Greetings,
I have recently purchased the kinivo btc455.
I have encountered a few issues with it:
Firstly, the sound becomes very "flat" when playing from bluetooth. EXCEPT at a specific sound point(about 60% up) where the sound is very good.
I have recreated this event with multiple players :walkman, musixmatch, google player. what could be causing this mambo-jumbo?
In addition, as far as I understood this device supports aptX - how do I control it? when I pair my phone with the dongle it just shows me a message "Device supports aptX."
and that is all.
Thanks!
can't remember where i read this as being optimal, but i believe that your source device (i.e. phone, computer) should have BT volume at 100%, with your target volume (headphones, stereo, speakers) adjusted accordingly.
i think aptX is activated whenever the phone is paired with a compatible device. that it shows "aptX device" in your BT settings should mean that it's working fine.
Hi there,
I replaced my HTC 10 with the P20 Pro and since then i have really poor audio quality when using my hands-free phone system over bluetooth in my car (Mercedes). The quality was good with the HTC and turned bad with the Huawei. I looked up the settings in the developer menu and saw that the BT coded that is used is SBC. When i turn off Bluetooth on the mobile, i am able to select a different codec but as soon as i turn on BT again, SBC is selected automatically again in the menu. Is there anything i can do to permanently select another codec such as aac or aptx? On my HTC, the option for following the "standard setting" is preselected.
facing the same issue with my Ford Focus. Sound is cracking, and the only way to fix it (temporarly) is to reset the connection and made new one. but only works for a few days, then it returns....
Also waiting for a fix, and even in the latest firmware version Cl20C432131 .
Nissan Note 2012
Same problem in my Nissan. I don't know what codec my old galaxy s7 used but the drop in quality when switching to P20 pro was huge. I also cannot permanently change the codec settings. This is a deal breaker.
You should remember that there is 2 ways bluetooth working with sending audio - in handset way (low quality but allows microphone input) and in headphone way (normal quality but no mic input).
Exactly the same issue as me in my Audi. I don't know if I'm glad other people have this issue but at least i know it isn't just me or a fault with my car haha!
People the other end seem to hear me fine. Its not practical to keep connecting and disconnecting each time i want to make a call in the car.
xaik said:
You should remember that there is 2 ways bluetooth working with sending audio - in handset way (low quality but allows microphone input) and in headphone way (normal quality but no mic input).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, I'm using android auto and I believe it switches between these modes automatically. With my old Galaxy S7 I could hear a real downgrade in audio quality when the phone was responding to my voice prompts. On the P20 Pro, the voice prompt responses seem much higher quality than the previous phone but the music is much lower quality - as if it is only using a single mode.
I'm not sure about 'no mic input' though, both phones could can hear voice prompts over the music (as long as I shout!)
Nevertheless I will test with google music only and disable android auto and will report back.
(for me the music quality is always poor even after reconnecting - it does not sound like it is coming over the voice channel, it is more subtle a difference than that)
gilesknap said:
Interesting, I'm using android auto and I believe it switches between these modes automatically. With my old Galaxy S7 I could hear a real downgrade in audio quality when the phone was responding to my voice prompts. On the P20 Pro, the voice prompt responses seem much higher quality than the previous phone but the music is much lower quality - as if it is only using a single mode.
I'm not sure about 'no mic input' though, both phones could can hear voice prompts over the music (as long as I shout!)
Nevertheless I will test with google music only and disable android auto and will report back.
(for me the music quality is always poor even after reconnecting - it does not sound like it is coming over the voice channel, it is more subtle a difference than that)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try connection with car audio in your phone with active option "media audio"
Thanks
xaik said:
Try connection with car audio in your phone with active option "media audio"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I tried this and it had no effect on sound quality, but......
I need to confess a stupid oversight. It turns out that my Google Music settings specified 'Normal' quality over mobile network. I set this to 'Always High' and restored the original quality of music that I was used to.
So it seems that:-
My car has always used SBC at 44.1 KHz 16bit
Even with this low fidelity Bluetooth connection, it is still possible to distinguish Normal and High quality modes of Google Music.
