Bluetooth headsets - what works?
My COWIN SE7 bluetooth headphones connect without problem under the stock Debian OS, and work for regular audio playback when the device profile is set to "High Fidelity Playback" (vs the default Headset profile). However, the input buttons (pause, skip, back, volume up & down) do not work when in High Fidelity Playback mode. I haven't tried using it as an actual headset (it has a mic), but when I choose the headset profile I can't listen to audio through the headphones from either Chrome or Rythmbox*. However, when in headset mode the volume buttons on the SE7 do change the output volume displayed for the device in Sound Preferences.
It may be specific to this set of headphones, but I've found that Chrome and Rythmbox* don't respond well if I change the sound output while they are running. Chrome tends to stutter/freeze playback, and Rythmbox starts fast forwarding through my mp3 library.
What I've found works best is to connect the headphones and (before opening an app to play audio**) open the Sound Preferences GUI. From there I go to the "Hardware" tab, and select the speakers and set their profile to "off". Then I do the same for HDMI. Then I select the SE7 and set the profile to the High Fidelity Playback option. By turning off the other two devices this defaults the input and output tabs to the right settings, so I don't have to make any changes there. When I want to go back to speakers I follow the same basic process, setting the SE7 to off (if connected) and set the speakers to analog stereo output.
*The only two apps I've tried.
**This is counter intuitive because usually the best way to test whether you have come across the right configuration is to have something playing while poking around. In addition, the "Test Speakers" button in the sound preferences GUI doesn't do anything, which makes it a more complicated process to find the settings you are looking for.
It may be specific to this set of headphones, but I've found that Chrome and Rythmbox* don't respond well if I change the sound output while they are running. Chrome tends to stutter/freeze playback, and Rythmbox starts fast forwarding through my mp3 library.
What I've found works best is to connect the headphones and (before opening an app to play audio**) open the Sound Preferences GUI. From there I go to the "Hardware" tab, and select the speakers and set their profile to "off". Then I do the same for HDMI. Then I select the SE7 and set the profile to the High Fidelity Playback option. By turning off the other two devices this defaults the input and output tabs to the right settings, so I don't have to make any changes there. When I want to go back to speakers I follow the same basic process, setting the SE7 to off (if connected) and set the speakers to analog stereo output.
*The only two apps I've tried.
**This is counter intuitive because usually the best way to test whether you have come across the right configuration is to have something playing while poking around. In addition, the "Test Speakers" button in the sound preferences GUI doesn't do anything, which makes it a more complicated process to find the settings you are looking for.
