The Nintendo Switch's recent 12.0.0 firmware update might not seem like much based on the official patch notes, but according to dataminers there's much more exciting information on the backend of it.
Following on from yesterday's finding - suggesting a "new" Switch dock could be on the way, it's now supposedly been discovered that this latest update has added audio support to the system's Bluetooth driver.
This information has once again been shared by well-known Nintendo dataminer OatmealDome:
As further noted by OatmealDome, Bluetooth audio has been a "highly requested feature" on the Nintendo Switch and with Bluetooth headphones becoming increasingly common, we're sure many players would appreciate being able to connect certain wireless headsets to their system.
To combat the lack of support for wireless headsets, over the years we've seen a bunch of third-party companies releasing dongles, which attach directly to the Switch.
So, what do you think? Does this sound too good to be true, or do you think Nintendo might finally make Bluetooth audio devices compatible with the Switch? Share your thoughts down below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 107
Bluetooth would be great although my USB adaptor does the job quite nicely.
I can see the tech guys at Nintendo holding this back to try and limit the number of Bluetooth signals bouncing around the room as to not interfere with the controller input.
That being said... wireless earbuds are way more popular now than when the Switch launched, so it may he in their best interest to keep the system from feeling dated if they want to squeeze another few years out of it.
Same here. I have the Platinum wireless USB adapter that lets me use my wireless Sony Gold headset. Sounds incredible to. @theiRiS
Interesting that means all those BT makers will now have to innovate to get your money....
Oh man please please please. My bluetooth headphones have much better sound than my wired. C' mon Nintendo!
Seems odd how they didn't support that earlier now that I think about it.
I really want more surround sound options when playing docked. Cant believe gamecube and wii titles had dolby support but the switch doesn't
@JayJ If I remember right, there's a seperate license fee they have to pay to the Bluetooth company in order to use BT audio specifically. Nintendo probably just waited to see if there'd be enough demand for them to be comfortable shelling out.
@CTmatic o
thatd be a welcome feature, it would save me the trouble of getting a 3rd party accessory for it
So took Nintendo over 4 years to add something that's industry standard on every device these days. They are so behind the competition when it comes to hardware and UI etc I mean where are folders? Themes? Not long ago added basic functions to eshop. Bluetooth? Messaging? Achievement system? Free monthly games like the competition aswell would be nice.
Come on nintendo you clearly have the money to add these simple things
Should have been a day 1 feature...only 4 years late but better then nothing
@UltimateOtaku91
Neither do Sony and Microsoft while Nintendo supports headphones that use dongles just like Sony does, even the lowest latency Bluetooth audio standard isn’t good enough for serious gaming and they use compression while popular gaming headphones are 16 ms and below while being lossless which is the likely reason they’ve all ignored it.
@UltimateOtaku91 did the PS4 and Xbox One have bluetooth audio support?
I was tempted to buy the genki ones but boy o' boy, i found those above my budget (for what it was)
I recently expressed that I wanted Bluetooth audio support on Switch, so I hope this goes somewhere, even if it for whatever reason is locked to a newer model...
And here I am just getting my bluetooth adapter in the mail
It's almost like the Switch was a hard reset for Nintendo. They know how to do all this stuff, but they seem to like simplicity a little too much.
@UltimateOtaku91 Nintendo is not in the market to make industry standard stuffs, they are a videogame company. They are in the market to make videogames the priority first. If those industry standard stuffs had nothing to do with gaming or doesn't evolve or innovate gaming in any way then Nintendo had no reason to implement them even if their competitors implement those features already. Also you could already play free games if you're an NSO subscriber, Nintendo give you select NES and Super NES games for play on Switch free of charge as long as you stay a member with new older games added once every while.
MmHmm.....@andyg1412
My most requested Switch feature since day 1...
@theiRiS I have one but it lags slightly.
Would be nice. Have a lovely pair of Sony XM3s which sound utterly brilliant even through Spotify never mind lossless FLACs.