Hi Guys,
i am coming from an iPhone X and am now using a Note9. The Phone is absolutely great and i dont want to look back. Everything works fine, everything is really fluid just like it should be. But there is one annoying thing, that bothers me to hell: Bluetooth-Streaming Quality while Playing Music.
I am using several devices via Bluetooth: Bose Soundsport Free, Bose QC35II, Harman Kardon Go+Play and i am listening to Music in my Golf 7 via Bluetooth. Listening to music via the Bose Devices works really good. In the Developer Option, you can see that the Note 9 is using the AAC Codec, which the Bose do support. The Note 9 changes to AAC automatically.
When i am using the Harman Speaker and listening in my car, the Note 9 will stay at SBC (Standard Bluetooth Codec). This isnt really a problem for me, because the iPhone did it too. But the quality is worse on the Note 9 compared to the iPhone. On the Note 9, you can hear cracking noise in the Highs and the sound is overall not very good - the iPhone does this better with SBC (or stays with AAC even when the conneced device does not support it).
I had the same problem last year with my Oneplus 5. But with the OP5, i simply changed the Bluetooth Codec to always be APTX. This totally worked for me, even if the Bluetooth Device didnt support APTX. But on the Note 9, it will always change back to SBC, when i connect my Harman Speaker or my car.
I think it is just a bug. I didnt find a workaround. This is just a simple thing but it bothers me to hell... My mother's S9 does the same. It just doesnt save the setting.
The reason why i am making a thread is simple: Samsung does have a Samsung Members / Plus / Care (it depends where you are) App, where you can send in bugs, that you found.
Even if this bug doenst bother you, it would be very nice, if you can send in a request for changing this behaviour. That would help me (and maybe others), so that the Bluetooth Listening Experience will be as good as the Rest of the phone.
Thanks for the help.
If anyone knows a workaround for my problem - please let me know. At this stage, i cannot use my Harman Speaker und my Car Audio via Bluetooth.
the note 9 is an android device. So nothing is stopping you from 'fixing' it yourself. as you might not have realized yet, this is not a 'samsung' issue. you yourself said the onePlus also had the same issue.... its an issue of Android 8.
Anyways:
root and install the magisk module. If you are on a snapdragon device then are probably screwed. But sooner or later root or some other work around might arise...
good luck
It is definitly a Android Thing. But the fix for that Problem should be easy and is build into Android itself.
The Problem is, that Samsung does not save the codec, that i choose manually. The Oneplus 5 for example does save my setting. And with that Setting, all my Bluetooth Quality Issues would be solved.
So my goal for this thread is simple. It is difficult to motivate Samsung to Change this behaviour, if only one person needs that fix.
So it would be nice, if more people could report this behaviour to Samsung.
It autoswitches to the highest bluetooth codec the connected device negotiates that it can use. Very few autos connect to anything other than SBC. I have a different vehicle and do not experience any audio issues with the highs or lows using SBC. Your previous device was lying to you if you thought it was pushing AAC to a device that only accepts SBC.
Maybe try a different audio player and check the source file itself. I prefer "USB Audio player" because it doesn't alter flac/mp3/etc files and compress them further. Also check your dolby atmos settings.
Of course the phone does lie, if it does connect with APTX, even if the Speaker does support only SBC. But with that type of lying, it does work perfectly.
I am playing music via Spotify and the highest setting there.
In my car, i do have the upgraded Dynaudio System build in, and there i can hear the distortion.
With my Oneplus 5, i solved the problem by manually switching from SBC to APTX (even if my car does not Support APTX, it worked absolutely perfect)
That is the whole point... SBC on Android is not as good as on the iPhone. My iPhone X had no issues with my Harman Speaker, but my Note 9 and the Oneplus 5 do.. On the Oneplus i solved this by changing the Codec to Aptx.
I have a cheap Speaker (70 Euro) for my bathroom. This speaker does also connect via SBC, but doesnt have any problems with my Note. But this Speaker isnt nearly as good as the Harman Speaker or my car audio.
