Ubuntu – Bluetooth speaker sound distorted (ubuntu 18.04)

18.04bluetoothpulseaudiosound

The sound from a bt speaker (JBL Flip 3) is distorted: sometimes ok for a few seconds but mainly it's crackling and interrupted intermittently.
Also the connection process is sometimes tricky… I have to connect/disconnect several times.

The same speaker is working fine on another Ubuntu 16.04 laptop.

What I tried so far:

  • It's not an hardware or intenference issue: it's ok if I boot with Windows
  • Within Ubuntu, another bt headset works fine
  • The good old trick of switching profile (A2DP/HFP) and then disconnect/reconnect doesn't solve
  • I've reinstalled pulseaudio and pulseaudio-module-bluetooth with no luck

Furthermore, my dmesg is full of: 

Bluetooth: hci0: last event is not cmd complete (0x0f)

Apparently others are experiencing the same issues: Ubuntu 18.04 and bluetooth speaker JBL Charge 3

UPDATE:

  • I've tried another JBL speaker (charge 3): same problem
  • I've updated bluez to v5.50, no luck

Best Answer

Ok, I finally got through this. :)

Simply: the sound is distorted only while the Bluetooth settings window is open and scanning for devices. Closing the windows clears the sound.

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