I thought it already had audio support. Well good thing it does now because soon l'm getting wireless headphones.
@Ghost_of_Hasashi it's true that you get a library of nes and snes games but for £3 a month more Sony gives away current AAA games. This month they added the new Oddworld game to the PS+ lineup along with Days Gone & Zombie Army 4. Last month we got FF7 remake!
Xbox Gold free games are a little more disappointing but with GPU it's not really a problem, and it's nice getting multi gen games for free every month.
Bluetooth support would be nice on Switch as my new Xbox Wireless Headset is coming tomorrow, I would have to play MHR muted.
@Ghost_of_Hasashi Using a headset, for online game chat, voice commands, surround sound, and now 3D audio has been part of the innovation in video games.
Audio has come a long way from TV stereo. Nintendo's audio hasn't. Audio is one of the three senses we use to play games and can enhance games in many ways.
Both single player and multiplayer gamers would benefit from Nintendo taking a wireless headset seriously.
Sounds like more half-baked stuff from Nintendo.
If this gets implemented I may upgrade my headphones, but until then it's a pipedream. Besides, my priority is Switch Pro before new headphones.
So I can connect my switch lite to my bluetooth shower speaker and listen to Mario Galaxy's album while showering? Sounds cool lol.
@nessisonett
I have those as well, They honestly don't sound that good to me. By default they are way to bass heavy. I always end up having to tweak the EQ. But the ANC is great!
Something like Audio-Technica M50xBT is a less expensive option that honestly sounds better and feels more premium. the downside being that it doesn't have ANC at all.
After I accidently lost my m50xBT at a park I decided I wanted to try something with ANC so I got the Sony 1000xm3.
and on top of that I have a wired pair of m50x in my mini music studio/office. I also have HyperX Cloud 2, even this gaming headset sounds more detailed and better than Sony 1000xm3.
@Ghost_of_Hasashi how's that boot taste?
@Moonlessky they had Dolby Pro Logic II support which is different. PCM audio is no different to the Dolby and DTS lossless formats in terms of quality.
Hope this happens. I'd love to play with my BOSE wireless headphones at the TV when my neighbours are being noisy.
@chocolate_supra makes sense.
I hope this doesn't turn the way of the apple and get rid of the audio port. Sorry but I don't like bluetooth earphones, I like my wired earphones
Oh please let it be so, it would be a fantastic addition and save us gamers some money & plastic from dongles
If this becomes an reality i will buy a new wireless headphone. Would be nice.
This should have been a feature from the beginning can’t understand why it’s not the Vita has it and that came out in 2012
Unless it has Apt-HD Low Latancy it's unusable for games, though.
@Mr-Fuggles777 @Ghost_of_Hasashi Ahem, just a reminder to you two. Neither Nintendo nor Sony gives away free games.
You're paying for the NES/SNES games, you're paying for the PS+ games.
If you have to pay for something else to get something, what you get isn't free.
Think of the months where you haven't gotten anything interesting from ps+, or nso.
That's how you're paying for the things that you did find interesting.
It's an extremely clever way of selling things to customers, because you can mask it as "free games" while selling said games at rng prices because people pay for them through the subscription.
@Moonlessky Switch has 7.1 surround sound over HDMI when docked. unfortunately it doesnt have Virtual surround sound when using headphones like 3DS :/
@Alch @Mr_Persona @KonoRobinMaskDa676 @BongoBongo123
Just a heads up guys that the current Switch does not support bluetooth audio at this moment despite the code work in the backend. The updated code will probably be used in the next hardware iteration of the Switch. I think there might be hardware issues barring the current models from providing bluetooth audio.
I have a small dongle I plug on the usb c and then I use my bluetooth earphones, so I don't really mind about it.
@Blizzia true, but you also get a lot more for your subscription from Sony and Microsoft than you do with Nintendo. I pay to play online so effectively the games added are "free".
