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I just bought the Sony MDR-XB950BT and it works amazingly with my iPhone, but when I connect it to my laptop the sound is like an old radio! I searched for solutions but nothing fixed it!

The headphone appears in the playback devices as headset and a stereo headphone, and the headset is only one that have the sound when it is default. the other one is showing there is sound but actually there is nothing.

I checked the services and it is working.

I also found the uncheck the Handsfree Telephony solution but when apply the change the headset disappears and the Stereo headphone doesn't and stay the same with no sound.

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  • If any of the answers solved your issue, would you mind accepting it as the answer? That would help other people find it more easily, mark this question as solved, and also award some credit to the kind person that put their time into writing it down 🙏
    – Marcus Mangelsdorf
    Jul 6, 2022 at 12:21

16 Answers 16

Reset to default
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After much frustration, googling and facepalming without getting any wiser, the following "WTH-I'll-just-try-this" fix worked for me:

  • go to bluetooth settings.
  • your bluetooth headset should show "connected mucic, voice".
  • now, go to control panel -> sound.
  • on the "playback" tab, your headset should be shown as a hands-free part, and a headphones part. Now, disable the hands-free part, and go to the "recording" tab and do the same.
  • problem solved, at least for me. I tested disconnecting my BT headset and connecting it again to see if Windows defaults it back to the hands-free profile, and whaddyaknow, it didn't. I can finally enjoy good sound quality in my JBL E55BT headset without any more hassle.
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  • Turning off the recording aspect of the bluetooth device is a very smart approach here. This also worked for me. I was using Bose wireless headphones, but the key to this solution was the same: disable the hands free aspect in the recording tab (I disabled it in the playback as well). At the end of this, I did have to disconnect and reconnect the headphones in order to have the updated correct Stereo connection created. Thanks!
    – Travis J
    May 18, 2020 at 17:48
  • unbelievable, it worked, it's that simple!
    – Chagai Friedlander
    Feb 28, 2021 at 8:38
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    Worked, thank you so much! Was rapidly losing the will to live...
    – Al Sweetman
    May 24, 2021 at 9:26
  • This worked for me on Win 10 with a Beats Fit Pro
    – Ber
    Oct 19, 2022 at 8:59
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    this worked for me.. stereo is now working BUT the mic is not working.. anyone found a solution?
    – Deviruchi D Devourer
    Nov 25, 2022 at 20:00
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I had this exact same problem with the Sony MDR-XB950BT, but the previous solutions listed here didn't work for me.

Here's what did work for me, in case it helps anyone else who finds this question in the future:

  • Open Device Manager

  • Expand 'Bluetooth'

  • Disable the MDR-XB960BT Avrcp Transport Adapter

  • Restart Computer

Screenshot of Device Manager

Also of note: When the Sound Properties control panel is open, I don't get audio to the headphones, however, it starts working again once Sound Properties is closed. When the Sound Properties control panel is open, it is playing the headset's microphone input to the headset rather than playing the computer's audio output to it for some bizarre reason.

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    This worked for me with the JBL E45BT. Only difference was my path to get to the drivers was slightly different. Device Manager >>"Sounds, video and game controllers" >> "JBL E45BT Hands-Free"
    – FredFury
    Jun 8, 2019 at 19:02
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I just ran into a similar situation, only hands-free, no stereo. Device manager indicated something wrong with Microsoft Bluetooth A2dp source. The solution is to Run the System File Checker tool. Got the idea from here (WH-1000XM3, Windows 10 pro 1903)

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  • That really helped. I noticed that Microsoft A2DP Source device showed problems in "Device Manager". It showed some error about corrupted files. The above instructions to scan and restore system files did the trick. The A2DP device disappeared from the list but everything started to work. Reinstalling wireless and bluetooth drivers alone didn't help.
    – akostadinov
    Aug 27, 2019 at 11:37
  • +1! Had the same problem. My headphones (same model) were only recognized as Hands-Free-device. Tried to un- and re-pair them countless times, un- and reinstalled Bluetooth drivers, disabled Hands-Free service in Config Panel->Devices and printers ... no luck. Then I ran the System Checker tool and boom ... 2 devices (Stereo and Hands-free). Thank you!
    – flecki89
    Nov 26, 2020 at 18:21
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Try reinstalling the Bluetooth speaker drivers by:

  1. Opening device manager, WIN+R then type devmgmt.msc and then press enter
  2. Expand the list item Bluetooth
  3. Right click on the problematic Bluetooth peripheral
  4. Select Update driver
  5. In the window that appears, select Browse my computer for driver software
  6. Click on Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer
  7. Select Next and once complete, perform a reboot

This should fix most problems with Bluetooth devices, including speakers or headphones

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Same issue here and I've spent two days digging. In the end I've enabled the AVCTP service (it was disabled manually by me earlier).

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    Please expand your answer to include the details of how you determined the cause of the issue.
    – Ξένη Γήινος
    Jan 2, 2021 at 9:52
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Ok, I fixed it!

