[rlw6534]

The latest BT drivers for your Intel AX200: https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-bluetooth-for-windows-10-and-windows-11.html

He already has the latest BT drivers (22.150.0.6) from Intel.

 

[rlw6534]

He already has the latest BT drivers (22.150.0.6) from Intel.

Do you think he would be better off to use the HP drivers feature wise? The Intel one's are generic.

 

[bfreedma]

Do you think he would be better off to use the HP drivers feature wise? The Intel one's are generic.

Wouldn't hurt to try the HP driver if it's available. It does look that APTx is an available Codec already based on the initial screenshots, so not sure much would change.

 

[Nick24JJ]

Your can supposedly disable AAC in Windows with this registry entry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BthA2dp\Parameters]

"BluetoothAacEnable"=dword:00000000

Thank you, I have already seen that option on the web. The problem is, I do not have "Parameters" in my Registry. Do you mean that I should create that entry and then also create the entry "BluetoothAacEnable"? Because now it is not there.

 

[Nick24JJ]

Glad to help.

Based on the previous screenshots, it looks like APTx is enabled and available on your laptop. As @rlw6534 posted, the area to focus on is your device and not Windows.

Windows Optional updates are usually targeted fixes that don't need to be applied universally for security or functional enhancement. The generally followed rule for Optional Updates is to not install them unless there is a specific problem you are having that the optional update addresses.

The exception for many is the BIOS update for your system. It may enable other features, possibly including BT. That said, I wouldn't update BIOS until you do 2 things:

1. Try everything else discussed in this thread
2. Take a full backup of your system and make sure that the backup is good (try and restore a test file). While BIOS updates are 99.x% dramaless, it can brick your system if interrupted.

​

You are welcome, happy for your support!

Few questions:

1) Are the optional updates installing previous versions of the drivers? (most probably since the system is already up to date, right?)
2) Very important question about the BIOS! My BIOS is up to date. Will the optional update install a previous BIOS version or a newer one?
3) Please, tell me! From where exactly have you determined that aptX is enabled and available on my laptop? Because I have also connected my Qudelix-5K and it is also using the AAC codec or even the SBC! Sorry, connected the 5K only once - do not recall exactly. But it definitely does not run on aptX.

EDIT: are you referring to what Bluetooth Tweaker is showing? I think that it shows what codecs are available on the UTWS5 but what matters is what Windows selects. I'm not sure that proves that aptX is available on Windows 11

 

[bfreedma]

You are welcome, happy for your support!

Few questions:

1) Are the optional updates installing previous versions of the drivers? (most probably since the system is already up to date, right?)
2) Very important question about the BIOS! My BIOS is up to date. Will the optional update install a previous BIOS version or a newer one?

1. The optional updates are usually newer than the general release, though not always. Specific fixes (optional updates) may not get updated. The optional updates in your screenshot have a version number - compare that to the installed driver to see which is newer
2. Usually, a down revision version of BIOS is not available under Optional Updates. Are you sure your BIOS firmware is 15.3.0 or greater? Go to a command prompt and run "wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion" which will return the currently installed version. I would not downgrade BIOS/firmware unless I absolutely knew it would solve the issue, as it could reintroduce issues resolved by newer BIOS/firmware versions

 

[Nick24JJ]

1. The optional updates are usually newer than the general release, though not always. Specific fixes (optional updates) may not get updated. The optional updates in your screenshot have a version number - compare that to the installed driver to see which is newer
2. Usually, a down revision version of BIOS is not available under Optional Updates. Are you sure your BIOS firmware is 15.3.0 or greater? Go to a command prompt and run "wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion" which will return the currently installed version. I would not downgrade BIOS/firmware unless I absolutely knew it would solve the issue, as it could reintroduce issues resolved by newer BIOS/firmware versions

My BIOS version is F.04
Should I proceed with the optional firmware installation then?

 

[bfreedma]

My BIOS version is F.04
Should I proceed with the optional firmware installation then?

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar enough with HP's internal BIOS naming conventions to translate between the version in the response and what's showing in Optional Updates. You may have to boot into the BIOS to get the number related to the sequence the updates use.

All that said, I would save the BIOS update as a last resort. Bluetooth Tweaker should be able to display information about your Windows machine - do you see any APTx support there? Unfortunately, I don't have any APTx devices handy to see specifically what should be reported by Windows when it connects.

I would focus on the BT device and how to set it to request APTx from Windows. Are you on the latest firmware for the utws5?

There is also a FiiO employee who posts here and is fairly technical. Might want to ask him/her

 

[Nick24JJ]

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar enough with HP's internal BIOS naming conventions to translate between the version in the response and what's showing in Optional Updates. You may have to boot into the BIOS to get the number related to the sequence the updates use.

All that said, I would save the BIOS update as a last resort. Bluetooth Tweaker should be able to display information about your Windows machine - do you see any APTx support there? Unfortunately, I don't have any APTx devices handy to see specifically what should be reported by Windows when it connects.

I would focus on the BT device and how to set it to request APTx from Windows. Are you on the latest firmware for the utws5?

