This tutorial will convert your Raspberry PI into a Bluetooth receiver, which plays audio wirelessly through connected speakers:
Audio source (i.e. smartphone) -((( wireless channel )))-> Raspberry PI -> USB Audio -> Speakers
It works like a regular car audio system with Bluetooth but can be used anywhere and supports multiple audio sources.
I'm using Raspberry PI 1 Model B, running Raspbian Jessie. Make sure the system is up–to–date first:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
Note: It usually takes a while. Get some tee and sandwiches.
Then install required packages:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Enhance-your-Raspberry-Pi-media-center-with-Blueto/?ALLSTEPS
sudo apt-get install alsa-utils bluez bluez-tools pulseaudio-module-bluetooth python-gobject python-gobject-2
Not quite sure it's really needed (?), but it doesn't hurt:
sudo usermod -a -G lp pi
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ lsusb
...
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 041e:30d3 Creative Technology, Ltd Sound Blaster Play!
...
Bus 001 Device 012: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
...
The on–board audio produces low–quality, noisy output, so I decided to use something better. I used external USB Creative Sound Blaster Play! interface.
As for Bluetooth dongle, I used Digitus Tiny USB-Adapter, which is discovered as Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle.
Note: I used another dongle (different manufacturer) also discovered as Cambridge Silicon Radio but unable to stream audio. So beware, because different manufacturers use the same hardware in a different way. Or they pretend to use the same hardware for some (compatibility?) reasons. This way or another, if you get garbled audio or no audio at all but everything else is alright, don't worry, just try another dongle – it's cheap.
See RPi USB Bluetooth adapters for buying recommendations. Trial and error is another option, since most devices cost below $10.
Raspberry PI offers limited power to USB devices (and limited number of ports). You'll need some active (powered) USB Hub to keep USB devices stable and working (USB Audio, USB Bluettoth and optional USB WiFi). Google to learn more, it's a very common topic when using Raspberry PI.
Use the following configuration to get most of PulseAudio:
http://www.crazy-audio.com/2014/09/pulseaudio-on-the-raspbery-pi/
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
...
resample-method=ffmpeg
enable-remixing = no
enable-lfe-remixing = no
default-sample-format = s32le
default-sample-rate = 192000
alternate-sample-rate = 176000
default-sample-channels = 2
exit-idle-time = -1
...
Reboot PI:
sudo reboot
Note: PA is pretty CPU–consuming. With the following configuration it uses ~30% of my PI's CPU.
So if you expect PI to do something else beside A2DP and avoid sound glitches, reasearch different resample-method.
The problem is that on–board audio ouput is prefered over USB audio interface:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /proc/asound/modules
0 snd_bcm2835
1 snd_usb_audio
Some configuration does the trick and from now on RPI uses USB Audio as default:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
# This sets the index value of the cards but doesn't reorder.
options snd_usb_audio index=0
options snd_bcm2835 index=1
# Does the reordering.
options snd slots=snd-usb-audio,snd-bcm2835
Reboot PI:
sudo reboot
See snd_usb_audio as a preferred output:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /proc/asound/modules
0 snd_usb_audio
1 snd_bcm2835
Make sure Bluetooth audio is working and discovered as a car audio system
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf
[General]
Class = 0x20041C
Enable = Source,Sink,Media,Socket
I'm not quite sure if the following is also needed. But it doesn't hurt:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /etc/bluetooth/main.conf
[General]
...
Name = raspberrypi
Class = 0x20041C
...
Reboot PI:
sudo reboot
Pair devices (phones, tablets, PCs) with PI:
bluetoothctl
[bluetooth]# list
Controller 00:1A:7D:DA:71:06 raspberrypi [default]
[bluetooth]# agent on
[bluetooth]# default-agent
[bluetooth]# discoverable on
[bluetooth]# scan on
Then, for each device:
pair XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
trust XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
Given that the phone is already paired and connected to PI, run the following:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ pactl list sources short
0 alsa_output.0.analog-stereo.monitor module-alsa-card.c s16le 2ch 48000Hz IDLE
1 alsa_input.0.analog-mono module-alsa-card.c s16le 1ch 48000Hz IDLE
4 bluez_source.A8_88_08_11_AB_4B module-bluez5-device.c s16le 2ch 44100Hz RUNNING
and
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ pactl list sinks short
0 alsa_output.0.analog-stereo module-alsa-card.c s16le 2ch 48000Hz RUNNING
The whole trick to make a2dp work is to redirect a right source (like smartphone) to the right sink (ALSA). In the above case, it would be bluez_source.A8_88_08_11_AB_4B -> alsa_output.0.analog-stereo.
Each time a Bluetooth audio source connects, the new redirection must be made. Add udev rule which executes a2dp-autoconnect script each time a bluetooth device is connected
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo cat /etc/udev/rules.d/99-input.rules
KERNEL=="input[0-9]*", RUN+="/home/pi/a2dp-autoconnect"
The script is an extended version of http://blog.mrverrall.co.uk/2013/01/raspberry-pi-a2dp-bluetooth-audio.html. It redirects a new bluetooth device to the right sink and sets the right volume level.
I located it in /home/pi/a2dp-autoconnect, then set it executable:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ chmod +x a2dp-autoconnect
To observe connection log "live":
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ tail -f /var/log/a2dp-autoconnect