Sensation - Bad A2DP quality, any way to improve it? - HTC Sensation

So... finally got to test out the bluetooth A2DP with my Sensation and I was very disappointed. Sound quality is like listening 64kbps MP3 :-(
After googling and searching this forum I found that this is not the first Android phone which has the issue, but so far didn't any solution on how to "fix" it.
Allthough I did some digging in the filesystem and found that /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf hold these values:
Code:
# Configuration file for the audio service
# This section contains options which are not specific to any
# particular interface
# NOTE: Enable=Sink means that bluetoothd exposes Sink interface for remote
# devices, and the local device is a Source
[General]
Enable=Sink,Control
Disable=Headset,Gateway,Source
# Do not require master role for incoming connections
Master=false
# SCO routing. Either PCM or HCI (in which case audio is routed to/from ALSA)
# Defaults to HCI
#SCORouting=PCM
# Automatically connect both A2DP and HFP/HSP profiles for incoming
# connections. Some headsets that support both profiles will only connect the
# other one automatically so the default setting of true is usually a good
# idea.
#AutoConnect=true
# Headset interface specific options (i.e. options which affect how the audio
# service interacts with remote headset devices)
#[Headset]
# Set to true to support HFP (in addition to HSP only which is the default)
# Defaults to false
#HFP=true
# Maximum number of connected HSP/HFP devices per adapter. Defaults to 1
#MaxConnections=1
# Just an example of potential config options for the other interfaces
[A2DP]
SBCSources=1
MPEG12Sources=0
[AVRCP]
InputDeviceName=AVRCP
But since there's no root (only temp root) I'm not allowed to edit the file. I'm just wondering if changing these values would make the quality better:
#AutoConnect=true
(I'm having issues to auto-connect to my A2DP receiver, have to manually connect every time)
#SCORouting=PCM
(don't know what this is, but sounds like it's related to compression used to transfer the audio?)
SBCSources=1
MPEG12Sources=0
(maybe disabling the SBCSources and enabling the MPEG12Sources would force the A2DP to use MPEG12 so there would not be any re-encoding?)
I'm really disappointed with my device when coming to this. My six years old Nokia was capable to play music via A2DP with full quality.
I have two receivers, one is LiquidAux from Kensington and one is "OEM" receiver from local electronics store. Both sounds like crap with Sensation

I have to agree, however, I have had mixed or rather inconsistant results, perhaps a bt3 a2dp could improve quality? I dont know. Other HTC devices I owned have same issue, Sensation via headphones however is simply second to none! not even my ipod sounds as good, not nearly!

Flashmore said:
I have to agree, however, I have had mixed or rather inconsistant results, perhaps a bt3 a2dp could improve quality? I dont know. Other HTC devices I owned have same issue, Sensation via headphones however is simply second to none! not even my ipod sounds as good, not nearly!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the case here is that the audio is re-compressed to SBC with very low bitrate. It also seems to re-encode MP3-files even the receiver is capable to receive them directly without re-encoding.
Can't believe this is possible in 2011, like I sais, half decade old Nokia can handle the A2DP flawlessly and my brand new 550€ "MULTIMEDIA SUPERPHONE" (quote from HTC's website) can't

That's strange, I don't usually use a2dp, I've opted to use Btmono with my old bt headset (better battery life) and I haven't had a single issue with calls, alerts or music/videos...the only "downside" is mono audio, but the app says it all
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Solidus_n313 said:
That's strange, I don't usually use a2dp, I've opted to use Btmono with my old bt headset (better battery life) and I haven't had a single issue with calls, alerts or music/videos...the only "downside" is mono audio, but the app says it all
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't really compare a mono headset to professional Hi-Fi system which I use outputting the music to my ears.
I know that Bluetooth ain't a HiFi solution in the first place, but it still would be nice to listen some random music from my phone while driving. Now the quality is so bad that it's not even usable and I know this is not normal, A2DP is capable of transferring audio with decent quality (my other devices can do it).