Do me a favor... Connect your SBC Speaker and play Still Got the Blues from Gary Moore.. It is really bad (the quality not the song).. The Bandwith is simply not enough with SBC.. but for some reason my iPhone X didnt had any Problems.. i think it just always used AAC even if the connected device didnt support it..
SuckOr said:
Of course the phone does lie, if it does connect with APTX, even if the Speaker does support only SBC. But with that type of lying, it does work perfectly.
I am playing music via Spotify and the highest setting there.
In my car, i do have the upgraded Dynaudio System build in, and there i can hear the distortion.
With my Oneplus 5, i solved the problem by manually switching from SBC to APTX (even if my car does not Support APTX, it worked absolutely perfect)
That is the whole point... SBC on Android is not as good as on the iPhone. My iPhone X had no issues with my Harman Speaker, but my Note 9 and the Oneplus 5 do.. On the Oneplus i solved this by changing the Codec to Aptx.
I have a cheap Speaker (70 Euro) for my bathroom. This speaker does also connect via SBC, but doesnt have any problems with my Note. But this Speaker isnt nearly as good as the Harman Speaker or my car audio.
Do me a favor... Connect your SBC Speaker and play Still Got the Blues from Gary Moore.. It is really bad (the quality not the song).. The Bandwith is simply not enough with SBC.. but for some reason my iPhone X didnt had any Problems.. i think it just always used AAC even if the connected device didnt support it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
play an audio file via a player ie:
power amp. and see if there is also an issue.
might just be the streaming app you are using. it might be just streaming bad/low quality and BT codec is adapting to it.( check streaming app audio settings..)
think of it like trying to convert an 96kbbs mp3 to 320 kbps.
garbage in, garbage out. Except in this case android is simply not upmixing and using high quality codec because there is no need to because source is low.
in power amp audio options, there are advanced audio settings which can allow you to force certain audio qualities. So test a high quality audio file in that player and see if audio is good.
if it is then you know the streaming quality is simply not high enough... which is not suprising as it IS a stream... reason why i also never stream and taking advantage if the 512 gb version if the note 9. to me it is folly to expect high quality from streams.
The music i am playing is from spotify.. Locally saved onto the phone with the maxed out setting - this is 320Kbits. As is said, the Oneplus had no Problem with the same setting after i changed the Codec manually.
But just for the record, i just bought the Song "Still Got the Blues" in the FLAC-Format. I played it via Power AMP on my Harman Speaker - the result is absolutely the same as with Spotify. So the Music is not the Problem.
SuckOr said:
The music i am playing is from spotify.. Locally saved onto the phone with the maxed out setting - this is 320Kbits. As is said, the Oneplus had no Problem with the same setting after i changed the Codec manually.
But just for the record, i just bought the Song "Still Got the Blues" in the FLAC-Format. I played it via Power AMP on my Harman Speaker - the result is absolutely the same as with Spotify. So the Music is not the Problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you go to power amp settings and adjust/enable? ...on second picture, go there and press the setting sprocket...multiple settings to adjust.
also if you go to android dev options and set higher quality BT settings and codecs, do they stick when playing audio?
No, if i want to change the Setting while playing, nothing happens. The Note does not allow it while using a Bluetooth Device.
If tried it with ( Power Amp ). Nothing changed. Still bad Quality.
Hi All,
I also want to join in on this discussion, just that I want to use LDAC as I use Sony WI1000X bluetooth headset. I have the same issue of it not sticking to LDAC and reverting back to AptX. So far here is my experience:
- If the headset is not connected, changing to LDAC, exiting from and then retuning to Developers menu would result the codec changing back to AptX
- If the headset is connected then change the codec to LDAC, the codec sticks. But once it is disconnected, it will revert back to AptX
- While the headset is connected, I can switch between codecs in the Dev menu while listening to music and can notice the difference in audio quality
Yeah, would be great if codec of choice can stick or at least switch automatically either by detection or preset. LDAC is awesome and I'm so happy that I can enjoy the codec without using Sony phones (not that they are bad, I just prefer my Note 9).
