Samsung S8 Crackling Bluetooth audio and Bluetooth Codecs - Samsung Galaxy S8 Questions and Answers
Hi Guys.
I've seen a number of posts on this subject so here's my story and my experience thus far.
I've been using an iPhone 7 since it came out. I've been very happy playing music in my car (Fiesta with SYNC2 system) all this time. My significant other has been using an S8 for some time, and her music always sounded 'crackly' (for lack of a better word) in the car. I thought this was just her Spotify or something.
2 Days ago I bought my own S8 and I had exactly the same issue.
Now from some research I've been able to deduce that this is down to the Bluetooth Codec the phone uses. I changed mine to aptX yesterday and the music quality was great. Didn't sound like a 200KB MP3 downloaded in the early 2000's anymore.
However...
Last night I had to reboot my phone for reasons, and the developer options reset completely, which I believe is normal behavior. But now I can't set my Bluetooth Codec anymore? I change it, the moment I close the menu, it reverts back to SBC. I tried this with Bluetooth off, Bluetooth on and not connected, Bluetooth on and connected, no joy. It keeps reverting. Same goes for all the other Bluetooth settings (i.e bitrate).
So gentleman I ask you humbly, wtf? Why does the settings not stick and is this normal behavior? Is there a way I can force it to use AAC or aptX once more? I really have come to enjoy this phone but playing music in my car is a very very big factor and since AUX and USB (can't seem to play Apple Music/Google Music via USB) isn't an option, I'm stuck with Bluetooth.
Thanks in advance,
Have you made sure dual audio is disabled???
If not, go to Bluetooth, turn it on, hit the tripple dots in the top right and tap on "Dual Audio"
Make sure it's off and now try changing to AptX or whatever codec works best for you.
Disable / re-enable Buetooth and see if it sticks. (Try rebooting too)
Also, Bluetooth codecs will automatically change if the device you're connecting to doesn't support your choice of codec.
Keep me posted
CoreyOS said:
Have you made sure dual audio is disabled???
If not, go to Bluetooth, turn it on, hit the tripple dots in the top right and tap on "Dual Audio"
Make sure it's off and now try changing to AptX or whatever codec works best for you.
Disable / re-enable Buetooth and see if it sticks. (Try rebooting too)
Also, Bluetooth codecs will automatically change if the device you're connecting to doesn't support your choice of codec.
Keep me posted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Corey,
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, the above didn't work Dual audio was disabled, I enabled it and disabled it again. I tried changing the codec and bit rate but the result is the same, the moment I close the menu or turn on Bluetooth, it reverts back to SBC and Best Effort bitrate. I should mention that when I turn on the Bluetooth, it doesn't connect to anything, the only paired device at this point is my car.
Interestingly enough, if I don't close the menu but just hit the middle button, the settings will stay as is and the audio is great. What I haven't tried yet is closing the menu after a 'good' connection is made to the car. It may be that the setting sticks but the menu says otherwise. But I can definitely confirm that if I close the menu and then connect, the audio is garbage.
As for the compatibility of the car's Bluetooth, well it's a Ford SYNC2 system which from what I can see is actually quite basic. I am starting to this the problem isn't as much the codec, but rather the bitrate at which the phone is playing/sending music across the Bluetooth.
dxcza said:
Hi Corey,
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, the above didn't work Dual audio was disabled, I enabled it and disabled it again. I tried changing the codec and bit rate but the result is the same, the moment I close the menu or turn on Bluetooth, it reverts back to SBC and Best Effort bitrate. I should mention that when I turn on the Bluetooth, it doesn't connect to anything, the only paired device at this point is my car.
Interestingly enough, if I don't close the menu but just hit the middle button, the settings will stay as is and the audio is great. What I haven't tried yet is closing the menu after a 'good' connection is made to the car. It may be that the setting sticks but the menu says otherwise. But I can definitely confirm that if I close the menu and then connect, the audio is garbage.
As for the compatibility of the car's Bluetooth, well it's a Ford SYNC2 system which from what I can see is actually quite basic. I am starting to this the problem isn't as much the codec, but rather the bitrate at which the phone is playing/sending music across the Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not gonna' lie, I'm not very impressed by the Bluetooth on the S8... or Bluetooth in general.
It's lousy most of the time, mine always distorts and especially around emergency vehicles... (Could be interference from their coms???)
If possible, just stick to good 'ol copper wire
I can't imagine wireless audio not ever being interfered with and will always stay wired.
Also, try a music app called Poweramp.
