Just 5-7 years ago, in order to get Bluetooth headphones with good sound, you had to spend a huge amount of money. In addition, there were often cases when wireless “ears” disconnected on their own or had enormous delays when playing songs. Today, almost all of these shortcomings have been overcome, and the headphones have dropped significantly in price. However, there is always room for improvement, and now we will tell you how to improve the sound quality of Bluetooth headphones without spending a penny.
It’s worth saying that the codec plays a major role in how good your favorite track will sound in your headphones (and not only in them). Let's first figure out what it is.
How to increase the volume on Windows 10 headphones?
In Control Panel, find and open Sound
"
Next, in the window that opens, select the device you need ( headphones
, speaker, speaker). Then click on the "Properties" button. In the window that opens, go to the “Advanced Features” tab and check the “Volume Leveling” box at the bottom of the list.
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For phone
Causes of failure
Bluetooth headphones may not work well for the following reasons:
- Going out of Bluetooth range.
- The Bluetooth version on the headset and on the mobile device is not compatible.
- Bluetooth is disabled on the phone.
- The headset is broken.
- The gadget is not connected to the headphones.
- The headphones are low on battery.
Solution
You need to find out the root cause of the problem in order to fix it. Then the headset will function properly:
- Turn on the headphones. The headset may have an on/off button. You need to click on it once for everything to work.
- We charge the headphones. This is the most common reason. It is likely that the headset battery can no longer withstand heavy loads. Such batteries wear out very quickly, and Chinese accessories may not meet the specified battery capacity parameters.
- Activate pairing of devices. We turn on Bluetooth on the phone, after which we find wireless headphones and connect them. The headset must be in pairing mode. Then all problems with headphones will be solved.
- Turn on Bluetooth. We find the corresponding icon in the curtain. Activate Bluetooth.
- Reducing the distance to the phone. The headset can function stably only at a certain distance from the gadget. If you leave this distance, the connection will completely disappear or become intermittent. If the battery charge level decreases, the normal operating range will begin to decrease. If it works properly at close range, you simply don’t need to move far from the smartphone.
- We check the headset for compatibility. All Bluetooth devices are backwards compatible, but there are cases when pairing fails due to different versions of this technology. You need to check the headphones on another device with a different version of Bluetooth. If everything works fine, then this is the cause of the problem.
- We replace or repair the headset. We use this method only as a last resort if the hardware is broken. Often it is useless to repair headphones, because... the cost of repairs will be more expensive than their value.
Wireless Bluetooth headphones won't connect to Android phone
Why doesn't my Android phone see my headphones?
Software method
After the power is set to maximum on the earphone, you need to do the same on the smartphone: that is, during an active conversation, press the rocker on the phone body. After the operations performed, you can be sure that the sound is set to maximum.
But in the most difficult situations, it happens that the volume of the Bluetooth headset speaker is too low. On Android, in this case, you can use a special program. It's called SpeakerBoost, and its task is to amplify the sound above the maximum value that you can set in the standard way. The program can be used both for Bluetooth and regular headphones, as well as just for the speaker.
can be downloaded from Google Play. We would like to note that this application must be used wisely, and do not immediately set the increase to 100% - this can damage the speaker or completely disable it, as the developers themselves warn about.
Instructions:
- After downloading and installing the application, launch it.
- Agree with the warning and risks that we wrote about above.
- Next, agree to read the information about donating the application.
- And click “OK” again after reviewing the changes that have appeared in your version compared to older ones.
- After this, a small window with a slider will be available, which can be set from 0 to 100%. Move it to the desired level to achieve the most comfortable gain.
- As practice shows, even with very “quiet” headphones, 50% preamplification was enough to make audibility comfortable even for the subway.
- After setting the desired sound strength, simply tap on an empty space on the screen to minimize the application.
- To resume its operation, you need to lower the curtain and tap on its name.
How to improve the sound quality of Bluetooth headphones on Android
As a rule, by default, all devices use the SBC (SubBand Codec) codec. It works quite quickly and does not consume much energy, but the quality is very poor and sometimes works with delays. Therefore, it would be nice for us to find an alternative. The latest smartphone models have been supporting work with much more advanced versions of codecs - aptX and AAC - for quite some time. Also, your headphones must be able to work with these codecs. If your devices are not completely “ancient”, then there should be no problems.
Next, we need to connect the headphones to the phone and turn on any song, because this is the only way the codec becomes active. After that, go to the settings menu and proceed to the developer options. If this menu is not displayed for some reason, then do the following (available on Android OS 8.0 or higher):
- Open Settings
- At the bottom of the list, open “About phone”
- At the end of this list, find the “Build number” item.
- Now press this number several times (usually 7 presses are enough)
- At the end you will see the message “You have become a developer!”. Ready!
In Developer Options, go to Network and click on Bluetooth Audio Codec. Here you will have different audio codecs to choose from. Now you can switch from your existing codec to AAC, aptX or some other. Experiment with them to get the best sound.
Why and when is headphone adjustment necessary?
New headphones or headsets require preliminary setup. Initially, the sound will satisfy only the most undemanding users, but not music lovers, movie buffs, or experienced gamers who, thanks to the sounds of footsteps and the rustling of the enemy, gain an advantage over him. Correctly setting up headphones is the key to successful work as a musician, blogger, or announcer.
The device is configured taking into account a number of criteria, including:
- Technical characteristics of headphones.
Sound adjustment is carried out in accordance with the amplitude-frequency response (AFC) of the device. If it does not reach the high frequencies, fails the mids or has a powerful bass, these shortcomings are removed using an equalizer - an equalizer, a frequency balancer.
