10.5: Use stereo Bluetooth devices in 10.5

Nov 05, '07 07:30:06AM

Contributed by: Typhoon14

There is absolutely no trick to using this feature in Leopard, but it is new and undocumented in the 300 features that Apple lists, so I thought I ought to mention it. Leopard supports the A2DP Bluetooth profile. This profile allows for the transfer of high-quality stereo audio over Bluetooth. In previous versions of the Mac OS, the only Bluetooth audio profile supported was headset, limiting output to low data-rate mono sound. I successfully paired my Plantronics Bluetooth headphones with my MacBook in Leopard. Leopard creates two audio devices after pairing, one of which is labeled "headset" and uses the headset profile, the other is labeled "headphones" and uses full A2DP Stereo.

In addition, Leopard supports the AVRCP profile, which allows for remote control functions to be used on audio devices. For example, I can use the built-in controls on my headphones to control iTunes. I have not yet found any way to specifically configure this feature (for example, to remap controls). However, with my headphones, the back and forward buttons do advance iTunes back and forward through the song list, just as it should.

I have encountered a couple glitches so far. The big one is that there seems to be a bit of a problem with my Apple Bluetooth keyboard and my Bluetooth headphones interfering with each other (or using too much Bluetooth bandwidth, or something). My keyboard sometimes loses its connection when audio is playing, and audio likewise sometimes cut out momentarily. If I disconnect one of these devices, the problem vanishes. The second is more minor: at least on my headphones, the stereo is reversed, so I've taken to wearing them backwards until I can find a solution.

So it's not perfect, although I'm hoping both of these issue have simple solutions. It saves me having to use the bulky audio jack adapter with my headphones, though.

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