mp4a Audio Issues with Bluetooth

[miracles57]

Hello,

I've noticed an issue when using the VLC app (3.0.3) with my Bose SoundSport bluetooth headphones. Basically, certain videos don't play with sound (i.e., the video plays fine but no sound comes through the headphones). I believe I've isolated the issue to videos that use mp4a audio tracks. All others seem to work fine.

Note that I have tested other video player apps (such as Infuse) and they do not have this issue. I've also tested using the VLC app on my MacBook pro and the audio works fine there as well. So, I believe that rules out an issue specifically with the headphones. Most likely it is a compatibility issue, but since the videos play correctly with the headphones in all other apps, Bose is not able to help.

Has anyone encountered this issue and/or can offer any advice?

Thank you,
JP

[Carola]

hey JP,

could you give us the file that you can't play back ? I tried it with this : https://github.com/robovm/apple-ios-sam ... sample.m4a
and couldn't reproduce the issue. I have Bose quitecomfort 35

[miracles57]

Hi Carola,

Thanks for your reply! I believe the issue may only affect video files. The audio sample works fine for me as well. Here is a small-ish video file with which the issue occurs (for me, at least):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8nm9cfzhjatak ... g.mkv?dl=0

Thank you,
JP

[Carola]

Hey JP,

thank you for the file. At first I thought the sound\ works fine over here with the latest VLC version 3.0.3 and an iPhone X + Bose Quietcomfort 35.
But I noticed that sometimes after backgrounding the sound is gone. If I move the slider again I do get sound though.
Can you confirm this ?

[miracles57]

Hi Carola,

Interesting. Unfortunately, I cannot confirm the same behavior (using VLC 3.0.3 and an iPhone 6 + Bose "SoundSport Free" Wireless headphones). For me, at most, I get some short millisecond bits of sound here and there (as if the audio is trying to connect and play but somehow not quite able to), but mostly silence. I'm using the sample audio file to compare and everything works correctly with that file. In terms of the video file, I've tried adjusting the audio settings, moving the slider, etc., but can't yet find any combination that allows the sound to come through.

Do you think it could be an issue with my older iPhone?

Thank you,
JP

[miracles57]

Hi Carola,

It's been a couple months now. Do you think there's any chance of getting any help with this? I've submitted a bug report (https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/20204) but haven't heard anything there either. If not, I suppose I will just have to use a different player.

Thank you,
JP

[lucifron777]

I have the same issue, and this works for me: (very annoying but working). Using a Macbook Air, not sure how it is on pc.

1. Select Audio --> Audio device

2. Change to Built-in output

3. Change back to System Sound Output device. (picture in image at bottom)

After doing that, the sounds on my headphones is working. next clip, movie, etc that i put... its silent again, then i switch again to built-in output, and back to system sound output device.

If i select the headphones on this audio window, it doesnt work.. only by doing those above options.



https://imgur.com/a/5JKlddP

[nquoctuan]

Hi,

I have the similar situation as you have, but I find a way to fix by switch audio between iPhone and Bluetooth headset
Hopefully, you have not given up the VLC, so far it is the best.

Thanks,

[miracles57]

Hi nquoctuan,

Thank you for the reply. Can you tell me exactly what you mean by “switch audio between iPhone and Bluetooth headset”? I’d like to test your fix but am not sure what you meant.

I have switched to the Infuse app for iPhone but would definitely consider returning to VLC if I can find a solution to this issue!

Thank you,
JP

[fkuehne]

It's weird that you are still facing this problem. We purchased most of the devices (regrettably not the BOSE ones) facing the issue and can no longer reproduce it, partly due to software updates to the headphones themselves. The issue was that the headphones were announcing an extremely long delay (> 2s) which VLC cannot support. This is solved by now, also in part with recent iOS updates.

Can you make sure that there is no software update available for your headphones and that your iOS installation is up-to-date? If that's the case, we should definitely get your headphones and have a look.

[lf2019]

I had the same issue, the audio would work on all my other bluetooth devices except the Bose Soundsport. I am now able to play audio if I toggle the audio delay a little until it starts playing the audio once I open a video. I also have the most updated software for my headphones and iphone. Hope this helps!

[xcheck]

Same with – JBL Inspire 500 – headset, iTunes bought audio files, and iTunes ripped audio tracks in Apple Lossless format, all .m4a format. The weird thing is, that occasionally the bought tracks did play in the past, so I could not reproduce when or when not. With VLC 3.0.6 on Raspbian x86 there is just no sound (though the progress bar keeps movin). Just in the case, ripped .flac files work like whatever .mp3 does. All over bluetooth.

[xcheck]

…previous said, the – JBL Inspire 500 – headset works with iTunes on Windows but .flac is unsupported. No firmware updates avail here.

Edit: I've opened a new thread in the Linux https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=147920 section!

[miracles57]

It's weird that you are still facing this problem. We purchased most of the devices (regrettably not the BOSE ones) facing the issue and can no longer reproduce it, partly due to software updates to the headphones themselves. The issue was that the headphones were announcing an extremely long delay (> 2s) which VLC cannot support. This is solved by now, also in part with recent iOS updates.

Can you make sure that there is no software update available for your headphones and that your iOS installation is up-to-date? If that's the case, we should definitely get your headphones and have a look.

Hi @felix paul kuehne, Yes, I can confirm that there are no software updates available and my headphones and iOS are fully up-to-date. I can also confirm that the issue is still occurring. I just reproduced it again for files with AAC and DTS audio tracks.

It would be wonderful if you could get the model of headphones I'm using and take a look! Please feel free to let me know if I can provide any additional examples or info!

Thank you,
JP

[jgrevich]

+1, I'm experiencing the same issue with Bose QuitecComfort 35 series II running firmware v4.1.3 (latest version as of this date according to the updater utility). Please let me know if I can help in any way.

[bananaT]

Hi everyone,

I'm having this problem as well. I'm using iPhone 7s, and I am using Apple PowerBeats wireless headphones.

My videos do not play audio until I select the audio output icon for iPhone (then everyone in the gym hears what I'm listening to for a few seconds), and then switch it back to PowerBeats. Then I must repeat this for every video track in my Playlist.

Are there any better solutions around this?

(I sure hope I will receive an auto-notification when there's a reply to the forum)

[g1gsw]

I also have a problem with Bluetooth audio and m4 video files on the Raspberry Pi, it just never plays audio, if I move the slider I get about 1 second of the audio only. It happens on all mp4 files I try to play. Chromium plays the audio in them all fine.