Arch Linux

seamusdemora

Member

Registered: 2020-04-09

Posts: 20

Seeking advice on playing music through Bluetooth speakers

Hello,

I'm new to Arch Linux, and new to Linux Audio.  I have just finished reading the "Bluetooth Headset wiki", and have some questions.  As I read the wiki, it should be possible to connect to a set of BT headphones, and hear "stereo sound" through the headset. My situation is a bit different: I am not using BT headphones, but rather BT speakers. Should I be able to hear "stereo sound" through the speakers - assuming I set things up in pulse/pipewire/bluetoothctl in the same way as described in the wiki?

Thanks,
~S

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,156

Re: Seeking advice on playing music through Bluetooth speakers

BT audio is BT audio, whether that's a speaker or a headset is somewhat secondary and largely irrelevant. The main question is which codecs are accepted because there are usually differences in sound quality between an actual headset (i.e. mic + output) and a plain stereo stream. Since speaker usually cover the latter they will likely accept the "stereo" codecs using A2DP or so.

So the literal answer is yes, this works, but your question seems XYish. Do you have actual speakers actually connected right now that you think should be stereo and you only hear mono, or what's the practical implication of your theoretical question?

Last edited by V1del (2025-05-18 01:07:06)

seamusdemora

Member

Registered: 2020-04-09

Posts: 20

Re: Seeking advice on playing music through Bluetooth speakers

Do you have actual speakers actually connected right now that you think should be stereo and you only hear mono, or what's the practical implication of your theoretical question?

Yes - I have actual speakers... actually two (2) pairs of speakers (couldn't get either to work).  I have an old-ish pair of JBL speakers (they are 3-4 years old, and AFAIK, they are not "A2DP speakers"), and I have a pair of new Bose BT speakers that are definitely "A2DP speakers".

And here's the part I do not understand: I can get "stereo sound" from the Bose speakers, but ONLY after I go through this "button-pushing" drill described in the owner manual. I don't like that procedure b/c if the sound pauses for a time, or if I reboot, or ...  -  the speakers disconnect, and I have to go through the "button-pushing" drill again. What a nuisance.

I "thought" that pipewire could handle the older Bose speakers, but have had no luck. I can (sometimes) connect both speakers in bluetoothctl, but I get sound out of only one speaker. I keep thinking I must be doing something wrong, but I do not know what.

Last edited by seamusdemora (2025-05-19 03:58:26)