It has many settings involving latency etc. It has a trial for 2 weeks and is worth EVERY penny if you decide to buy IMHO.
Try the build version first, if that doesn't have settings that you need, try the alpha version.
It has lots of latency settings etc
I'm guessing higher latency = better results as it has more time to be pushed over BT before the sound is reproduced.
I'm probably wrong though.
Can't beat lots of settings tho aye.
CoreyOS said:
I'm not gonna' lie, I'm not very impressed by the Bluetooth on the S8... or Bluetooth in general.
It's lousy most of the time, mine always distorts and especially around emergency vehicles... (Could be interference from their coms???)
If possible, just stick to good 'ol copper wire
I can't imagine wireless audio not ever being interfered with and will always stay wired.
Also, try a music app called Poweramp.
It has many settings involving latency etc. It has a trial for 2 weeks and is worth EVERY penny if you decide to buy IMHO.
Try the build version first, if that doesn't have settings that you need, try the alpha version.
It has lots of latency settings etc
I'm guessing higher latency = better results as it has more time to be pushed over BT before the sound is reproduced.
I'm probably wrong though.
Can't beat lots of settings tho aye.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Morning Corey,
Yeah so my situation at the moment is to have my old iPhone in the car at all times as a glorified bluetooth player. I've also gone out and bought an auxiliary cable for when the iPhone's battery dies on me (happens more often than one would think). And to have a charger for the iPhone, charger for the Samsung and aux cable for the Samsung all plugged in becomes really messy.
It must be something to do with the Bluetooth 5 feature. I don't know what version the iPhone is (cba to check) but it works like a dream.
Wish we had some form of backwards compatibility or a feature to force an older version with Samsung. Just sucks buying a phone which is really not cheap in ZA just to have the music sound like a 300kb MP3 played on Winamp with the treble bars turned up all the way.
I'll try out the app you suggested mate, thanks!
dxcza said:
Morning Corey,
Yeah so my situation at the moment is to have my old iPhone in the car at all times as a glorified bluetooth player. I've also gone out and bought an auxiliary cable for when the iPhone's battery dies on me (happens more often than one would think). And to have a charger for the iPhone, charger for the Samsung and aux cable for the Samsung all plugged in becomes really messy.
It must be something to do with the Bluetooth 5 feature. I don't know what version the iPhone is (cba to check) but it works like a dream.
Wish we had some form of backwards compatibility or a feature to force an older version with Samsung. Just sucks buying a phone which is really not cheap in ZA just to have the music sound like a 300kb MP3 played on Winamp with the treble bars turned up all the way.
I'll try out the app you suggested mate, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries and if you are referring to a USB cigarette lighter charger/USB charger then try the multi-cables.
Try one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poweradd-L...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=59QBSADVWM0NKGZGTQ4K
sorry to drag up an old thread, i have the same problem ( sync2 too) and it is same issues. I have noticed that even though its bad its tolerable bad. then i add my samsung watch and becomes awful.
did you ever figure the issue out? i feel its the sync2 causing some kind of problem
ninjatiger26 said:
sorry to drag up an old thread, i have the same problem ( sync2 too) and it is same issues. I have noticed that even though its bad its tolerable bad. then i add my samsung watch and becomes awful.
did you ever figure the issue out? i feel its the sync2 causing some kind of problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know yet I have been using my s8 and bluetooth audio for watch speakers controllers everything and today for the first time my speaker was crackling under bluetooth
I will most def be trying to recreate this and figure it out cause it was very iratating...
Related
Bluetooth headphones with no delay for movies
Hello,i want to change my wired earphones to wireless ones, so ive been searching for a bluetooth headphone that would be good not only to listen music but also good at watching movies and i couldnt find any that dosnt have few secs off delay . So anyone knows any bluetooth headphones without the delay?
I've got some dell BH200 bluetooth headphones. They work great; no delay at all.
LOL delay! a Few seconds! Who the hell would buy them? I been using the much whined about S9(9) motorolla stereo bluetooth headset for almost a year. Got a call in to radio shack now to replace them, (volume is all that dont work- dont leave them in your glove box in 140 degree heat lolz!!) Ive never experienced any sort of (noticeable) delay with my bluetooth, i use them for everything. Movies of all different formats even. Im not sure if your implying that after reading the specs you think theres seconds worth the delay, or youve personally experienced it. But This kid never has. We're talking milli-seconds not full seconds. Do it the right way like i did, and turn in your 120 dollar receipt at work. "Saftey First" GLHF
A2DP is designed to have no delay, so no A2DP set should have one... I have one set of BT headphones, an adapter plugged on my hifi set, and a 3rd one on portable speakers, and none have a delay. I'm also using A2DP between my laptop and desktop PC (so that the sound of the laptop goes out on the 5.1 set connected to the desktop) and there's no delay either. So if you did experience delay, you must have stumbled upon THE rare crappy model.
