system consists of music players, amplifiers, hard-drives, and wireless speakers to playback your high-res and low-res music files, along with your favorite online music services throughout your home using your home's WiFi network. With an advanced WiFi antenna design and blazing ARM Cortex9 Processors, Bluesound ensures a solid connection in every corner of your home. Play your music in perfect sync or play different music simultaneously to any Bluesound device in any room.

Note: Up to 16 Bluesound devices can be connected in a strictly wireless environment. If you want to connect more than 16 Bluesound devices, you will need to connect the Bluesound devices to your network using a wired connection. Bluesound can then control up to 64 devices in a strictly wired environment.

Direct Digital Technology: Bluesound's 32-bit architecture combined with 8x oversampling, paired with their own innovative DirectDigital Amp and DAC platforms, ensures that your lossless high-res music playback is flawless, with precision, power and clarity - at any volume. The Pulse Flex wireless speaker delivers 20 watts of bi-amplified power to its one 3.5" mid driver and one 1" dome tweeter, while its state-of-the-art DSP equalization maximizes bass power and clarity.

Wired or Wireless Network Connection: The Bluesound Pulse Mini can be connected to your home network and Internet provider via a hardwired Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) jack connector or wireless WiFi (802.11 b/g/n) connection. Either network/internet connection allows you to stream music from your Windows or Mac computer and NAS drive (such as the Bluesound Vault, sold separately); as well as stream select online music services.

Note: Bluesound operates only on 2.4GHz WiFi (not 5GHz).

Bluesound Controller App: The free Bluesound Controller App turns your Apple iOS (7.0+) iPod/iPhone/iPad, Android (OS 4.0+) smartphone/tablet, Windows (Vista or higher) PC or Mac (OS X 10.7+) computer into a full-featured remote control for the Bluesound wireless music system. The Bluesound Controller App on your compatible device uses your home's WiFi network to connect with Bluesound devices, so you can play all the music you love anywhere in your home for a wireless multiroom music experience. Get on-demand access to your music libraries on your home network, stream live Internet radio from almost any place in the world, or listen to one of the many music services available on Bluesound, all from the palm of your hand with the easy-to-use Bluesound Controller App.

Supported Music Formats: The Bluesound wireless audio system supports both low-res and high-res audio files; including MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, FLAC, ALAC, WMA Lossless, MQA, WAV, and AIFF. Bluesound has been designed to work with today's larger music collections, and has indexed libraries up to 100,000 songs in demonstrated practice (this will depend on the music's metadata & artwork). Bluesound also offers gapless playback by default for all supported file music types.

Compression File Type Sampling Frequency Bit Rate or Bit Depth
Compressed Lossy MP3 16-48kHz 192-320 kbps
WMA
AAC
OGG
Lossless WMA-Lossless up to 96 kHz up to 24-bit
FLAC 192 kHz up to 24-bit
ALAC
MQA
Uncompressed AIFF up 192 kHz up to 24-bit
WAV
Notes: Bluesound cannot index or play AAC files with the extension ".m4p". These files were purchased in iTunes prior to 2009 and are subject to copy protection. Apple Consumers with an iTunes Match subscription can delete and re-download these files free of charge from their iTunes Cloud

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated): Bluesound is the first wireless multiroom audio system to support MQA (Master Quality Authenticated). MQA is a revolutionary end-to-end technology that captures and delivers master quality audio in a file that's small enough to stream or download. Bluesound worked closely with MQA to implement technology inside each Bluesound component to ensure the listener will hear MQA encoded music and streams exactly like the source and the way the artist intended you to hear it when it was approved in the studio.

Note: MQA (Master Quality  Authenticated) support will require a firmware update.

Online Music Services: With a network and internet connection, the Pulse Flex lets you access select online music services & internet radio. The Bluesound Controller app on your Apple iOS or Android device will serve as the controller for these apps and provide song/artist information with Album Art.

