Most people go about their each day lives and by no means take into consideration Bluetooth codecs. And who can blame them? Why fear about which codec your wireless headphones and/or smartphone are utilizing so long as every thing works if you hit play in your favourite streaming music app?
And but, relying in your gear, your selection of Bluetooth codec may provide you with higher sound high quality than you’re at present getting. We’re going to check out three of the very best choices — aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, and LDAC — however earlier than we do, let’s handle an essential caveat. In case you largely take heed to lossy digital music (e.g., all music at present on Spotify) or in case you personal an iPhone, you possibly can cease proper right here.
Why? The Bluetooth codecs utilized by practically each telephone and each set of wi-fi headphones/earbuds (SBC, AAC, or aptX) are greater than able to transmitting lossy audio with out a lot alteration, and Apple solely helps SBC and AAC on its iPhones.
Nonetheless with us? OK, let’s dig into it.
Lossless and hi-res audio
Earlier than we begin the comparability, it’s price explaining why these three codecs matter.
As talked about within the intro, lossy 16-bit music has already been compressed to the purpose the place it may possibly match into an audio stream that solely requires about 328Kbps of bandwidth. This bit charge is well served by the three normal codecs (SBC, AAC, or aptX). That is the default high quality you get from a service like Spotify, however even Apple Music, Amazon Music, and others will carry out related compression except you modify their streaming high quality settings.
Nevertheless, in case you take heed to lossless CD high quality and/or lossless hi-res audio (both out of your private assortment or a streaming service), you’re getting pristine high quality digital audio. AptX HD, aptX Adaptive, and LDAC are all engineered to protect rather more of that further element than normal codecs. In some circumstances, they’ll triple the bit charge accessible for transmitting audio.
For 16-bit audio, this can lead to practically lossless efficiency. Nevertheless, all three codecs are additionally appropriate with 24-bit audio sources, which suggests they’ll theoretically ship hi-res audio over Bluetooth, regardless that it should nonetheless contain some lack of info.
Not everyone seems to be satisfied that hi-res audio is definitely higher than CD high quality, and never everybody agrees that lossy hi-res is best than lossless CD high quality, however these are debates for a distinct article.
For now, the important thing takeaway is that this: If you wish to protect as a lot audio high quality as attainable when utilizing wi-fi headphones and earbuds, these three codecs are a more sensible choice than SBC, AAC, or aptX.
The gamers
Qualcomm, which designs chips for cell phones and different wi-fi gadgets, is the driving power behind the aptX family of codecs. There are actually a number of flavors of aptX, together with aptX basic, aptX Low Latency (LL), aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, and aptX Lossless, every with their very own specs and {hardware} necessities.
Sony created LDAC. Initially, it was solely accessible on Sony’s wi-fi headphones and earbuds, however lately, it has sharply elevated its licensing of the expertise, which suggests it’s now accessible on many extra merchandise.
However which of those codecs is the very best? That relies on quite a lot of components, so let’s begin in the beginning.
Compatibility and availability
As with all Bluetooth codec, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, and LDAC have to be supported on each the supply machine (telephone, laptop, and so on.), in addition to the sink machine (headphones, earbuds, audio system).
Talking strictly about smartphones for the second, Google added AptX HD and LDAC to Android 8.0, letting any Android smartphone producer reap the benefits of them. In case your telephone is on Android 8.0 or larger (and so long as your telephone’s producer hasn’t deliberately disabled one or each), you must have the ability to use them with a appropriate set of earbuds or headphones.
AptX Adaptive is the latest of the three codecs, and whereas it additionally runs on Android gadgets, it’s not constructed into the Android working system. Solely Android telephones that use Qualcomm’s audio chipsets help aptX Adaptive. You’ll discover good help for aptX Adaptive help on Android telephones which have been launched since about 2020, with two very notable exceptions: No Google Pixel or Samsung Galaxy telephones at present help aptX Adaptive.
On the sink facet of the equation, any wireless headphones or earbuds that help aptX Adaptive should additionally use Qualcomm’s chips. From a compatibility and availability perspective, this places aptX Adaptive at a little bit of an obstacle.
