Can I play music through 2 Bluetooth devices?

Bluetooth technology is a short-range wireless technology standard that allows electronic devices to exchange data over short distances using radio transmissions (Understanding Bluetooth Technology – https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/understanding-bluetooth-technology). It operates in the 2.4 GHz band and allows devices like smartphones, headphones, speakers, PCs, and other peripherals to connect and communicate wirelessly via Bluetooth radio waves within a range of about 30 feet.

With Bluetooth, devices can form wireless personal area networks (WPANs) to transmit data. It uses adaptive frequency hopping where devices hop between frequencies 1600 times a second to avoid interference. This allows different Bluetooth devices to share the spectrum without interfering with each other (Bluetooth – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth).

Overall, Bluetooth technology provides a standardized way for devices to discover each other and establish connections wirelessly over short distances. This allows easy, convenient wireless connections between smartphones, computers, audio devices, and more without the need for wires or cables.

Pairing Multiple Bluetooth Devices

Most smartphones allow you to pair multiple Bluetooth devices, though only one audio device can play at a time. To pair two Bluetooth devices to an Android phone:

1. Go to Settings > Connected Devices > Bluetooth.
2. Turn on Bluetooth if it’s not already enabled.
3. Put the first Bluetooth device into pairing mode and select it when it shows up to pair.
4. Once paired, tap the settings icon next to the device name and select “Unpair” so it doesn’t automatically reconnect.
5. Put the second Bluetooth device into pairing mode.
6. Select the second device to pair it. Both devices will now stay paired unless manually unpaired.

On an iPhone, the process is similar:

1. Go to Settings > Bluetooth.
2. Turn on Bluetooth and wait for available devices to appear.
3. Tap the first device you want to pair and follow any on-screen pairing instructions.
4. Once paired, tap the “i” icon next to the device name and tap “Forget This Device.”
5. Put the second Bluetooth device in pairing mode so it’s discoverable.
6. Tap the second device to pair it. Both devices will now stay paired.

This allows you to have multiple Bluetooth devices paired to your phone, though you can still only play audio from one at a time. Switching between paired devices is done manually, usually via the device’s audio settings or app.

Playing Audio

By default, audio from your device can only be played through one Bluetooth device at a time. When you have multiple Bluetooth devices connected, your device will route the audio to the last paired device. For example, if you have headphones and a speaker connected via Bluetooth, audio will only come through whichever device was paired most recently.

Trying to play audio through multiple Bluetooth devices simultaneously will not work, as Bluetooth technology allows audio transmission to only one device at a time. The audio transmission is routed from the source device to the most recently paired Bluetooth device. Even if multiple devices are connected, only that latest one will receive the audio signal.

This limitation exists due to how the Bluetooth protocol handles audio/video distribution – it establishes an A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) connection with one device at a time. Without special multi-point Bluetooth support or workarounds, simultaneous audio to multiple devices is not possible.

Workarounds

There are a few workarounds that allow you to play audio through multiple Bluetooth devices at once if your devices don’t support multi-point connectivity or dual audio. One option is to use an audio splitter that has multiple outputs. You would connect the audio source to the splitter using an auxiliary cable, then connect each Bluetooth device to the splitter’s outputs. This allows the audio signal to be duplicated across multiple streams.[1]

Another workaround is to use a third-party app like AmpMe that can coordinate streaming to multiple devices. The app streams the audio to one device initially, then you can choose additional devices to sync up and play the same audio stream simultaneously. The app essentially coordinates and controls the streaming rather than relying on the native Bluetooth functionality of your devices.[2]

Some other workarounds include connecting over WiFi using apps like AirPlay for Apple devices or DLNA apps for Android. You can also use a physical connection like AUX cables from your audio source to each speaker. Though these may be less convenient than wireless streaming over Bluetooth.

Multi-Point Bluetooth

Multi-point Bluetooth, also known as multipoint, is a feature that allows a single Bluetooth device to maintain simultaneous connections to two or more source devices at once (https://www.soundguys.com/bluetooth-multipoint-explained-28601/). For example, with multipoint Bluetooth headphones you can be connected to both your phone and your computer at the same time. This allows you to seamlessly switch between listening to audio from multiple devices without having to manually disconnect and reconnect.

For Bluetooth devices to support multipoint, they must contain a Bluetooth chipset that supports the Bluetooth multipoint profiles. Many modern Bluetooth headphones, earbuds, speakers, and transmitters contain multipoint support. Devices will often advertise if they are multipoint capable on their packaging or product descriptions.

With multipoint Bluetooth, the connected devices form a piconet network where one device acts as the master and the rest act as slaves. The master device streams audio while the slaves remain connected in standby mode. When audio starts playing on one of the slave devices, the multipoint headset will automatically switch over the audio source.