- Musical genre, album, movement - depends on the composition or musical direction being listened to, the personal perception and preferences of the listener.
Sound modification is required to add sound effects on the fly, for example, simulating ambience, removing vocals, normalizing speaker volume. Experienced gamers (playing CS:GO and PUBG) know that the success of the outcome of a battle can depend on the sound.
To adjust the sound in games, there are ready-made presets for the equalizer, where you need to make minimal adjustments, adapting the sound to your headset and hearing organs.
Make the sound in headphones uniform
Initially or during operation, one of the speakers begins to play quieter or louder than the other. A third-party application, Realtek Manager (for owners of a Realtek sound card) and tools from the Windows operating system itself will help correct the situation.
Realtek Manager
To make the sound of both speakers uniform, use the standard application that is installed with the driver for the audio card.
Double-click on its tray icon (near the clock). If there is no icon, click on the triangle or open the utility through the Control Panel.
In the window, adjust the position of the “LR” slider, while simultaneously listening to the result of the adjustment.
The settings are saved automatically.
In the case of VIA HD Audio, the differences are minimal.
Setting up in VIA HD Audio
OS Tools
Windows 10 also has a similar feature, provided the sound driver is installed.
- Open the context menu of the speaker tray icon and select “Open Volume”.
- Click on the current playback device.
Alternative way: Open Control Panel, under Hardware and Sound, select Sound.
- Double click on speakers.
- In the “Levels” tab, click “Balance” next to the name of the headphones.
- Play around with the volume level of each speaker until you achieve the balance you want.
- Save your changes.
If the sound is frankly bad everywhere, in the “Advanced” tab, select the standard settings: “24 bit, 48000 Hz”.
Setting up headphones online in the usual way is not carried out. It only consists of changing the sound parameters in the equalizer while simultaneously listening to a high-quality composition (mainly on Youtube) to evaluate the sound. It is much more effective to use the RightMark Audio Analyzer application or analogues.
Adjust headphones for games and music
Adapting sound using an equalizer consists of constructing a curve that repeats the mirrored amplitude-frequency response of the headphones. You can find it on the manufacturer’s website or in the technical documentation for the accessory. You can customize the sound for all sounds in the OS, as well as for a separate application. The players have a built-in equalizer. You can access it in Windows 10 through the sound options.
- Right-click on the speaker icon in the tray and select the appropriate item.
- Select headphones in the list and click “Device Properties”.
- Scroll down and click “Advanced options...”.
- In the “Improvements” tab, you need to check the box next to the “Equalizer” option, then click on this item.
- Select a ready-made preset from the drop-down list below or click on the button with three dots and drag the sliders one by one until you achieve an acceptable sound.
Each slider corresponds to the frequency range indicated below it; the first ones, for example, are responsible for bass.
Below you can enable virtual 3D sound, change the key, add effects or disable them.
In Realtek HD Manager, visit the Sound Effect tab. From the Equalizer list, select a template that matches your preferred genre of music and manually tweak it to perfection.
The configuration is saved using the button with a floppy disk; the settings are reset using the button with a cross.
In the list above you can select a filter to simulate the environment. In the first tab, “Speaker Configuration,” you can enable the option to simulate surround sound.
To adjust the equalizer and switch between profiles, you can use the Equalizer APO editor. This option is relevant if you play games, and the equalizer parameters need to be regularly adapted to video games, music, and movies.
Games
In games (shooters), hearing enemy movements, breathing, and conversations is more important than most ambient sounds. And to adapt the sound image, the equalizer for each video game is adjusted individually, adjusted for the peculiarities of audio perception by the gamer and his equipment. The network is full of ready-made presets from fans of this or that shooter.
The link contains templates with equalizer settings for Equalizer APO for PUBG and Escape from Tarkov with videos with scenes from them for final adjustment.
The Razer THX Spatial Audio utility will help you achieve high-quality 3D sound from your speakers, but after a lot of setup.
Third-party apps for AirPods on Android
As already mentioned, AirPods have several useful functions that only work when connected to Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc. Android does not have standard tools for interacting with such options, but there are many different programs that allow you to check the level headphone battery charge, monitor song playback, answer phone calls, and even activate Google Assistant.
Android phone takes a long time to charge - what to do and the main reasons
One such program is AirBattery. It was developed by D. Friedrich and is a small utility for Apple's AirPods. The program shows the charge level of each earphone and allows you to determine whether they are in your ears or not. This happens automatically. Unfortunately, the application only works for some services such as Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Music, etc.
Important! This application has a paid version, which allows you to view all information about the headphones, so that it is more convenient for the user to monitor their charge.
Appearance of the PodsControl program
The second program is PodsControl. This is probably one of the most beautiful apps you can find to control your Apple headphones. Its interface is very easy to understand, but at the same time it looks completely neat and is designed to provide the user with only the most important functions. Another benefit is that PodsControl is very easy to use.
When the application is launched for the first time, a window opens in front of the user in which he must select headphones from the list of available Bluetooth devices. After this, the main menu of the application will immediately open and it will be ready to use.
Note! The software does not have a paid version; all functionality is available immediately and in full.
The codec format can be found out when connecting headphones
What is a codec
In simple terms, a codec is a special subroutine that is responsible for encoding and decoding music (hence the name). With wireless headphones, the audio signal is encoded and then sent to the headphones, where it is decoded. The better the codec works, the better quality you will get. Thus, even the most sophisticated “ears” can sound lousy if your device’s codec is not working well. This rule also works in the opposite direction. So let's improve the sound quality.
