[How to do instruction] Pi Zero 2 W: Fix choppy bluetooth playback (updated firmware package now available)

[jenzd]

I am having audio stuttering when I am connected to Bluetooth speaker with Moode Audio 8.3.6 installed on both RPi 0W and RPi 3B. It also affects 8.3.5. After I have returned to 8.3.2 problem disappeared.

Hi Michal,

Since version 8.3.2 is working fine for you, the issue might be related to the additional bluetooth codec support which was added in version 8.3.3 (aptX, aptX-HD, LDAC) or the enhanced SBC encoding quality which was added in version 8.3.4 (SBC XQ+). My actual guess is that the latter change might cause the issue with your specific bluetooth device.

Could you please try to modifiy the file /etc/systemd/system/bluealsa.service in version 8.3.6 to spot the issue? The file contains the following line, where both the additional codecs and the SBC XQ+ mode are activated:

Code:

ExecStart=/usr/bin/bluealsa -p a2dp-source -p a2dp-sink -c aptx -c aptx-hd -c ldac --sbc-quality=xq+

1. Try to remove just the last switch "--sbc-quality=xq+" and see if this already solves the issue (after a final reboot). If this is the case, it would be interesting if "--sbc-quality=xq" (without the "+") would work instead.
   
   
2. If step 1 didn't help, try to remove the switches "-c aptx -c aptx-hd -c ldac" as well (and reboot again). Now the configuration should be the same as in version 8.3.2
   

Could you please also post the results of the following command? (After you connected the device to Moode version 8.3.6, yet before any of the modifications):

Code:

# check codec of connected bluetooth device
bluealsa-cli --verbose list-pcms

Regards
Jens