Did you check the video for delay? FxeL said: Hello,i want to change my wired earphones to wireless ones, so ive been searching for a bluetooth headphone that would be good not only to listen music but also good at watching movies and i couldnt find any that dosnt have few secs off delay . So anyone knows any bluetooth headphones without the delay? Click to expand... Click to collapse Some video if not properly encoded the audio will be out of sync and will get worse as it progresses into the video. You should compare the same video with the wired and wireless to verify the delay. Mark
Default Bluetooth settings
I'm trying to find out if there is a way I can automatically make my bluetooth use a default 'on' setting of having both handsfree AND stereo streaming enabled? The reason is that I recently bought a Sony head unit for my car which is BT enabled for both calls and music streaming. It's superb and is really easy to use in that respect and works very well indeed. The problem is though that when I turn on BT on the phone, whether manually or by a profile switching program, it switches on with a default of hands free enabled, but not the music streaming function (A2DP?) so every time I want to stream music in the car I have to go to Windows>Settings>Bluetooth, then activate the stereo streaming option in the bluetooth control app, and this is really frustrating and fiddly. I just want it so that every time I turn on BT (no matter by what means) that both these BT options are enabled automatically. I have a sneaky suspicion that it's an easy thing to do and I'm just overlooking it so apologies if that's the case! I have found a setting for "Connect separately to Bluetooth hands-free and stereo audio devices" and I have unchecked this, but it has not helped. Can anyone tell me how to do this please? And sorry if it's totally obvious! If I can't do this with the default phone settings, is there a suitable bluetooth management app that would solve it? On a slightly different but related note... The other thing I really want with BT (as per other peoples threads on this subject) is for Bluetooth and Wifi to switch on every single time I plug the phone into a charger. I've tried 3 different profile switching apps now, and whilst they are pretty good I can't get them to behave 100% how I want, but more importantly they all seem to cause a very noticeable increase in battery drain. Some are better than others but I just can't hit the happy combination I want to justify all the hassle of setting them up and having less battery etc. I wonder if mortscript can do what I need. Presume so, so I'll have to have a look into it..... Thanks anyway!
Actually - apologies but I think I found a couple of useful threads about this now that for some reason I missed when I was searching earlier. Doh! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=619618&highlight=bluetooth http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583570&highlight=bluetooth
Car speakers over bluetooth flat
The equalizer built in works very well over a wired connection, but over bluetooth sound is flat with a lot of quality loss. Any ideas if it is resolvable? I already enabled the enhanced stereo option in bluetooth options. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
by flat do you mean there is not a lot of hi and low? Bluetooth at this stage (2.0) as far as i know won't sound close to even an analog wired connection. but for me it's "good nuff" considering i like the feature of just getting in my car and hitting play and not have to wire anything up to the phone. Which application are you using, I could try doing a sound test between both. I do understand what your saying my old windows mobile phone sounded about as fair as an FM radio over bluetooth, when i looked into it seemed to just be limitation of the protocol Right now my sound system is lacking (no sub, the mains can only reach down to 90hz) so at this time I can't get good est of the differences with the sound to compare my phone to yours. But when i had my windows mobile it wasn't so much "flat" it just sounded like a 96kb mp3, like it be re-encoded kinda, it still had good range. You may also want to look into your receiving bluetooth device and how good the reviews are on that. hope i've helped a bit
A2DP sound quality issue with Galaxy S 2
Hi guys i read xda so much, but i don't write as well i have a big issue with my galaxy s 2 i use a bt car stereo, with a2dp and avrcp support i used to stream all my music collection from my iphone4 now i got my sgs2 and i love it... but the audio stream looks "limited" it seems a bandwidth issue, or i don't know a quality issue with iphone4 i streamed at full quality, now the sgs2 sounds a lot worst other than that, i have to disable wifi because if on, the music is choppy and skips a lot with wifi off, the stream goes well, but it sound bad... sorry for my not so perfect english... i hope there is a way to improve sound quality because i "live" with a2dp on in my car...