---------- Post added at 01:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 AM ----------
Ok funny enough, as I post my message, I got curious about something. I went to bluetooth menu, click the gear icon on my paired Sony WI1000X, and there it is.... a slider to toggle the LDAC codec on/off.
It is greyed out, so I exit the menu, switched on my bluetooth, came back in that menu, switch LDAC on, checked Dev menu, it is also set to LDAC. Good.
Then I switched off my bluetooth, at this point the LDAC option in Dev menu should have reverted back to AptX.... but it stays in LDAC mode! This is great!
I guess my small inconvenience is now solved, maybe you can try the same for your AptX device.
Can anyone confirm whether AptX Adaptive is included or not (eg. from actually listening, it's still not listed in the Developer Options)? They have removed "Samsung HD" as a codec as well.
I have since my Galaxy S5 the Same Problem.
Galaxy S4
Galaxy S6
Galaxy S7
Galaxy Note 8
The Bluetooth quality is really a mess.
I do not have the Problem with my one plus 4. And also with any kind of iPhones
You can change this in basic Bluetooth settings
If your Bluetooth audio device supports codecs you should find the setting in your Bluetooth connection settings where you find the media audio and call audio settings under them there is the basic codec...
Found this on Reddit . Worked on my Sony wi 1000x
Solved it for note9
I had this problem with the amazing WF-1000XM3 and just couldn't get them to change to AAC.
So the solution was turning off the dual audio option in Bluetooth. I even tested this, and as soon as I turned on dual audio the codec switched back to sbc.
Settings>connections>Bluetooth>advanced>dual audio
And if it doesn't automatically switch over then, force it once through the developer options and it should stay like that thereafter.
I'm tossing my hat into the ring here, because this is maddening. I don't understand how we can all have 2-3 different user experiences on the same device.
OK, so, presumably, we're all on Andoid 9. Since the start of this thread, I imagine updates have played at least a minor role in user experience and menu options.
Here's where I'm at: I've never been able to successfully change AND have the settings found within Developer Options actually "stick". I can access "Bluetooth Audio Codec", and from there I can see SBC/AAC/aptX/LDAC/Scalable/All/Default as options. It does not matter which one I tap on, the result is the same: I can visibly confirm the change was made when selecting the codec I want and the screen goes back to the main Dev Options menu. If I hit the back button, and go right back into Dev Options, it has auto-reverted back to SBC. This is, of course, with no active BT devices connected for audio.
I recently traded in a car which did not support Android Auto, and therefore my only option was BT for audio streaming. When using this, the quality was fine, even subjectively good. However, now I've got a car whose stereo supports Android Auto, but only via USB (not BT). I can confirm that, via the display on the head unit of the infotainment system, it is using (or attempting to use) A2DP for streaming, which would indicate my phone should be using aptX or similar. Even so, the audio quality is absolute ****. If I connect my USB cable, and resume audio via Android Auto, the quality vastly improves. There is no reason why my phone or the BT connection would or should be operating under SBC or any kind of inferior BT codec when streaming. Mind you, all of this is done using the same player: PowerAmp Pro.
TL;DR - Has anyone found a way to forcibly allow all codecs, so that the highest quality codec is used on a per-device basis?
Just the same problem
Yes i have exactlly the same problem
Please Samsung...FIX THIS!!
---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ----------
I have tried what KASHY27 said in his post and works perfectly!
Turn off dual audio in bluetooth settings and then click aptx in developers options
Thanks KASHY27!!
SuckOr said:
Hi Guys,
i am coming from an iPhone X and am now using a Note9. The Phone is absolutely great and i dont want to look back. Everything works fine, everything is really fluid just like it should be. But there is one annoying thing, that bothers me to hell: Bluetooth-Streaming Quality while Playing Music.
I am using several devices via Bluetooth: Bose Soundsport Free, Bose QC35II, Harman Kardon Go+Play and i am listening to Music in my Golf 7 via Bluetooth. Listening to music via the Bose Devices works really good. In the Developer Option, you can see that the Note 9 is using the AAC Codec, which the Bose do support. The Note 9 changes to AAC automatically.