Anju Thekkethil on Microsoft community gave me methods that might solve my problem and method #2 did it!

I just uninstalled the bluetooth drivers from device manager and then restarted my laptop and it was fixed!

here is his awnser: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/poor-sound-quality-on-bluetooth-headphones/f3486fe3-ec73-4b04-bec5-db20e6e5a794?tm=1454758592416

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  • Did it ever break again after you got it fixed, or did it continue working?
    – Neil
    Apr 25, 2020 at 23:25
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I had to go to 'Devices and Printers' in Control Panel. Then there under 'Devices' I found the bluetooth speaker, and pressed right button on the bluetooth speaker and pressed 'Remove Device'. Afterwards connected through Bluetooth again and it had to set it up as a new device and it made it work perfectly.

And before I tried uninstalling/re-installing all sorts of stuff, but it didn't help at all.

Hope this helps

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My problem showed the stereo headset and hands free but only the hands free would be enabled no matter what I did. After several other methods I was able to fix it by removing the device and adding/pairing it again.

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Had this issue today after a windows update. Non of my bluetooth headsets (Nuraphones/Jaybird Tarah Pro) would only connect hands-free. No Stereo. This reflected in the sound "playback" setting.

After running through everything in this thread, I ended up following half of @Chao solution.

Windows 10:

  1. Go to Device Manager
  2. Under "Sound, video and game controllers" I had an error on "Microsoft Bluetooth A2dp source"
  3. Disable it, then enable it
  4. Disconnect and remove headphones from Bluetooth
  5. Reconnect headphones

Stereo option then appeared in the Sound "playback" tab.

Windows 10 Sound "Playback tab" Window

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  1. Right-click the sound button and press "open sound settings"

  2. press the "manage sound devices" button. on the input, section click the hands-free headphone and click disable

  3. check your sound to make sure it is working

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I had the exact same problem in windows 10, my Haylou GT1 pro Headphones were only working as hands-free and the music sounded awful. I tried all solutions posted above and nothing worked. However, I was testing a new audio app and it wasn't recognizing my mic, it was telling me that it was already in use, the only app that always uses the mic is Cortana, so I removed the permission for the microphone from cortana and my headphones STARTED to work perfectly.

Now I'm able to use it as hands-free for my work and listen to music from Spotify without issues.

Path: Settings - Privacy - Microphone - Disable Cortana's permission

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sadly this is a known bug microsoft refuses to fix when it comes to bluetooth devices the only acceptable solution I have found to when I turn my headphones off for the night and go to use them again is to simply toggle off the bluetooth connectivity on windows ENTIRELY then turn it back on when the headset connects in "connected voice" rather than "connected voice, music" despite me having the default audio device set to avoid the "hands free" mode ENTIRELY it is a known issue purely with windows that bluetooth audio is unreliable and buggy yet the company refuses to debug it maybe buy one of those little boxes that takes the 3.5mm jack and connects your headphones to it in "media" mode and never bugs out also if you are like me maybe complain about this known issue to Microsoft that mac-os and linux and all mobile os'es have fixed since day 1 of full release versions

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I had slightly different problem, also mentioned in comments: after update to win11 my device was recognized only as Hands-free, no stereo. After hours of trying any fix I could find and using a lot of inappropriate words, I found my solution posted by someone here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-11-no-hands-free-mode-for-bluetooth/7774de7b-4cb3-4da4-a3e0-3398e81e994e?page=4

Disable additional audio drivers - e.g. "Intel® Smart Sound Technology for Bluetooth® Audio".

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None of the above solutions worked for me, then I had the bright idea to check for updates on my bluetooth adapter and see if that fixed the problem. It didn't.

Then I tried again (for the hundredth time), restarted my laptop, and it WORKED!

So yeah, don't be like me, first check here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18649/757403/intel-wireless-bluetooth-for-windows-10-and-windows-11.html

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    – Community Bot
    Dec 31, 2022 at 10:29
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Downgrading drivers also didn't do the trick for me. I fixed it by installing https://equalizerapo.com/ for the faulty playback device. Afterwards not only the bluetooth device but also the playback device appeared as connected and I am now able to play audio via the Bluetooth speaker. In short this works because Equalizer APO interacts with the speaker on a lower system level and bypasses some parts of the Bluetooth- and audiostack.

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I was experiencing the same issue! When I unchecked Handsfree telephony, my computer just stopped playing audio to my Bluetooth headphones. Why don't you try this solution? It completely fixed the problem for me.

Windows 11:

  1. Press windows + r and type "services.msc" then press enter
  2. Scroll down to Telephony and double-click it
  3. Under Startup type, switch from your current option to disabled
  4. Then, click apply and ok
  5. Reconnect your Bluetooth audio device and it should fix the problem
  6. If it still doesn't work try resetting your computer after all the steps

This is my first time writing a solution so please leave replies below if anything was unclear

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