I've posted about this several times but never got any interest. I'm glad it is not just me. The quality is shockingly bad on Sensation A2DP. My last HTC device (Legend) had varying A2DP quality with certain stock ROM updates, but it was never as bad as this. The difference in quality between the Sensation and, for example, a Sony A series walkman is staggering.
With a good bluetooth headset, A2DP can actually be better quality than a cabled connection (especially with the crappy d2a and amp components on most phones).
d-iivil said:
So... finally got to test out the bluetooth A2DP with my Sensation and I was very disappointed. Sound quality is like listening 64kbps MP3 :-(
After googling and searching this forum I found that this is not the first Android phone which has the issue, but so far didn't any solution on how to "fix" it.
Allthough I did some digging in the filesystem and found that /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf hold these values:
Code:
# Configuration file for the audio service
# This section contains options which are not specific to any
# particular interface
# NOTE: Enable=Sink means that bluetoothd exposes Sink interface for remote
# devices, and the local device is a Source
[General]
Enable=Sink,Control
Disable=Headset,Gateway,Source
# Do not require master role for incoming connections
Master=false
# SCO routing. Either PCM or HCI (in which case audio is routed to/from ALSA)
# Defaults to HCI
#SCORouting=PCM
# Automatically connect both A2DP and HFP/HSP profiles for incoming
# connections. Some headsets that support both profiles will only connect the
# other one automatically so the default setting of true is usually a good
# idea.
#AutoConnect=true
# Headset interface specific options (i.e. options which affect how the audio
# service interacts with remote headset devices)
#[Headset]
# Set to true to support HFP (in addition to HSP only which is the default)
# Defaults to false
#HFP=true
# Maximum number of connected HSP/HFP devices per adapter. Defaults to 1
#MaxConnections=1
# Just an example of potential config options for the other interfaces
[A2DP]
SBCSources=1
MPEG12Sources=0
[AVRCP]
InputDeviceName=AVRCP
But since there's no root (only temp root) I'm not allowed to edit the file. I'm just wondering if changing these values would make the quality better:
#AutoConnect=true
(I'm having issues to auto-connect to my A2DP receiver, have to manually connect every time)
#SCORouting=PCM
(don't know what this is, but sounds like it's related to compression used to transfer the audio?)
SBCSources=1
MPEG12Sources=0
(maybe disabling the SBCSources and enabling the MPEG12Sources would force the A2DP to use MPEG12 so there would not be any re-encoding?)
I'm really disappointed with my device when coming to this. My six years old Nokia was capable to play music via A2DP with full quality.
I have two receivers, one is LiquidAux from Kensington and one is "OEM" receiver from local electronics store. Both sounds like crap with Sensation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

need that 2.0 to 3.0 compatibility fixed, pronto...
the sensation is bluetooth 3.0 and I have 2.0 stereo headphones. They worked great with the hd2. Now the sensation is mucking it up. I can hear music and movies great. I just can't use it to talk like I used to - which is my primary reason to have it. Need a fix or an explanation...

Odd, my Motorolla S9-HD's sound fantastic with the Sensation. Just today I listened first to some music using the paid Pandora, then a few MP3's, then a podcast while cleaning up the yard and lawn. Bass was deep and lows/mids were very good, from what I could tell. Maybe the S9-HD's have a chip to make it sound better or something, dunno.

howetechnical said:
Odd, my Motorolla S9-HD's sound fantastic with the Sensation. Just today I listened first to some music using the paid Pandora, then a few MP3's, then a podcast while cleaning up the yard and lawn. Bass was deep and lows/mids were very good, from what I could tell. Maybe the S9-HD's have a chip to make it sound better or something, dunno.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what about talking on it? does the person on the other end hear an echo?

I've noticed very bad A2DP quality as well. With my N1, I would play music all day through the same Bluetooth receiver and not notice anything. With the Sensation everything is extremely 'muddy'. It sounds exactly it is being transcoding in to SBC, instead of using the mp3 passthrough stream which is what my N1 was doing. I'm just assuming this since I can't figure out a way to verify other than the crappy sounding audio now... This is using a Sound-Fly BT receiver.
Now, I also have a Motorola S10-HD a2dp headset and both the N1 and the Sensation sound just fine there..
My only guess is that the Sensation is not able to establish an mp3 channel with the SoundFly-BT (like the N1 can), but it can to the S10-HD.
BTW, regular calls using the HFP profile seem just fine.

steve austin said:
the sensation is bluetooth 3.0 and I have 2.0 stereo headphones. They worked great with the hd2. Now the sensation is mucking it up. I can hear music and movies great. I just can't use it to talk like I used to - which is my primary reason to have it. Need a fix or an explanation...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem - I got music, but phone audio didn't work.
I went into Settings>Wireless & Networks>Bluetooth Settings, long-pressed on the bluetooth device I was using, selected options, unchecked both "Phone" and "Media", then re-checked them both.
After that, I got both A2DP media audio, as well as phone headset functionality.
Hope this helps!

Hmm. I'm not having a muddy audio issue with mine. It sounds exactly the same as my N1 with Stock/CM6/CM7, the only difference is I did not have to apply a hacked up audio.conf to keep it from skipping all the time as I do with the N1.
I'm using a FIPO A2DP audio reciver plugged into an ipod cable. The handsfree goes to the vehicles OEM adapter.
I've yet to try actual phone calls though. It does occasionally loose the handsfree connection, something that never happend with the N1, so something is dfnitly amiss.