  • Amazon Prime: With a Prime Music subscription, you can access over 2 million songs ad-free and on-demand, as well as curated playlists and personalized stations. Upgrade to an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription to access tens of millions of songs.
  • Spotify Connect: If you subscribe to Spotify Premium and have the Spotify App on your Apple iOS or Android smartphone, you can stream Spotify to the Bluesound system. Spotify is a digital music service that gives you on-demand access to one of the largest music libraries in the world (over 15 million tracks and counting). Spotify makes it easier than ever to discover, manage, and share music with your friends. You can browse music by artist, album, track, or most popular; and create your own music library with customized playlists.
  • TIDAL: TIDAL is a global streaming service that offers over 30 million songs in high-fidelity CD sound quality. TIDAL has two pricing tiers; either $9.99 or $19.99 a month. Both pricing levels allow you to access TIDAL's entire music library. The $19.99 tier has the added benefit of high-fidelity sound at CD-level quality
  • TuneIn: The Bluesound system includes access to more than 70,000 free internet radio streams from all corners of the globe via the TuneIn radio service. Just select the TuneIn logo from the main Music menu and browse among the 70,000 stations neatly organized into popular categories and select a station that appeals to your mood.
  • iHeart Radio: iHeartRadio is a free, all-in-one digital radio and music streaming service that lets you listen to thousands of live stations from across the country and allows you to create personalized custom stations featuring songs from the artist you select and similar music.
  • Napster: Napster is a streaming music subscription service (starting a $10 per month) that allows you to play the full-length songs you choose on demand from a collection of over 10 million songs, without ads and without having to purchase or download the music.
  • Slacker: Get the sound quality that you deserve with the new Slacker Radio® music library available in high-quality AAC audio on Bluesound. Listen to music streams at a bitrate of 320kbps and enjoy all your favorite Slacker stations in pristine MP3-quality.
Note: Availability of online music services may vary by region. Not all services may be available at time of purchase. Some services may be added or discontinued from time to time based on decisions of the music service providers or others.

Music Library From Your Mobile Device: From the Bluesound Controller App, you can stream music directly over WiFi from your Apple iOS or Android device to the Bluesound Pulse Flex and the rest of your Bluesound components around your home. The app gives you complete control of your compatible mobile device's music library with song/artist information and album art.

Computer Audio: The Bluesound wireless music system will pull music from an existing digital music library across the network on your Windows PC or Mac computer using Windows or SMB File Sharing (SAMBA) and the Bluesound Controller App for Windows & Mac.

  • Windows: Music files stored on a Windows desktop or laptop can be accessed by Bluesound using Windows File Sharing. You will need to download the Bluesound Share Utility for Windows - Bluesound Share Utility Windows v1.6.zip. This utility will work on Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10.
  • Mac: Music files stored on an Apple iMac or MacBook can be accessed by Bluesound using SMB File Sharing. You will need to download the Bluesound Share Utility for OS X - Bluesound Share Utility OSX v1.2.zip.This utility will work on any version of Apple OS X 10.8.x and higher.

Bluetooth w/ aptX: The Bluesound Pulse Flex features built-in Bluetooth 4.0 with support for wireless music streaming from your Bluetooth-enabled Apple iPod/iPhone/iPad, Android smartphone/tablet, Windows PC/Phone, Mac computer/laptop, and more. You'll be able to stream stored music and music apps on your Bluetooth-enabled device to the Pulse Flex. In addition, the Pulse Flex offers aptX for CD-quality sound from Android (OS 4.0+) devices. You can even distribute Bluetooth audio to the rest of your Bluesound wireless audio system throughout your home or office over WiFi.

USB Port: The Bluesound Pulse Flex features a USB (type-A) port to directly connect your USB mass storage class (MSC) device; such as a thumbdrive or external hard-drive. The unit's USB port supports music playback from these compatible USB devices formatted in FAT 32 or NTFS.  Not only can USB audio be played back on the Pulse Flex, but can also be wirelessly distributed to the rest of your Bluesound components throughout your home for multiroom playback.

Notes:
  • USB mass storage devices that require more than 0.5A of power will require a separate power supply.
  • The USB port is not compatible with the direct connection of an Apple iPod/iPhone/iPad or Android devices.

Optical/Analog Input: The Pulse Flex is fitted with a 3.5mm Aux input which can be used as an analog or digital connection. As an analog input, simply connect a stereo minijack audio cable from your analog source to the Pulse Flex's Aux input. As a digital input, use the included 3.5mm-to-Optical adapter along with an optical digital cable (sold separately) to connect your digital source to the Pulse Flex's Aux input. As an analog or digital input, the unit's Aux input supports 2ch PCM audio (not Dolby Digital or DTS). Audio from the Optical/Analog Aux input can be played back at the Pulse Mini speaker and wirelessly distributed to other Bluesound components in your home for multiroom playback.

