Streaming from Windows 10 desktop? How?

The above thread, in which the OP asked about connecting KS10’s to Windows 10 BT contains incorrect assertions that Windows 10 lacks LE (stereo) broadcast capability since it only operates with BT 4.2 and not with the latest version 5.

In fact, Windows 10 does adhere to the LE standard; versions 4.2 and 5 do not differ in that respect. Windows 10 users, including myself, report episodes where the devices pair but they do not connect. Windows Forums contain instructions9 for repairing this state.
I have found it sufficient to reset the BT transmitter on Windows. It will immediately re-pair to existing external devices. Should this fail, you will be required to reinstall the BT transmitter … if your manufacturer still supports your computer! Mine didn’t.

As part of Bluetooth 5.2, the BT SIG introduced Bluetooth LE Audio, which is a new standard that will provide the next generation of audio streaming to replace what we have been using up to this point, which is Bluetooth Classic. Before BLE Audio, audio streaming over BLE is proprietary, not standard. This is what Apple is doing with MFi and what Android is doing with ASHA. I have yet to hear of any support for BLE Audio on any version of Windows. Maybe it will only happen on Windows 11. We will have to wait and see.

The specification for my iPhone 13 says it supports Bluetooth 5.0, so probably no BLE Audio.

The specification for my Lenovo X1 Carbon G10 says it supports Bluetooth 5.1, but that the hardware is Bluetooth 5.2 ready and the specification for the Intel WiFi module in it says it supports Bluetooth 5.3, so so maybe the laptop will support BLE Audio when/if Microsoft gets around to it.

The point is that Bluetooth LE Audio is an emerging technology, not likely to be backward compatible.

@darylm said:

The point is that Bluetooth LE Audio is an emerging technology, not likely to be backward compatible.

Yeah this is the part I don’t like about it, I’m hoping that 5.1 or 5.2 could get some support for LE Audio, but if your right and no “backwards” compatibility will be a bummer, because this will mean we’ll need to replace basically everything if we want to take advantage of what LE Audio has to offer.

@tenkan said:

I’m hoping that 5.1 or 5.2 could get some support for LE Audio

5.2 is the minimum for LE Audio, so yes. Whether 5.2 or 5.3 can be implemented in software in older machines, maybe @ssa can tell us.

@darylm said:

when/if Microsoft gets around to it.

Or the computer vendor gets around to writing a Windows driver and firmware with the support.

Regarding the repeated assertion that BT 5.x is required for LE service: this is not the case. For example, my very basic Moto E 2020 (Android 10) which met the minimum capabilities specified by COSTCO, has Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP and LE .
Since Windows 10 connectivity is at issue in this thread, I again cite the transient problem encountered by hundreds of users that BT pairs but on occasion does not connect.

There’s a difference between LE and LE Audio. People are often loose with terminology.

This does not come from the computer vendor, but from the vendor of the chip and from the operating system.

Sorry, but you’re confusing LE with LE Audio. LE Audio is based on the LE protocol stack.

Here are the LE profiles supported by Windows 10, version 1903:

• Attribute Protocol (ATT)
• Battery Service over GATT Profile (1.0)
• Bluetooth LE Generic Attribute (GATT) Client
• Bluetooth LE Generic Attribute (GATT) Server

These profiles are what enables a computer to pair with your hearing aids to pair with and communicate with your hearing aids, but none of them support audio. LE Audio is a different profile, which to my knowledge is not supported in Windows 10. For a mobile phone, it’s the same thing, it needs the protocol stack and the profiles. The LE audio profile is part of BT 5.2.

It would be helpful if everyone used the term Bluetooth LE Audio (supported in 5.2 and newer) in this context. What would be the proper term to refer to an outgoing (from the HA) voice stream, in the context of Bluetooth LE?

If not specified in in Bluetooth LE audio, outgoing voice streams would then be supported in ASHA, MFi, and Bluetooth “Classic”, which only the “Classic” has native Windows support?

So, are there any Windows PC accessories or dongles that support ASHA, MFi, or Bluetooth LE Audio?

MFi is Apple. ASHA is Android. Neither of those technologies are going to be available on a Windows PC. As far as I know, unless Microsoft has already baked BLE Audio into Windows 10, which I don’t think has happened, the only way it will be supported is if a company such as a hearing aid manufacturer writes a driver and an application that supports it. Not holding my breath for that…

I would not count on BLE Audio on a Windows PC until it’s supported in Windows 11.

My Windows 11 desktop, Dell Optiplex 7020, with cheap Bluetooth dongle and my KS10 hearing aids works perfectly.

Your KS10 are Phonak Bluetooth Classic aids

The list of devices you posted is similar to the devices on my Windows 10 laptop. These are BTC devices. Your hearing aids are communicating with your computer using BTC, not BLE Audio.