Volume control problems when using bluetooth aptX

[milm81]

Hi,

I tried pairing my new Xperia Z3 compact to a Loewe Speaker2Go bluetooth speaker and even though I can get the phone to send music to the speaker I cannot control the volume from the phone. Also the default volume the phone is set to is very high. Has anyone else experienced bluetooth sound volume control problems?

Many Thanks,

Milos

[Thommo]

The volume should be able to be controled from the speaker and if you have you volume on your phone set high then that is what it will be - Once conected and music etc is been deemed as throwed then you should also be able to use the side volume keys

[milm81]

Hi Thommo,

Thanks for the reply.

The volume can be set on the speaker but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a Bluetooth speaker. Volume control used to work perfectly with a HTC One X+ and this same speaker and you could set the phone sound volume and speaker volume independently. This meant I could set the speaker volume to a desired level and then manipulate the volume from the phone as well.

I really hope Sony fix this soon and that this is not some kind of inherent problem with their kernel as this is one of the main reasons I bought the phone.

M

[Thommo]

Like I said you should be able to after you have connected and thrown your music as it's called - You can then use the volume keys on the side of your phone to control the volume

[milm81]

I seem to be "throwing" music already (I cannot connect via bluetooth if the throw feature is not enabled). I have tried controlling the music volume from Sony apps (Walkman) as well as Spotify and TuneIn Radio and cannot. Is there some kind of setting I need to enable for this to work?

[Thommo]

When you connect your speaker and start playing music you should have an option in the notification bar to throw the music - Selecting that opens a window in which you would select a paired device that is connected - once done the side volume keys will control the volume on your speaker

[gtop]

First, OP should note that this problem has also been reported by users of the Z1C and certain Bluetooth devices:

/t5/Xperia-Z1-Compact/Xperia-Z1-compact-bluetooth-volume-control/td-p/668075

Second, Android KitKat changed how volume control was handled - no longer the separate volume levels for speaker & phone (but also note that HTC use their own custom Bluetooth stack anyway):

/t5/Xperia-Z1-Compact/Can-t-control-volume-via-bluetooth-on-JBL-Charge-portable/td-p/798975

Third, I've certainly noticed with some devices (like Jaybird Bluebuds X) that, while the Bluetooth volume slider on the phone starts in the middle of the scale when you connect, this is already very loud by default and close to the device's max, so you can only really adjust *down* below the midpoint. This isn't very intuitive.

The KitKat Bluetooth stack is still quite flakey, IMHO, and testing is not what it should be.

[milm81]

Unfortunately not, the volume controls seem to be completely messed up when using the z3c. I just tried pairing the speaker to a Samsung s3 mini and it works as expected (independent volume control from both speaker and phone).

[gtop]

Again, just toconfirm: independent volume control was removed in KitKat Bluetooth stack; if you have it, you're either not on KitKat or the OEM is using a custom stack.

[milm81]

Thanks gtop, I did find the issues with the z1c but did not realise it's a Android 4.4 problem. That is a shame... Not quite sure why Sony don't do something about this in the same way HTC have