Soft-Touch Controls: The Pulse Flex offers soft-touch, top-panel controls to operate basic playback functions like Volume Up/Down, Play/Pause, and Previous/Next Track. There are also 5 preset buttons to store up to 5 of your favorite Internet Radio stations or online music service content.

Headphone Output: A 3.5mm headphone jack is located on the rear of the Pulse Flex for private listening with a set of headphones. The Pulse Flex speaker will be muted when headphone are connected.

AC Power + Battery Power: The Bluesound Pulse Flex operates off of standard household current using it's internal power supply and the supplied 6.5' detachable AC power cord. An optional battery pack (813BP100, sold separately) delivers 6 hours of high-res streaming.

Mounting Options: The Pulse Flex speaker can simply be placed on a table-top, shelf, stand, desk, or other piece of furniture with a flat surface. There is also a M6 threaded insert on the back of the speaker which allows you to wall-mount it using an optional wall-mount bracket (813VM100, sold separately).

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Customer Q&A

3 questions already asked

Q
Anybody else experiencing unwanted noise associated with bass frequencies? I absolutely love the sound of my new Pulse Flex, but this issue is a deal breaker for me. I can't tell if this buzzing is mechanical or distortion but it occurs even at moderate volume levels. I'm also experiencing slight intermittent poping when using Bluetooth.
michael  Apr 27, 2017
8 answers
A
I have 2 Pulse Flex units purchased November of 2015. I have never experienced any distortion in either of my units.
bryan  May 01, 2017
A
Nothing like that on my end. I don't have anything connected by wire, just WiFi. Your description reminds me of issues that arise when something is pushing too hot a signal down the wire.
jeff  Apr 28, 2017
A
I have 2 Bluesound units: Pulse and Pulse Flex. No such problems. Try moving to another location and see if the problem is location based. Perhaps the unit is defective. I do not use my units with Bluetooth so I cannot say if that might be a problem. Do you have the same issue with using WiFi?
arthur  Apr 28, 2017
A
Not with my Pulse Flex - do you have the latest firmware? Maybe yours is defective.
ciaran  Apr 28, 2017
A
I have two Pulse Flex in different rooms and have not experienced any buzzing or mechanical distortion. Perhaps contact Bluesound and get a replacement unit.
james  Apr 28, 2017
A
Never have had that happen to me. I had the flex for about 2 years. Had it in different homes. No problem s.
louis m  Apr 28, 2017
A
That could possibly be white noise, if it's happen at moderate levels, there is an app for the speaker, and I would check the tone controls to since what is the ratio of what the bass is compared to treble, because in physics there so much space to work with especially when it comes from the small box, so for example, u have the the bass low but the treble is too much, the music starts to sound mudddy; just advice from audophile to another :)
gregory  Apr 28, 2017
A
I have been listening to music streamed from a NAS and Spotify for a few months since purchase and have not experienced the issues you have noted. I have not used Bluetooth enough to comment on sound quality, and have not experienced the's issues with my other Bluesound speakers. I'd suggest contacting Bluesound or Crutchfield support.
mark  Apr 28, 2017
Q
Is the battery pack already available. If yes, what does it cost?
christo  May 16, 2016
1 answer
A
Thanks for your question. Bluesound's website just says the battery pack is a separate purchase but not listed for sale as of yet. Discussion boards were targeting April 2016 but nothing so far.
kenneth  May 16, 2016 (Staff)
Q
Can two Bluesound Flex's be paired for stereo?
edward  Dec 12, 2015
2 answers
A
Yes. You can configure each speaker as left channel only, right channel only, stereo or mono. They actually sound really good together as a stereo pair!
kamali  Dec 13, 2015
A
Yes. I have two of them and use them as stereo pair most of the time. You set one to be the left channel and the other to be the right channel. Works exactly as it should. Then, when you have a party or want to move them to separate locations, you simply switch each speaker to mono. They sound wonderful and work great.
bryan  Dec 12, 2015

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