I was just about to start a thread on this very subject. I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues with A2DP. I stream podcasts all day at work & the connection is terrible. Sound quality is fine, but it skips & stutters like crazy no matter what headset I use(though my S9s are the worst. They've sucked since I bought them & I literally threw them at the wall yesterday in a fit of rage). I even bought a new headset today & it's a BIT better, but still spotty. I think it might just be all the EM radiation at work(I work in a computer shop) b/c it isn't nearly as bad at home, but either way it's super annoying.
For such an expensive phone, problems like this really piss me off >:|

lol...Geez you guys should at least thank HTC. On the G2x, the damn BT stack is a joke. One minute the BT is connected and the next it is LOCKED up. The only way to rectify the problem is a reboot. I for one can not do without BT. I hate holding phone up to my ears.... I would take a muddled sound any day to a not so good BT stack that you don't even know when it locks up or just plain does NOT work.

The Sensation seems capable of great audio over BT - when using my Belkin AirCast in the car, the audio is crystal clear and free of drop-outs or other problems.
With my Jabra BT8010 stereo headset, however, the drop-outs are frequent and annoying.
Don't know if it's the receiver's BT abilities (2.0 vs. 3.0), power levels, or what, but the Sensation is capable of amazing audio over BT, but only with the right devices it seems...
It's truly amazing how good it sounds in my car over bluetooth, but I've gone back to using the wired headset while walking.

kevsteele said:
The Sensation seems capable of great audio over BT - when using my Belkin AirCast in the car, the audio is crystal clear and free of drop-outs or other problems.
With my Jabra BT8010 stereo headset, however, the drop-outs are frequent and annoying.
Don't know if it's the receiver's BT abilities (2.0 vs. 3.0), power levels, or what, but the Sensation is capable of amazing audio over BT, but only with the right devices it seems...
It's truly amazing how good it sounds in my car over bluetooth, but I've gone back to using the wired headset while walking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you elaborate on the drop out? Does it disconnect and reconnect? i hope not.

cenwesi said:
could you elaborate on the drop out? Does it disconnect and reconnect? i hope not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By "drop-out" I mean the audio cuts out, then continues. There are "blank" portions in the playback, like someone muted the sound for a split-second.
The BT stays connected.

thanks as long as it doesn't hangup
BTW, any issues with the bluetooth driver that you can think of? G2x one is just plain BAD!

cenwesi said:
thanks as long as it doesn't hangup
BTW, any issues with the bluetooth driver that you can think of? G2x one is just plain BAD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any problems at all with the bluetooth stack - no disconnections or crashes.

Yeah coming from my N1 this is a real bummer. Mine just has a lot of crackling. I'm playing it through my 2011 subaru's BT audio.
For those that researched other Android phones with this problem, were they Sense phones? Because I'm pretty sure HTC doesn't use the same BT stuff that stock android does. I know that my friend's have had trouble pairing their sense phones but then flashed an AOSP rom like cyanogen and the problem was resolved. So maybe something similar can be done here once we get S-OFF

Related

Telephone cant find bluetooth-headset!

Hi! I have a brand new Jabra 620s bluetooth-headset. When I turn the headset on and search for bluetooth devices on my computer I can see it, but I cant see it when I search for it on my touch pro.
What could be the problem here?
I had a similar problem last night (and have it quite often when i need to pair). It doesn't detect it until the 3rd or 4th time in which last night it didn't even detect it either. I power cycled the headset and my phone found it the first time.
Yeah, I tried rebooting my headset and my phone several times, but I still can't get it to work...
Figured it out... Had to hold in a button on the headsett to make it avaliable for new devices...
But new problem:
I don't get sound in the headsett when I play music. But when I make a call the sound is in the headsett. What could be the problem here?
Maybe its the settings in your a2dp profile?
I read this "Set-up of the 620's was simple enough, the headset unit is paired with the device that is streaming the music and / or a mobile phone. A smart move from Jabra allows the 620s to be connected to both a mobile phone and an audio device simultaneously. However our set-up was rather more straight forward than most as we used Jabra's own Bluetooth dongle that supports the all important A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) profile. Real life for most users is a different kettle of fish with support for A2DP being quite sparse, most music gateways and servers and even music ready mobiles rarely support the required profile." source: http://www.lordpercy.com/jabra_bt620s_review.htm
Maybe some tweaking in hklm\\software\microsoft\bluetooth\a2dp\Settings
I believe this headset also supports AVRCP profile. In any case, make note of your original configuration prior to making any changes.
nyckid211 said:
Maybe its the settings in your a2dp profile?
I read this "Set-up of the 620's was simple enough, the headset unit is paired with the device that is streaming the music and / or a mobile phone. A smart move from Jabra allows the 620s to be connected to both a mobile phone and an audio device simultaneously. However our set-up was rather more straight forward than most as we used Jabra's own Bluetooth dongle that supports the all important A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) profile. Real life for most users is a different kettle of fish with support for A2DP being quite sparse, most music gateways and servers and even music ready mobiles rarely support the required profile." source: http://www.lordpercy.com/jabra_bt620s_review.htm
Maybe some tweaking in hklm\\software\microsoft\bluetooth\a2dp\Settings
I believe this headset also supports AVRCP profile. In any case, make note of your original configuration prior to making any changes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to install btAudio. Now I have sound in my headset, but det sound-quality is CRAPPY! Are there any other software avaliable that can fix this? Dont know if I want to edit the registry.... There must be a solution?
slogum said:
I tried to install btAudio. Now I have sound in my headset, but det sound-quality is CRAPPY! Are there any other software avaliable that can fix this? Dont know if I want to edit the registry.... There must be a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use Advanced Config to enlarge the bluetooth bitpool under the bluetooth tweaks. Set it to "very high" for best sound quality (uses more system resources tough).
HTH
Maximum bit-pool setting is 1561. I dont think it solves the problem, cause the quality is still really bad.
Any other tips? Or do I have to return the headset cause a brand new ~1000$ phone cant play on a wireless bluetooth headset?!
Bump.. Are there really no solutions?

