Streaming Bluetooth Audio

AndyVaughan · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:48 pm Post subject:

Why they think I want to use A2DP for hands free calling is beyond me, as I asked about streaming audio to car head unit?????

They seem unable to advise of any unit that they have tested with and will support for A2DP.

Odd, because they quite happily provide a list of supported phones.

Any one else think they haven't tested A2DP????

AndyVaughan · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 6:21 pm Post subject:

Looks like Halfords have the LG LAC7700R back in stock at £99.90 + £4.99 delivery.

Funny that it wasn't in stock for the last couple of weeks when they have been offering a 10% discount for ordering online!

Very tempted to order one......

Andy

PicklesDad · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 06, 2008 Posts: 35

Mike,

Just in case I've caused confusion, TomTom weren't saying they didn't support AD2P. What they were saying was that as far as they are concerned the 720 supports AD2P correctly and if a third party device does not work with the 720 it must be the device's fault. The next line of reasoning is that they can't be responsible for others devices and hence do not support the AD2P devices themselves. To some extent that's fair enough if they have implemented AD2P properly, but like many others I don't think they have. The Sony stereo I tried to use it with works fine with a number of mobile phones of different makes.

Yes there seem to be many benefits of BT, so I'm definitely not happy about it. I hope it's fixed with each new application version, but I'm still waiting. I guess upgrading the app doesn't update the underlying operating system that contains the BT stack. Sad

PD.

mikealder · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:45 pm Post subject:

TomTom cannot be expected to keep a fully upto date list of Mobile Phones that work with their product line via Bluetooth so I very much doubt they have any idea as to which car stereo units work for music streaming.
The entire Bluetooth "Standard" is far from an industry wide common standard which will always cause these sorts of problems, I know the deck I have works, but to get the connection requires regular resets of the TomTom (720 or 930 and even the 910) once a connection is established it works great, next connection needs a reset, but I can live with this due to the amount of messing around I do with different devices.

I have a number of different PDA based phones that support A2DP that will work with a far wider range of car stereos over Bluetooth for music than any of the TomTom devices so it is very important to try before you buy.
The LG deck I use isn't perfect I hate the apperance of the unit but that is of little importance to me, price and the fact it works (within the above limitations) made up my mind to purchase it. - Mike

AndyVaughan · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:57 pm Post subject:

Mike,

I don't expect them to have a list, and it would be impractical to try to maintain one.

I have just seen that the Parrot RK8200 has hit the shelfs - it looks like a useful piece of kit - might try that one out ....

It is just disappointing that an excellent feature looks like it has been rendered next to useless, as so far I have only seen mention of a few devices that work with TTs implementation of A2DP (The LG, the JVC at £500 that paired OK for me and a Parrot kit).

If you do a bit of Google searching there are many more mentions of devices that will not work on various forums.

AndyVaughan · Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject:

For the record the Parrot RK8200 didn't work - a 920 couldn't even see it but my Nokia 6300 would happily stream audio to it.

The handsfree was great, but the unit locked up randomly whilst playing MP3s off of a 8Gb SDHC card or its own internal memory.

Oh, and the menus kept randomly changing to French - Carte SD instead of SD Card etc.

Looks like the TT programmers work for Parrot on the side!

Anyway, looks like I will have to start my search all over again after Mike Alder pointed out this thread to me - a fix for A2DP BT Audio on the TT!!!!

Andy

jimbo_hippo · Frequent Visitor Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 444

I rarely step up to defend Tom Tom having been on the rubbish end of their tech support, been insulted by arrogant phone monkeys, had features that don't feature.........need I go on....

However, this bluetooth issue is all over the current electronics industry. When Bluetooth was announced it was sold as if it was 240V electricity. Plug it in and you get, erm, 240V AC. But someone somewhere let manufacturers tweak the profiles a little and so we started to get Nokia Handsfree kits which only worked with Nokia phones, Bluetooth Stacks which favoured certain devices, companies trying to improve functionality but reducing compatibility in the process and the idea of an industry standard goes straight out of the window. Someone in Bluetooth town needs to SET the standards and STICK with them until backwards compatible new versions arrive which is the dream we were sold.

The reason Parrott have become so prevelent is that they only make kit which connects to 3rd party devices and if bluetooth doesn't work their kit doesn't sell. So they have an interest in being hungry for connectivity. More power to them I say. My Parrot 3200LS is one of the few devices I can actually rely on to do what it says on the tin. But it really only has one task.