Even if we remove the games Nintendo's online service is years behind the competitors. No voice chat or party options, you can't send friends a message and the actual online stability is poor for most Nintendo games - Smash was borderline unplayable for the first year (no idea if it's stable now as I got rid of it).
@Mr-Fuggles777 Regardless of what you pay for, you're paying for the games they provide You pay Sony more, so you get more - makes sense.
I do agree that Nintendo's NSO is horribly behind, I honestly just use it for the save backups.
@Blizzia it's only £3 a month difference better NSO and PS+ yet the services provided are miles apart.
I would happily pay the same as PS+ on Switch to get a better online service and have AAA / AA games added in monthly to play whilst the sub is active.
I still play with my 3DS quite a bit, so either way I need to use wired headphones at some capacity, though I imagine this would be great for those who primarily play on the Switch.
crossplay mic's come in really weird when playing apex. Maybe this will help
Let’s hope older games patch it in! I’m looking at you monster hunter rise, Diablo.......
@Mr-Fuggles777
That's an additional £36 a year, which is twice what NSO costs.
However, yeah, the value for money for PS+ is a lot better than NSO.
I would love native Bluetooth audio Would be fantastic esp. for Hellblade
Throw in proper support for USB audio class 2.0 and Qualcom aptx low latency and they've got a winner. I have to use a Creative Bluetooth adapter for my headphones and an hdmi extractor to hook my dac up.
@Rambler Oddworld SoulStorm is £45 to buy so having that included this month has already shredded the difference in subscription prices and that before you factor in the 2 PS4 games
That will be awesome!
@UltimateOtaku91 do themes, folders and messaging on the console enhance gameplay?
Are Xbox Live Gold and Playstation Plus the same price as NSO?
@Mr-Fuggles777 You should get a job as a sales rep for Sony or Microsoft...you certainly do a fair amount of plugging for them round here!
@WiltonRoots they just offer better online services, ive only just gone back to xbox ( Igot rid of my XB1 early on last gen) and its hard to ignore the value for money you get from them (My Series S cost less than my OG switch!).
If Nintendo pulled their finger out and sorted the online service there wouldn't be a comparison to be made would there.
@MaxiPareja they enhance the user experience and quality of life, simple things even the 3ds had (apart from messaging)
And no they aren't the same price but ps plus is £3 more a month than nso but offer 3 games to keep a month which cost easily more than £45 plus extra percentage off in sales and free games giveaways every now and then. So yes whilst NSO is cheaper it is also still not worth that price.
Gonna need to pick up some banana ketchup
@MaxiPareja to me it's like because the switch is selling like crazy they actually don't care what their players want and they aren't interested in improving the ui or add system improvements, people have been asking for folders since it's release and 4 years after still nothing
@Mr-Fuggles777
Blimey!
@Mr-Fuggles777 I don't play games enough to be that bothered about online services to be fair, a few hours here or there at weekends at most. I mean I got 3D World in Feb, still only got about 15 hours in it...it's just an occasional hobby to me.
@WiltonRoots I work nights and I'm lucky enough to be able to play games if its quiet and take my switch and Xbox Series S, so I can get 8-10 hours of gaming in a shift. I prefer multiplayer as sitting in a room alone for 50 hours a week gets pretty boring.
I honestly don't understand how people keep touting Bluetooth headset support as some kind of good thing.
It's awful. Downright unusable, even.
It's fine for chatting but not for games. The lag and delay desyncs the audio. I recommend nobody subject themselves to such an archaic form of headset audio. You may as well just mute the game- probably enjoy it more that way.
You need a headset with dedicated wireless dongle to avoid the quarter to half second lag of Bluetooth. I use the Arctis 9 Wireless which connects wirelessly to Switch but also has Bluetooth to connect to Discord on your phone, and mix the chat audio with the game audio. Perfect for Monster Hunter Rise.
But ya. It's time to put Bluetooth headsets to rest once and for all.
Wish as well that they fixed the surround sound format they are using, because non of my surround sets are able to translate it, still stuck with Stereo. I would be already fine with simple Dolby Digital 5.1.
