Bluetooth has brought a revolution in the audio consumer durables industry in the last decade or so. Almost all of us now use Bluetooth audio devices on a daily basis in some form or the other. Be it our car stereo, or headphones, or soundbars, Bluetooth audio has become an integral part of all of our lives.
The reason is quite simple. It lets you wirelessly connect your Smartphone or laptop with your Bluetooth earphones or speaker bars and enjoy your favorite music or podcasts on the go without getting into the hassle of untangling the connecting wires or aux cables.
However, while experiencing this, we often tend to fail to notice the quality of the audio from our Bluetooth devices. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that it is the most misunderstood and lesser-explored audio technology.
10 Tips to Improve Bluetooth Sound Quality
we aim to help you understand this technology better and list down the top 10 tips on how to improve Bluetooth sound quality coming out from various devices which are used on day to day basis by general users like us.
1. Check the range of your Bluetooth audio device
For most Bluetooth audio devices, a recommended range lies between 15 to 30 feet. You may like to check the same from the user manual of your Bluetooth device. Generally, when the device is at the farther end of the prescribed range, there are frequent skips and drops in the audio. Hence, you should place your Bluetooth audio device within the acceptable range mentioned in the product manual.
2. Avoid indoor wireless interferences
Whenever you are indoors, there are several other wireless interferences such as cordless phones, microwaves, other wireless networks, etc which might be using a similar kind of frequency as your Bluetooth connection is using which interferes with the quality of your audio. You may like to be a bit away from such interferences while using your Bluetooth audio device.
3. Try to clear all the obstructions
You are likely to experience skips in the audio output whenever there are obstructions between the Bluetooth device and mobile or laptop on which you are playing the music or audio. These obstructions can be walls or pieces of furniture. Similarly, if you have placed your mobile in your pocket or bag and are using Bluetooth for the audio playoff, there are high chances you experience the same kind of skips. You should change the position of your unit in such a way that there is minimum obstruction.
4. Minimize your Smartphone activities while playing
We tend to multitask while using our android or iPhone devices and several apps run simultaneously. A lot of these apps might be syncing data in the background or access the GPS of your mobile phone which might result in interference with your Bluetooth connection and thus degrading the quality of audio output. Hence, it is recommended that you minimize the usage of other apps if you are using your Smartphone to play audio on your Bluetooth device.
5. Play locally saved files
Bluetooth technology uses a compression method to transmit audio files wirelessly and that gets received by the Bluetooth audio device. In case you stream the audio file over the internet, it also compresses the file. Hence whenever you are streaming and using Bluetooth at the same time, there is a drop in the quality of audio. It is advisable that you download the files locally on your laptop or Smartphone and then transmit it over Bluetooth to avoid the drop in the quality.
6. Product quality always matters
Whenever you are planning to buy new Bluetooth speakers or headphones, always go for the product from an established brand. Yes, they will cost a bit more as these products use the latest Bluetooth technology which has a better quality of audio and better compression techniques which enhance the overall output quality. Whereas with the cheaper products, there are high chances that they are using outdated technology which reduces the bit-rate of audio files and ultimately drops the audio quality.
7. Check the codec of your android device
Many of us would not be having any idea about what a codec is. These are an algorithm that defines the compression technique used to transmit analog audio to the device using Bluetooth and then whatever device you are using, that decompresses it back to produce the final audio signal that we hear. Bluetooth audio devices used to have the reputation of producing dull sound quality as they lacked a good algorithm used for compression. But with the evolution in Bluetooth technology, the compression techniques have now improved a lot and devices produce great output.
By default, android devices use the SBC codec but depending upon your Smartphone capability, you can also update it to a better codec like LDAC or AAC. You can check over the internet for specific settings to change the codec for your phone model. This certainly will improve the quality of audio over Bluetooth.
8. Use in-built audio quality enhancer of your Smartphone
A lot of Smartphone models come with preinstalled audio quality enhancer apps that help you change the quality of the audio output as per your choice. All you have to do is to change a few settings, do some hit and trial and then select the final configuration which you like. In case your Smartphone doesn’t have such an app, you can also use music streaming apps that come with in-built audio enhancers. Just make sure you download the files and then use them over Bluetooth to experience even better audio quality. If you already have your files locally saved, you can additionally download some 3rd part equalizer apps which will serve the purpose.
9. Use audio files of high bit-rate
Bluetooth technology uses the compression technique to transfer the audio signals. That means there is already a bit of loss in the quality of the audio signal. Hence it is advisable that whenever you are downloading an audio file over the internet, try to get a high bit-rate version of that file so that even after they get transmitted over Bluetooth, the quality of audio doesn’t drop with that ratio.
10. Ensure your Bluetooth device is charged
It has been observed that whenever the battery of your Bluetooth audio device is low or getting quickly discharged, there are skips or drops in the quality of audio output. Try to completely charge the device before a long playoff so that the quality of audio remains constant and there is not any drop.
These are some of the most effective tips that can help you achieve a higher quality of audio output whenever you have connected your iPhone / Android Smartphone or laptop to any Bluetooth audio device such as earphones or earbuds or speaker or car stereo. Even after all this, if the audio output doesn’t get enhanced, you can try resetting devices to factory default settings and reconnect from the top. Remove the pairing history of the device from your mobile or laptop and pair it again. It should work.
In Summary
Hope this article has given you a detailed insight on the subject and would be of help to you the next time when you are listening to your favorite podcast on your mobile via your Bluetooth speaker bar or enjoying the country music in your car during your next road trip. Just keep in mind these tips on how to improve Bluetooth sound quality and have great fun.