[GPL] epicBT - Call Audio Router ( Epic4G ) - bluetooth/wired conflict hotfix - 11/26

This application is a hotfix for a really annoying (and potentially unsafe!) bug in the Epic4G:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=11372
http://forum.sdx-developers.com/epi...audio-routing-on-epic-4g/msg115990/#msg115990
The long and sort of it is that when anything is plugged into the 3.5mm headphone jack, the phone will only play call audio over that jack.
In order to route the audio through the earpiece, bluetooth or speakerphone, you must pull the plug out of the jack. This is at the very least annoying, and at the very worst potentially dangerous if, for example, you're driving.
How-To
Download the APK attached below for your android version.
Install like any other APK using adb or your favorite file manager.
What it does
This simple application allows you to pick the audio device to use for call audio to override this behavior, and can be changed on the fly.
All in-call audio will be routed to the device you specify when something is plugged into the 3.5mm headphone jack. If nothing is in the jack, the default behavior for the phone applies.
This also allows you to use the Speaker Phone when the headphone jack is occupied, even though the button on the call screen is disabled!
Your configuration should persist between reboots.
What it doesn't do
This app does not route any other type of audio. Your music, notifications, etc will still play over the headphone jack or phone speaker.
Again, this *only* affects in-call voice audio, and only when something is plugged into the headphone jack.
Notes
This app completely overrides the options on the call page! If you want to switch outputs during a call, you will have to do it from this app - your call will not be dropped when changing the output device.
In order to route the call audio properly, the system's mediaserver service must be restarted, however.
This means that any other audio you have playing when you apply the change will be disrupted, and related services may force close. For example, Pandora will skip to the next song. Other applications may not behave that well.
Disclaimer
This app modifies files in the /system partition, so use this at your own risk! I am not responsible for any problems that arise from this hotfix on your device!
This is currently for the EPIC4G *ONLY* - Do not use this on any other device. Please contact me if you have a different phone which experiences this bug and I will see if I can get it working for you as well.
This is *BETA* software, a work in progress, please post here if you experience any issues, but I cannot guarantee it will work for you!
ROM DEVs, feel free to bake this into your roms in whole or part, I encourage it as this provides a workaround for a safety issue, but please give credit if you use or derive from this application.
Special thanks to UberPinguin - his initiative, debugging, code-diving and testing helped make this happen every step of the way!
Many, many thanks to everyone in #samsung-epic for helping me test and work this out.
Be sure to download the APK for the right android version on your phone!
epicBT - v0.3.5 (Froyo)
* Fixed crash/reboot when applying settings in DK17 roms
epicBT - v0.3
* Layout cleanup when root is unavailable
epicBT - v0.2
* Requires root!
* Superuser compatible
* auto-remounts /system RW if necessary
* Sends call audio to wired device ( default ), speaker phone, or bluetooth
Sources
https://github.com/cicada/epicBT
If this works as described above I will be so f-ing happy. One of my biggest gripes, solved.
No sh#t! I was just about to start searching the Market for an app like this! Downloading now to test.
Thank you!
bigdbag said:
If this works as described above I will be so f-ing happy. One of my biggest gripes, solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree
updated OP with source link
First of all,...Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for working on this... This was one of my biggest gripes with this phone and I couldn't understand why the "geniuses" at Samsung/Sprint couldn't get this right.
I've done some extensive testing in my car for the Eclair version and wanted to share my results:
For the most part, the app does what it's supposed to...but I did notice that:
1) the "on the fly" feature doesn't work so well. That is, when changing from one mode to the other, I had to reboot the phone to get the new setting to take effect. This feature would be great with an app like Tasker, which could automatically open up the app and ask you which setting you want to use when a headset/aux jack is plugged in,...thus giving you the flexibility to use the best option depending on your situation. Is there a way to tweak the app to recognize the switch without rebooting by resetting something like the mediashare service?
2) For some reason, the mic volume (volume heard on the opposite end of call) on the bluetooth setting is lower when the headset/aux jack is plugged in. I'm not sure whether the regular phone mic, speaker phone mic, or the bluetooth mic is utilized in this setting, but the volume is definitely harder to hear on the other end than when the headset jack is unplugged. I would guess about 20-25% lower. I tested this effect during the call as well by plugging and unplugging the jack while counting 1 to 10 and it's the same. Is there away to increase the sensitivity of the bluetooth mic when the headset jack is plugged in?
Donation coming if you can get this working! Thanks again.
sinman02 said:
1) the "on the fly" feature doesn't work so well. That is, when changing from one mode to the other, I had to reboot the phone to get the new setting to take effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, it works well for me - it takes a second to switch outputs while mediaserver is restarting, but never had to reboot. I'll look into this, may have accidentally tweaked something in the last build.
UberPinguin and I are still looking at the sources to find a better fix that works the way it's supposed to - the trouble seems to be that Phone.apk is actually selecting the 'correct' source and setting options appropriately, but the underlying OS isn't switching outputs. Restarting mediaserver was the only workaround I could find for this.
sinman02 said:
2) For some reason, the mic volume (volume heard on the opposite end of call) on the bluetooth setting is lower when the headset/aux jack is plugged in. I'm not sure whether the regular phone mic, speaker phone mic, or the bluetooth mic is utilized in this setting, but the volume is definitely harder to hear on the other end than when the headset jack is unplugged. I would guess about 20-25% lower. I tested this effect during the call as well by plugging and unplugging the jack while counting 1 to 10 and it's the same. Is there away to increase the sensitivity of the bluetooth mic when the headset jack is plugged in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't noticed any volume issues but truthfully I haven't been using the BT often because of this bug - I've just been letting my calls go to VM instead of crashing my car Volume selection should be working properly so I'll see if I can add something to select volume as well.