@T0biasCZe it has 5.1 uncompressed linear pcm. Sadly pcm cant be transmitted through an Arc setup (which is what a lot of people use) and a lot of the most common and affordable surround sound systems dont even support pcm. This is why I want DD or DTS support added to the switch
@BJQ1972 in terms of quality? no. In terms of convenience and compatability?yes
@JaxonH I would guess cause wireless = good. I had a friend like that who acted like if it has a wire it's just bad. That or people just want to not deal with a wire. However bluetooth is a awful way to deal with that. If you don't have the right headset there is going to be a awful delay to make anything using timing with sound unplayable. Hell I tried using my good uetooth headphones on my pc for a mmo....it was just a mess.
Also with all the people whining at Nintendo for not including it...does Sony or Microsoft? I know the PS4 doesn't because most wireless headphones sold for it uses a dongle.
@Jimmy_G_Buckets They probably (almost definitely) also have way more audio lag/latency.
The problem with wireless earbuds is that very few support Low Latency codec, which is essential for gaming. I'd bet that's why Nintendo doesn't allow you to simply connect earbuds via bluetooth.
Most gaming headsets have their own USB dongle and use a low latency connection... the receivers/headphones designed for movie watching do the same.
Connect Bluetooth earbuds to your phone and watch someone play a video game on Twitch to see what it's like.
It would be nice to use my Airpods sometimes.
@Mr-Fuggles777 .
I want to like XBOX because I develop for Microsoft and have an XBOX but the games just lack an aesthetic and a feel that Nintendo games, normally, have. Sony and Microsoft games just feel too sanitary and rigid. I prefer PC gaming to XBOX and Playstation
@Arehexes You are correct... but if the Switch were to support Low Latency (LL) codec and people could more readily buy earbuds that properly support LL, the problem would be solved.
Nintendo is probably waiting to see if wireless earbuds go this route. Right now, most LL bluetooth headphones are over-the-ear and designed for movie watching. Most earbuds only seem concerned to support the most recent HD audio codecs, which is great for music listening, but not for TV/movies/games.
@holygeez03
I use two different Bluetooth earbuds, AirPods and AKG, and the AKG do lag with Gaming and TV somewhat but the sound seems more natural. The Airpods have very little latency but the sound can seem artificial and hollow at times due to the processing.
@JaxonH That's not really true... there is a aptX Low Latency bluetooth codec... if the transmitter (Switch) and headphones/earbuds support aptX LL, the audio delay is essentially negligible unless you are really looking for it.
@Zidentia To my knowledge, no AirPods support low-latency codecs... so there will always be at least 150 - 200 ms of audio delay... not terrible, but not good enough for most people with regard to TV/movie/gaming audio sync.
Proper Low Latency is less than 40 ms.
@Zidentia Ori felt like a Nintendo game albeit slightly darker in tone, especially as the ending to WotW left me a little emotionally broken.
@holygeez03 Yeah I specifically use a usb-c transmitter that shows which codec is used. Which helped me figure out which pair of headphones would support aptx LL to reduce the latency for playing games. It was really hard to found a proper headset. Which I don't think most people seem to understand. They just use a pair of headphones and from they can see it works.
Maybe I'm different cause I play stuff like Miku or use vlc on my phone to sync up audio and video when using headphones. So stuff like that hits me more.
@Moonlessky I agree with you! I'm ok with the multichannel PCM support that the switch currently has except for the 2 big issues:
1. When games only output stereo sound, switch still outputs silent center, side and rear channels. This really messes with the Decoder in the AVR. As it will not use dolby surround up mixing to fake it and use more speakers. (Astral chain is a bad offender)
2. Switch has lack of Sound options available to Devs AFAIK. Such as Two channel mode or even an option to use Dolby digital or Dolby digital plus. The latter can even be encoded to take advantage of Atmos.
It's sad when some old Dolby surround encoded 2ch N64 and GameCube games have a more immersive sound field than new Switch games.
