Windows 10: Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio

Discus and support Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware to solve the problem; Hello, I am able to connect my Apple Airpods to my desktop via my TP-Link Archer TX3000E Wifi/Bluetooth adapter. But for some reason I am only able to... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware' started by CaseyRosa, Oct 19, 2022.

  1. CaseyRosa Win User

    Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio


    Hello, I am able to connect my Apple Airpods to my desktop via my TP-Link Archer TX3000E Wifi/Bluetooth adapter. But for some reason I am only able to use the Hands-Free AG Audio source and not the Stereo source which has the much better audio quality. As shown in the picture the source shows up as Disconnected and when I right click and click "Connect" nothing happens. Troubleshooting I have attempted.- Uninstalling all bluetooth drivers and Airpods devices, reinstalling.- Rebooting PC and devices multiple times- Disabling the Hands-Free AG Audio source to see if it will switch to the Stereo

    :)
     
    CaseyRosa, Oct 19, 2022
    #1
  2. CaseyRosa Win User

    Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio

    Hello, I am able to connect my Apple Airpods to my desktop via my TP-Link Archer TX3000E Wifi/Bluetooth adapter. But for some reason I am only able to use the Hands-Free AG Audio source and not the Stereo source which has the much better audio quality. As shown in the picture the source shows up as Disconnected and when I right click and click "Connect" nothing happens.

    Troubleshooting I have attempted.

    - Uninstalling all bluetooth drivers and Airpods devices, reinstalling.

    - Rebooting PC and devices multiple times

    - Disabling the Hands-Free AG Audio source to see if it will switch to the Stereo source

    Any help would be appreciated. I was able to connect the Stereo source just fine with my previous USB Bluetooth adapter and I think this problem started when I switched to the Archer TX3000E 2 in 1 adapter...

    Thanks


    Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio a7315d32-67e8-485a-89db-c38082ace7e5?upload=true.png
     
    CaseyRosa, Oct 19, 2022
    #2
  3. ZenTsang Win User
    Airpods connected but no sound

    SOLVED: For me anyway...

    I just managed to get mine working on Windows 10. Not sure if it will work for everyone, but seeing how we haven't gotten answers from MS on this, here is what I did.

    Like most of you, the AirPods (gen 2 in my case) are paired and connected fine. If I have external speakers on and talk into my AirPod mics, that part works. However, Video, Music, and Game audio was not. After reading a few things online including this thread, I realized the whole time I was trying to "Set Default" on the AirPods for playback... I was picking the wrong one. When I paired them, 2 devices showed up under the Playback tab... "AirPods Stereo" and "AirPods Hands-Free AG Audio". Seeing the latter on the Recording tab, I assumed that was the Microphones on the AirPods. But it's actually both Recording and Playback. It seems "AirPods Stereo" isn't doing anything other than showing up in the Playback list.

    Solution for me: Change the "AirPods Hands-Free AG Audio" to Default.

    Everything worked after that. So ignore that "AirPods Stereo" device and set the default on both the Playback and Recording tabs to "AirPods Hands-Free AG Audio".

    I hope this helps at least 1 of you out. I'm attaching a screenshot pointing to the correct device.


    Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio 55a320be-4bf0-4398-bc87-10bd1dfe5255?upload=true.png
     
    ZenTsang, Oct 19, 2022
    #3
  4. Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio

    Airpods connected but no sound

    THIS WORKED FOR ME! The audio quality however is terrible for me, is it the same for you? Compared to any other headset or speaker connected to my PC, the AirPods quality is abysmal. It works and I'm happy that something is coming out of em. Hope anyone who has them working can respond and thanks in advance.
     
    IsaacMena79, Oct 19, 2022
    #4
Thema:

Cannot connect Airpods with Stereo, only Hands-Free Audio

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