One limitation of multipoint is that devices can only stream audio from one source at a time. However, multipoint allows seamless switching between paired devices which can be very convenient for users (https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/what-is-bluetooth-multipoint/).

Streaming Services

Music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music allow you to play music on multiple devices, but there are some limitations. Spotify’s terms of service state that streaming is for personal, non-commercial use only and discourage account sharing outside of a household. Generally, you can only stream on one mobile device at a time per account, though desktop and web streaming may be possible simultaneously in some cases. Premium family plans do allow simultaneous streaming for up to 6 users. Workarounds like using a VPN or separate accounts can enable streaming on more devices, but this violates terms of service.

Overall streaming services are designed and optimized for personal listening on 1-2 devices at once. Playing audio across more than 2-3 devices, especially wirelessly, can lead to syncing and quality issues. For broader multi-device, multi-user streaming, a dedicated listening solution may be required.

Third Party Apps

There are several third party apps available that enable streaming audio to multiple Bluetooth devices simultaneously. Some popular options include:

AmpMe – This app allows you to stream music and videos from services like YouTube, Spotify, and Deezer to multiple devices in sync. You can connect speakers and headphones from different brands and “amp up” the audio.

Bluetooth Audio Connect – This Android app makes it easy to connect and stream audio to multiple Bluetooth devices. It has a widget to quickly switch between paired devices.

Some other apps like Bose Connect and Ultimate Ears also have proprietary features to stream audio to their brand of speakers and headphones simultaneously. While most are focused on Android, a few like AmpMe also work on iOS.

These third party apps get around the limitation of only one active audio connection by handling the streaming and audio synchronization behind the scenes. They allow you to seamlessly play audio on multiple devices from a single source.

Audio Quality

The audio quality when streaming music over Bluetooth can vary depending on the specific devices being used. According to a Reddit user, it is very difficult to compare unless you have two identical pairs of headphones, four ears, and two copies of the exact same track to test on different devices. However, in general, there are some factors that can impact audio quality over Bluetooth across devices.

One factor is the Bluetooth version supported by each device. Newer versions like Bluetooth 5.0 offer improved audio quality compared to older versions. So if you are connecting to two devices, and one is very old while the other is brand new, there may be an audible difference in quality. As noted by Quora, Bluetooth can make a noticeable difference to audiophiles.

The codec used is another major factor affecting Bluetooth audio quality. Advanced codecs like aptX, LDAC, and AAC often sound better than basic SBC codec. If your devices support different codecs, there can be a variance in quality. Phone OS also plays a role – Android versus iOS handle codecs differently.

Additionally, the audio circuitry and components in each device can impact the signal transmission and amplification. More premium brands and models tend to have better DACs and amps resulting in a higher quality listening experience.

In summary, due to differences in Bluetooth version, codecs, hardware components, and software processing, audio quality over Bluetooth may not be identical when streaming to two separate devices simultaneously. However, with advanced codecs and high-end components, the variance may not always be noticeable or significant for casual listening.

New Bluetooth Standards

New Bluetooth standards like Bluetooth 5.2 and the upcoming LE Audio introduce the ability for Bluetooth devices to stream audio to multiple devices simultaneously. This is made possible through a new feature called Multi-Stream Audio.

With older Bluetooth standards, a Bluetooth transmitter like a phone could only stream audio to one receiving device at a time. But with Multi-Stream Audio, the transmitter can maintain connections and stream audio to multiple devices at once.

As the Bluetooth Special Interest Group notes, Multi-Stream Audio will allow seamless streaming to multiple devices with no need to manually switch between them. A user could have wireless earbuds for phone calls and a speaker for music, and automatically stream the appropriate audio to each device.

Multi-Stream Audio is enabled through new codec technologies like LC3 audio coding. These new CODECs allow high quality audio to be transmitted at very low bitrates. This means Bluetooth has enough bandwidth for multiple simultaneous audio streams.

Along with Multi-Stream Audio support, Bluetooth LE Audio also brings improvements like lower power consumption for longer battery life. The new capabilities will greatly improve the wireless audio experience across headphones, speakers, hearing aids, and other devices.

Conclusion

To summarize, while most Bluetooth devices allow pairing with multiple devices, playing audio simultaneously is limited to streaming to one device at a time. Bluetooth’s audio streaming capabilities operate on a one-to-one basis for a single audio channel. This is due to technical limitations in how Bluetooth handles audio streams.

However, there are some workarounds like multi-point Bluetooth support in headphones, using a streaming service, or third party apps that can get audio to multiple devices. But in general, the core Bluetooth protocols were designed for a single audio stream at a time. As Bluetooth standards evolve, we may see support for multiple simultaneous audio streams. But for now, the technology has some natural limitations for streaming audio to multiple devices at the same time.