That's strange. My a2dp stream actually sound better from sgs2 than it does from my ipod touch 2nd gen, iphone or my computer (bluez). Receiver is a belkin stereo a2dp receiver. Are you sure that it's not in handsfree mode? Long press the a2dp device in bluetooth settings and there should be an option to select it to be a media device, make sure it's checked.
thanks for the reply gvoima, no it's in media device mode i think the problem is the bitpool i've got the same problem of this guy: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=708685 there is an mp3 sample of the problem in the first page
gvoima said: That's strange. My a2dp stream actually sound better from sgs2 than it does from my ipod touch 2nd gen, iphone or my computer (bluez). Receiver is a belkin stereo a2dp receiver. Are you sure that it's not in handsfree mode? Long press the a2dp device in bluetooth settings and there should be an option to select it to be a media device, make sure it's checked. Click to expand... Click to collapse I got a belkin stereo receiver as well, but it sounds bad and choppy, just like the topic starter described. Though still compressed (this is a known issue for A2DP due to bandwidth limitations) songs sounds much better from my Nokia E52 work phone.
rikc said: I got a belkin stereo receiver as well, but it sounds bad and choppy, just like the topic starter described. Though still compressed (this is a known issue for A2DP due to bandwidth limitations) songs sounds much better from my Nokia E52 work phone. Click to expand... Click to collapse The "but my (insert phone) worked better" isn't really valid. For as many people who make that statement there are an equal number who are shocked that the SGS2 works where other phones haven't. This is kind of like the Wi-Fi issue. When two pieces of equipment don't interact well you can't just blame one of them. In my car and on my Yamaha YSP-4000 the SGS2's Bluetooth works better than any phone I've used. That includes the HD2, G2, and G2X. The sound is much more defined and headset controls (random and repeat) show available for the first time. The SGS2 also feeds track info to the car which none of the others did. Bluetooth connections and sound quality are always a big YMMV.
My Sony MW600 sound great, I use to have a Motorola Defy , and it use to have an "Enhanced Stereo" option in the blue-tooth menu, the Samsung S2 does not have this option.
@BarryH, Oh I know, I not blaming the SGS2. I only think the SGS2 out sound to it's output module which is somehow less suitable for the kind of compression, maybe set by the Belkin module. Actually I'm currious if there would be ways to change the way the SGS2 sends sound signals via A2DP
rikc said: @BarryH, Oh I know, I not blaming the SGS2. I only think the SGS2 out sound to it's output module which is somehow less suitable for the kind of compression, maybe set by the Belkin module. Actually I'm currious if there would be ways to change the way the SGS2 sends sound signals via A2DP Click to expand... Click to collapse LG's implementation of Bluetooth drove G2X owners crazy. Check out this thread from the G2X forum... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1117769 Maybe it will help. The only other solution for the G2X was installing an AOSP ROM.
Well, I tried it (Bluetooth Fix Repair), but off-course that tool is for a problem the SGS2 does not have. From the tinkering I've done now I know. - Having MusicFX installed does not make a difference - Video players running ffmpeg codec do also not make much difference in sound quality - The -type- of file does make a difference, i.e. low bitrate files play better This makes me think, is there a music program which can resample/recode music before playing. I'd rather have software do that than A2DP do it badly, or is mono output (other than all the tools enabling playback on mono headsets which is for pre-A2DP headsets and thus something else) possible?
Edit /system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf Uncomment "Master" option and set it to "True". Uncomment "MaxConnections" and set it to 3. Most Android devices have this file configured poorly by default, those 2 settings should help though. I'd suggest also enabling HFP and AutoConnect.
Great! That definitly reduced creaking/noises and even the occasional stuttering music! Since you seem to know your stuff, would there be a way to send a mono signal to (only) the A2DP stack and would this decrease the 'tin can' effect? I'd rather have better upper tones than stereo.
knightnz said: Edit /system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf Uncomment "Master" option and set it to "True". Uncomment "MaxConnections" and set it to 3. Most Android devices have this file configured poorly by default, those 2 settings should help though. I'd suggest also enabling HFP and AutoConnect. Click to expand... Click to collapse Thanks for the suggestions...going to try this and see if the sound quality improves in my car stereo. Till now the best A2dp sound quality was on my Nexus S, but that was with the help of custom rom development and vodoo sound. Worst was the g2x. Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Ok guys, I think I might have... accidentily... run into a phenonemon. I tested my phone on a Creative D100 wireless speaker it it went great, no tin can sound, no hickups. This proved to me that there had to be something wrong. Now when I was posting here earlier I was listening a lot to music and at a certain moment I thought... wait I'm not hearing a tin-can sound anymore. However, later on while testing I heard it again so I thought I imagined it. Powering off the phone and powering on again I was able to create this again. No tin can sound... however a lot of hickups (as if a lot of data had to be sent and it didn't quite fit). I made a call to my work phone (sound on the handset) to test and then the tin can sound was there again, no hick ups anymore though. Strangely enough a haven't been able to replicate the 'no tin can sound but hickup situation' though by powering off and on again. Tried after playing on the Belkin on the D100 again and no problems at all, great sound and no hickups whatsoever.
