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Poor Bluetooth connection to headphones, multiple audio dropouts. [D4/P3] Fixed [D5/P4]?

Stuey3D

Stuey3D

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 8, 2014
836
953
Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Are any of you still having connection problems with Bluetooth headphones?

I have a brand new pair of Sony MDR-XB950BT headphones and I keep getting multiple audio dropouts when using them.

I pair them up and play music but as soon as I put the iPhone in my pocket I get random audio glitches to the point it's almost unlistenable.

I'm only 6ft2 so the headphones aren't miles away from the phone so I dunno why I'm having these issues, I don't have a metal hip or anything like that either.

Oddly though if phone is in hand the glitches stop and even weirder is that I can leave the phone downstairs and walk upstairs whilst still being able to listen to music.

This is really not a good sign for Apple if they are truly planning to drop the 3.5mm audio jack as clearly Bluetooth isn't able to replace the audio cable for being able to shove your phone in your pocket and walk whilst being able to listen to tunes, plus I don't like the look of the lightning headphones the connector screams "break me" the minute you put it in your pocket.
 
Zero problems with my Bose qc35, Soundsport wireless, and bang and olufsen H7 with dropouts. Connection has been rock stable, even walking about congested parts of Manhattan.
 
I connect using Bluetooth to some Jaybird headphones and to my car (Mazda). The connection to my headphones has been solid using PB2 & 3. However, I have gotten random dropouts in my car. Not often and it immediately reconnects, but not the best experience. So far, I haven't noticed any pattern as to when the dropouts occur.
 
Car works fine for me, and even a cheap little bluetooth clip works fine, its just these Sony headphones but they work fine with other devices.

Used to get a few dropouts every now and again with the cheap clip but nothing on the scale of what I'm getting now with the headphones.
 
Stuey3D said:
Are any of you still having connection problems with Bluetooth headphones?

I have a brand new pair of Sony MDR-XB950BT headphones and I keep getting multiple audio dropouts when using them.

I pair them up and play music but as soon as I put the iPhone in my pocket I get random audio glitches to the point it's almost unlistenable.

I'm only 6ft2 so the headphones aren't miles away from the phone so I dunno why I'm having these issues, I don't have a metal hip or anything like that either.

Oddly though if phone is in hand the glitches stop and even weirder is that I can leave the phone downstairs and walk upstairs whilst still being able to listen to music.

This is really not a good sign for Apple if they are truly planning to drop the 3.5mm audio jack as clearly Bluetooth isn't able to replace the audio cable for being able to shove your phone in your pocket and walk whilst being able to listen to tunes, plus I don't like the look of the lightning headphones the connector screams "break me" the minute you put it in your pocket.
Click to expand...


I just stated having problems with Beta 4. My Bluetooth headset (Plantronics v5200) drops during every call I have made and my car does as well playing music. Never had a problem in the previous 3 betas.
 
So I was having problems with P2, my headphones were rock solid but the connection in my Subaru Crosstrek was God awful. In addition, Siri was not giving the audio response after speaking a command. Now in P3 i notice that the car connection was good, and the siri functionality returned.

Now Audio in my headphones is dropping out (most notably in Music app) , and it seems like it disconnects then reconnects immediately. I can replicate the drop outs by skipping songs and changing the EQ settings from "Late Night" to any other preset. It seems like when audio is not present from the iPhone it drops the bluetooth connection, so when you skip a song in that brief moment audio is not present it disconnects, then reconnects when audio is present again.
 
For me the issue mainly occurs when phone in pocket I can play games on it and smother it with my hands with no dropouts.

However in the car I can have the phone in my pocket with no problems, it just seems very temperamental. Guess I can see why bluetooth still hasn't really taken off if you can't have your phone in your pocket and walk with the headphones on.
 
Stuey3D said:
Are any of you still having connection problems with Bluetooth headphones?

I have a brand new pair of Sony MDR-XB950BT headphones and I keep getting multiple audio dropouts when using them.

I pair them up and play music but as soon as I put the iPhone in my pocket I get random audio glitches to the point it's almost unlistenable.

