Audacity Forum

I just updated to Audacity 1.3.9 and am no longer use my Bluetooth headphones as a playback source. Here's the error I receive:

Error
Error while opening sound device. Please check the output device settings and the project sample rate.

I had previously been using Audacity 1.3.3 and playback was working as expected. I have tried restarting Audacity as well as my system and trashing Audacity's prefs. Audio from the rest of the system still plays through the headphones properly, and Audacity still has no problem sending sound through the machine's other outputs.

I don't know if this is really an Audacity issue or not, but basic troubleshooting leads me to believe it is.

Thanks,

-John

System info:
Dual Quad Core Mac Pro
8GB RAM
10.6.2

Headphones:
Motorola S805

So Just for fun, I went back and tested all of the versions between 1.3.3 and 1.3.9. Bluetooth playback did not work on any of the other versions either. There was not a 1.3.4 dmg in the archives so I was unable to test it, but I received the same error on all versions after 1.3.3.

I'd imagine this hasn't come up since most people don't use bluetooth headphones. I generally don't use them except when working on something so annoying that I feel the need to spare the ears of my coworkers, lest they form an angry ear-mob and run me through.

-John

Although I have no experience with bluetooth devices, the usual troubleshooting procedure for all audio devices on Mac is to start with Audio Midi Setup in the Utilities folder. Set up the headset for playback and make sure everything is working. Make note of the device settings - sample rate, sample format, channels and volume.

Then in Audacity go to Audacity > Preferences then the Devices section and set up the Playback device to match what you set in Audio Midi Setup.

-- Bill

Bill, thanks for the heads up. I did what you suggested and tested again. Unfortunately there was no change. I get the same results on a new project, an old project or just opening a sound and converting it to the current sample rate.

A weird issue to be sure. For now I'm just going to continue to use 1.3.3 unless I can find a different option.

Thanks again,

-John

There is another step that might help. I don't use Audio/Midi setup for the first pass. I go into Apple > System Preferences > Hardware > Sound > Input and see if I can get the little blue sound meter to work. Without that, the rest of the machine has no chance.

Koz

We're now tracking this an issue. A possible workaround may be to route the Audacity output via Soundflower. Set Soundflower as the Playback Device in Audacity Preferences and set your preferred audio player (that works with the headset) to use Soundflower as its input device. If the player cannot specify its input device, set Soundflower to be the default input in Audio MIDI Setup.



Gale