I have a great 5.2.4 Atmos system and switch lags behind even the Xbox 360 in the Audio department.
I think this is why I will eventually get a new Xbox that supports Atmos for games like Doom eternal, Wolfenstein and others. Nintendo really dropped the ball with audio tech on Wii U and Switch.
I was surprised to see the Switch lack BT audio support given that the Vita had it. It will be nice to be able to use wireless headsets while gaming again...
As long as the headphone jack doesn't disappear in Switch Pro....
I have wanted this for years! Sign me up!
@JaxonH I don’t know what cheap, crappy hardware you use but I’ve literally had zero connection problems with my PS4/PS5. Invest in better hardware lmao 😂
This is really all I've wanted them to add to the system since it came out! I'd gladly toss my usb-c bluetooth adapter in the drawer if the Switch could pair with my headphones directly!
@holygeez03
Switch doesn't support aptX LL afaIk because aptX LL requires a dedicated wireless antenna, but even if it did, I've tried it and it's not the perfect lag free experience some tout it as. They claim sub-40 ms but I could notice the lag in audio.
Almost every headset worth its salt nowadays comes with a dedicated wireless dongle. I'm not really sure where this desire for BT is coming from. That's fine and well for wireless earbuds talking on a phone, but it's incredibly subpar in a gaming setup.
@Switcher
I do buy better equipment. That's why I have an Arctis 9 Wireless and Arctis 1 wireless rather than Bluetooth designed for phone earbuds with 3rd party adapter dongles. I use a dedicated headset with wireless dongle that achieves way less Latency than Bluetooth could ever hope to offer. And it works with my PS5, my PC and my Switch.
Whereas PS5 requires an adapter just like Switch does. And I've tried 3 different adapters, and none of them made a difference. AptX LL was better but still no prize experience.
Bluetooth is bottom of the barrel table scraps for gaming and it still boggles my mind people want to use it when far superior options exist. Bluetooth is for phone earbuds. Not gaming. That's why Nintendo and Sony don't use it.
I'll stick with my Arctis 9 Wireless for Switch chat mixing Discord on phone (something the Bluetooth CAN do well) and/or Arctis 1 Wireless for audio on Switch and audio/chat on PS5/PC. But you do you.
@JaxonH Personal experience the desire comes from people who don't know better and think "My phone has it why doesn't this?"
Probably some whack method for creating a symbiotic connection to your phone for OOB game communication. The next iteration of that app.
@Mr-Fuggles777
The problem with comparing the online services is that it completely depends on the personal situation.
I, for example, usually buy games that interest me the most and I also usually have enough games, that I don't bother with games that I care less for.
That means, that PSN and Xbox Live "free games" effectively offer me nothing, as every single game they give me is either something I already have or something that I don't care enough about for it to matter.
If you really wanted to play Oddworld (using your example), didn't buy it yet for some reason and now got it for free => great for you, the service fee you are paying was 100% worth it for you that year.
If I wasn't planning to buy Oddworld anyway, than I only got a game I don't care about enough to buy it anyway, making it almost worthless. I can tell myself "I got this expensive game for free!!!" but in reality I paid for it through a fee with money that I wouldn't have spend at all otherwise.
For me the only point that remains is:
I want to be able to play online.
Of all 3 consoles Nintendo offers me that for the least amount of money. It is bad that we have to pay for that in the first place, but the others are still worse.
If you think that NSO is so much worse than the other services, than that might very well be correct for you, but not for everyone.
I don't care much, but this is a highly requested feature.
Add support for my Corsair VOID USB headset. Other USB audio works, why not my VOID?
This is Nintendo we're talking here; a company that doesn't even allow you to change the wallpaper of your screen, so...nope. Not happening, and if it does, most certainly will go the Sony root, where only Sony wireless headphones, costing nearly 100£ will work.
If this turns out to be true, then it would be awesome!