I'm only 6ft2 so the headphones aren't miles away from the phone so I dunno why I'm having these issues, I don't have a metal hip or anything like that either.

Oddly though if phone is in hand the glitches stop and even weirder is that I can leave the phone downstairs and walk upstairs whilst still being able to listen to music.

This is really not a good sign for Apple if they are truly planning to drop the 3.5mm audio jack as clearly Bluetooth isn't able to replace the audio cable for being able to shove your phone in your pocket and walk whilst being able to listen to tunes, plus I don't like the look of the lightning headphones the connector screams "break me" the minute you put it in your pocket.
Click to expand...
Never had a problem with PB 2, but PB3 ruined my bluetooth. I get constant dropouts too. Bizarre.
 
Hardware specific issues. Happens every OS release, aka, every time Bluetooth drivers get updated. Documented in iOS 7, 8,9, and now 10.
 
Stuey3D said:
Did it used to happen prior to the beta? I only got my Sony's whilst I was running the beta so I have no prior reference point to go on.

I just assumed it was the beta though since Bluetooth has been a real buggy area with iOS10
Click to expand...

It did happen prior to the beta, but not that frenquent. Now it happens quite often.
 
Just been using them today in the garden as I was trimming it back and no drop outs during normal use only when I knelt down and smothered the phone, but then again where I live there isn't a huge amount of wifi.

I wonder if its wifi interference causing it as when I am at work in residential areas is when I notice it most, but walking round to the shop here it won't have any issues at all.
 
Works fine on my Jaybird bluebud x headphones, but on my Braven 570 speaker it drops out a lot. Constantly has dips in sound where it almost drops then sudden it drops and I have to hit play on my phone and the sound comes from the phone first, then switches back to the speaker.
 
I have multiple dropouts with the QC35 when I was on 9.3 and still the same with ios10.
I came close to returning the Bose until I tested them with my iPad and the connection was rock solid.
Either my phone is to blame or some notification background that is causing it.
 
Interesting article that maybe the root cause of all of this. Apple updated it's bluetooth firmware to conform with an amendment to the Bluetooth standard in iOS 9.2, still don't understand why problems from Public Beta 2 to beta 3 came about though. Best thing would be is for all of us to submit bug reports to apple, they at least read those.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...-apples-ios-92-remain-have-wide-ramifications
 
I've switched to using the headphones via cable to my small bluetooth clip instead, no dropouts at all and surprisingly they sound better using the cheap £10 bluetooth clip than their own inbuilt bluetooth.
 
Stuey3D said:
I've switched to using the headphones via cable to my small bluetooth clip instead, no dropouts at all and surprisingly they sound better using the cheap £10 bluetooth clip than their own inbuilt bluetooth.
Click to expand...


Not sure if I am on to something but I usually have my iPad nearby. I turned off the bluetooth on my iPad and suddenly the audio was consistently good again on my bluetooth speaker.
 
Bluetooth connection to my headphones and small remote speaker is the only issue I am experiencing with iOS 10. Random drop off of connection, happens with Music app and Overcast, so I think it must be a bug in the Bluetooth stack.
 
I am also having the same problem. My powerbeats do that when the phone is in my pocket and over the weekend for the first time it did it in car.

Maybe the fix is in the latest update.

Stuey3D said:
Are any of you still having connection problems with Bluetooth headphones?

I have a brand new pair of Sony MDR-XB950BT headphones and I keep getting multiple audio dropouts when using them.

I pair them up and play music but as soon as I put the iPhone in my pocket I get random audio glitches to the point it's almost unlistenable.

I'm only 6ft2 so the headphones aren't miles away from the phone so I dunno why I'm having these issues, I don't have a metal hip or anything like that either.

Oddly though if phone is in hand the glitches stop and even weirder is that I can leave the phone downstairs and walk upstairs whilst still being able to listen to music.

This is really not a good sign for Apple if they are truly planning to drop the 3.5mm audio jack as clearly Bluetooth isn't able to replace the audio cable for being able to shove your phone in your pocket and walk whilst being able to listen to tunes, plus I don't like the look of the lightning headphones the connector screams "break me" the minute you put it in your pocket.
Click to expand...
 
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