It appears to be a bigger issue with android connected to the bitpool setting the bluetooth receiver desires... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=14944891#post14944891
Let's hope the upcoming Cynogen can fix this issue.
I too felt that the A2DP sound quality on the Nokia BH103 is crap as compared to my Nokia 5800 (sounded even better than stock wired headset). It also uses a lot more battery, I find mediaserver using a lot of battery. How do we escalate this to Samsung?
knightnz said: Edit /system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf Uncomment "Master" option and set it to "True". Uncomment "MaxConnections" and set it to 3. Most Android devices have this file configured poorly by default, those 2 settings should help though. I'd suggest also enabling HFP and AutoConnect. Click to expand... Click to collapse Sorry, i'm on darky rom and i don't find this file, could someone help me out ? Thanks
Bluetooth sounds issues with car
Since moving to the S10+ from S9+ , I noticed the audio quality on the car bluetooth cracks at certain points. (Example, listening to Tron Legacy - Overture towards the end). I have done some research and tried changing the codec but it always reverts back. I would have thought with the latest update this would have been fixed!!! Anyone tried anything else?
You cannot change the codec. The developer setting is not true or real - it is automatically detecting what the car and the file are able to play to the phone. I don't know why people think that matters. My bluetooth has no issues with quality. How old is the car? Is it using like Bluetooth 2.1 or something?
vonDubenshire said: You cannot change the codec. The developer setting is not true or real - it is automatically detecting what the car and the file are able to play to the phone. I don't know why people think that matters. My bluetooth has no issues with quality. How old is the car? Is it using like Bluetooth 2.1 or something? Click to expand... Click to collapse My car is a 2016 registered car, i've connected my wife's iphone and the sound is better, i have also connected my s9+ (refurbished as the s9+ is an insurance replacement due to my s9+ being stolen and i am selling it) and the quality is better. Maybe I should download the firmware and reflash?
olster said: My car is a 2016 registered car, i've connected my wife's iphone and the sound is better, i have also connected my s9+ (refurbished as the s9+ is an insurance replacement due to my s9+ being stolen and i am selling it) and the quality is better. Maybe I should download the firmware and reflash? Click to expand... Click to collapse One time a few weeks ago my sound was kind of quiet and I wasn't sure why, I eventually forgot about it but a few days later I was messing with settings in "Sound Assistant" and the regular system connections, and I did something with one of the controls like Media Volume Sync or maybe in dev settnigs for Disable Bluetooth Absolute volume, and everything got WAY louder. Also, sometimes you may need to reboot after making those big changes just because any phone can glitch and not apply right. If you don't have Sound Assistant it's in the Play Store and the Galaxy store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.android.soundassistant&hl=en_US I'd try looking at these things and enable\disable: Media Volume Limiter Media Volume Sync Disable Bluetooth Absolute Volume (Developer settings) Dual Audio setting\toggle Dolby Atmos On\Off? Auto? Let me know if any of those help I'll reply when I see if you quote me!
vonDubenshire said: One time a few weeks ago my sound was kind of quiet and I wasn't sure why, I eventually forgot about it but a few days later I was messing with settings in "Sound Assistant" and the regular system connections, and I did something with one of the controls like Media Volume Sync or maybe in dev settnigs for Disable Bluetooth Absolute volume, and everything got WAY louder. Also, sometimes you may need to reboot after making those big changes just because any phone can glitch and not apply right. If you don't have Sound Assistant it's in the Play Store and the Galaxy store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.android.soundassistant&hl=en_US I'd try looking at these things and enable\disable: Media Volume Limiter Media Volume Sync Disable Bluetooth Absolute Volume (Developer settings) Dual Audio setting\toggle Dolby Atmos On\Off? Auto? Let me know if any of those help I'll reply when I see if you quote me! Click to expand... Click to collapse I've tried the Samsung app and the other options nothing improves the quality. I have downloaded the last firmware and flashed, still having the sound quality issues. I have also updated the firmware on my car but that hasn't changed anything, but its definitely the phone that is an issue, i've even dug out my S7 and paired it to the car with no issues. When I connect the S10+ via aux the quality is much better.