In the meantime can I suggest a minijack cable? It's cured my FM transmitter woes a treat.
_________________
Tom Tom GO 720
Orange M3100, Orange SPV M5000
TomTom Navigator 6, Destinator 6
Holux GPSslim

AndyVaughan · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:14 pm Post subject:

If you read the thread I linked to it can be fixed to work with anything.

I have spent an hour or two stood in Halfords pairing the TT and successfully streaming Bluetooth Audio to a whole host of head units that the TT wouldn't even see before - Sony BT5000, BT3600U, Parrot RK8200.

The only head units on display in Halfords that the TT would see without the fix applied were the JVC KD-AVX33 and KD-AVX44 and the LG 7700 which Mike Alder has - but the LG is very hard to get hold of now - mail order only.

I have found plenty of places which will seel the JVC KD-AVX44 for under £300 instead of the £500 Halfords want for it, it is an excellent head unit, but again mail order only.

Hopefully TT will make a minor tweak to their Bluetooth Stack and the functionality can be had by all.

Andy

Greenglide · Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject:

The fix doesnt appear to work with my TT520 and my Pioneer P65BT head unit.

The 520 does now see the head unit but will not connect.

Does the fact I am running navcore 8 make a difference Confused

PicklesDad · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 06, 2008 Posts: 35

Ah thanks for mentioning that thread I missed it when first posted. Can confirm my TomTom 720 now works with my Sony MEX-BT5100! A very happy man.

Things left to make it perfect:

The steeringwheel controls move through the songs forward/backwards when connected to a mobile, but don't seem to work with the TomTom. It would be great if I could Navigate through the tunes without touching the TomTom.

The Sony dosn't seem to support playing a Radio station and then switching to the Bluetooth channel when it detects sound. So I can't listen to the radio and have it interrupted by the TomTom. The only option is to manually switch between the two when your not going to get directions for a while. Maybe one day a radio will support that.

PD.

weelogic · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:11 am Post subject:

To PicklesDad, the problem here is that the Tomtom units support A2DP, which allows the streaming of Bluetooth audio in stereo (or joint stereo in some cases, but that's a whole other thread...) but they don't properly support AVRCP.

AVRCP is the Bluetooth profile that allows the head unit to control the streaming device, such as for track selection and so on. I found that my Sony unit would work for changing tracks (as does my newer Parrot MK6100), but not for the automatic pause and resume of music when the audio is interrupted by an incoming call.

If a call comes in while I have the TT connected for audio, all that happens is that the unit disconnects from the head unit and then starts playing the audio through the internal speaker. None of the tweaks and fixes that have been posted have changed this.

I have given up and gone back to my Nokia N82 for audio streaming. With an 8Gb SDHC card it works a treat.

PicklesDad · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 06, 2008 Posts: 35

I see so still some more work needed from TomTom. I bought an adapter so that I could continue to control the Sony from my steering wheel controls, but in my case it didn't even change the tracks like yours does. I've not yet tried changing the tracks using the controls on the Sony player itself. I'll try that later, but right now my car alarm has developed a fault that means it keeps going off so I have my hands full until I get that fixed tomorrow. Busy apologising to the neighbors. Embarassed

PD.

jimbo_hippo · Frequent Visitor Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 444

Can I kickstart this thread again by firstly confirming the prevoius postings and asking a few questions:

I have a similar setup the prevoius ones. TT 720 streaming via bluetooth to a Parrott MK6000. Blackberry Bold paired to Parrot for calls. 720 paired to PAYG phone in the boot for data.

Parrott works great for streaming the bluetooth and navigation instructions. However, as with others, when I recieve a call the Tom Tom reverts to the internal speaker for the music which drives me nuts.

To get the setup to work initially I ran the 'fixBT hiFi' app downloaded from elsewhere just in case this has any bearing.

Has anyone got the Tom Tom to pause or mute the music during a call?

For those using BT head units rather than parrots, do you also get the audio blaring from the Tom Tom during a call?

I'm biting my lip after a couple of months of this because I don't want to do my usual rant about about add-ons on higher spec Tom Toms all working 75% for months or even years.......ooops, I suppose by writing that I just did :-)
_________________
Tom Tom GO 720
Orange M3100, Orange SPV M5000
TomTom Navigator 6, Destinator 6
Holux GPSslim

nashmills · Regular Visitor Joined: Nov 10, 2006 Posts: 131

I can recommend the ioplay (www.ioplay.co.uk) system for playing music stored on my GO 940 and receiving phone calls on my iphone.

Rick-uk · Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:33 pm Post subject:

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