AptX HD has limitations too, however on this case, it’s strictly on the headphones facet of the equation. For causes we’ll get into shortly, aptX HD is primarily used for wi-fi headphones, not wi-fi earbuds. There are some exceptions — just like the Bowers & Wilkins PI7 — however they’re very uncommon. In case you’re purchasing for wi-fi earbuds, they may almost definitely provide aptX or aptX Adaptive, however not aptX HD.
LDAC can work on headphones and earbuds, and regardless that the codec is owned and licensed by Sony, a producer doesn’t want to make use of Sony’s chips so as to add LDAC help to their merchandise — it may be carried out utilizing software program on a wide range of processing platforms.
Once we first created this comparability, not many producers had chosen to undertake LDAC. Nevertheless, as of August 20024, the listing consists of many well-liked manufacturers. Aside from Sony itself, you’ll discover LDAC help on merchandise from 1More, Anker Soundcore, Audeze, Earfun, QCY, Soundpeats, Shure, Audio-Technica, Technics, Tozo, Edifier, Ausounds, Ankbit, Mark Levinson, Dali, and Philips. AptX HD has been utilized by greater than 30 headphone producers, and aptX Adaptive has been utilized by much more corporations if you rely each headphones and earbuds.
LDAC’s skill to run on headphones and earbuds with out particular chipsets, plus its default inclusion on just about all Android telephones, makes it essentially the most broadly accessible of those 24-bit codecs.
Although they’re nonetheless uncommon, we’re starting to see wi-fi headphones and earbuds that work with each LDAC and aptX Adaptive, just like the Earfun Air Pro 4.
Winner: LDAC
Sound high quality half 1: bit depth and pattern charge
In the case of sound high quality, most specialists would agree that your selection of wi-fi headphone or earbuds is a very powerful issue. Excessive-performance headphones will sound higher than lower-quality headphones even when the lower-quality ones use a “higher” codec.
Nevertheless, we are able to nonetheless consider a codec’s skill to assist a set of headphones or earbuds (or perhaps a Bluetooth speaker) sound their finest.
When a codec is used to transmit audio wirelessly, it encodes that audio at a particular decision (bit depth) and a particular pattern charge or frequency (kHz). When these traits aren’t an an identical match for the bit depth and pattern charge of your supply music, conversion takes place. Usually, this conversion is inaudible, however purists insist that any change is undesirable.
AptX HD operates at as much as 24 bits, which is the usual for many hi-res audio. Nevertheless, its pattern charge help is proscribed to 48kHz.
LDAC and aptX Adaptive, alternatively, can protect as much as 24-bit and 96kHz, with out conversion or resampling.
LDAC and aptX Adaptive’s higher preservation of unique audio is arguably solely helpful when listening to hi-res audio, however the reality stays that in case you’re listening to 24-bit audio and need to protect as a lot of that sign as attainable, LDAC and aptX Adaptive are preferable to aptX HD.
Winner: Two-way tie between LDAC and aptX Adaptive
Sound high quality half 2: bit charge and scalability
The nerds on the market are most likely yelling at me proper now as a result of whereas decision and pattern frequency could be the be-all and end-all for sound high quality when coping with hi-res audio information, the second Bluetooth will get concerned, you additionally must take note of how a codec handles itself underneath extremely variable wi-fi circumstances.
We’re speaking about bit charge, or the quantity of knowledge a codec makes use of to ship info throughout a Bluetooth connection. The upper the bit charge, the extra info could be despatched, and thus (theoretically) the higher the sound high quality.
Some codecs have mounted bit charges, which signifies that they’ll’t react to modifications within the high quality of a wi-fi hyperlink. AptX HD is a hard and fast bit charge codec, and it requires a continuing pace of 576Kbps when transmitting a 48kHz sign. So long as your connection can deal with this pace, aptX HD ought to have the ability to ship its full high quality. But when the standard of your connection drops under that pace, which might occur if you’re too far out of your telephone or there’s quite a lot of wi-fi interference, the audio will begin to break up. It’s an all-or-nothing proposition.
