Have you ever seen a movie and wondered why a character’s voice and lip movements don’t match? This issue is commonly caused by “Bluetooth audio lag,” and can ruin your movie experience.
Fortunately, you can fix this sound delay and get your Bluetooth headphone working again. Let’s find out in this article!
Why does my Bluetooth headphone sound delay?
Sound delay in Bluetooth headphones occurs when there isn’t enough bandwidth to support the audio file size moving from your smartphone, computer, or MP3 player to your headphone.
To help you understand this better, suppose you attend an event, and there are tons of people trying to get into the venue through a small entrance at the same time. The movement will be slow, uncomfortable, and take longer.
You can liken the bandwidth of your connection to the narrow entrance and the volume of people to the audio size on your device. And there’s only one outcome, delay!
The audio signal transfer will be retarded if there isn’t enough bandwidth to accommodate a large audio file transmission, and this will cause an audio stutter and Bluetooth headphone lag.
How to fix sound delay on smartphones
Sound delays on Bluetooth headphones often happen when watching videos on your smartphone. Thankfully, there are several ways to fix this issue on both Android and iOS.
Here’s how to fix sound delay in Bluetooth headphones when using your headphones with your smartphone.
Solution one: Restart the device
The first step to fixing this issue on your smartphone is to restart the device. Restarting your smartphone helps to clear out your RAM and boost device performance. To perform a restart, hold down the device’s power button and tap on the restart option.
Solution Two: Disable power saver
Check if power saver mode is enabled. Although power saver mode optimizes your smartphone to last longer than usual, this setting limits the speed and performance of your device, causing audio lags on your smartphone.
Here’s how to disable power mode on android or iOS:
For Android
Note that these steps may differ depending on the phone’s brand and model.
- Swipe down on your screen and tap on the “Power saver” button from the new menu.
- If you can’t find the power saver option, head to your phone’s settings and tap on the “Battery and device care” option.
- Next, click Optimize to boost the device performance.
- Now, open the power saver settings, select the Battery option and toggle off the power saving mode. You can also customize the battery settings based on your preferences.
For iOS
Open the Control Center by swiping the screen and tapping on the battery icon to turn off “Low Power Mode.”
If you can’t find the battery icon in the Control Center, head to settings, tap on the battery option, and then toggle off “Low power mode.”
How to fix Bluetooth audio delay on Windows
Follow the tips below to fix sound delay issues in Bluetooth headphones when using a Windows computer:
Solution one: Reset and reconnect the headphone
If you are having sound delay issues when using a windows computer, try reconnecting the headphones to your computer.
First, reset the Bluetooth headphone and reconnect them to your computer after a few seconds. Hold the power button until you see a flashing indicator light.
Note that the reset method may vary depending on the brand. If holding the power button doesn’t help, you may want to look up the internet for resetting your brand of headphones.
Note: Resetting your Bluetooth headphone unpairs them from your computer, meaning you’ll have to connect them again.
Solution two: Upgrade your Bluetooth driver
Outdated drivers can also cause audio lag in your Bluetooth headphones. If resetting the headphone doesn’t fix the problem, the next step is to update your Bluetooth drivers.
Use the following instructions to update your Bluetooth drivers on windows:
- Click on the Windows button and type the word “Device Manager” in the search bar. Select the device manager option when it appears in the list.
- On the new menu, tap the arrow next to the Bluetooth option to display your current Bluetooth device.
- Next, right-click on your Bluetooth device and select the “Update Driver” option from the list.
- Follow the onscreen instructions and wait for the device to upgrade. That’s it!
Solution Three: Reset the windows audio playback
If your computer runs on Windows 10, a built-in troubleshooting feature can fix most problems you’ll encounter on your PC.
Here’s how you can use the built-in troubleshooting feature to fix sound delays in Bluetooth headphones:
- Move your cursor to the taskbar and right-click on the speaker icon
- Click on the “Troubleshoot Sound Problem” from the list, then wait for the device to scan for audio issues.
- After the scan, choose your Bluetooth headphones from the list, click Next, and then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process. That’s it!
How to fix sound delay on Mac
Follow the steps below to fix sound delay in Bluetooth headphones when using a Mac computer.
Solution one: Bluetooth Module Reset
You can fix the sound delay in Bluetooth headphones when using your Mac computer by simply resetting the Bluetooth module.
Use the steps below:
- Hold down the Shift and Option keys simultaneously to reveal the Bluetooth menu.
- Next, click on the debug option, and tap on “Remove all devices” from the list.
- Repeat steps one and two but this time, click on “Debug” and then the Reset Bluetooth Module” option.
Solution two: clear old Bluetooth files
Old or corrupted files may also cause your Bluetooth connection to act up. To clear old Bluetooth files, do the following:
- Launch Finder on your Mac, click “Go,” and then select the “Go to Folder” option on the list.
- Type “/Library/Preferences” in the field that pops up, and then click on Go.
- On the new windows that appear, look for the following files; “com.apple.Bluetooth.plist” and “com.apple.Bluetooth.xxxxxxxx.” Note that we used the “xxxxxxxx” part to represent a combination of letters and numbers, which varies from computer to computer.
- Once you locate the file, right-click on it and click the “Move to Trash” option to delete it.
- Restart your Mac computer and try reconnecting the headphone again.
Conclusion
Sound delay in Bluetooth headphones usually happens when there isn’t enough bandwidth to accommodate your audio file size.
If the above solutions don’t fix the problem, your headphones might be broken. Consider replacing your headphones or contacting a professional for support.