AptX Lossless Technology From Qualcomm Allows Wireless Headphones
aptX Lossless technology from Qualcomm allows wireless headphones
The year 2021 has been hailed as a watershed moment in the history of lossless music, with Apple now offering higher-quality streaming and Amazon no longer charging a premium for it. However, one of the most significant challenges that lossless audio faces is wireless playback (at full fidelity) on wireless headphones and earbuds (which are currently unavailable). It is Qualcomm's belief that the new aptX Lossless codec, which is part of the company's recently announced Snapdragon Sound program, will provide a solution to this problem.
Qualcomm claims that it will be able to stream lossless audio at CD-quality (16-bit / 44.1kHz) over Bluetooth with aptX Lossless (which is technically an extension of aptX Adaptive). Qualcomm claims that this will be possible with aptX Lossless (which is technically an extension of aptX Adaptive). The first devices equipped with the new technology are expected to hit the market in early 2022. In order to provide the best possible performance, Snapdragon Sound makes extensive use of the entire hardware chain, which means that both your Android phone and your earbuds or headphones must be compatible with it.
Different features you will see
In this case, Qualcomm claims that Snapdragon Sound will automatically detect lossless audio sources and play them at data rates that are significantly higher than those previously possible with aptX HD, which is the current standard. In terms of bandwidth, the company has outperformed Sony's LDAC: aptX Lossless supports up to 1Mbps, whereas LDAC has a limit of 990kbps. Compression is still used; CD-quality music is typically compressed at a sample bit rate of 1.4Mbps, which corresponds to a bit rate of 1.4Mbps. Qualcomm, on the other hand, employs lossless compression to achieve mathematically exact bit-for-bit audio reproduction in order to achieve high quality audio reproduction.
Because of the high volume of traffic in wireless environments, the bit rate will dynamically scale down to as low as 140kbps in order to maintain the best audio performance possible regardless of connection quality. As mentioned above, LDAC can struggle when pushed to its bit rate limits, so it's not surprising to see Qualcomm offer a solution to smooth out the experience.
aptX Lossless achieves the highest possible quality, which is comparable to that of a CD. Even if you want to play high-resolution audio tracks, you'll have to rely on lossy streaming, which means that if you like 24-bit 96kHz files, you'll want to have a wired solution on hand.
