A Step-by-Step Guide on Pairing and Using Bluetooth Headphones with Your Raspberry Pi 4

Learn how to connect your favorite bluetooth headphones to your Raspberry Pi 4 in this comprehensive guide. We’ll show you the basics of pairing, configuring, and using bluetooth devices with Raspberr …


Updated October 18, 2023

Need help with your Raspberry Pi?
Contact Me!

Do you love silly Raspberry Pi Projects?
Check out my this YouTube Channel!


Learn how to connect your favorite bluetooth headphones to your Raspberry Pi 4 in this comprehensive guide. We’ll show you the basics of pairing, configuring, and using bluetooth devices with Raspberry Pi OS.

Are you looking for a way to listen to music or make calls hands-free on your Raspberry Pi 4? Bluetooth headphones are an excellent solution! In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of connecting and using bluetooth headphones with your Raspberry Pi 4.

Prerequisites:

Before we begin, make sure that you have the following items:

  • A Raspberry Pi 4 model B or later
  • An SD card with Raspberry Pi OS installed (version Lite is recommended)
  • Bluetooth headphones compatible with A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile)
  • A USB bluetooth dongle if your Raspberry Pi 4 doesn’t have built-in bluetooth
  • Power supply for the Raspberry Pi and headphones

Step 1: Pairing Bluetooth Headphones with Raspberry Pi

First, you need to pair your bluetooth headphones with the Raspberry Pi. Follow these steps:

  1. Boot up your Raspberry Pi and log in using the terminal or a keyboard and mouse.
  2. Open the terminal and type bluetoothctl to enter the bluetooth control prompt.
  3. Type power on to turn on bluetooth. You should see a message indicating that bluetooth is powered on.
  4. Type scan on to search for available bluetooth devices in range. Your headphones should appear as a new device after a few seconds.
  5. Note the MAC address of your headphones (a 12-digit code like 00:11:22:33:44:55). You can find it by typing devices in the bluetooth control prompt.
  6. Type pair <MAC address> to pair your headphones with the Raspberry Pi, replacing <MAC address> with the code you just found. Enter the passkey if prompted.
  7. Once paired, type connect <MAC address> to connect your headphones to the Raspberry Pi.
  8. Type exit to leave the bluetooth control prompt and return to the terminal.

Step 2: Configuring Bluetooth Headphones for A2DP Streaming

Next, you need to configure PulseAudio to use your bluetooth headphones for high-quality audio streaming (A2DP). To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Open the terminal and type sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa to edit the PulseAudio configuration file.
  2. Find the line that starts with #load-module module-bluetooth-discover. Uncomment it by removing the # at the beginning of the line.
  3. Add the following lines after this line:
    load-module module-switch-on-connect
load-module module-a2dp-sink
  4. Save and exit the file using Ctrl+X, Y, and Enter.
  5. Restart PulseAudio by typing pulseaudio -k && pulseaudio --start in the terminal.

Step 3: Testing Bluetooth Headphones with Raspberry Pi

Now that your headphones are paired and configured for A2DP streaming, let’s test them out!

  1. Open a music player like VLC or Rhythmbox to play some audio files.
  2. Click on the speaker icon in the top right corner of the screen and select your bluetooth headphones from the list.
  3. Adjust the volume using alsamixer or volctl.
  4. Enjoy the high-quality sound through your bluetooth headphones!

Conclusion

That’s it! You should now be able to connect your bluetooth headphones to your Raspberry Pi 4 and listen to music or make calls with crystal clear audio quality. Remember that you can always disconnect your headphones by typing bluetoothctl, followed by remove <MAC address> and then exit. Don’t forget to turn off bluetooth when not in use by running sudo systemctl stop bluetooth or bluetoothctl power off.

Happy streaming!