How can I stream music from a MusicCast device to my Bluetooth headphones or speakers?
Having recently purchased a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0’s to keep the neighbours happy i thought it worthwhile documenting my experience trying to pair them with my Yamaha RN402D stereo amp. This should of been easy, but i tell you it wasn’t, and the user manual for the Yamaha basically sends you on a wild goose chase. Pairing the M2’s with my android phone was simple enough, enter pairing mode on the M2’s by holding down the power button for a couple of seconds until you hear ‘Pairing Mode Activated’ through the cans, then enable bluetooth on your phone and search for the Momentum Headphones, then connect. Easy.
The problem with the Yamaha is there is no obvious way of doing this. The manual tells you to enter pairing mode by holding the connect button on the remote of the amp. This doesn’t work for Bluetooth pairing, it’s designed for Yamaha MusicCast devices only. If you want to connect third party bluetooth cans you need to use the MusicCast app on your phone. While the manual does tell you this, it doesn’t then tell you how to pair a new device. I incorrectly assumed i could use the ‘Add device’ wizard, again this is only designed for other MusicCast devices.
Instead, the correct procedure, is to click the ‘Sound Setting icon’ on the ‘Now Playing’ screen, then select ‘Bluetooth Transmission’. Once on this screen, enter pairing mode on your bluetooth headset and then search for new devices. Your headphones should then appear for selection and pairing. Now why would you hide it there, Yamaha.
Pete's Tech Blog 
Question, if I may. Does the receiver allow pairing more the=an one Bluetooth headphones at the same time?
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Used this blog to connect to my Bose sound bar, many thanks was about to take streaming unit back. Instructions no good without this blog would never have known many thanks once again.
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Thanks. I don’t think I would ever have found that menu option.
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Ok weird, I have just set up my RXV685 and that option isn’t in the sound settings menu
Information is my last menu item. I have a pair of Yamaha Bluetooth headphones that I am trying to connect.
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I have the same receiver and a set of Sony MDR – 1000X headphones. The Music Cast App recognises/registers the headphones, but I just can’t get them to play music, so frustrating, I’ve spoken to Richer Sounds where I bought the equipment they spent some time with me going through various attempts at a pairing, general consensus was the Bluetooth transmission is not working. If you come up with any answers please, please let me know!
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Instead of the Musiccast app, I connected two different Sony headphones by using the Setup>Bluetooth>Audio Send>Device Search using the remote and on-screen menus. This was also on a V685.
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I literally don’t have the “Bluetooth transmissions” part of the menu. I just went to try Johns way below and I also don’t have a “Audio send” option in the receiver main menu, only Bluetooth Receive!
I can cast music from my phone to the receiver without an issue, but I can’t send anything from the receiver to headphones.
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Amazing coincidence! Bought a Yamaha CRXN470D and Sony WH1000xM3 phones yesterday at Richer Sounds Belfast. Had greta demo in shop, tried to set up phones today with tota; frustration…..hours and hours wasted. Then found this blog and hey presto..listening to Coldplay on phones now…brilliant.
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Perfect answer. Wish I had found earlier today but All is good now
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Ok so how do I allow my Dell laptop to play thru the yamaha via bluetooth?
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The way i achieve this is by using DLNA. Ensure both devices (source and Yamaha receiver) are both on the same network, enable DLNA streaming on your source (Windows has one built in, see Media Streaming Options under Network and Sharing Center) or install a 3rd party media server, like Plex or Kodi, and point the server to your media library. Then on the Yamaha Receiver open the MusicCast application on your phone, select network, and choose the Media Server you just set up, select the artist / album / song, hit play.
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Many thanks for this. Had to scroll down to the bottom of the sound settings to find the Bluetooth Transmission setting, not easy to find at all. Have successfully paired Yamaha CRX-N470D with Sennheiser HD4.40BT headphones. Couldn’t have done it without your help.
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Thanks ! I did not find this helpful information anywhere else.
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Would never have found this ever……
It works, but unfortunately plays at tip top volume.
no settings on phone, amp or CD player seem to be able to turn it down ….
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Should be able to control the volume on the MusicCast app or on the bluetooth headset controls directly (where available)
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Thanks!
