A2DP and iPhone problem

[azcardsfan]

The quality of A2DP bluetooth music is noticeably worse on my iPhone than when I'm connected to my laptop. This is because of the iPhone's lossily compressed method. I've used two different sets of bluetooth A2DP headphones (Nokia BH-503 and Samsung SBH600) with both an iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch and the sound quality terrible.

I think the solution to this problem is to find an accessory for the iPhone - an A2DP adapter. If anyone already has one can you tell us if there's a different when using the adapter vs the built-in iPhone bluetooth?

Quote:
Bluetooth audio streaming is mighty appealing, but it's not without caveats. For audiophiles, the most significant is that audio is lossily compressed in order to avoid saturating the Bluetooth connection--nobody likes stutters and skips when listening to music. But the reality is that unless you have a set of high-end wireless headphones or you're streaming to a very good stereo system, you're unlikely to notice this compression, especially if you're playing low-bit-rate audio files.
PCWorld

 

[erikjenkins1187]

Try this:

Unpair your iPhone and iPod Touch from the headphones. Go into Settings>General>Reset and click reset Network Settings, this may be different for iPod Touch, if this doesn't do it switch Wifi OFF. After that restart your iPhone/iPod. Once your booted up re-pair your headset BEFORE you reestablish your WiFi connection. Take a listen, nice and crystal clear right? Now, switch your wifi back on, it SHOULD be ok, if it drops the bit rate when wifi is on then try this sequence over again. Once you got it, it should be good to go for a while, but this may happen again.

 

[azcardsfan]

Its still not getting high-quality music. However, I did your method a few weeks ago with my Nokia BH-503 headphones and it got better. It used to be horrible (static/fuzzy sounding) and it got better. Both sets of headphones still work best with my HP laptop. I have wifi and a bluetooth mouse that I use with the laptop and the bluetooth headphones still work perfect. Hopefully Apple will fix this A2DP bluetooth problem in the 3.1 firmware upgrade.

 

[erikjenkins1187]

Yeah I agree Apple really dropped the ball on A2DP, I contacted phone support and they have escalated the issues people are having to the hardware and software dept. It's pretty apparent that the issue lies in the WiFi radio interfering with the signal. I know the headset I have (I tried three with various issues with sound quality, a Samsung and Plantronics), the Sony DR BT101 works fantastically with the iPhone. You know what's funny? The Bluetooth connection in my iMac has the same exact issue as the iPhone does but it won't fix itself with restarts, it's permanently unlistenable I am using a wired ethernet connection too, no WiFi.

 

[dburdge]

3.01 update

Had a great connection with a Plantronics headset, even when wi-fi was on. 3.01 software update killed it, went stuttery and horrible, even changing pitch / playback speed during a song.
Re-pairing headphones as in the earlier post cured it but only until the next time I used them, then it happened all over again.
There are some subtle changes in the bluetooth connection, acquisition after interruption is faster and iPod screen now recognises them when they are turned on during playback within a few seconds so it is clear that some changes are being made.
Hope I get a fix soon, but we may be left waiting until 3.1 now...

 

[Randman]

I've not any issues with Plantronics 855s unless using it with Nike+ as there is a known bug where the BT stutters when being used in such a way. That will be fixed in 3.1.