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Mac & Bluetooth audio

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  • 25-08-2014 3:56pm
    #1
    Mikey23
    Registered Users Posts: 277 ✭✭


    I bought some bluetooth speakers recently that I'd long coveted - the Harman Kardon SoundSticks Wireless Speaker System. I was initially delighted with the sound - much better than the built-in speakers (my old iMac seemed better than this newer 'skinny' Mac in that regard).

    One irritating issue however is when I'm not playing music or listening to podcasts. There's a sporadic 'popping' noise, as if the speakers are disconnecting and reconnecting. If I'm working and frequently switching applications or windows, it seems more common.

    Web searches have thrown up suggested fixes involving 'com.apple.BluetoothAudioAgent', which doesn't seem to exist on Mavericks. Anyone have any ideas?

    (I'd have resorted to plugging them into the headphones port if I could, but the leads are short and the subwoofer would be pretty much under my feet and likely to get damaged).

    I've a recent iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), 3.4 GHz Intel i7, 3 TB Fusion Drive.

    I've posted this query on the Apple boards without reply. Apple tech support sent me out Harman Kardon's way, who have sent lots of emails with such useful tips as 'try using it with non-Apple devices' - perhaps implying that there's an issue with Macs that they they won't tell me.


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    #2
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,671 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    I think BluetoothAudioAgent may have became just com.apple.Bluetooth.plist in Mavericks.

    What band is your wireless network? 2.4GHz? I ask because your Mac’s Bluetooth might be suffering interference from the Mac’s WiFi. They are both on the same chip and don’t play nice together in my experience, especially during high network activity. It might be worth getting a Bluetooth dongle and see if that resolves it. Or (if you can) switch your router to 5 GHz.

    If its a Mavericks issue it may be resolved (or exasperated) in Yosemite.


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    #3
    Greentree_uk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,023 ✭✭✭Greentree_uk


    try updating to 10.9.4


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    #4
    Mikey23
    Registered Users Posts: 277 ✭✭Mikey23


    Sorry, typo there - running 10.9.4 alright.

    Our WiFi is on 2.4GHz band but we've little choice - our UPC Horizon box doesn't support 5GHz unfortunately.

    I'd the Bluetooth Explorer Event Log running this evening while I was working: each of these seems to correspond to a noise:
    2014-08-26 20:25:26 +0000 Mode change 11 for handle: 0x2
    2014-08-26 20:25:29 +0000 Mode change 14 for handle: 0x2
    2014-08-26 20:25:30 +0000 Mode change 14 for handle: 0x0
    2014-08-26 20:25:35 +0000 Mode change 14 for handle: 0x2
    etc


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    #5
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,671 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Try turning off your Mac's WiFi for a while and see if the problem remains.


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    #6
    Mikey23
    Registered Users Posts: 277 ✭✭Mikey23


    Will do. Will give it a few hours this evening.


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    #7
    Mikey23
    Registered Users Posts: 277 ✭✭Mikey23


    No joy - problem still occurs with Wifi off and with my phone - only other internet-enabled device nearby - on airplane mode.

    My keyboard & mouse are bluetooth devices, and work reliably. Seems like the Soundsticks themselves are the culprit.

    Worst yet is that I've now hooked them up via the headphones cable and they're nagging me ceaselessly to connect via Bluetooth. Grr.


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    #8
    Greentree_uk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,023 ✭✭✭Greentree_uk


    perhaps a bandwidth issue? have you tried a cabled keyboard and mouse?


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    #9
    Mikey23
    Registered Users Posts: 277 ✭✭Mikey23


    Thanks for that. The article describes the problem far better than I did.

    Just looked at the contents of com.apple.BluetoothAudio.plist hoping to find Bitpool values but no joy. I'll make a copy of it when I get home this evening and experiment a bit.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"&gt;
    <plist version="1.0">
    <dict>
    <key>Previous Input UID</key>
    <string>AppleHDAEngineInput:1B,0,1,0:1</string>
    <key>Previous Output UID</key>
    <string>AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0</string>
    </dict>
    </plist>


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