Hi, I'm facing the same problem as the initial submitter mrnickg.
I'm unable to listen to my iPod music through Bluetooth on my PC speakers.
I have a Dell Inspiron 17R 5737 with Windows 8.1 and the Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260 adapter ( with BT 4.0) level 16.6.0.8.
Reading the Microsoft documentation ( General Bluetooth Support in Windows (Windows Drivers) it is stated:
"Windows Support for Bluetooth Versions
What’s new in Windows 8.1?
Windows 8.1 includes the following enhancements to the Bluetooth stack and related software:
- Inbox radio management control for Bluetooth version 4.0 radios.
- Windows Runtime API support for RFCOMM and GATT protocol access.
What’s new in Windows 8?
Windows 8 includes the following enhancements to the Bluetooth stack and related software:
- Support for Bluetooth version 4.0:
- Bluetooth Low Energy support allows Windows to connect with Bluetooth Smart peripherals.
- eL2CAP enables enhanced re-transmission and flow control for profiles that require this functionality.
- An extensible transport model allowing support for Bluetooth radios on non-USB buses
- Support for the HFP, A2DP, and AVRCP Profiles"
In the Architectural Overview (Architectural Overview (Windows Drivers)), it is stated:
"
This topic presents an architectural overview of the Windows 8.1 support for rerouting audio data to bypass the Bluetooth host controller interface (HCI).
Starting with Windows 8.1, the Microsoft operating system has been updated to be compatible with low power system-on-a-chip (SoC) design solutions. The new Windows support is compatible with either Intel-based or ARM-based SoC designs. These new low-power devices will be optimized for “always on” scenarios, so low battery consumption will be a key factor for success.
SoC architectures use the Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) transport mode to transmit data to and from the Bluetooth host controller.
Because UARTs cannot provide time sensitive data transmission, a synchronous connection oriented (SCO) bypass channel must be implemented in addition to a UART, to transfer audio data via I2S or some other connection between the audio codec and the Bluetooth radio. This means that audio data must be rerouted to bypass the Bluetooth HCI. The Bluetooth HCI which would normally be used on PCs to transmit audio data.
It is important to note that this feature is simply offloading the same functionality that exists in versions of Windows prior to Windows 8.1, so from a user perspective there are no use cases that are different between the Bluetooth hands-free profile (HFP) on SoC and Bluetooth HFP in Windows on a PC or laptop."
And after the diagram:
"Note that this Windows feature does not support bypass audio streaming using advanced audio distribution profile (A2DP). Windows 8 provides a separate A2DP profile driver that completely supports audio functionality through the standard Bluetooth HCI without requiring any additional audio drivers."
.
To summarize: the BT architecture in Windows 8.1 process has changed from the previous Windows versions.
And the A2DP is still supported in Windows 8.1 since it was brought by Windows 8. As a consequence, when an iPhone/iPod is BT appaired to the PC its speakers should be able to play their music.
That behaviour was true on my professional laptop under Windows 7 and the same iPod.
I expect that you would be able to restore such expected BT behaviour on Windows 8.1.
Thanks for your action. Best regards. Gilbert.