I'm experiencing distortion and/or latency with my Bluetooth device!

First of all, what is distortion?

Distortion is when the audio signal being played gets altered or degraded, causing it to sound different from the original intended sound. When this happens, the sound can become scratchy, muffled, or even sound like it's crackling.

What is latency?

It's the delay between an audio signal being sent and when you can hear it. You won't hear it when you're listening to music, but you might notice it while watching videos or playing games, as the sound is out of sync with the picture. 

The same thing happens in BandLab - you might notice your recording being out of sync with the metronome or the previously recorded track. 


Is there a way to fix the distortion?

Using a Bluetooth device with BandLab Studio can cause distortion. Although you can still hear what's happening, the sound becomes fuzzy and less clear. To avoid this, use wired headphones in your Studio!

How about fixing latency?

Sorry, but not at the moment. Latency is naturally expected with Bluetooth connections, so we do not recommend using Bluetooth devices for recording.

The typical audio latency occurring with wired headphones is around 5-10 ms. Bluetooth latency, on the other hand, can go anywhere from 34 ms up to 300 ms, depending on the devices you're using and what you're using them for. Recording audio in a multi-track environment like the Studio, for example, requires significant processing power which can in return introduce some latency during recording or playback.

Nonetheless, there are a few things you can do to potentially minimize its severity:

Ensure your devices are fully charged and within good range of each other

Like humans, mobile and wireless Bluetooth devices need sufficient energy to perform tasks well. Fully charging them both ensures they have enough power to function as expected, but do keep in mind that the distance between them can affect performance too so make sure you're as close as possible to your phone when using the Studio.

Disable Power Saver/Low Power Mode
To keep phones powered, it's common to use the Power Saver or Lower Power mode available on most if not all mobile devices. This usually limits performance as the phone attempts to preserve battery life. If you have it enabled, consider disabling it when recording or editing your music in the Studio. 
Match the Bluetooth version on both devices
Bluetooth wireless communication standards vary across different devices, with the latest version being Bluetooth 5.0. If your phone supports Bluetooth 5.0, make sure your wireless headphones or earphones support it too. You won’t notice significant improvements from upgrading to a phone with Bluetooth 5.0 if your Bluetooth devices were designed for older versions of the Bluetooth communication standard.
Restart both devices
Restarting, or turning your devices off and on again, can at times help tremendously especially for mobile devices. Restarting clears the RAM and stops any background processes that may have been affecting audio performance. 
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