My bluetooth earbuds work fine with all other playback applications. However when I try playback using Audacity it plays through the laptop speakers. I tried the Rescan but no luck. Also I dont see my earbuds or bluetooth showing up. I tried setting it to default but no luck. Any thoughts?
Audacity 3.7.5
Operating System: Kubuntu 25.04
KDE Plasma Version: 6.3.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.12.0
Qt Version: 6.8.3
Kernel Version: 6.14.0-32-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1260P
Memory: 15.3 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Manufacturer: LG Electronics
Product Name: 14ZB90Q-G.AAC6U1
System Version: 0.1
Bluetooth earbuds can be problematic for “PortAudio” (the library that Audacity uses to access the sound system).
The way that Audacity interacts with the computer sound system is a lot more complex than typical apps that only have to play audio. Audacity has to handle input and output at the same time, and consistent synchronisation so that input, output, graphics, effects and MIDI don’t drift.
The way that bluetooth earbuds interact with the sound system is also complex. Unlike conventional speakers, bluetooth earbuds switch dynamically between different audio profiles, and typically employ aggressive power saving. This can cause PortAudio to loose connection to the earbuds, because the earbuds present a moving target.
Another downside of bluetooth earbuds is that they have much higher latency than conventional wired speakers, which can cause synchronisation problems.
The best solution is to use conventional (wired) speakers or headphones rather than bluetooth earbuds.