Windows 10: Bluetooth headphones for audio only

I've had issues using bluetooth headphones and headsets with windows, first with a pair of Raycon E25s and now with a pair of Sennheiser PXC 550-II s. I want to connect to my Windows PC wirelessly using bluetooth and simply have it used as if it were a regular pair of headphones; like any pair of headphones that uses an aux jack would. However, bluetooth headphones seem to cause issue with this. Rather than just be an audio device like I'd want, they show up as a voice and audio device, which causes problems. I often play games while in Discord, and because my headphones decided to be a voice

:)

 

bluetooth headphones

setting up win10 Bluetooth and my Bluetooth headphones work fine ,but every time I reconnect the headphones I have to delete them from Bluetooth settings and let win10 pickup the headphones again ,before they will pair ,then win10 want to reboot to add the headphones ,I reboot and they work fine ,but next time I plug the headphone in again they will not pair ,don't even get an option to pair till I delete the head phones from the list ,, any suggestions ,, thank

 

Stereo Bluetooth Headphones do not reproduce stereo sound

Bluetooth 4.x headsets (headphones with microphone) have two modes:
1. Stereo headset speakers with NO microphone
2. Mono headset speakers with microphone

I see in the listing for your headphones it shows a microphone. Make sure your the audio is configured correctly so that you have stereo headphone speakers.

With your headphones connected with Bluetooth

Left-click on little speaker (bottom right on desktop)





You should see current speaker for computer
In this example headphones in stereo is selected





If you click on Headphones you will bring up all options





To see more…
Right-click on little speaker (bottom right on desktop)





Select Sounds from list





If you want Stereo Headphones but NO microphone

Select Playback tab
Make sure Headphones is the current playback device





Select Recording tab
Make sure Microphone array (or similar) is the current recording device

 

Iogear GBU521 Bluetooth Don. - Not Headphone Compatible on Windows 10?

Windows 10 version 1903


Short story: Our Iogear GBU521 Bluetooth Dongle was used on a different PC running Windows 7 to connect headphones with good-quality sound. Now, on a Dell Inspiron 580 with Windows 10, we can't get the headphones to work with the same quality anymore.

Depth: All Windows drivers are downloadable on this page of Iogear's website: Product Drivers, Firmware & Software - IOGEAR
However, it appears as though the Windows 8/8.1/10 driver is really designed for 8 and 8.1 and not 10. That I conclude because the file name, "GBU521_GBU421_Win8_Win8.1_BT_v12.0.0.9980.zip", does not mention Windows 10, thus suggesting my bluetooth audio problems to be originating from a driver compatibility issue.

I've fiddled my life away with the following:

• WinKey+R / "control panel" / Devices and Printer / (Insert Headphone Name) Properties / Services
• Start / Settings / Devices / Audio
• Start / Settings / System / Sound / Output / Troubleshoot
• Settings within the Iogear bluetooth devices program, which comes with the driver on the aforementioned driver page.

And have gone through many settings that branch off this list, restarting the computer after each change made. Sometimes it connect with good sound quality, but does not retain this quality after breaking the bluetooth connection (turning the headphones off, restarting PC).

Quick side note: I have a new Microsoft Bluetooth 3600 Mouse connected to this dongle that works completely fine, unlike the headphones.

A solution requires the following results, which goes along the lines of how the bluetooth headphones were connected to this same Iogear dongle on the different PC that had Windows 7:

• The bluetooth headphones play with decent quality
• The volume retains it's setting whenever the bluetooth connection is broken by a PC restart, or powering off/on the headphones (I've encountered configurations where the headphones always resets to maximum volume).
• The bluetooth mouse works fine. This shouldn't be much of a concern at all.

If we find no solutions, I will simply buy a dongle that works with Windows 10.

I can provide screenshots if needed.
Thank-you.