Bluetooth audio problems Catalina

I have tried your idea to disable AAC. And playing spotify for 2-3 hours with Bose QC35II, no any disconnection issue occurs. I will update again if any issue occurs or if this idea can be our "temp" permanent solution

** I solved this problem perfectly !! **

I suffered the same problem with my macbook pro 2018.

I updated OS version from 15.10.1 to 15.10.3, but it still had problem.

I asked about this to support team, and they said to create new user for desktop.

So, I created a new login user (not apple online account),

and the problem disappeared.

This problem was very annoying and uncomfortable,

so I hope the people who have the same problem would solve this problem with this solution.

hi butyear,

I already tried this solution but it came back shortly afterwards...

The issue isn't from our side, it's Mac OS terminating coreaudiod (i think) when RAM memory is reaching a certain level.

I really hope this gets solved soon... :(

Hi Phill,

I tried your solution and unfortunately, it didn't solve it for me...

I tried so many solutions so far that I try them for 3-4 days afterwards to check if it's really working or if it's the fact of restarting the mac that postpones the next bug a bit...

did you get the bug ever-since?

OMG, if it is true, I can be suffered again after loading serveral app....

It's really critical issue. !!!

What kind of macbook (with ram size) are you using?

In my case, I'm using 2018 macbook pro touchbar 8gb ram model.

butyear, call support again, they have to fix it finally. Btw, how much memory in your macbook? Also what is model of sound device you have and what is the codec you have, when you are listening some music for example (you can see it by clicking on BT icon with pressed Option key and moving to your device). Trying to help some way, maybe I can find difference with my setup. On my macbook 8 it stopped happening after an update.

Some people also said AAC codec works incorrectly in the latest versions. So probably if you turn AAC off, sound will be working ok again. It can be turned off in Bluetooth Explorer (might be needed to download it from Apple website at first). After changing codecs settings, airpods will need to be disconnected and paired again.

Thanks Virtustilus,

I set bluetooth explorer as you told.

But Airpod2 doesn't work at all when AAC is turned off,

so, I'm testing with Airpod 1 that is using SBC codec now.

I will update after 2~3days testing.

But still, I don't know why apple team doesn't deal with this problem.

It's already voted with almost 1000 votes.

Hi, CreateCheckInvalidUserName

Thanks for sharing your experience first.

I have both airpod generation 1 and 2.

I'm trying to handle codec with Virtustilus's help.

But in airpod second generation, if I turn off AAC, it doesn't work at all.

(Can't continue connected state)

How did you connect this without AAC codec?

I used bluetooth explorer (from apple developer site) and it is only able to control AAC, aptX, AAC CBR.

Do you have any other tools to use A2DP or SBC?

On the other hand, airpod 1 is working with SBC codec.

So, now I'm testing if that disconnection occurs again.

(If turn off AAC, it connect with SBC automatically)

Hi Butyear,

Unfortunately there is no solution for AirPod2 or AirPod Pro. These devices use Apple H1 chip.

Apple H1 *only* has AAC.

SBC is not on the H1 chip. This means AirPod2 and Airpod Pro do not comply with Bluetooth specification OR Apple's own specification.

User's must wait for Apple to fix Mac OS 10.15.x AAC encoder.

I don't use AirPods. I only use Sennheiser PXC550, SoundBlasterX Katana and Plantronics Voyager. The Katana has AAC but it does not work at all with Mac OS 10.15.x.

Only SBC works with everything for me. My Son has AirPod 2 so I could test, but your observations are most likely correct and it is also reported in other places that it cannot work with SBC. Nobody can use AirPod 2 without AAC.

Sorry this does not help in the case of AirPod 2.

PhillB

Just update. I have turned off AAC and use SBC only. While I run iPhone Simulator, Android Simulator that consume high RAM, the problem still occurs.. So the workaround for me, just use bluetooth util like previous post while the problem occurs, or playing music on iPhone Spotify. I have contacted Apple Support but still no solution for this problem.

This audio-drop issue seems to occur more often when I'm surrounded by more devices, i.e. when i'm working on my laptop in a coffee shop. I very rarely drop audio when I'm home, but drop constantly when I'm in a coffee shop.

Could interference from other bluetooth devices be a/the culprit?

Just upgraded to Catalina (10.15.3) on my MacBook Air 13" (2017). Play back to a Denon AVR-X540BT via BlueTooth. Worked perfectly on Mojave.

Now I get very frequent brief dropouts as in the good old days when using CD players in cars and you were driving through/over a bump. Frequency is every 1-2 minutes. As if the Mac would have issues multitasking. No disconnection but not a pleasant listening experience.

Since I updated to 10.15.3 I had no any troubles with bluetooth audio on MacOS (however when I load bootcamp windows 10 - it's like a **** at all :D no any info about codecs or ability to change anything and crackling when I have more than only BT sound on 2.4 GHz connection, even wifi).

I noticed that when I have add too many tabs on my chrome the bluetooth disconnects.

so if I'm listening to something let's say youtube, I open another tab to do something else while listening, it disconnects.

I'm so sick of having to turn off my bluetooth and turn it back on so many times. It's like hair pulling annoying!

I'm still using: 10.15.3