Need help pairing Bluetooth devices

[jeffyhog]

Hey guys, I need some help pairing my devices.

I have a Galaxy S5, and I just bought a LG Tone Pro headset. I also have a XM Sirius radio that I want to listen to, so I bought a Aluratek Bluetooth Universal Audio Transmitter.

I was able to pair the headset with the phone, and later the headset with the transmitter. I was listening to music when I got a call, so I pushed the call button and the headset switched to the phone. The sound quality was very bad- very choppy for lack of a better description, so I turned the transmitter off.

My phone call quality was then good, but after the call I was not able to toggle back to the transmitter.

I'm not a techie, so I'm kind of lost with this. The headset is supposed to be able to pair with 2 devices, but I don't know how to toggle between devices or if its possible.

The Transmitter I bought says on the box that it doesn't work with smartphones. I bought the smartphone compatible transmitter yesterday, but when I tried to connect it to the headset, it wouldn't connect and I found online that it was not made to connect with headsets, so I exchanged it today.

Any advice?

[BuddyBoy]

I'd just listen to satellite radio using the Sirius XM app on the phone. That's how I listen to it everywhere except in my cars. Cellular data and WiFi connections are going to be easier to find indoors than either the terrestrial or satellite Sirius XM signal. I have subscriptions for the Sirius and XM receivers in my cars for when I'm driving.

[jeffyhog]

Im on the road all the time, and I don't want to use up my data playing music. I already have the xm unit, but I want to use my wireless headset to listen to music as well as talk on the phone.

[jeffyhog]

Maybe I'm mistaken about the xm app. Will I use my data if I stream xm on the road?

[tsbrewers]

anytime you stream from the phone, yes you use data unless you are at home and are connected to wifi.

Most of the time when you get a call, the app you are streaming from will pause allowing you to use the phone. Once the phone call is done, normally you just need to basically press "play" on the streaming app to get the music playing again. Some headsets have a call button and a play button built right in.

Beyond that, to switch between bluetooth devices on the phone, you need to hit "settings" then "bluetooth" then click on the device you want to pair with. I have about 15 bluetooth devices saved on my phone, that I bounce around with all the time. Most bluetooth devices shut off after a certain amount of time, so if you are trying to connect to a device that hasn't been used for a week or something, you will probably have to turn it on first.

[OutlawStar]

Most likely yes, it will use your date to play music, unless your carrier has a special feature that it doesn't eat up your allotted data.

Bluetooth has always been a rather terrible connection because its finicky and when it goes wrong, its fubar'd. Trying to connect 2 or more devices to headset will often mess with the settings, and the devices will default to their base settings in order to accommodate an inferior band of bluetooth.

I've found you have to do trial and error to repair bluetooth; turn all the devices off, and connect one at a time. If that doesn't work, go into the settings on your phone, sometimes those revert back to earpiece quality which would produce the terrible sound. Try to unpair all the devices from each other and start over. You may need to lookup a factory reset for the bluetooth transmitter.

[jeffyhog]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll try it again. I do have a "call" and a "play" button on the head set.
Maybe I went about this the wrong way. I'm thinking I may have been better off pairing the phone to the Bluetooth transmitter which is connected to the xm module, and then pair the headset to the phone only. I imagine it may be better to direct everything through the phone and let it handle the different tasks, rather than try to control them with the headset.

In that case, I need to return the transmitter I have and get the other one. I don't understand why one doesn't work with smart phones, and the other doesn't work with headsets.

[BuddyBoy]

You're not making sense. The headphones are A2DP sinks. The phone and transmitter are A2DP sources. You can't connect two sources together.

[brassburnz]

Why are you listening to music from the car radio with headphones? I think that is a traffic infraction in California.

http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/headsets/

For the phone, I would get a hands-free device other than headphones.

[jeffyhog]

I'm not listening from a car radio, I'm listening from an XM receiver. Most of the time I'm not in California, and the headset I have has individual ear buds so I can use one only while driving.

To the comment regarding A2DP, I have no idea what that means. As I mentioned, I'm not very tech savvy so I'm not up on the lingo.

[brassburnz]

I'm not listening from a car radio, I'm listening from an XM receiver. Most of the time I'm not in California, and the headset I have has individual ear buds so I can use one only while driving.

To the comment regarding A2DP, I have no idea what that means. As I mentioned, I'm not very tech savvy so I'm not up on the lingo.

OK. Sorry I misunderstood. You might try using a small bluetooth speaker. I have this one. Pretty good sound. Not stereo. I got mine for about $14 on Yugster. The Amazon price can be beat, but the link is for the description.

https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Bluetooth-Wireless-Speaker-HX-P230PU/dp/B007R6HUDK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468537054&sr=8-2&keywords=bluetooth+speaker+jam