Headset VS. Headphones

Question

Headset VS. Headphones

When I connect my Bose SoundLink around-ear Bluetooth headphones (Bose AE2w) and go onto my sound properties and it comes up with headphones and headset for the same headphones. When I choose the headphone choice, it has better sound quality. I can even choose enhancements. It doesn’t have static and I hear all of the apps that have sound very clearly. When I choose the headset choice, it has static and worse sound quality.The problem is the microphone doesn’t work if I don’t turn on the headset. When I turn on the headset it overtakes all of the sound and everything sounds worse. I want to get it that I can hear all of my apps and sounds through the headphone choice and still use the microphone. Thanks for reading.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Community. I will certainly help you with the issue that you are facing.

I would like to guide you on the difference between headphone and headset.

• Headphones are designed to playback sound or music and are placed close to user’s ears. A headset always has a microphone that are attached to it, which allows user to speak.
• Headphones allow user to just listen to music or sounds. However, headsets also do the same, but they also have the microphone that allows the user to speak while listening.

If you are facing issues with the headset or the headphones, you may try the following methods and check if it helps.

Method 1: Run the troubleshooter

This will automatically detect and resolve the basic issues or settings that might cause this. Follow the steps below.

1. Press Windows + W.
2. Type “Troubleshooting” and hit Enter.
3. On the left pane, click on view all.
4. Click on Recording audio and follow the prompts.

Similarly, run the “Playing Audio” troubleshooter as well.

If the issue persists, try method 2.

Method 2: Uninstall and Reinstall drivers

I would suggest you to uninstall the driver for the headphones and the audio drivers. To do so, visit the computer manufacturer’s website to download the audio drivers. Once you have downloaded the audio drivers, follow the steps below.

1. Press “Windows Logo” + “X” keys on the keyboard.
2. Click on “Device Manager” from that list.
3. Expand Sound video and game controllers from the device list, right click on the driver and then select “Uninstall”. On the un-installation window, if you have an option: “Delete the driver software for this device” you may select that and then remove the corrupted drivers from the computer.
4. Do the same for “Audio inputs and outputs”

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete it and the restart the computer if prompted

Note: Disconnect the headphones/headsets before following these steps.

Let us know the results once you have tried these steps. Hope this information was helpful.

Answer 2

Thank you for answering. I have tried the methods that you recommended and I found a new problem. When I have the headphones on and the headset on without using the microphone the sound all goes to the headphones but, when I do use the microphone the sound mixer says the sound is going to the headphones. Though it doesn’t have sound at all. And when the headset is turned on it still has static.

Answer 3

Hi,

I apologize for the delay in response. And I appreciate your efforts towards resolving this issue.

I would suggest you to check the same with a different pair of headphones connected to your system. This will help us diagnose the issue.

If other headphones work fine then there might be an issue with this specific pair of headphones.

Let us know the results.

Thank You

Answer 4

This is a Windows 10 issue, when connecting bluetooth headphones that have a microphone, it creates 2 playback devices.  One is a headset, the other headphones.   You cannot just disable the headset as the headphones will no long work when you are trying to use the headeset as an input device.  You have to either use headset for both listening and microphone or you have to use heaphones for only listening.  You cannot combine the 2 device capabilities.  

Therefor, this is an issue with Windows 10 and nothing to do with the headset.

There is no resolution to this issue until Microsoft fixes it sadly.  I spent a few hours trying many things, none of it has to do with the device drivers or anything else, it's simply a matter of poor programming on Microsoft's side for how they natively handle bluetooth headsets.

Here is an entire Reddit thread on it, since Microsoft sucks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/5za65s/an\_alternative\_bluetooth\_manager\_for\_windows\_10/