Can one venue offer several Auracast streams at once (languages, audio description, a mix for hearing aids), and how do listeners choose?

Why it matters

One performance can have different listening needs: the show audio, an audio-description version, or a mix with more prominent speech. The Bluetooth Basic Audio Profile supports alternative presentations of a programme, including languages and dialogue-enhanced audio; theatres now describe selectable performance and audio-description feeds^1,2,3.

This question covers choices between programmes. Finding and joining a broadcast covers the general access process; many transmitters sharing one broadcast covers extending coverage. Language examples here illustrate the shared transmission and selection path; conference interpretation itself is outside scope^1,4,5.

What the evidence shows

A programme is not the same as a radio stream

In the Basic Audio Profile, a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) contains Broadcast Isochronous Streams (BISes). A subgroup collects the streams intended to play together: for example, the left and right channels of one language. Alternative languages, mono and stereo versions, or different mixes should occupy separate subgroups. An assistant can use their metadata to offer choices. Thus two BISes may represent one stereo programme, while four BISes can represent two stereo language choices, as the specification's example shows¹.

Products expose different arrangements. These are manufacturer descriptions, read on 13 October 2026, rather than independently measured capacity limits^6,7,8:

A hearing-accessible feed needs more than a label

The SIG's public-transmitter guidance requires at least one Standard Quality stream, using the mandatory 16 or 24 kHz codec settings. It also says public locations must make Standard Quality available for all audio content they provide through Auracast. Check that each intended choice is actually offered at such a setting. The receiver guide also recommends a separate mono subgroup where mono is needed, because receivers are not required to combine left and right into mono^9,10.

The SIG's transmitter guide describes an Assisted Listening Stream metadata marker for audio processed to improve intelligibility. It also cautions that hearing aids already perform personalised processing and may prefer another stream. An enhanced mix is consequently an option, with no basis here for declaring it the best feed for every hearing-aid wearer; the marker and other optional metadata may be ignored by assistants or receivers¹¹.

How the choices appear

The SIG leaves interface design to manufacturers. Assistants can inspect programme information, language, codec settings and channel positions, then tell the receiving devices which streams to receive. Auri's manufacturer manual makes a practical distinction: its Broadcast Name appears in discovery, while its separate Stream Name supplies programme information that some assistants may show but its RX1 receivers do not. The maker recommends distinct broadcast names for distinct content and names short enough for the receiver display^4,6.

Google's manufacturer guidance for Android describes a Samsung route through the connected accessory's settings to Find a broadcast, then a list selection. It also describes QR joining with connected LE Audio headphones for audio shared by another device. This example concerns the shared joining path and gives no venue test results. These instructions do not show how alternative subgroups are listed. Sennheiser's manufacturer manual illustrates names with language suffixes and describes searching, selecting and switching in Smart Control. For its ACCENTUM True Wireless earbuds, it says the last active transmitter is played when several subscribed transmitters send audio, with manual selection available. That is product-specific behaviour^12,13.

The Broadcast Audio URI specification recognises that multiple choices can clutter a display. A QR code can identify a particular subgroup, such as a language, or supply information for the assistant to offer choices. This is a capability of the format; it does not demonstrate identical handling by every phone or hearing-device app^14,12.

What venues and demonstrations report

Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse's own August 2026 guidance says audio description is selectable where available at selected performances. Staff help with connection and offer receivers with headphones or neckbands. It gives no success rate or device-by-device results².

Manufacturer Listen Technologies describes selectable show feeds and audio description at Birmingham Hippodrome after a July 2025 installation. Initial familiarity and stream-selection difficulties were addressed through training, documentation and careful naming. The case study reports fewer complaints and less maintenance time, but gives no counts and says formal feedback is still early³.

The Bluetooth SIG's trade-body account of its May 2023 Computex demonstration describes choosing languages in a mock lecture and switching television broadcasts in a simulated sports bar. Participants used supplied phones and earbuds; there is no participant count or measured selection test. This demonstrates the shared selection concept under staged conditions, rather than documenting routine access with visitors' own hearing devices⁵.

Airtime and battery limits

The SIG calculates roughly 11–22% airtime for one Standard Quality BIS and 30–41% for one High Quality BIS, depending on settings, using 10 ms frames on the 2M radio mode. Advertising adds overhead. Stereo can require two BISes, and extra programmes and retransmissions consume more airtime. These calculations constrain one transmitter's scheduling; they do not give a universal number of programmes for a building with several transmitters¹¹.

Offering several programmes does not mean a hearing device must receive all of them. The SIG recommends receiving only the necessary BISes and switching off reception during other BIS transmissions to save energy. Discovery is also power-hungry: an assistant can take that task from small hearing-device batteries and scan on demand to conserve its own battery. These guides give no measured battery-life reduction per added programme^10,4.

Where sources disagree

The main differences concern implementation and the maturity of the evidence. The specification supports subgroup choices, while product manuals describe different programme counts and displays; those are different implementations of the permitted structures. The staged SIG account presents easy selection, while the Hippodrome manufacturer account acknowledges early difficulties. Neither supplies comparable error rates, and neither establishes that one selection route works best across devices^1,6,7,5,3.

