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Are non-bluetooth wireless headphones generally not implemented as a standard USB audio interface? USB audio-based DAC output has been one of the most reliable

Are non-bluetooth wireless headphones generally not implemented as a standard USB audio interface? USB audio-based DAC output has been one of the most reliable aspects of Linux compatibility that I would not have thought of worrying about it despite using Linux as a daily-driver for a decade.

Aardwolf 6y ago
When I use USB audio out in Linux, all kinds of bugs happen, including movies sometimes freezing for no reason in vlc and mpv (audio output can make movies pause?), and audio stopping permanently in some games until you restart them depending on turning on/off headphones and what not. Using the 3.5mm output jack of the computer into a bluetooth transmitter works much better for me. 3.5mm does the one thing it should do, transmit the audio signal, without all kinds of unwanted software side effects, the PC has no clue what I do with my headphones and given the bugs mentioned above that's a good thing. I wonder what's wrong with my system to have such bad USB audio experience :/
- ekianjo 6y ago
  Out of curiosity, on which distro and which windows manager? (GNOME/KDE/ other?)
  - Aardwolf 6y ago
    Archlinux with Cinnamon
- perryizgr8 6y ago
  > 3.5mm does the one thing it should do, transmit the audio signal, without all kinds of unwanted software side effects I have an HP laptop with Win10 and it shows all the kinds of problems you described and more... with a standard 3.5mm jack. Youtube/VLC will freeze as soon as I plug in a headphone, Skype/Zoom will crash and end my call. Some games will continue sending audio through the laptop speakers, and only switch if I restart the game. Others will just stop outputting any audio. I really did not think this was possible, I thought the headphone jack was just a physical switch that sends signals one way instead of the other. Software engineers can and will find a way to fuck up your life, even if the problem has been solved for a century now.
  - vladvasiliu 6y ago
    I have an HP desktop I bought for photography work and I have the weird behavior described, too. I've found that if I uninstall HP Audio Controls or whatever it's called it leaves me alone and the windows output selector does a perfectly fine job of switching outputs. However, I mostly use it connected to an external USB DAC and it works (mostly) ok.
podiki 6y ago
That was my question (author of the article). I don't see any good way to know ahead of time, even if it seems likely. Either you find reports of things working, or you take a guess and buy them. It does seem like most work, but I wouldn't be surprised if some don't, or rely too much on the proprietary software to make things usable.

Aardwolf 6y ago

When I use USB audio out in Linux, all kinds of bugs happen, including movies sometimes freezing for no reason in vlc and mpv (audio output can make movies pause?), and audio stopping permanently in some games until you restart them depending on turning on/off headphones and what not. Using the 3.5mm output jack of the computer into a bluetooth transmitter works much better for me. 3.5mm does the one thing it should do, transmit the audio signal, without all kinds of unwanted software side effects, the PC has no clue what I do with my headphones and given the bugs mentioned above that's a good thing. I wonder what's wrong with my system to have such bad USB audio experience :/

ekianjo 6y ago
Out of curiosity, on which distro and which windows manager? (GNOME/KDE/ other?)
- Aardwolf 6y ago
  Archlinux with Cinnamon
perryizgr8 6y ago
> 3.5mm does the one thing it should do, transmit the audio signal, without all kinds of unwanted software side effects I have an HP laptop with Win10 and it shows all the kinds of problems you described and more... with a standard 3.5mm jack. Youtube/VLC will freeze as soon as I plug in a headphone, Skype/Zoom will crash and end my call. Some games will continue sending audio through the laptop speakers, and only switch if I restart the game. Others will just stop outputting any audio. I really did not think this was possible, I thought the headphone jack was just a physical switch that sends signals one way instead of the other. Software engineers can and will find a way to fuck up your life, even if the problem has been solved for a century now.
- vladvasiliu 6y ago
  I have an HP desktop I bought for photography work and I have the weird behavior described, too. I've found that if I uninstall HP Audio Controls or whatever it's called it leaves me alone and the windows output selector does a perfectly fine job of switching outputs. However, I mostly use it connected to an external USB DAC and it works (mostly) ok.

podiki 6y ago

That was my question (author of the article). I don't see any good way to know ahead of time, even if it seems likely. Either you find reports of things working, or you take a guess and buy them. It does seem like most work, but I wouldn't be surprised if some don't, or rely too much on the proprietary software to make things usable.