When i am using the Harman Speaker and listening in my car, the Note 9 will stay at SBC (Standard Bluetooth Codec). This isnt really a problem for me, because the iPhone did it too. But the quality is worse on the Note 9 compared to the iPhone. On the Note 9, you can hear cracking noise in the Highs and the sound is overall not very good - the iPhone does this better with SBC (or stays with AAC even when the conneced device does not support it).
I had the same problem last year with my Oneplus 5. But with the OP5, i simply changed the Bluetooth Codec to always be APTX. This totally worked for me, even if the Bluetooth Device didnt support APTX. But on the Note 9, it will always change back to SBC, when i connect my Harman Speaker or my car.
I think it is just a bug. I didnt find a workaround. This is just a simple thing but it bothers me to hell... My mother's S9 does the same. It just doesnt save the setting.
The reason why i am making a thread is simple: Samsung does have a Samsung Members / Plus / Care (it depends where you are) App, where you can send in bugs, that you found.
Even if this bug doenst bother you, it would be very nice, if you can send in a request for changing this behaviour. That would help me (and maybe others), so that the Bluetooth Listening Experience will be as good as the Rest of the phone.
Thanks for the help.
If anyone knows a workaround for my problem - please let me know. At this stage, i cannot use my Harman Speaker und my Car Audio via Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im using sony xm4 and samsung note 9. note9 keeps going back to bt aac codec. i was able to make it stay to ldac by setting [connecting 2 devices = off] in sony headphone app under system. it was noted in the app that ldac can not be used when this setting is enabled.
2022 and this is still not fixed. A shame android.
Hi folks. Just moved to a different carrier, we were previous Google Pixel owners, but our new carrier doesn't support them so we had to move to S10s.
The big complaint here is the horrible sound quality coming from the phones to all of our Bluetooth devices. Cars, speakers, living room sound bar. Static-y noises and what sounds like just a far lower quality across all devices than what comes from our Pixels which we still have. Our kids Iphones have no issues playing clean and clear either.
Really frustrating issue, we both use our music service daily and this is darn near a deal breaker.
Any ideas or solutions out there? I've searched high and low to no avail. Thanks in advance!
Anyone? No one else has this issue?
is your phone rooted? Is this a snapdragon or exynos version? If its exynos version, rooted, installed aptx bluetooth codec and viper4android for better audio
Exynos, fully stock here.
No problem with bluetooth audio.
US Snapdragon phone. Completely box stock. Bluetooth even connects at an audibly lower volume. It sounds almost like it's connecting through one of those old FM Bluetooth transmitters. It's terrible. I've fiddled with every solution I can find online for others suffering the same issue, nothing works.
Actually, I didn't want to root my S10. However, the sound quality via bluetooth is so bad that you cant avoid Viper4Andriod.
That was also the case with the S8. At the point Samsung has huge deficits.
Without root / V4A you just have lousy sound quality.
I'd really love to find a workaround that doesn't involve rooting, but if that's all there is.....
I had the same problem with snapdragon unlocked variant. The factory audio quality over Bluetooth was terribly bad. It was tinny.
Interestingly when i used "seperate app sound" feature it has improved. But not as good as exynos variant when i compared.
Steps to follow.
Advanced Audio setting -> seperate app sound -> Turn ON ( select the app and bluetooth device )
Let me know if it works.
Never did find an answer to this question. Found that when it's plugged into a 3.5mm port it's even more noticeable. It's got to be a software issue. The static starts as soon as any music begins, and ends on any song switch or pause. You can actually hear the static 'kick in' right before the sounds start to play. It's horrible. Doesn't do it on my backup phone, or either of my kids' iPhones. Just these two S10s.
Hey man, did you ever find a fix? all of a sudden I started having this issue. If I turn "Call audio" OFF it is fixed and the quality is great again, but with Call Audio on, its crappy, on my car, or headset, same behaviour.
The phone seem to be using the Call Audio profile despite no active call.
Did some more testing, if I hit on "Disconnect" on my car system, I get the "call disconnect" sound and after that the audio is great. The issue seem to be the phone thinking its on a phone call and using call audio profile to stream the audio.