What would settle it

Venue trials could record which programme names and subgroups appear on each phone, hearing device and loan receiver, how often listeners choose the intended feed, and the time and staff help needed to switch. Tests with the full programme set active could measure dropouts and battery use over a performance. Those results would address the selection difficulties in the theatre account and turn the SIG's airtime and energy guidance into evidence about actual installations^3,11,4,10.

Planning while it is open

• Specify the number of independently selectable programmes and their mono or stereo formats; confirm the product can transmit that combination at once. An input or stereo channel count alone does not answer this^1,6,7.
• Check each hearing-assistance choice at a supported Standard Quality setting, provide a mono version where needed, and assess the enhanced mix alongside the ordinary feed rather than assuming the enhanced option suits every hearing aid^9,10,11.
• Give different content distinct, recognisable broadcast names and check them on the actual loan receivers and phone menus. Put essential distinctions in a field those devices display; programme information alone may be hidden^6,12.
• Train staff to help listeners select the intended feed, document the choices, and offer loan receivers and setup time, following the theatre accounts^3,2.
• Test the complete programme combination with representative audio and receivers in an occupied venue; Auri's manufacturer manual calls for realistic coverage checks, and the SIG's capacity figures depend on the chosen formats^6,11.

Sources

1. Basic Audio Profile, version 1.0.3. Bluetooth SIG Generic Audio Working Group. Bluetooth SIG, 23 June 2026. Standards body (Bluetooth SIG, an industry association funded by its member companies, which owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/Files/Specification/HTML/bap_v1-0-3_1782503972/BAP_v1.0.3/out/en/index-en.html
2. New Assistive Listening at our theatres. Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres, 19 August 2026. Independent (the theatre operator describes its own access service; funding for the installation is not stated) ↩︎ https://everymanplayhouse.com/new-assistive-listening-at-our-theatres/
3. Auri Brings Reliable, Inclusive Audio to Birmingham Hippodrome. Listen Technologies, undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (Listen Technologies, co-maker of Auri with Ampetronic) ↩︎ https://www.listentech.com/case-studies/auracast-theatre-audio-system-birmingham-hippodrome/
4. How to build an Auracast assistant: technical overview, version 1.0. Bluetooth SIG Market Development. Bluetooth SIG, 29 October 2025. Standards body (Bluetooth SIG, an industry association funded by its member companies, which owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2403_How_To_Auracast_Assistant.pdf
5. The Bluetooth SIG Hosts The Auracast Experience at Computex Taipei. Jason Marcel. Bluetooth SIG, 1 June 2023. Trade body (Bluetooth SIG promotional event with member companies; the SIG is funded by its member companies and owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/blog/the-bluetooth-sig-hosts-the-auracast-experience-at-computex-taipei/
6. Auri System Manual. Listen Technologies and Ampetronic. Listen Technologies (online documentation), 1 October 2026. Manufacturer (Listen Technologies and Ampetronic, makers of Auri) ↩︎ https://www.listentech.com/docs/auri-user-manual/
7. Infinium system controller and transmitter user manual (MAN 297B). Williams AV, 2026. Manufacturer (Williams AV) ↩︎ https://williamsav.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/MAN-297B-Infinium-Controller-Transmitter-BA-CT1.pdf
8. FlooGoo Multi-Language Auracast Evaluation Overview. Flairmesh Technologies, undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (Flairmesh Technologies, maker of the documented devices) ↩︎ https://www.flairmesh.com/support/FlooGooMultiLanguageAuracast.pdf
9. Auracast simple transmitter best practices guide, version 3. Bluetooth SIG, 17 October 2025. Standards body (Bluetooth SIG, an industry association funded by its member companies, which owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Auracast-Transmitter_Recommendations.pdf
10. How to design Auracast earbuds. Bluetooth SIG Market Development. Bluetooth SIG (technical overview, version 1.1), 6 February 2025. Standards body (Bluetooth SIG, an industry association funded by its member companies, which owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2403_Auracast_Earbuds.pdf
11. How to build an Auracast transmitter: technical overview, version 3. Bluetooth SIG Market Development. Bluetooth SIG, 16 September 2026. Standards body (Bluetooth SIG, an industry association funded by its member companies, which owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2403_How_To_Auracast_Transmitter.pdf
12. Use multiple Bluetooth audio accessories at once on an Android device. Google. Android Help, undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (Google, developer of Android) ↩︎ https://support.google.com/android/answer/16550669?hl=en
13. ACCENTUM True Wireless instruction manual, version 07/25 A03. Sonova Consumer Hearing GmbH. Sennheiser / Sonova Consumer Hearing GmbH, July 2025. Manufacturer (Sonova Consumer Hearing GmbH, maker of Sennheiser consumer headphones) ↩︎ https://cdn.sennheiser-hearing.com/product-documents/product-downloads/accentum-true-wireless/Instruction%20manual%20Accentum%20True%20Wireless/Instruction_manual_Accentum_True_Wireless.pdf
14. Broadcast Audio URI, version 1.0. Bluetooth SIG Hearing Aid Working Group. Bluetooth SIG, 10 September 2024. Standards body (Bluetooth SIG, an industry association funded by its member companies, which owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/Files/Specification/HTML/BAU_v1.0/out/en/index-en.html

Change log

• 13 October 2026Published with 14 sources.
• 13 October 2026Audited citations; restored Standard Quality guidance for every programme and clarified the selection examples.
• 13 October 2026Second citation check retained the programme, selection and airtime claims and their evidence limits.

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