Bluetooth audio just being pretty laggy at times

alba4k · 2021-12-06 20:45:59

Basically, when I have some bluetooth headphones connected, the bluetooth often starts lagging (aka the sound quality just goes REALLY low for some seconds)
It's not related to a specific audio program (e.g. Spotify), since in these moments the whole computer audio starts going crazy
Bluetooth/Audio packages that I've installed:

bluez
bluez-utils
pulseaudio
pulseaudio-bluetooth

Also, in case this might help, here is /etc/bluetooth/main.conf:

[General]

# Default adapter name
# Defaults to 'BlueZ X.YZ'
#Name = BlueZ

# Default device class. Only the major and minor device class bits are
# considered. Defaults to '0x000000'.
#Class = 0x000100

# How long to stay in discoverable mode before going back to non-discoverable
# The value is in seconds. Default is 180, i.e. 3 minutes.
# 0 = disable timer, i.e. stay discoverable forever
#DiscoverableTimeout = 0

# Always allow pairing even if there are no agent registered
# Possible values: true, false
# Default: false
#AlwaysPairable = false

# How long to stay in pairable mode before going back to non-discoverable
# The value is in seconds. Default is 0.
# 0 = disable timer, i.e. stay pairable forever
#PairableTimeout = 0

# Use vendor id source (assigner), vendor, product and version information for
# DID profile support. The values are separated by ":" and assigner, VID, PID
# and version.
# Possible vendor id source values: bluetooth, usb (default) or false (disabled)
#DeviceID = bluetooth:1234:5678:abcd

# Do reverse service discovery for previously unknown devices that connect to
# us. For BR/EDR this option is really only needed for qualification since the
# BITE tester doesn't like us doing reverse SDP for some test cases, for LE
# this disables the GATT client functionally so it can be used in system which
# can only operate as peripheral.
# Defaults to 'true'.
#ReverseServiceDiscovery = true

# Enable name resolving after inquiry. Set it to 'false' if you don't need
# remote devices name and want shorter discovery cycle. Defaults to 'true'.
#NameResolving = true

# Enable runtime persistency of debug link keys. Default is false which
# makes debug link keys valid only for the duration of the connection
# that they were created for.
#DebugKeys = false

# Restricts all controllers to the specified transport. Default value
# is "dual", i.e. both BR/EDR and LE enabled (when supported by the HW).
# Possible values: "dual", "bredr", "le"
ControllerMode = bredr

# Enables Multi Profile Specification support. This allows to specify if
# system supports only Multiple Profiles Single Device (MPSD) configuration
# or both Multiple Profiles Single Device (MPSD) and Multiple Profiles Multiple
# Devices (MPMD) configurations.
# Possible values: "off", "single", "multiple"
#MultiProfile = off

# Permanently enables the Fast Connectable setting for adapters that
# support it. When enabled other devices can connect faster to us,
# however the tradeoff is increased power consumptions. This feature
# will fully work only on kernel version 4.1 and newer. Defaults to
# 'false'.
#FastConnectable = false

# Default privacy setting.
# Enables use of private address.
# Possible values: "off", "device", "network"
# "network" option not supported currently
# Defaults to "off"
#Privacy = off

# Specify the policy to the JUST-WORKS repairing initiated by peer
# Possible values: "never", "confirm", "always"
# Defaults to "never"
#JustWorksRepairing = never

# How long to keep temporary devices around
# The value is in seconds. Default is 30.
# 0 = disable timer, i.e. never keep temporary devices
#TemporaryTimeout = 30

# Enables the device to issue an SDP request to update known services when
# profile is connected. Defaults to true.
#RefreshDiscovery = true

# Enables experimental features and interfaces, alternatively a list of UUIDs
# can be given.
# Possible values: true,false,<UUID List>
# Possible UUIDS:
# d4992530-b9ec-469f-ab01-6c481c47da1c (BlueZ Experimental Debug)
# 671b10b5-42c0-4696-9227-eb28d1b049d6 (BlueZ Experimental Simultaneous Central and Peripheral)
# 15c0a148-c273-11ea-b3de-0242ac130004 (BlueZ Experimental LL privacy)
# 330859bc-7506-492d-9370-9a6f0614037f (BlueZ Experimental Bluetooth Quality Report)
# a6695ace-ee7f-4fb9-881a-5fac66c629af (BlueZ Experimental Offload Codecs)
# Defaults to false.
#Experimental = false

[BR]
# The following values are used to load default adapter parameters for BR/EDR.
# BlueZ loads the values into the kernel before the adapter is powered if the
# kernel supports the MGMT_LOAD_DEFAULT_PARAMETERS command. If a value isn't
# provided, the kernel will be initialized to it's default value.  The actual
# value will vary based on the kernel version and thus aren't provided here.
# The Bluetooth Core Specification should be consulted for the meaning and valid
# domain of each of these values.

