LE10, RPi3B+: how to, audio over HDMI and bluetooth simultaneously?

beta-tester · August 18, 2022 at 6:57 AM

hi,

i need audio over HDMI (TV) and bluetooth (in-ear headphones) simultaneously on my Raspberry Pi 3B+ with LibreELEC 10.0.2.

did somebody made this working and a tutorial in the meantime for this use case?

we have a person in the family with a "hard-of-hearing" handycap (i don't know the correct english word).

making a "movie night" is always very trick, stressful and disapointing to all participants.

making the TV very loud so the one person can enjoy the movie is very painful loud to the other "normal-hearing" persons.
making audio level enjoyable for the "normal-hearing" persons, then the one "hard-of-hearing" person can not follow the audio, because it is way to silent for this person - even with the "hearing-aid" the person has.

so i bought bluetooth headphones for the person in hope bluetooth and HDMI audio is working out of the box. but unfortunately is isn't.

at the moment the bluetooth headphones is only a solution when the person is watching movies alone, because i don't get it working to have audio on HDMI and bluetooth at the same time.

please, can somebody help me here...

thank you very much in advanced.

i am using LE 10.0.2 on a Raspberry Pi 3B+.

the bluetooth headphones gives audio, when selecting audio device: "PULSE: Default, Bluetooth Audio (PULSEAUDIO)"
the TV gives audio, when selecting audio device: "ALSA: vc4hdmi (vc4hdmi), VES 55UHD_LCD_TV on HDMI)"

**chewitt** · August 18, 2022 at 7:14 AM

"Handicap" not "Handycap" .. right word, wrong spelling

I've found that "wireless" headphones tend to have base units with different audio-input connectors while BT headphones only support a BT connection to the audio source. So with wireless units you can use a cheap HDMI audio splitter for RCA/Phono or 3.5mm Jack input to the headphones, and there's no dependency on having multi-audio output on the source, which is rarely supported. In LE you might be able to make multiple audio outputts work via Pulse audio (not the default alsa arrangement) but it's not a standard configuration so there's no HOWTO guide we can point you to.

beta-tester · August 21, 2022 at 9:40 PM

thank you for the answer.

so the idea was good, but the headphones i bought were of the wrong type.

i didn't realized that there are wireless headphones available that can be connected to physical audio connector of the TV.

**chewitt** · August 22, 2022 at 9:42 AM

Amazon searching "wireless headphones for tv watching" threw up some options for me. These were the simplest/cheapest ones (no idea what they are like, but you can see they have lots of connectivity options). If the TV itself supports multi-audio out you can connect them direct. If not you might need some kind of HDMI splitter to get an RCA output or similar.

Zanchie Wireless Headphones for TV Watching with RF Transmitter & Charging Dock (Digital Optical RCA AUX), On-Ear Digital TV Headsets for Seniors, Plug n Play, up to 330ft, No Audio Delay

Zanchie Wireless Headphones for TV Watching with RF Transmitter & Charging Dock (Digital Optical RCA AUX), On-Ear Digital TV Headsets for Seniors, Plug n Play,…

www.amazon.ae

^ not a recommendation

NB: Pulse audio almost certainly can output to multiple devices at the same time with the right config (which you'd have to Google). The tertiary challenge with multiple outputs is often "audio sync" as processing times for the BT audio path vs. the HDMI path may end up being a little different.

beta-tester · August 23, 2022 at 7:15 AM

Quote from chewitt

... searching "wireless headphones for tv watching" threw up some options for me. These were the simplest/cheapest ones (no idea what they are like, but you can see they have lots of connectivity options). ...

thanks for the keywords to search for.

Quote

... Pulse audio almost certainly can output to multiple devices at the same time with the right config (which you'd have to ...

i tied already to search for multi-/combine-sink configuration, but none of them i got working on LibreELEC/Kodi

pacmd complains that there is PulseAudio no daemon running and as soon i reboot LibreELEC all changes i did with pactl were gone. no idea where to put all the profile, config and script files to LibreELEC to keep the config persistent and/or get executed automatically.
without rebooting i never saw any new audio devices (sinks) in Kodi i could select.

so by myself, i'm hopelessly overwhelmed with setting up audio simultanously over HDMI and BT under LibreELEC.

