Low bluetooth audio quality (left - right channel balance affects quality)

[kubawi]

The quality of sound is low when audio is played through any bluetooth device. I tried different bluetooth devices: H-163 bluetooth receiver and Nokia BH-103 bluetooth headphones. Both work well with my previous computer as well as with my phone.

I found that when I change the balance between left and right channel (Control Panel  -> Sound -> <My bluetooth audio device> -> Properties -> Levels -> Balance) it affects the audio quality - when I mute one of the channels, the sound quality is good but when I unmute it, the sound quality is low again.

What's more, when I set the levels let's say left=40 and right=80, the the right channel is almost good while the left channel is terribly distorterd, like some pitches were cut for no reason.

It is a noticeable distortion of sound, it depends on the audio track that is played - sometimes it's hard to notice that the quality is lower, sometimes (especially when higher pitches are present) the quality is simply unacceptable.

What I've found/tried so far:

• The only service enabled in bluetooth device settings (Control Panel -> Devices and Printers -> <My bluetooth audio device> -> Properties -> Services) is 'Audio sink' so common problem with 'hands-free telephony' option enabled doesn't apply here
• All sound enhancements (Control Panel  -> Sound -> <My bluetooth audio device> -> Properties -> Enhancements) are turned off
• The audio and bluetooth driver were updated recently, right after I bought the computer (about week ago)
• The audio quality is good when sound is played through wired audio devices
• The tempotary 'solution' to this problem that I found is to enable mono sound in system settings (Settings -> Ease of access -> Audio -> Turn on mono audio) but it isn't satisfactory at all

Is there anything I can do about it?

Thank you in advance for your help

[Echo_Lake]

@kubawi
Thank you for posting on HP Support Community.

I have a few troubleshooting steps we could try to fix the issue: Updating the network adapter and the audio driver will fix the issue.

Let's perform Windows Update and HP Support Assistant:

To check for updates now, select the Start button, and then go to Settings  > Update & security  > Windows Update, and select Check for updates.

Install updates from HP Support Assistant: Go to Download HP Support Assistant to install the tool.

1. To open HP Support Assistant, double-click the HP Support Assistant icon .
2. Click My devices in the top menu, and then click Updates in the My PC or My notebook pane.
3. Click Check for updates and messages to scan for new updates.
4. Review the list of updates. Updates with a yellow information icon are recommended. Updates with a blue information icon are optional.
5. Click the update name for a description, version number, and file size.
6. Select the box next to any updates you want to install, and then click Download and install.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[kubawi]

@Echo_Lake

Thank you for your reply.

I've already installed HP Support Assistant and checked for the updates before. The computer is brand new and as soon as I bought it I updated all drivers using HP Support Assistant as well as I checked Windows Updates.

I checked the bluetooth driver version:

• manufacturer: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
• date: 10-08-2018
• version 1.5.1012.3

I believe that it's the latest version since HP Support Assistant doesn't show anything new.

I tested both bluetooth audio devices I mentioned in my previous post on my previous computer and the problem with audio quality didn't occur. Also when I manipulated left-right balance no quality loss was present.

I forgot to mention that I'm connected to the internet via ethernet wire since I know about bluetooth-wifi interference, both work on 2.4 GHz band and many of my previous devices had poor internet speed when connected to any bluetooth device.

I think that the bluetooth audio quality problem can be a matter of driver that needs to be improved in order to get it working properly.

[Echo_Lake]

@kubawi

Thank you for the information, 

Let's try performing Bluetooth driver rollback and check,

Click here for the video on how to "Rolling back a driver from Device Manager" Select Realtek driver in order to rollback.

Keep me posted for further assistance.

[kubawi]

@Echo_Lake

Thank you for your reply.

I tried to roll back the bluetooth driver, however the roll back button was disabled in my case. Instead of this, I uninstalled the bluetooth device in Device Manager but seconds after this Windows Update installed it again so I assume that I can consider the driver reinstalled. Unfortunately problem still exists.

I also tried to download older version of bluetooth driver from HP support page, however for this particular driver older versions are not available. Apart from Realtek bluetooth driver there is also Intel bluetooth driver to download but I assume that if I have Realtek bluetooth device on board I don't need the other one, I wonder why Intel driver is listed there.

I also uninstalled Realtek High Definition Audio Driver to test if it can be the answer but it didn't change anything so I installed it back (well, Windows Update did)

After a few hours of testing I can probably be a little bit more precise about the problem - the bluetooth audio sounds as if higher pitches were overdriven by some filter of equaliser so much that they were noticeably distorted. When I manipulate left-right balance using Windows sound settings, the louder channel's sound quality is much better than the quieter channel. If I set the volume: left= 30, right=100, the right channel is perfect while the left channel sounds almost like a low quality telephone call. If I set them opposite way, left= 100, right=30, the quality is also the opposite way. When the balance is equal, both channels' quality is still not good enough but not as bad as the quieter channel's when the balance is unequal.

[Echo_Lake]

@kubawi

I have got a few more workaround in order to isolate the issue. 
Firstly, Let's run Bluetooth Module Test - This test checks that the Bluetooth module is properly detected and enabled for use. (This test is currently not available in the Windows version of the hardware diagnostics.)

Use the following instructions to open the Component Tests menu in Windows.

1. In Windows, search for HP PC Hardware Diagnostics for Windows and select Run as administrator.

   If this app is not on your computer, download the latest version from the HP Hardware Diagnostics website.

   

2. On the main menu, click Component Tests.

3. Click the plus sign next to each component to expand the selection.

   Your Component Tests menu might be different, depending on the components installed on your computer.

   

To run the test, click the Bluetooth Module, and then click Run once. If it negative, then you can try reinstalling Windows operating system Click here to run.
Keep me posted for further assistance.