Hi. I’m having issues with my Bluetooth headphones (Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT) on my desktop (I know, it’s very original). The problem is that the audio stutters very frequently. Maybe once every second. It’s completely unbearable. And if I’m watching a YouTube video, the stutter also impacts the video too. This is a very beefy desktop computer, so it’s not a CPU issue (at least not a CPU power issue).
Researching other people’s experiences, I would say this is a good example of what I’m facing (not my link but pretty much similar to my experience):
Before I list all the scenarios I checked, here are my desktop’s info:
KDE Plasma 5.27.10
Kernel Version: 6.6.7-4-MANJARO (64-bit)
Graphics platform: Wayland
❯ inxi -Aaz
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-H HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
chip-ID: 8086:43c8 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: NVIDIA GA102 High Definition Audio vendor: PNY
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:1aef
class-ID: 0403
Device-3: ASUSTek USB Audio driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-10:4
chip-ID: 0b05:1998 class-ID: 0300
API: ALSA v: k6.6.7-4-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: off with: wireplumber status: active
tools: pw-cli,wpctl
Server-3: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active with: pulseaudio-alsa
type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl
To make sure it’s not headphone’s fault, I tested the headphone with my laptop which also runs the same exact OS, only a different hardware (Dell XPS 13 7390). And it works perfectly fine on my laptop (the same room / environment). On my desktop, getting closer to the case lowers the frequency of the stutters. If I get very close, like 30/20 centimeters, it works flawlessly. But even a meter away is enough to make the experience unacceptable. But again, this is only the desktop.
One other test scenario involves my other Bluetooth headphones (Jailbird Tarah Pro). This one, when connected to the same desktop, has an awful audio quality plus stutters. Even YouTube audio is delayed! But again, all is good when I test the Jailbird headphones with my laptop.
This is my laptop’s info (OS and kernel are the same as before):
❯ inxi -Aaz
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-LP cAVS vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
chip-ID: 8086:02c8 class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.6.7-4-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: off with: wireplumber status: active
tools: pw-cli,wpctl
Server-3: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active with: pulseaudio-alsa
type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl
Does this mean there’s something wrong with my desktop at hardware level or maybe its hardware is not compatible with Linux?