You would think so, but app volume, mobile phone volume, and amp volume all have no affect.
It seems to come through as “maximum volume” setting from the amp as seen in the manual describing Bluetooth setup.
Btw, it is sending to a Vamp connected to ordinary speakers, if anyone has experience of those. They don’t have volume settings.
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Ah well,
Might try it again this weekend.
With some very quiet music 🙂
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Sweet! Thank you so much for sharing this.
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Nothing worked for me, until I found this from Bat Boy 42, cheers mate.
Steps:
1) Update the firmware of you RX-V485. YOU NEED TO DO THIS, otherwise the “Device Search” option won’t appear.
2) Lets say you have your TV connected on input HDMI1. While on HDMI1 press and hold the power button on your headphones until you hear the “Bluetooth pairing” prompt.
3) On your remote control press: Setup>Bluetooth>Device Search
4) When your headphones appear, select them by pressing Enter. Done.
My silly mistake was thinking you needed to use the Bluetooth button on your remote control.
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Thanks,
Useful info, without it I would be still trying…
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QUESTION: I managed to connect my Bose bluetooth headphones using this post 12 months ago, now I want to disconnect or unpair these headphones from the unit. My problem is everytime I power on my headphones my Yamaha Amp powers on automatically. I now need these headphones for another purpose and want to disconnect or unpair them from the Music Cast App / Yamaha Amp… ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
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Thanks Nich for that question. Same problem. Is there a solution? Thanks for any tipps!
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I also have this issue (wanting to remove previously connected devices from the list) and cannot find an answer anywhere online! Does anyone know?
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Thanks for the tips ! It worked with B&O H8 headset.
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Thanks, your blog post made my day! Worked fine with Sony WH-1000XM3.
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Thank you for this post! I was finally able to pair my Siemens bluetooth receiver for my hearing aids to our Yamaha RX-A780, however I’m unable to maintain a connection (I can hear the attempts, but it never fully connects). Any tips on maintaining a connection are welcome!
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I can’t connect my new Bose 700 bluetooth headset to my Yamaha N470D stereo system. Musiccast displays: “Bluetooth transmission cannot be used if the selected input source is Bluetooth”. How do I switch between Bluetooth input and output? I can’t find any information in the user manual on this topic. I only have Musiccast installed on my Samsung S10 smartphone and my Windows pro 10 PC.
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It sounds like you have selected ‘Bluetooth’ as your source, to stream music from your phone, and are then attempting to stream the music via Bluetooth to your Bose headphones. The N470D can either transmit of receive via bluetooth, but it cant do both at the same time. If you want to listen to music from your phone on your headphones just pair your phone direct with your headphones, the N470D is not required. If you want to use the headphones with your N470D, just select any other source other than bluetooth.
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I have the slimline RX-S602 with the latest firmware. I have successfully connected my Sony MDR-1000X, watched movies and listened to music, all solid and no issues (TIP: I found that the source was playing through both the speakers and the headphones…. I turned down the volume on the AVR an duse the on-headphone volume control to change the headphone’s audio)
My issue is, I now want to configure my Logitech remote so that I can tell the AVR to enable the bluetooth connection and reconnect to the device stored in the AVR, but without digging through menus. I’ve looked and can’t see an easy “Bluetooth Output” (like HDMI 1 Input, but for output) anywhere to speed this process up. It’s a pain to have to dig into the menu each time and reconnect.
Maybe I’m asking too much of the unit, but any thoughts or tips would be very welcome
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How do i get to the NOW PLAYING screen?
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Open the MusicCast app and select a room/device. Select a source, radio, server (doesn’t matter) and play something. This is the now playing screen. Follow the steps shown in the post to connect a Bluetooth receiver.
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Thank you….I have a TSR 700 Went into blue tooth assigned BT out, paired sony WH-XB 700 cans, work great! …Didn’t notice much of a delay….
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Thanks for this – I finally connected headphones 🙂
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Help. I have a Sony headphone audio issue that I can’t seem to resolve and I was hoping someone here could help me solve the problem. I bought the XM4s so that I could wirelessly watch movies late at night and not disturb my wife. Here are the details.