To be clear on the MIC, input should always be the proper input for whichever mode you choose - phone MIC for speakerphone and BT mic for BT HP/HS.
If you're on stock then the phone mic should be used when your wired device doesn't have it's own, however this is broken in all of our custom community kernels - Wired Headset mode should only be used when you actually have a wired headset with a MIC of it's own if you're using one of these, otherwise the phone doesn't enable any MIC at all.
I should note, that all my tests were conducted on outgoing phone calls. I don't know if incoming calls are any different. I am using the Syndicate rom.
If you can get the bluetooth volume issue resolved, I'll likely leave it there, but it would be nice to be able to switch on the fly to speakerphone mode when bluetooth isn't handy.
Question: Does the froyo version have the same implementation?
Please keep up the good work!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
sinman02 said:
Question: Does the froyo version have the same implementation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the froyo version is the same - Samsung used a different asound.conf in froyo ( added in some interesting VOIP pcm ), so this is the only difference between versions currently.
cicada said:
This application is a hotfix for a really annoying (and potentially unsafe!) bug in the Epic4G:
The long and sort of it is that when anything is plugged into the 3.5mm headphone jack, the phone will only play call audio over that jack.
In order to route the audio through the earpiece, bluetooth or speakerphone, you must pull the plug out of the jack. This is at the very least annoying, and at the very worst potentially dangerous if, for example, you're driving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...So this should work on for Sip/VOIP apps like Sipdroid, 3CX, and Fring? I managed to pick up 3CX and Sipdroid through my bluetooth headset but no mic...meaning the other end could not hear me... There aren't that many good sip/voip soft wares out there for the Android today.. I rated Fring the BEST but with no bluetooth support.
EDIT: Nevermind... I read the post again.. I don't think this will do the job other than support for the actual phone.. but it would be nice to have that option for sip/voip as well.
The SIP/VoIP stuff may work better in Froyo considering there are dedicated PCM devices listed in the asound.conf - however I've never used any of these applications, so this is pure speculation.
You're correct, this does only effect in-call phone audio, those applications would be handling (or in this case, not) the bluetooth audio routing directly. I've found lots of other similar quirks with BT on the Epic4G, such as the << and >> buttons on my A2DP headphones not working.
cicada said:
The SIP/VoIP stuff may work better in Froyo considering there are dedicated PCM devices listed in the asound.conf - however I've never used any of these applications, so this is pure speculation.
You're correct, this does only effect in-call phone audio, those applications would be handling (or in this case, not) the bluetooth audio routing directly. I've found lots of other similar quirks with BT on the Epic4G, such as the << and >> buttons on my A2DP headphones not working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using Froyo the DJ29 Build on the epic... Dare I try?
****ing yea! Thanks, downloading now. This has been my biggest complaint with the phone
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Hell Yea! You rock! I Threw out a fairly long search sentence in google and actually found your post here. No sooner did I install and set it up that my phone rang while plugged into the car audio and FINALLY I can use my friggin BT headset without yelling hold on hold on I gotta unplug the stereo cable. This has really peeved me off since I got the phone. Now what I don't get is why this obvious flaw has been ignored by Samsung and Sprint. Nice job on making it work like it should. BTW running stock 2.1 with root. No bugs so far.
THANK GOD. someone fixed this. bugged me so much in the car when i'm receiving a call. will report any bugs.
bump, updated to fix crash in DK17 based roms
cicada said:
I hadn't noticed any volume issues but truthfully I haven't been using the BT often because of this bug - I've just been letting my calls go to VM instead of crashing my car Volume selection should be working properly so I'll see if I can add something to select volume as well.
To be clear on the MIC, input should always be the proper input for whichever mode you choose - phone MIC for speakerphone and BT mic for BT HP/HS.
If you're on stock then the phone mic should be used when your wired device doesn't have it's own, however this is broken in all of our custom community kernels - Wired Headset mode should only be used when you actually have a wired headset with a MIC of it's own if you're using one of these, otherwise the phone doesn't enable any MIC at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As others, I'm very grateful for this fix. After trying it out, if it works for me, donation on the way.
Regarding the MIC: My experience, all the way back to pure stock (IIRC) is that there is no MIC at all when a two-channel, stereo plug is inserted (headphones, cassette adapter, etc.). Every time I've been driving, listening to something via the headset jack, when a call comes in I can hear the other party, but they can't hear me at all until I unplug from the jack. So, even though there was no mic plugged in and the device was correctly sending 2-channel audio out through the jack (usually to a cass adapter, so I can listen via my car stereo), but doesn't "do the right thing" with the mic, even though the hardware and drivers are capable of detecting the absence of the mic.
It should, of course, default to the BT mic if there is a BT connection, or the built-in mic otherwise. For some reason this simple flow-diagram logic eludes Samsung.
So I got my first experience with this today...worked great. I was streaming Pandora, phone call came in, music was paused and I answered the call. Once I finished the call, the music continued playing. Minor detail, but since I was on WiFi, is there anyway that the music could have kept on playing while I was still on the call for the sake of my guys who were still working while I was taking the call? It's great that the music paused and resumed by itself, but it would have been cooler to have it keep going while I was on the call.
m5james said:
.. is there anyway that the music could have kept on playing while I was still on the call .. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately Pandora's phone-state listeners control that, it'd have to be modified or their devs would have to add options for it. Would be cool though, I agree
I've got a hacked version of Pandora that allows unlimited skips, I'll have to ask the guy who did it to see if they can tweak that as well. Come to think of it, it'd be nice to have it keep going for the times I'm driving down the road as well so whoevers in the car doesn't have to sit there and listen to me blah blah blah.

