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A new update is available on the Nintendo Switch that includes the ability to pair Bluetooth devices for audio output.
- Thread starter IDontBeatGames
- Start date
No. We keep forgetting a few things.
Switch isn't only a portable. It's also a home console, and its hard limit for connected controllers fills the whole bluetooth bandwith.
Including bluetooth audio means making it compatible not only with headsets, but also with speakers, like sound bars and speaker towers.
Bluetooths audio takes 75% of the bandwith, that's why when you connect a device the OS stress that you can only connect two controllers when connected to a bluetooth device.
It's very possible that Nintendo has been adamant on this until they caved under the pressure. The driver was added on firmware 12.0.0 and since then they seem to have been working on compatibility.
It's very easy to go "lol Nintendo" but imagine the outrage if they just add it and then your average joe tries to have a smash match with friends while having the console connected to a bluetooth tower or whatever.
Not favorably, i would say.
USB-C BT adapters are designed for Bluetooth audio, On Board BT was there from the start for controller connectivity.
This is fine for anyone who doesn't want to buy an external adapter (myself, for example) but it's far from a perfect solution, since it lacks the aptx codec and it eats into the controllers' bandwith.
USB-C adapters are basically external processing cards. I would suggest trying your own headphones with the onboard BT before buying an adapter. Maybe they work fine.
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Airpods Pro connected and seem to work well for me and don't notice any major lag. The only issue I would say is that the audio seems rather quiet an have it at max volume. However I've never used headphones with switch so maybe that's normal?
Hopefully they work well with Sony Mx3.
Hopefully they work well with Sony Mx3.
With what bandwidth? They're already using a significant amount of the bandwidth just for the audio. Maybe if you don't want controllers working you might get the microphone working...
We can trade 2 seconds of button input for 2 seconds of mic support, constantly flipping back and forth. That way everyone is hap-
It literally wont happen
BT audio eats 75% of the controller bandwith. Add audio input via bluetooth and that, along with audio quality, will go to shit.
I think this will only apply to the OLED Dock/LAN Dock. We're gonna need to have teardowns of that thing...
Honestly, I'd take wired controller headset through the controller support like the Wii U had. I just need to drill a headphone jack into my pro controller.
Power A has a controller exactly for that
The controller itself is wired though.
My guess is that they wanted as much bandwith as possible. Switch allows up to 8 controllers via BT, adding audio to the mix would reduce that significantly. Audio data is not exactly free.
EDIT: The gamepad itself connected on a 5 Ghz Wifi signal, so it had more than enough bandwith for everything, it even supported HRTF audio processed by the console!
Bluetooth is another beast entirely. The Wii U pro controller connected via BT, and didn't support audio through it.
Xbox Wireless Headset works too.
Catch is, if it's also synced to your Xbox, anytime you wanna use them with the Switch they'll turn on your Xbox.
I reached out to someone at Xbox about a potential update to the Xbox headset to add an option for it to not act like a controller. Or not turn the console on and off.
Catch is, if it's also synced to your Xbox, anytime you wanna use them with the Switch they'll turn on your Xbox.
I reached out to someone at Xbox about a potential update to the Xbox headset to add an option for it to not act like a controller. Or not turn the console on and off.
Even if bandwidth was free, there's no guarantee that Nintendo would support it in a timely manner. At this point, I think my best solution is to just use my bone conduction headphones with that damn Switch app. That way I can still hear the game and play docked.
How did you set them up?
How do you go back to using the AirPods Pro on your iPhone?
I use my playstation gold headset. 2.4 Ghz audio with HRTF surround, and since i also have a PS4, the price was justified :3
At least the BT Audio option is finally there, wich is a thing we couldn't say yesterday.
Oh, I'm definitely happy they finally did it. I have the Platinum PS4 headphones. Does the surround sound effect actually work on Switch games that support 5.1?
Just open the case and press the pair button on the back. You can have them paired to multiple devices.
Yeah- I was a bit annoyed that this was released just as I was awaiting a USB-C Bluetooth adaptor (I already have a Genki adaptor).
However, after listening to how it sounds directly from the Switch—ouch. I'll actually stick with the adaptor. I love the convenience and freedom of built in Bluetooth, and maybe my earphones just don't play way (Sony WF-1000XM4), but this quality is literally unlistenable to me.
Yeah, if the game doesn't support surround sound, no dice, but it's still a good feature to have.
Just remember that the headset is not 100% compatible, so no on ear controls. You need to control volume from the Switch itself (long press to home button)
Looking forward to Digital Foundry lag test. Anyone know what BT-chip the Switch is using? Guessing no Qualcomm apt-X Low Latency...?
I'm sure some work goes into it sure, and sure I'd rather have a feature eventually rather than never, but it seems to be a somewhat expected feature for electronics now, so it's still pretty laughable it took this long to happen and just out of the blue and not long after the community decided to just create their own thing to support it. The sound bar thing is a good point, but they've at least made it clear if you want multiple controllers too, it can't be done, I doubt Nintendo would be that stupid to push this out without realising the issues it would cause.
I have already noticed a bug using my bluetooth earphones though, though I doubt they're the most mainstream being Soundcore Liberty 2. If you adjust the volume through the switch, no audio is heard through them anymore and have to disconnect/reconnect to get it back.
I never thought they'd actually do this after all this time.
Works pretty well with my QC35 IIs, except the audio is really quiet even at max volume.
Works pretty well with my QC35 IIs, except the audio is really quiet even at max volume.
I'm going to save this for the Switch OLED and pretend this is an exclusive feature and the reason I upgraded!
Probably longer than 4 years. Bluetooth itself does not have a standard codec with good quality audio when the mic is enabled. Unless you're ok with playing games in mono phonecall quality
How low is low enough? It's basic bluetooth (SBC codec), which inherently has over 100ms of latency regardless of device.
I want to believe that if anyone is going to push Bluetooth tech forward, it's the company that took 4 years to give us headphone support.
Nintendo cottoning on to some important tech developments about 5-10 years later as usual. Classic Nintendo.
But it is the only console maker currently that allows bluetooth headphones ...
Sadly not a system-level widely adopted feature but I stand corrected.
Exactly why they should lead the charge on this. IDK man. It's late. No will to give Nintendo the business right now. I'm happy they did the update. Hoping that tech continues to evolve and that California doesn't run out of water in my lifetime.
ah so it wouldn't matter to have low latency aptx earbuds at this point ?
Guess I'll keep using my current earbuds for now unless I'm playing a rhythm based game.
When they are the only ones doing it in the console space, how are they 5-10 years late?
Lol. Before 2017 almost no one was really using Bluetooth Headsets.
And after 2013 no one was doing it anymore because the other first parties were more comfortable with earning extra money by selling branded headsets.
Nowadays, no one in the console space does bluetooth audio.
I'm happy cuz when playing the switch on my monitor(without speakers built in) i always had to wear headphones with a dongle or with a cable to hear audio, but now i can connect the switch via bluetooth to my Speaker system. Just in time for metroid :P
I'm using some relatively modest UGREEN HiTune X5 earphones with their gaming mode on and haven't encountered any latency that's been an issue for me.
This is a better upgrade than OLED, honestly.
This is a better upgrade than OLED, honestly.
I could be mistaken, but didn't Vita have Bluetooth headset compatibility back in 2011/2? I forgot when it was released.
And PSP Go did too, but my focus is on the home console space, since some people is treating bluetooth audio as something that is being widely used, and Nintendo is late yet again.
I meant in general in the mobile space, but yes you're right.
