Bluetooth audio and profile selection is actually the job of pulseaudio, not bluez (surprisingly).
Also, A2DP has always been preferred over HSP/HFP but the availability and detection of A2DP has been historically buggy. So the selection might not turn out as you hope. AFAIK fixes for this already exist in 17.10 and in 16.04: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio Unfortunately it seems 17.04 has been neglected in this area. Although to be fair 17.04 is also end-of-life soon: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases Please try live-booting the latest 17.10 image and tell us if that has indeed resolved the problem for your hardware: http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ ** Changed in: bluez (Ubuntu) Status: New => Incomplete ** Package changed: bluez (Ubuntu) => pulseaudio (Ubuntu) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to pulseaudio in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1720684 Title: Bluetooth speaker used the HSP/HFP profile by default rather than the higher-quality A2DP profile Status in pulseaudio package in Ubuntu: Incomplete Bug description: Kubuntu 17.04 Bluetooth device: https://smile.amazon.com/VicTsing-Wireless-Waterproof-Hands-Free-Speakerphone/dp/B074DX13T1 (itentifies itself as "C6") The above Bluetooth speaker paired and started streaming audio perfectly in Kubuntu 17.04. But the audio quality was poor, because the default audio profile was the low-quality HSP/HFP one. When I switched it to the A2DP profile, it sounded perfect again. Can we make A2DP the default playback profile for Bluetooth audio devices? To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/1720684/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