Howto AutoUse BT Pair for Media Audio?

I've touched on this question before but I may have been using some wrong terminology.
On my S3 I have successfully created a BT pairing with a BT Audio Device use which has a steroe out fed into my car's head unit's Aux In.
So, it is Auto-Paired. That is, when I step into my car and turn on the ignition thus powering up the BT Audio Device the paring is available to be used for Media Audio.
However, in order for my phone to route audio to the BT Audio Device I must enter the phone's BT menu and tell the phone to connect to the Device for Media Audio.
I can either do this through the notification pane to see pairings then tap the pairing to use for Media Audio or I can go through settings->BT and do the same thing.
Either way, it's a huge PITA to do this every single time I get into my car.
There has got to be a way to have the phone automatically route Media Audio through this BT Audio Device upon detection. My previous two phones had nowhere near the ability of my S3 but they had no issues whatsoever with automatically pairing and routing audio to this BT Audio Device.
Is the S3 really this stunted in the BT department? If so, is there an app that fixes this stupidity with grace and non-intrusiveness?
crabapples said:
I've touched on this question before but I may have been using some wrong terminology.
On my S3 I have successfully created a BT pairing with a BT Audio Device use which has a steroe out fed into my car's head unit's Aux In.
So, it is Auto-Paired. That is, when I step into my car and turn on the ignition thus powering up the BT Audio Device the paring is available to be used for Media Audio.
However, in order for my phone to route audio to the BT Audio Device I must enter the phone's BT menu and tell the phone to connect to the Device for Media Audio.
I can either do this through the notification pane to see pairings then tap the pairing to use for Media Audio or I can go through settings->BT and do the same thing.
Either way, it's a huge PITA to do this every single time I get into my car.
There has got to be a way to have the phone automatically route Media Audio through this BT Audio Device upon detection. My previous two phones had nowhere near the ability of my S3 but they had no issues whatsoever with automatically pairing and routing audio to this BT Audio Device.
Is the S3 really this stunted in the BT department? If so, is there an app that fixes this stupidity with grace and non-intrusiveness?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel ya, in the past, all I had to do was toggle BT on and go, now there's two or three extra steps which almost defeats the use of a toggle.
I just started searching for some answers and am honestly surprised no one else has made a big deal about this. If I find something, I'll post it up... For now, going to take a look at some system files and build.prop stuff, but it's not really my department.
Got some NFC tags and NFC Task Launcher hoping I could circumvent the BS with a hardware hack. But no, the best this does is auto toggle the BT radio and open the device selection screen where 2 more taps are required to actually use the device for media audio. Any new insight out there? Considering Tasker app but it is rather expensive and no free version to see if it does the trick.
My Bluetooth Auto Corrects Just fine to my cars Bluetooth... Toggle on and go. Running AOKP currently but it worked properly on stock, stock rooted, and Synergy as well.
I haven't gotten a chance to try this yet but I probably will tomorrow.
Tasker forum post indicating the problem is well known, prevalent and hardly any fixes exist:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/tasker/bluetooth$20audio/tasker/TLsjT9Exle8/ZLlgvEn5vUUJ
An app that forces the connection amongst other things:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=a2dp.Vol
A Tasker plugin leveraging the force connect code which happens to be GPL'd in case any of our fine developers would like to start making ROMs that address this major drawback of using a S3:
http://code.google.com/p/a2dp-connect/
crabapples said:
I haven't gotten a chance to try this yet but I probably will tomorrow.
Tasker forum post indicating the problem is well known, prevalent and hardly any fixes exist:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/tasker/bluetooth$20audio/tasker/TLsjT9Exle8/ZLlgvEn5vUUJ
An app that forces the connection amongst other things:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=a2dp.Vol
A Tasker plugin leveraging the force connect code which happens to be GPL'd in case any of our fine developers would like to start making ROMs that address this major drawback of using a S3:
http://code.google.com/p/a2dp-connect/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any trouble with bluetooth devices reconnecting to my phone as soon as I power them on. I'm running cyanogenmod 10 rom.
Also you can get free trial of tasker from here tasker.dinglisch.net/download.html