None of you understand why. Imagine a lag between the button and the sound? It's f****ng annoying. only APTX-LL can solve it. No true wireless earphones have this codec only the semi-wired or the big headphones that are bluetooth have this. Get ready to buy new APTX-LL or Switch certified headphones because otherwise it'll be lag city! Also... the reason that youtube doesn't lag with your sh***y bluetooth earbuds right now is because the software intelligently slows down the video to compensate for the bluetooth lag. You can't do this with games because you don't know when someone will do an action that needs a sound, it's not passive like video.
@JayJ it's standard Nintendo practice. Every gen they hold something back to make it a sales feature for the next.
For GCN they wouldn't embrace 16:9 or online.
Wii's big feature alongside motion control was 16:9 and online.
Wii U, purposely locked their Mario games to 720p and forced limited Rgb signal to make Switch look like a bigger jump with its standard full rgb signal. It's all basic tactics.
Gba - no backlight, only 2 buttons, 2 triggers,
Ds - low back light, 4 buttons, 2 triggers, no stick
3ds - one stick!!!
Switch - no bluetooth audio
See where I'm going, you can see a clear path for the next Switch iteration.
I'd say likely this is for Switch Pro.
@keatonhj as I say above - its being added to firmware for the upcoming Switch Pro later this year which will support APTX. See 💁♂️
@Danrenfroe2016 Wii U thankfully has much better sound quality than compressed Switch sound. Switch audio reminds me of N64 audio, horrific.
@Ghost_of_Hasashi now that's just silly.
Nintendo are in the hardware market and take great pride in that.
The problem is they like to do it on the cheap, they always cut corners and always will do to save that 0.01p hence why nothing they have is half standardised, heck they only started supporting full rgb, and only entered HD 8 years ago lol.
If composite out was still available and cheaper than HDMI Nintendo would not have a HDMI console they are that tight, FACT ROFL.
@holygeez03 you are right, there are ZERO true wireless earbuds that support APTX-LL, most are just headphones or semi-wireless with a joining wire.
@keatonhj That doesn't appear to be true either... a simple search on Amazon for "earbuds low latency" will bring up a few options.
Bluetooth is quite the power hungry technology when not kept under tight restraints.
So I fully understand why support for headphones have been left out so far.
Not to say I wouldn't appreciate the option, however.
Ever since the 10.0 update I've been having constant issues with the audio on my switch, the headphone jack stops working and the stereo speakers too. I've been able to fix it by letting the switchs battery completely die but this recent update messed it up again and that trick is not working anymore. 😕
Maybe the support is not for this Switch, but for a new model... You know, the one with the new dock.
couldn't care less, not a fan of wireless headphones, except for airpods which have horrible audio quality but are very convenient on the go.
@Pod it was. modern bluetooth tech is extremely power efficient and barely affects phones' battery life.
@papersamus
I have heard this same statement made every year for the past fifteen years and I still don't agree entirely.
If not kept properly managed, a bluetooth receiver might keep scanning for connections, even whilte irrelevant to the purpose for which the the device is currently being used, and waste quite a bit of power in the process.
It still has other issues as well, but I won't deny that Bluetooth is the best we've currently got for the job its doing.
@Pod my phone constantly has several connections to aripods, watch, bt speaker and i never touch it, haven't noticed any battery drain. imo your idea of bt is a bit dated. bt has other problems though like less than perfect sound quality, lags and inconsistent connection, but power consumption hasn't been a problem for at least 4-5 years.
Good grief, a ten year old system, PS Vita has Bluetooth.... get with it Nintendo!
There are 2 things needed to make this work properly: Apt-x Low Latency support to eliminate lag and a separate bluetooth adapter/antenna for simultaneous connection (controller+headset). The latter hardware is hopefully part of the Switch Pro design
It always amazes my how many people here are shocked and appalled that people like to have options and may like other things than they do.
I used Bluetooth headphones on my vita, standard sbc, had no noticeable slowdown.
Meanwhile, the PSP Go had stereo Bluetooth in 2009. That's for the 'Sony never had this either" crowd.
Cya
Raziel-chan
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