# BR/EDR Page scan activity configuration
#PageScanType=
#PageScanInterval=
#PageScanWindow=

# BR/EDR Inquiry scan activity configuration
#InquiryScanType=
#InquiryScanInterval=
#InquiryScanWindow=

# BR/EDR Link supervision timeout
#LinkSupervisionTimeout=

# BR/EDR Page Timeout
#PageTimeout=

# BR/EDR Sniff Intervals
#MinSniffInterval=
#MaxSniffInterval=

[LE]
# The following values are used to load default adapter parameters for LE.
# BlueZ loads the values into the kernel before the adapter is powered if the
# kernel supports the MGMT_LOAD_DEFAULT_PARAMETERS command. If a value isn't
# provided, the kernel will be initialized to it's default value.  The actual
# value will vary based on the kernel version and thus aren't provided here.
# The Bluetooth Core Specification should be consulted for the meaning and valid
# domain of each of these values.
# LE advertisement interval (used for legacy advertisement interface only)
#MinAdvertisementInterval=
#MaxAdvertisementInterval=
#MultiAdvertisementRotationInterval=

# LE scanning parameters used for passive scanning supporting auto connect
# scenarios
#ScanIntervalAutoConnect=
#ScanWindowAutoConnect=

# LE scanning parameters used for passive scanning supporting wake from suspend
# scenarios
#ScanIntervalSuspend=
#ScanWindowSuspend=

# LE scanning parameters used for active scanning supporting discovery
# proceedure
#ScanIntervalDiscovery=
#ScanWindowDiscovery=

# LE scanning parameters used for passive scanning supporting the advertisement
# monitor Apis
#ScanIntervalAdvMonitor=
#ScanWindowAdvMonitor=

# LE scanning parameters used for connection establishment.
#ScanIntervalConnect=
#ScanWindowConnect=

# LE default connection parameters.  These values are superceeded by any
# specific values provided via the Load Connection Parameters interface
#MinConnectionInterval=
#MaxConnectionInterval=
#ConnectionLatency=
#ConnectionSupervisionTimeout=
#Autoconnecttimeout=

# Scan duration during interleaving scan. Only used when scanning for ADV
# monitors. The units are msec.
# Default: 300
#AdvMonAllowlistScanDuration=
# Default: 500
#AdvMonNoFilterScanDuration=

# Enable/Disable Advertisement Monitor interleave scan for power saving.
# 0: disable
# 1: enable
# Defaults to 1
#EnableAdvMonInterleaveScan=

[GATT]
# GATT attribute cache.
# Possible values:
# always: Always cache attributes even for devices not paired, this is
# recommended as it is best for interoperability, with more consistent
# reconnection times and enables proper tracking of notifications for all
# devices.
# yes: Only cache attributes of paired devices.
# no: Never cache attributes
# Default: always
#Cache = always

# Minimum required Encryption Key Size for accessing secured characteristics.
# Possible values: 0 and 7-16. 0 means don't care.
# Defaults to 0
#KeySize = 0

# Exchange MTU size.
# Possible values: 23-517
# Defaults to 517
#ExchangeMTU = 517

# Number of ATT channels
# Possible values: 1-5 (1 disables EATT)
# Default to 3
#Channels = 3

[AVDTP]
# AVDTP L2CAP Signalling Channel Mode.
# Possible values:
# basic: Use L2CAP Basic Mode
# ertm: Use L2CAP Enhanced Retransmission Mode
#SessionMode = basic

# AVDTP L2CAP Transport Channel Mode.
# Possible values:
# basic: Use L2CAP Basic Mode
# streaming: Use L2CAP Streaming Mode
#StreamMode = basic

[Policy]
#
# The ReconnectUUIDs defines the set of remote services that should try
# to be reconnected to in case of a link loss (link supervision
# timeout). The policy plugin should contain a sane set of values by
# default, but this list can be overridden here. By setting the list to
# empty the reconnection feature gets disabled.
#ReconnectUUIDs=00001112-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb,0000111f-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb,0000110a-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb,0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb

# ReconnectAttempts define the number of attempts to reconnect after a link
# lost. Setting the value to 0 disables reconnecting feature.
#ReconnectAttempts=7

# ReconnectIntervals define the set of intervals in seconds to use in between
# attempts.
# If the number of attempts defined in ReconnectAttempts is bigger than the
# set of intervals the last interval is repeated until the last attempt.
#ReconnectIntervals=1,2,4,8,16,32,64

# AutoEnable defines option to enable all controllers when they are found.
# This includes adapters present on start as well as adapters that are plugged
# in later on. Defaults to 'false'.
AutoEnable=true

# Audio devices that were disconnected due to suspend will be reconnected on
# resume. ResumeDelay determines the delay between when the controller
# resumes from suspend and a connection attempt is made. A longer delay is
# better for better co-existence with Wi-Fi.
# The value is in seconds.
# Default: 2
#ResumeDelay = 2

[AdvMon]
# Default RSSI Sampling Period. This is used when a client registers an
# advertisement monitor and leaves the RSSISamplingPeriod unset.
# Default: 0
#RSSISamplingPeriod=0

I will try to get an audio recording of it, if that might be helpful
Thanks in advance!

iloveYou · 2023-10-11 15:38:38

Having the same with BCM (05ac:828d). It sounds good after a switch to the PipeWire with only two devices connected (headset and keyboard), just a minor lags for a few seconds every 20-30 minutes.
But when I try to connect 3rd device or open Bluetooth preferences it starts to lag really bad. I think that's when the controller is in discoverable mode. And there's nothing bluetooth-related in the journalctl.

c00ter · 2023-10-11 15:51:11

I also have latency issues when using Pulseaudio. The package pavucontrol may help you offset it, but I would also recommend Pipewire, which cured latency issues for me. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWire
How to switch from Pulseaudio to Pipewire: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWi … io_clients

Arch Linux

#1 2021-12-06 20:45:59

Bluetooth audio just being pretty laggy at times

#2 2023-10-11 15:38:38

Re: Bluetooth audio just being pretty laggy at times

#3 2023-10-11 15:51:11

Re: Bluetooth audio just being pretty laggy at times

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