Quote

The tertiary challenge with multiple outputs is often "audio sync" as processing times for the BT audio path vs. the HDMI path may end up being a little different.

yes, even with just using BT audio allone, i observed already an audio sync issue.

i solved it by adding/installing/using the add-on from MAR-official: Bluetooth Delay for Kodi

no idea if it could handle simultanously audio sync in case i could get it working.

VLouis · August 24, 2022 at 1:22 PM

I spent some time to get working the dual audio output (DAC & HDMI) with PulseAudio on my RPi3, was unstable and the quality wasn't the best. Because I don't need really simultaneous audio (DAC for net radio & hdmi for TV and movies), I'm using now the "Audio Profiles" add-on and is the perfect solution for me.

If you need real simultaneous audio, use the solution proposed by chewitt, if your TV have any usable audio output, use it as audio source for headphone, if not use hdmi-audio splitter.

beta-tester · August 24, 2022 at 6:28 PM

ok, i will look for headphones that fits my needs best.

thanks guys.

quartermain · August 26, 2022 at 3:43 PM

I have a similar problem, my hearing is good but my wife's is not.

Our current setup is to connect the source devices to the TV via HDMI, then run a digital audio cable from the TV to the digital audio input of a Sony HW700DS headphone transmitter. This transmitter has a digital audio loopthrough capability so I route the audio out from it to a soundbar.

The sound formats are obviously limited to what a digital audio cable can carry but that's something I have to live with.

The headphone transmitter actually has three HDMI inputs and one output so it is intended to be used as a source selector but a) you have to actually walk up to it and press one of three buttons, b) it's HDMI 1.4a so no HDR and c) I'd need something to split out the audio for the headphones.

We've been doing this for a long time and are on our second set of headphones - the first ones literally fell apart. They haven't been on sale for a while but are still available second hand.

quartermain · August 26, 2022 at 3:44 PM

Should have said there is an A/V sync adjustment on the transmitter so you can get the speakers and the headphones to sync up.

Mayoru · October 28, 2022 at 9:38 AM

I have the same requirement.

Not only for tv. My libreelec not only output TV but also Music. I have some bluetooth speaker. I wish to have Music-output on TV and the Bluetooth speaker.

VLouis · October 29, 2022 at 3:47 PM

Quote from Mayoru

I have the same requirement.
Not only for tv. My libreelec not only output TV but also Music. I have some bluetooth speaker. I wish to have Music-output on TV and the Bluetooth speaker.

Post

RE: LE10, RPi3B+: how to, audio over HDMI and bluetooth simultaneously?

I spent some time to get working the dual audio output (DAC & HDMI) with PulseAudio on my RPi3, was unstable and the quality wasn't the best. Because I don't need really simultaneous audio (DAC for net radio & hdmi for TV and movies), I'm using now the "Audio Profiles" add-on and is the perfect solution for me.

If you need real simultaneous audio, use the solution proposed by chewitt, if your TV have any usable audio output, use it as audio source for headphone, if not use hdmi-audio splitter.…

VLouis

August 24, 2022 at 1:22 PM

Never tried with Bluetooth speaker. Once had a working config with simultaneous sound on TV and Speakers (from audio jack), was a delay between outputs and created a strange (annoying) echo... maybe can be resolved that too, but I never had a stable and good sound quality config for simultaneous audio.

Mayoru · November 6, 2022 at 4:23 PM

The longer idea was to create a suround sound system with bluetooth speaker for TV, and use stereo for music and distribute the speakers in several rooms (kitchen, garden, bath). But now I would be glad If I only get the speakers simultanous autput.

Currently it's the case, that if I connect a bluetooth speaker. HDMI disappear and only work again if I reset the audiosettings and restart reboot libreelec.

VLouis · November 7, 2022 at 8:50 AM

Quote from Mayoru

Currently it's the case, that if I connect a bluetooth speaker. HDMI disappear and only work again if I reset the audiosettings and restart reboot libreelec.

Because the bluetooth connection starts the pulseaudio?

I you have patience (a lot!), first read here: https://wiki.libreelec.tv/configuration/pulseaudio

If you will be lucky and find a working config (simultaneous audio), put it in the "autostart.sh", to be loaded at every startup.

Probably will be an "echo" between HDMI and Bluetooth sound (different delay). Another challenge to synchronize them...