Windows 10: Poor Quality from Bluetooth Headphones in Voice/Video Chat Programs

Hello,

I have a problem with using Bluetooth headphones on voice/video services such as Discord and Zoom. Normally when I use the headphones in audio through Spotify, Youtube, etc., the audio sounds perfect. However, when I use it in Discord or Zoom it sounds like the other people are talking through the radio (but it sounds even worse than the radio).

I know that the reason why this is happening is that the audio is being outputted as a headset through "hands-free" as Windows has it listed under the sound setting in Control Center. To attempt and fix this problem I both disabled the "hands-free" option as people online have suggested and switched my output to "headphones" instead of "hands-free" in Discord, Zoom, etc. This prevents a new problem: no audio at all. I talk into the headphone's microphone and the bar that shows me talking lights up but I don't hear anything. The sound devices in Control Center also shows that audio is being outputted through my headphones when nothing is being outputted. Also, when I select "headphones" as my output on these applications, there is a slight static, that is supposed to happen when an output is selected, so that means the apps themselves recognize that "headphones" is the correct output and is outputting something to them. When I switch back to "hands-free", it works just sounds really bad like I said and when I switch back to "headphones" and listen to Spotify, etc. the sound quality sounds perfect. The headphones sound just fine when I connect them to my iPhone and use them on Discord, Zoom, etc. so this is a problem specific to voice/video chat on my PC and nothing else.

The people I was on the voice chat also said that my mic sounded poor compared to what it sounded like when connected to my iPhone. I haven't done as much extensive testing on this though, I thought I would just mention it to see if anyone knew anything about that, too, but one problem at a time I guess.

Sorry if that was a lot, I just wanted to make sure everything that was wrong and what I experienced was explained thoroughly. If this is the wrong place to post this let me know and I can post it somewhere else. Thank you in advance!

submitted by /u/DurAndrewDuran
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Can't hear other programs' sound when using Bluetooth headsets with voice chat applications on Windows 10

This happens on both my Windows 10 systems, a late 2012 iMac and a custom-built PC using an ASRock Z170 motherboard and an Insignia Bluetooth dongle.

When using either Discord or Mumble and either Apple AirPods or a Bose QuietComfort 35 headset, I cannot hear sound from any other application unless I set the output device to the "Hands-Free Device" instead of the "Stereo Headphones" device.

The problem with that is the "Hands-Free Device" has only one sound quality option, 8 KHz, which is nowhere near the 44.1 KHz default of the "Stereo Headphones" output device. When I select the "Stereo Headphones" device the sound is great, until I open either of the mentioned voice chat applications, whereupon I can't hear anything until I close that program. Also, my mic does not work unless I re-set the communications device or default device to the hands-free option. If I set the hands-free device as the communications device, everything in the voice chat app works, but no other program has any sound.

I believe this is because the "Hands-Free" and "Stereo Headphones" devices are two separate Bluetooth services, and the Hands-Free device is activated whenever the voice chat is engaged, and remains that way until the "call" is over. I realize the "Communications" tab in the sound control panel is supposed to fix this sort of thing, but it changes nothing in this scenario.

Any ideas?

EDIT: I've read the suggestions in this post, which I just discovered, and none of that works:

• Removing the Hands-Free Telephony service removes the mic.
  
• Changing the "Exclusive Mode" setting on any playback or recording device does not resolve the problem. Sometimes it does temporarily, then it reverts back to the problem described above within 5 minutes or so.
  
• Disabling audio enhancements does nothing.
  

 

Poor audio quality from Bluetooth headphones

Hello Caleb,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

1. Since when are you facing this issue?
   
2. Are you aware of any changes being made on the PC?
   
3. What is the make and model of the PC?
   

I suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below and check if that helps.



Method 1:



Run the troubleshooter for Bluetooth.

1. Go to Settings > Updates & Security > Troubleshoot.
   
2. Under Find and fix other problems click on
   Bluetooth.
   
3. Follow the instructions on the troubleshooter.
   

Method 2:



Try updating the Bluetooth drivers. Refer the article to

update drivers in Windows 10.



Also, you can refer the article by Bose on
poor sound quality from a Bluetooth device and

optimizing audio.



Hope it helps.

Let us know if you got the help you needed by clicking ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.



Regards,

Prakhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

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