Bluetooth audio stuttering with aptX Adaptive.

[Sean Eckhart]

Audio stutters every time I turn off, turn on the screen, go back to home screen from PA, switch between PA and other apps.

Tested on multiple headphones. ONLY occurs with PA on Aptx Adaptive. SBC, AAC, aptX and even LDAC works fine. Also no problem with aptX Adaptive on other apps 

Force stop PA solves it for a few minutes but then it comes back.

I've tried everything: restart, reinstall, all permissions allowed, battery optimization off, DVC on/off, no duck volume, change outputs, increase buffer size.... but the problem still persists. 

Im using ROG Phone 5 on android 12 stock rom. 

 

 

 

[ShejtanVrbaski]

Hi, 
Just found this post by googling - after experiencing similar issues with Poweramp. Shame to see this has been addressed almost 1 ½ year ago - yet the bug still persists.
 

I'm experiencing this on my Sony 5 V Xperia (Android 13) too when using AptX Adaptive enabled phones. I've managed to track down more specificially what exactly triggers this on my setup - if I use touch controls  on my headphones to pause / play music, or take the headphones off (which also pauses sound) - after that interruptions will occur every time I switch between Poweramp / other app windows. Forcefully shutting down application will solve the problem - until the next time I use touch controls. 

This could be potentially some kind of Android bug too and maybe related to that annoying enforced (hidden marketing) "Connected to Qualcomm hardware" notification every time AptX Adaptive is engaged - i've seen some other odd effects with other applications, but none is as severe as Poweramp.  

[maxmp]

@ShejtanVrbaski from the app side - it's either no enough CPU for Poweramp process or the bluetooth buffer not being big enough. For the first - see dontkillmyapp.com, the latter can be adjusted with Audio Buffer option for the active Poweramp output (but it's indication of the BT problems as default values are large enough). If tweaking these doesn't help - the problem lies outside of the player.

[ShejtanVrbaski]

Hi, 
I don't understand how what you suggested applies to issues described above. 
Using simple touch controls on AptX Adaptive connected headphones (several models / bluetooth versions / implementations) breaks seamless playback of PA. After touch controls have been....touched (pause / resume playback),  i'll be getting short breaks when switching between PA window and other apps.  For instance I don't have problems with 24 bit / 192 khz  LDAC (speaking of bluetooth buffer) which uses more bandwidth than AptX Adaptive. This only happens on AptX Adaptive + Poweramp combo, so far. Same earphones will work nicely for instance with high res Tidal tracks in described scenarios, with AptX Adaptive 24/96.

[orskar]

On 11/10/2023 at 1:43 PM, ShejtanVrbaski said:

Hi, 
I don't understand how what you suggested applies to issues described above. 
Using simple touch controls on AptX Adaptive connected headphones (several models / bluetooth versions / implementations) breaks seamless playback of PA. After touch controls have been....touched (pause / resume playback),  i'll be getting short breaks when switching between PA window and other apps.  For instance I don't have problems with 24 bit / 192 khz  LDAC (speaking of bluetooth buffer) which uses more bandwidth than AptX Adaptive. This only happens on AptX Adaptive + Poweramp combo, so far. Same earphones will work nicely for instance with high res Tidal tracks in described scenarios, with AptX Adaptive 24/96.

Just thought it might help to mention, I did find a bit of a fix myself. I only had the issue happen after changing to a new phone, and had reset my settings to default rather than using my imported old settings that worked okay initially, due to my library not loading properly at the start. After trying everything I, eventually re-imported my old settings to see what was different and found setting "Audio Focus" to "Short audio focus change">On, Duck Volume>Off, Permanent Audio Focus Change>Off, would stop that specific issue from happening and could use the earphone buttons without any fear. I rather have the Audio Focus settings tuned how I like but it's a temporary fix I guess until a fix comes from Android/Xperia/Poweramp?

However, there is another APTX Adaptive related issue only in Poweramp with occasionally volume dips mid track, seems to happen on only very busy/detailed tracks and very randomly. It's only happened with the new phone (Xperia 5V). Pausing the track and waiting a few seconds and playing again seems to resolve the issue. It's definitely not a wifi interference thing as it's happened in dead zones. Based on the above, I've just seen a setting in the AudioTrack output about "No Duck", so have to wonder if it's a buffer and/or CPU thing. Unfortunately with my current primary earphones, they default to APTX Adaptive, so I'm stuck trying to make it work. I'll try the playing around with the audio buffer in Poweramp and "dontkillmyapp" just in case. Plan to turn on "No Duck" to check if that is the cause for the volume dips, since it should in principle pause the track instead. I do note it did seem to work perfectly fine on my old phone (Xperia 5 III), so it might be an Android update issue

[pedrospdc]

I too face this issue on a Asus Zenfone 10 + Bose QC Ultra. With adaptive AptX on, the audio will stop briefly whenever Poweramp is opened or closed, even with it not being power managed by the OS. I've also tried setting the Audio Focus accordingly (Short audio focus change, duck volume, etc) to off or on (whatever combination) and nothing worked. Another weird issue is that whenever I simply open WhatsApp songs will not be played until I minimize it, even without interacting with it.

This issue really only happens with Poweramp; Spotify, YouTube, or even the Music app with flac will work just fine - hence why I believe this can probably be fixed within the app itself. For now - I'm forced to turn off AptX; which is quite a bummer

[andrewilley]

@pedrospdc Have you tried enabling different output methods for Bluetooth (in PA Settings=>Audio=>Output), increasing the buffer size for the chosen method, or reducing the sample-rate or bit-depth? Also try with DVC turned off (or on).

Andre

[tinoucas]

Hello, 

I'm also using Poweramp on a Zenfone 10 with the Bose earbuds QC ultra, and same issue. Even though I would not call this a stutter but more an "audio pause" of almost half a second (happens after each/any focus change of Poweramp).

I've tried many tweaks in Poweramp but it's always the same.

Regarding the buffer size, setting it to "huge" preset, there is no difference: the pause remains, and of seemingly equal length

Edited March 19 by tinoucas

[ryukisai]

Hi. I confirm this bug. I'm on PA build 981, Xperia 5 V, latest Android OEM build (14). I excluded PA from battery optimizations. I'm not having any wireless interferences.

The bug is: sound stops briefly whenever PA goes to background or comes to foreground (when switching apps too). Sound does not stop when you switch from app to app, other that PA.

I tried messing with all settings too (DVC, BT absolute volume, audio focus…), and can confirm that the bug is absent on PA fresh start, but as soon as i press the play-pause button on the Fiio FW5 or Fiio BR13 the bug reappears.

I can also confirm that the bug is absent with LDAC, even with highest possible settings. I'd be happy to help with logs if you tell me exactly where to look.

Thanks!