zxsix said:
I haven't had any trouble with bluetooth devices reconnecting to my phone as soon as I power them on. I'm running cyanogenmod 10 rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems the issue may be primarily with BT Audio Gateways. I don't have this issue with my laptop at all and I'm imagining car head units rarely see this problem.
That said A2DP Volume App fixed this issue for me. Once configured I did have to manually set the device to use media audio one last time before A2DP Volume started doing it for me. I configured NFC Task Launcher to kill wifi, enable BT and launch A2DP volume when it contacts the tag in my car and it works perfectly. Since NFC Task Launcher front ends into Tasker and Tasker has the A2DP force connect plugin available I'm seriously considering getting Tasker for all the other cool features it can do besides scratching this particular itch.
crabapples said:
I've touched on this question before but I may have been using some wrong terminology.
On my S3 I have successfully created a BT pairing with a BT Audio Device use which has a steroe out fed into my car's head unit's Aux In.
So, it is Auto-Paired. That is, when I step into my car and turn on the ignition thus powering up the BT Audio Device the paring is available to be used for Media Audio.
However, in order for my phone to route audio to the BT Audio Device I must enter the phone's BT menu and tell the phone to connect to the Device for Media Audio.
I can either do this through the notification pane to see pairings then tap the pairing to use for Media Audio or I can go through settings->BT and do the same thing.
Either way, it's a huge PITA to do this every single time I get into my car.
There has got to be a way to have the phone automatically route Media Audio through this BT Audio Device upon detection. My previous two phones had nowhere near the ability of my S3 but they had no issues whatsoever with automatically pairing and routing audio to this BT Audio Device.
Is the S3 really this stunted in the BT department? If so, is there an app that fixes this stupidity with grace and non-intrusiveness?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can fix this relatively easy by getting the app Tasker. I use it to do things like automatically start the music player I want when headphones are plugged in, to turning up the brightness automatically when I am getting an incoming call, etc. I am fairly certain you could set up the program to do whatever you want via bluetooth if you fiddle with it.
Gluck!
mdt73 said:
You can fix this relatively easy by getting the app Tasker. I use it to do things like automatically start the music player I want when headphones are plugged in, to turning up the brightness automatically when I am getting an incoming call, etc. I am fairly certain you could set up the program to do whatever you want via bluetooth if you fiddle with it.
Gluck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, if you had only read the rest of the thread...
Yeah, Tasker cannot do this OTB but with the A2DP Connect Plugin it can. Or you can just run the A2DP Volume app and do the same for free.
That the A2DP Connect code is GPL it would be super sweet if our developers incorporated the magic into the ROMs so that a base install didn't need apps to do something so simple as automatically route media audio to BT gateways.
This happens to me when I use the wrong settings in my cars head unit. My Toyota gives me the option to pair as a multimedia device, a phone or both. If you set it up as just a multimedia device then you won't have some functionality. Check your head unit manual and try to re-pair. You might have to delete the existing pairing for it to work right.
rfmodeler said:
This happens to me when I use the wrong settings in my cars head unit. My Toyota gives me the option to pair as a multimedia device, a phone or both. If you set it up as just a multimedia device then you won't have some functionality. Check your head unit manual and try to re-pair. You might have to delete the existing pairing for it to work right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's not a head unit, it's an audio gateway that basically is just a BT receiver with a stereo out and no interface so it is what it is with no configuration options. This issue with the S3 appears to be primarily related to these types of devices.
crabapples said:
Yeah, it's not a head unit, it's an audio gateway that basically is just a BT receiver with a stereo out and no interface so it is what it is with no configuration options. This issue with the S3 appears to be primarily related to these types of devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh okay. When I look under the bluetooth menu in CM10 I have a paired connection that I named Car Multi-Media and if I look at its settings I see profiles called Phone audio and Media audio. I'm guessing you just have a Media audio profile. Not sure how to help you there. Sorry.

