Bluetooth Connection Type, and Headphone 'Multipoint.'

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Hello;
This started out as a headphone question with Sony support and on their user forum. As neither are proving to be any use, I thought I would at least mention it here as well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The short backgrounnd explanation is that I got their WH-1000MX3 headphones a number of years ago now, learned about the idea of multipoint connections from a little blurb in the manual, and shortly afterwards discovered that this feature was basically a non-functioning ‘stub’ on the version I had purchased.
I’ve been slightly disappointed about that all this time, and then had brief little moment recently where it actually seemed to work for a minute. Then, after a few weeks and a couple software updates, it was back to the same old routine of using the Flash on Ring feature again. This, of course, prodded me to attack the whole question again.

One of the things I learned this time was that there was a substatial difference between true multipoint and something called HFP, or Hands-Free Profile. What I understand is that, at least in my case, I might be able to configure the phone and the headphones to connect strictly for the purpose of making calls, and be able to have that ring through over whatever I’m listening to from the computer.

I contacted Sony support when I couldn’t find any actual instructions on that process, and was told:
‘functions available during a call may vary depending on the profile supported by your smartphone or mobile phone. It really does not specify or guarantee compatibility for phone calls on laptops or PC’

…and when asked whether there were any troubleshooting steps or other help available, they simply said no.

So, coming at this from the direction of the phone connection instead, does anyone have any suggestions? I have tried going into the device details under the Bluetooth menu, and turning off Media Audio and Contacts/History Sharing. The next step I can think of is to force a full reset on the headphones, and then try to connect to the phone with those turned off from the start, but I’m a little skeptical.

A lot of the time, the best thing for conservation is just to keep using whatever it is you already have, which means I’m going to try and stick with these headphones until they actually break. Sometimes that makes me grit my teeth a little bit, though.

Thanks for any ideas.

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Hello,

You are discussing multiple Bluetooth profiles (you can also include HSP to your list); List of Bluetooth profiles - Wikipedia

HFP goes two ways. It involves using the mic and the audio output. If you use this profile (which you use for phone call) then the sound quality is kind of meh, and there’s no multipoint.

If you use the other Bluethooth profile, A2DP then you can use different codecs such as LDAC or SBC or whatever. Then multipoint will work.

WH-1000XM4, WF1000XM4, WF1000XM5 multipoint worked for me on FP4/FP5 and MBPs.

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It turns out, I think, that this was a lower-hanging fruit than I expected. I mentioned having turned off everything except basic calls for that connection in the phone menu for Bluetooth devices. Apparently the next step was just to get the connections to happen in the right order. I didn’t do an exhaustive test of what works and what doesn’t, but the phone didn’t seem to be able to claim the HFP connection when I was already connected to the computer. However, after doing it once with just the phone again, it looks like the three devices are able to sort things out unsupervised when I turn the headphones on.

It’s probably very small odds that anyone else is trying to navigate this scenario, but who knows? Here’s a hint at a solution.