How to send odio audio to a Bluetooth speaker

odio can act as a Bluetooth source, routing whatever it’s playing (Spotify Connect, MPD, AirPlay, CDs, …) to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones. Once connected, the speaker shows up as a PulseAudio sink in the embedded UI’s Default Sink dropdown, selectable like any other output.

Pairing a speaker

Since odio-api v0.14.0, the Bluetooth panel in the embedded UI handles the whole flow, no CLI needed.

1. Put your Bluetooth speaker in pairing mode, usually a long-press on the Bluetooth button.

2. In the Bluetooth panel, click Scan. odio powers the adapter up if needed, discovers nearby audio devices, and streams them into the Devices list as they appear. A freshly seen device shows a grey dot.

   Note

   The panel’s Pairing button is the opposite direction, making odio discoverable so a phone can stream to it. For an output speaker you want Scan, then Connect.

3. When your speaker shows up, click Connect next to it. odio opens a pairing window for the connection, bonds with the speaker (no PIN needed while it’s in pairing mode), trusts it for future reconnections, and stops the scan. The button shows a spinner until the speaker reports connected, then its dot turns green.

The dot colors track pairing, not presence: a blue dot marks a device odio has already bonded with, so you can reconnect it later without redoing the pairing, whether or not it’s in range right now. A green dot means it’s connected at this moment.

Selecting the sink

The connected speaker appears in Audio Server → Default Sink. Pick it, and every odio source now plays through it.

Volume sync works the same way as for a built-in DAC: moving the UI slider changes the speaker’s volume over AVRCP, and physical buttons on the speaker update the UI.

Reconnecting

Once bonded, BlueZ reconnects the speaker automatically when both sides are powered and in range, including after a reboot of the node. This usually just works, but auto-reconnect isn’t 100% reliable across every speaker and firmware. If the sink doesn’t come back on its own, open the Bluetooth panel and click Connect next to the speaker.

After a reflash

A reflash wipes the node’s bonding state, so the speaker is no longer known. Put it back into pairing mode and reconnect from the embedded UI (Scan, then Connect).

Caution

Re-bonding after a reflash depends on the speaker and its firmware, and doesn’t always work on the first try. Restarting BlueZ on the node (sudo systemctl restart bluetooth.service) and power-cycling the speaker often help. If it still won’t connect, open an issue on odios with the device and the bluetoothctl output.

Pairing from the command line (fallback)

Pairing can also be done over SSH with bluetoothctl, handy on a headless node or when the UI flow won’t bond a stubborn speaker.

Put the speaker in pairing mode, SSH into the node, and open an interactive session:

bluetoothctl

Power the adapter and scan until the speaker appears in the output:

power on
scan on

[NEW] Device 40:C1:F6:D4:67:88 JBL Go 3

Then stop the scan, make the adapter pairable, connect, and trust the device for future reconnections:

scan off
pairable on
connect 40:C1:F6:D4:67:88
trust 40:C1:F6:D4:67:88
exit

Replace the MAC with yours. pairable on lets the adapter accept a new bond; with the speaker in pairing mode, connect then pairs and bonds with no PIN needed, and trust lets the node reconnect it without manual confirmation after a reboot.

See also

• Bluetooth for the opposite direction, using the odio node as an A2DP speaker that your phone streams to.