There is also a FiiO employee who posts here and is fairly technical. Might want to ask him/her

I booted into the BIOS but it says the same, F.04

I have selected to install only the optional firmware update from within Windows Optional Updates. After the firmware installation, without rebooting as it did not ask me to, I've checked for updates and immediately it installed the majority of the rest of the optional updates. Then it asked me to reboot. After that I checked in the Device Manager and my System Firmware is up to date now. What I cannot understand is how/why both Windows Update and HP Support Assistant were telling me, I am up to date all this time!

- My UTWS5 still runs on AAC.
- Not sure how Bluetooth Tweaker works, bought it last night, but I do not think it shows which codecs are available on Windows. It shows all the available codecs on the headset and then what Windows selects to use.
- Wish FiiO would/could(?) respond to such queries but I seriously doubt it.... I will post a specific question on the UTWS thread, though

Thank you

 

[bfreedma]

I booted into the BIOS but it says the same, F.04

I have selected to install only the optional firmware update from within Windows Optional Updates. After the firmware installation, without rebooting as it did not ask me to, I've checked for updates and immediately it installed the majority of the rest of the optional updates. Then it asked me to reboot. After that I checked in the Device Manager and my System Firmware is up to date now. What I cannot understand is how/why both Windows Update and HP Support Assistant were telling me, I am up to date all this time!

- My UTWS5 still runs on AAC.
- Not sure how Bluetooth Tweaker works, bought it last night, but I do not think it shows which codecs are available on Windows. It shows all the available codecs on the headset and then what Windows selects to use.
- Wish FiiO would/could(?) respond to such queries but I seriously doubt it.... I will post a specific question on the UTWS thread, though

Thank you

More decades in IT than I’d like to believe have taught me to borrow a phrase from the military - Trust but Verify.

The Optional Upgrades must have had the firmware upgrade as a prerequisite for the updates to change status from optional to automatic.

The big OS and software firms try to find the balance point between having too frequent an update cycle as with the number of users, there are always problems, and too few updates leading to install lag as you experienced. Security fixes (almost) always get distributed but feature updates and point solution fixes with a small user base often end up in Optional Updates to reduce risk. Firmware updates, though overwhelmingly safe, are still considered higher risk upgrades - a power outage or user caused power off can unrecoverably brick a system. Most other updates can be rolled back by the OS.

Hope you have some luck in the product thread - there are probably a number of users with Windows using APTx. Or if not, know what the issue is.

 

[rlw6534]

I booted into the BIOS but it says the same, F.04

I have selected to install only the optional firmware update from within Windows Optional Updates. After the firmware installation, without rebooting as it did not ask me to, I've checked for updates and immediately it installed the majority of the rest of the optional updates. Then it asked me to reboot. After that I checked in the Device Manager and my System Firmware is up to date now. What I cannot understand is how/why both Windows Update and HP Support Assistant were telling me, I am up to date all this time!

- My UTWS5 still runs on AAC.
- Not sure how Bluetooth Tweaker works, bought it last night, but I do not think it shows which codecs are available on Windows. It shows all the available codecs on the headset and then what Windows selects to use.
- Wish FiiO would/could(?) respond to such queries but I seriously doubt it.... I will post a specific question on the UTWS thread, though

Thank you

I'm not familiar with Bluetooth Tweaker but if it's showing the FiiO information (which makes sense now) then perhaps your computer doesn't support aptX. Have you tried it with the Q5K (turning off all codecs except aptx in the Qudelix app)? If that doesn't work I would assume you don't have aptX. You are running the Intel generic driver, it's possible that the HP driver has more features. I can't seem to get to the HP support site to check.

 

[redrol]

Windows 10 and 11 have APTx and no LDAC and BT support sucks.

 

[rlw6534]

Windows 10 and 11 have APTx and no LDAC and BT support sucks.

I think Windows 11 may have dropped aptX and changed to AAC. My Windows 10 laptop definately has aptX (it's not upgradable to Windows 11 though).

 

[Nick24JJ]

So, I've tested with my 5K and it seems that aptX is, indeed, supported but it depends from the device. I've connected my Qudelix-5K with USB and enabled all Bluetooth codecs (the 5K extension on Chrome works only when connected via USB). In this case - all codecs enabled - Windows selects AAC. When I disabled all besides aptX and the mandatory SBC, Windows selected the aptX codec. Any other codec makes Windows select SBC.

So, Windows 11 does support aptX,

With the FiiO UTWS5, Windows defaults to AAC. Since there's no way to enable/disable codecs on it, I will keep using AAC. The main reason I am using Bluetooth audio on my laptop is to watch movies/series from Netflix/Amazon Prime Video. With AAC the sound quality is fine for me, really nice, and the latency is excellent, no lip syncing issues. I've even listened to some YouTube music for a bit; it sounded pretty fine, no issues. But for my use case AAC is fine. I also have the FiiO BTA30 Pro for an enhanced Bluetooth audio experience, but I will be using this with the desktop I will buy towards the end of this year.

So, thanks a lot, guys, and also because I've updated my system with those optional updates! By the way, I have not installed the HP drivers, I've kept the latest drivers from Intel.

All the best, thank you

 

[helmutcheese]

Windows 11 has not dropped aptX, it just chooses AAC over SBC/aptX whereas it should be bellow aptX and is on most devices.

I can disable Codec on my FiiO LCBT2 Neckband so know it can connect to aptX on Windows 11 (Intel AX210 WIFI6E/BT 5.3) fine but normally use them with my FiiO BTA30 PRO for aptX-HD and LDAC.