New Sony headphones (WH-1000xM4) – Current SW/FW downloaded. Reset several times.
Existing Yamaha receiver (RX-A1080) – Current SW/FW downloaded – V1.8. Reset several times. Yamaha directly connected (inbound from DVD and Spectrum TopBox) and directly connected (inbound and outbound to brand-new Samsung TV) with good HDMI cables provided by an Media/Audio professional.
What won’t work:
I can see the Sony headset in bluetooth and connect to the Yamaha box via Musiccast app or from Yamaha box, and I do get sound, but it is this weird “warbly” unintelligible audio connection that never gets any better on all sound inputs including TV apps like Netflx and Disney. Sound is like it’s connected but under water.
What I can do:
1) Connect new headset to Yamaha with a physical jack (no bluetooth) and I can listen without issues to all sound inputs.
2) Connect new headset to iPhones and iPads and Windows-10 laptop (bluetooth or physically) and listen without issues to all sound inputs.
3) Connect existing wireless earpods (both Backbeats and Pops) to the Yamaha with no issues.
I’ve tried going back to factory settings, resetting it all by starting all systems and headset over, reinstalling headset apps on Iphone, etc. I’ve looked for switches and such in Yamaha, Musiccast app and Sony app. I talked to Yamaha and Sony tech support – they had no new ideas I had not tied. Sony even replaced the original headset with a new one – but same experience (I re-ran all tests).
Now what? Anyone experienced this?
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I am trying to connect my sony wh-1000xm3 headphones to my yamaha n803d receiver. in the Musiccast controller app when I go to the place you pointed to I can go to bluetooth streamen (dutch) then I can turn on bluetooth streaming. then I can choose many devices to connect. It lets me see all the phones here my tablet and television. But when I push on my smartphone where my headphone is connected by bluetooth it keeps circling and doesn’t do anything. And it doesn’t connect. The same if I try to connect it to another device on the list.
Can someone say what I am doing wrong?
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Disconnect your headphones from your phone, enter pairing mode on your headphones then open the Bluetooth screen on the music cast app.
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Thank you for the reply. I disconnected the Sony headphone in the settings from the smartphone in the bluetooth section. Sadly it doesn’t change anything in the musiccast app in the section mentioned. Even when I refresh and let the app seek new bluetooth receivers, I still see all the phones and tablet and tv (all with a question mark beside it that was also the case before the above actions) underneath it but not the headphone (which by the way pairs automatically and doesn’t have a pairing mode). I don’t know what more I can do.
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Connecting my Yamaha RX-V681 to a Bluetooth headset (Bluedio Turbine T4), I cannot control the headset’s volume. You can control the receiver’s volume freely but the headset stays at a standard level – it’s controls are inoperable. Can you give a reason?
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I have paired it and it connected, but the bluetooth speaker is not playing even though it shows connected
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You’re a life saver! I had been struggling to connect a bluetooth speaker for a while now.
Thanks
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Hi Pete, I just used your instructions to connect Sennheiser HD 450 BT Headphones to a Yamaha NT-670 Network Player. It took me less than five minutes. Without your instructions I would be still struggling to work it out. Thank you.
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Thank you very much for this information, I only just dicovered this today and had been getting by with hard wiring my Yamaha unit to a Panasonic soundbase but now I am free!!!
I’m not sure if it’s my imagination but the sound seems to have improved after going wire free.
Thanks again
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Thank You, Thank You, Thank You..I’m a vet with you know, so my insomnia is horrible and I’m sensitive to my neighbors traditional sleeping patterns..I couldn’t figure this out. Yamaha RX A 880 advantage receiver to galaxy buds to thanks to you..salute
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Yamaha 602 won’t play both wired speakers and a Bluetooth speaker together. Tried setting up the Bluetooth speaker in a “seperate room”, but can’t get it too work?
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I don’t think you can use both at the same time. If you opt for bluetooth playback you’re output is via the bluetooth speaker not the wired speakers
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Thank you!!
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So, to begin with I have a TSR-5830 receiver that I’ve successfully mated to Music cast. I want to pair a set of Bluetooth earphones. Where are you finding this “now playing screen? I can’t find it in the app anywhere! Why must they make tech so insufferably difficult to use?
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