Route Notification Audio through Bluetooth

I have a Sony Bluetooth Car Stereo BT MEX 3600U. If I get a call the stereo will change the CD or FM Radio to the ringing for my phone, I would like to do this with Notifications as I need to know when I get a text. I'd like to also be able to do the same when I am using Google Maps Navigation. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to know. I may also use it for part of my Software Development Degree.
I second this. My Honda Civic's bluetooth does the same thing. It notifies when you get calls while listening to the radio, but you have to change input to bluetooth audio to hear message notifications and GPS. I would love to hear turn-by-turn GPS while using the radio.
Though I feel like it's something on the car's side that has to change.
IDK, I would have thought that you could merely spoof the phone into thinking its recieving a call or it may even be a simple case of channeling the Audio through a different output. I can't see much detail online but hope this thread may get some answers.
Simon
Been researching. Sounds like the car stereo has to be bluetooth stereo audio and hands free compatible. But most car stereo are only hands free compatible.
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...nced-when-bluetooth-connected.html#post464175
Possible answer but not fix. I know it's for an iphone but it seems like it's the same problem.
PcFish said:
Been researching. Sounds like the car stereo has to be bluetooth stereo audio and hands free compatible. But most car stereo are only hands free compatible.
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...nced-when-bluetooth-connected.html#post464175
Possible answer but not fix. I know it's for an iphone but it seems like it's the same problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In order to overcome the "handsfree mode only" you can use the BTMono: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5iZWRvaWcuQlRtb25vIl0.
hmmm thats very interesting but it seams like I just need to force the Audio not to pass through A2DP and instead Use the Phone protocol.
If someone has an APK of the BTmono App It would be very helpfull as Google has locked me out of my account on Playstore
It seams the exact same problem as my stereo will play my phone music if it it set to BT Audio Input. However, It will Always play phone call ringtone.
Edit : After a little research, My Head Unit utilises A2DP for Music, and HFP (Hands Free Profile) for Phone and ringtone.
If I can Modify the route the Notification is sent, from A2DP to HFP then it will work perfectly.
Why has this gone dead !!!!
I've gotten a new stereo about a month ago and everything comes thru my radio even when I have it on Pandora mode it dims he music and my navigation thru the phone comes thru plus my notifications and ringtones that I have set in my phone its a JVC kd-s79bt... Is there anything I can offer to help solve I'm running venom 1.20 and zrboz newest kernel... You can control the head unit thru an app called smart remote its for JVC or kenwood decks with Bluetooth maybe the apk can offer some insights???
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
That's interesting I might have to see if It is worth buying one of these for my car, Far less effort
You guys are right.. I connect my phone to my ford sync focus and my phone rings but no notifications... Making an app would hurt would it
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
therion0, I think it would be possible but I am not a dev so if any one could help make this a reality, this thread needs to have a few developers on board.
Microsoft Windows Phone 8 can do this
My friend has a Nokia Lumia 920 running Microsoft Windows Phone 8 and his phone does this. His car actually says "In Call" when his phone reads notifications to him (and then waits for spoken commands to act upon them).
Why can't Android?

Bluetooth audio skips

I'm on 8.1 dp2 in hopes of a fix but it doesn't seem to have helped. My Bluetooth audio skips once every song or two and it's super frustrating while in my car. I've tried disabling WiFi and Bluetooth scanning and adjusting the codec options but nothing seems to work? Anyone else with this issue or a solution? I just received wireless earbuds so I'll test those to make sure it's not my stereo but my s8 had worked fine...
Ok say my new ear buds are Bluetooth 5 and I haven't noticed a single skip yet. My stereo is only 3 so maybe that has something to do with it? As far as I can find however there are no current bt5 stereos so I'm not sure what the issue or solution would be...
Enable the developer options. You can choose between sound quality and connective stability. You can also lower the sampling rate to 44100kHz. In a word, reduce the data transferring rate. I think these might help.
I did all of that and have tried all the options
slyr114 said:
I did all of that and have tried all the options
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had this problem cropping up on various Toyota forums with the root cause being the automotive entertainment systems. It appears that most newer systems are still based on 2008/9 technologies which only have a limited ability to buffer the B/T audio. I'm not suggesting that this is your car but I thought it is worth mentioning.
Ive got a Sony stereo I put in myself haha it's relatively new

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