BB1 which was working fine as bluetooth speaker from macbook now lags

[Jon Brooke]

All in the title really.

Everything was fine, and now it's not.

I bought the BB1 to play music and internet radio at work.

Weekends and evenings I sometimes also allow myself the luxury of a bit of Netflix.

A week ago it was all working great with the BB1 as a bluetooth speaker from my macbook.

Now the sound is out of sync.

I've tried reseting everything, unpairing everything, doing a web update etc. but nothing seems to work.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[Daniel Taylor]

Although I'm probably not going to be able to help, I'll ask this question in the hope it will make things more clear to someone who can help:  Could you please elaborate on what you mean exactly by "out of sync."  Are you playing the music through the MacBook speakers at the same time as sending it to be played on the BB1?  My knowledge on this is slim, but I would not expect the two devices to play in sync.  There is some lag time to be expected with Bluetooth.  Or maybe that's not what you mean at all.

To take another approach, did you update the software between the time it played as desired and the time when it changed?  What are the old and new versions of software?

[Jon Brooke]

To be specific, I was trying to watch a TV program on the mac, but I was in my workshop and the mac internal speakers aren't very loud, so I selected the brennan to bluetooth to in order to use it as a bluetooth speaker.

This worked perfectly last week (the mac speakers stopped working and the sound came out of the brennan) but this week there was a lag in the sound coming from the brennan of a couple of seconds. i.e. the sound did not sync up with the pictures.

Thanks

Jon

[Dennis]

Bluetooth latency is a known problem. See, for example, this article: https://www.reviewgeek.com/38434/why-do-bluetooth-headphones-lag-while-watching-video-or-gaming/

When it worked well earlier were you in the workshop, or a different environment? Are there sources of radio interference in the workshop that you wouldn't encounter elsewhere?

[Jon Brooke]

It's a picture framing workshop with mainly hand tools so I don't think there are any sources of RF interference. Also I had put the brennan right next to the computer.

I'll try it at home to see what happens in a different environment.

Thanks for the article. I'll have a look at it in the morning.

[Jon Brooke]

I just read the article anyway even though its late and I see that it is talking about latency of tens of milliseconds. 

The lag that I was experiencing was probably at least a second or maybe two so I'm thinking that the problem is something else.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Guys,

The other point to note is that the Bluetooth connection was working correctly and now it is not.  As Jon says, the latency is measured in terms of a few milliseconds, and not 1 or 2 seconds, so it would seem to me that something has changed recently and is causing this problem.

I can't add anything useful to the resolution of this problem at the moment, except for the logic of the events so far.

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi Jon,

I would try Reset Bluetooth - Maintenance menu (deletes all pairings) and then pair the BB1 and Macbook again.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jon Brooke]

Hi Paul,

I tried that.

I've also just tried using the setup at home and it's the same.

I had switched off my phone too, which is the only other thing I've paired the BB1 with.

I've also tried pairing the BB1 with my phone and playing a Youtube video on the phone and I get the same lag so I don't think the problem is with the computer.

I was really hoping that someone would come along who's actually had the same issue and solved it?!

Jon

[Daniel Taylor]

Did you update the software between the time it played as desired and the time when it changed?  What are the old and new versions of software?  If the problem is related to a software change, Brennan will want to know so they can investigate.

[Jon Brooke]

I can't remember if I updated the software in between the bluetooth lagging and not lagging. But I've updated it since so I definitely have the latest version. I've spent ages now unpairing and pairing restarting bluetooth on the Brennan and I've had no luck. Also tried it from youtube running on my phone and I have the same problem so I don't think its my computer.

[PMB]

Hi Jon,

As far as I know there have been no changes to the Bluetooth software since the BB1 was introduced. The last BB1 update, before the current one (29th Oct 2020), was 21st July 2020.

Has the MAC had a software update around the time the delay started?

Paul

Brennan Support

[Jon Brooke]

Just bumping this as I still have an issue. As well as the lag it I'm watching something the audio skips a beat every few seconds if I'm just listening to something streamed from YouTube using the BB1 as a bluetooth speaker.

[PMB]

Hi Jon.Bro,

So presumably you are streaming YouTube to another device which then sends it to the BB1 via Bluetooth?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[jeff...@googlemail.com]

I have Never had video and audio in sync when using Bluetooth headphones, earbuds or speakers. You can't watch TV or YouTube's, I only use Bluetooth for audio!

[Jon Brooke]

jeff,

I have no trouble watching Youtube from my Macbook using my bluetooth earbuds! I don't doubt your experience, but I think you are describing a bug, not a feature.

But the latest problem I'm describing isn't to do with lag anyway.

As per my earlier post, what is happening now is that I am just trying to listen to the audio from Youtube (not watch the video) and I wouldn't even care if it just lagged, but I can't even do that as the audio skips to catch up with itself about every second.

[Jon Brooke]

Hi Paul,

Yes, that is exactly what I was trying to do.

I was trying to listen to some tunes that I had found on Youtube and streamed to my Macbook, but I'd rather have listened to them on the BB1 as the audio is better than the Macbook speakers.

Jon

[jeff...@googlemail.com]

Ah sorry Jon, that is a  different problem again! BTW, when I say in sync, may be a few microseconds out, or could be much more.

[PMB]

Hi Jon.bro...,

Sorry we are not being very helpful so far...

Do you have WiFi in your workshop or are the YT's stored on the Mac Book?

I am trying to test this using my laptop but I cannot get the BB1 to see it..

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jon Brooke]

As I came back to the  forum to ask another question I thought I would see if this question had come up again and possibly been resolved?

Just to recap when I stream a TV program eg Netflix to my macbook over wifi and then try to use the BB1 as a simple bluetooth speaker there is a lag of 1 or two seconds in the sound coming out of the BB1 - ie it is out of sync and makes the program unwatchable.

NB - this is not a feature of bluetooth - I can watch the same program with my bluetooth headphones no problem.

I also still have the same issue of the audio skipping (it may also be lagging) when I try to simply listen to music streamed from my macbook - whatever the source - ie from a song streaming to the macbook via Youtube or a song stored on the Macbook and played from Apple Music.

NB I can play songs from Apple Musicon my iphone to the BB1 using it as a bluetooth speaker no problem.

So....

does anyone have any experience of using the BB1 as a simple bluetooth speaker from a Macbook? Either successfully or unsuccessfully?

Thanks

Jon

[J Rathbone]

“does anyone have any experience of using the BB1 as a simple bluetooth speaker from a Macbook? Either successfully or unsuccessfully?”

Not on a MacBook but on an iPad watching streamed ITV hub catch-up with Bluetooth to BB1 (puny iPad speakers inadequate) and significant lag (but less than a second) - curiously when I selected subtitles on the iPad these were in synch with the BB1 dialogue which  made it watchable…

Jim