LDAC and aptX Adaptive are scalable codecs — they’ll alter the quantity of bandwidth they use in response to your Bluetooth connection. The distinction between them is that LDAC steps between three particular speeds — 330Kbps, 660Kbps, and 990Kbps — with no in-between steps, whereas aptX Adaptive can alter its pace from 110Kbps to 620Kbps in 10Kbps increments.
Sustaining a Bluetooth connection at LDAC’s prime pace of 990Kbps could be tough in sure environments. Interference from different gadgets, in addition to proximity between your telephone and your headphones, can get in the way in which. In case you power your telephone to solely use the 990Kbps pace (which is feasible utilizing the non-compulsory Android developer settings), and it may possibly’t be maintained, you’ll get stuttering and dropouts. Allowed to set its personal pace, LDAC will sometimes run at 660Kbps.
AptX Adaptive’s skill to easily scale as a substitute of stepping in such giant increments, in addition to its decrease total pace necessities, means it will likely be capable of join at its high quality extra of the time whereas presenting a much less noticeable transition when it must ramp its pace downward. Nevertheless, there’s no strategy to power aptX Adaptive to make use of any particular bit charge — as its title suggests, it’s all the time adaptive.
No matter their minimal, most, and incremental bit charges, one factor continues to plague the world of Bluetooth codecs: there’s no way to see your current bit rate.
On paper, LDAC’s 990Kbps bit charge is clearly the very best of the three, with nearly double the quantity of knowledge transmitted per second than aptX HD and nearly 50% greater than aptX Adaptive. In case you can obtain that bit charge (and preserve it), LDAC will likely be superior.
Winner underneath supreme circumstances: LDAC; winner underneath variable circumstances: aptX Adaptive
Latency
Latency is the time it takes so that you can hear a sound after it has been created by your machine. For normal music listening, latency doesn’t matter a lot, however in case you’re gaming or watching any sort of video with dialogue, you need that point to be as brief as attainable. The final consensus inside the gaming group is that anything lower than 32 milliseconds is quick sufficient to be akin to utilizing a wired headset.
A number of components can have an effect on Bluetooth audio latency, however codecs are an essential ingredient. AptX HD has a reported latency of wherever between 200ms and 300ms. LDAC can exhibit equally lengthy lag occasions.
AptX Adaptive, alternatively, can alter its efficiency primarily based on the sort of audio you’re streaming. If it detects that you simply’re gaming, making a telephone name, or doing anything which may require low latency over excessive decision, it may possibly function as little as 80ms.
That’s sufficient to earn it a win within the latency class, nevertheless it would possibly get even higher. Qualcomm says that in case you’re utilizing a telephone and wi-fi headphones which have each been licensed underneath its Snapdragon Sound program, latency as little as 40ms — the identical efficiency as its aptX Low Latency codec — could possibly be attainable.
Winner: aptX Adaptive
Energy consumption
One factor we’ll most likely by no means get sufficient of on the subject of wi-fi headphones and earbuds is battery life. Nobody likes to recharge, so the much less often we have to do it, the higher.
For LDAC, this poses a problem. Operating LDAC on a set of earbuds or headphones can imply a measurable discount in playtime. On Anker Soundcore’s Liberty 4 earbuds, partaking the LDAC codec drops their playtime from 9 hours per cost to only six hours.
The aptX household of codecs has all the time been extra environment friendly than its rivals, and that goes for each aptX HD and aptX Adaptive. Low energy consumption isn’t a key characteristic of Adaptive, however Qualcomm says it makes use of much less energy to ship the identical efficiency as aptX HD. Producers that incorporate aptX applied sciences don’t usually cite decrease battery life when aptX codecs are used as a substitute of SBC or AAC.
Winner: aptX Adaptive
Conclusion
For Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy, and another Android handsets that don’t use Qualcomm chips, it’s a straightforward reply: LDAC is the very best codec of the three.
For telephones which might be aptX Adaptive succesful, it turns into a query of priorities. In case you worth sound high quality above battery life, above latency, and even perhaps above the flexibility to make use of your headphones in conditions the place Bluetooth connections could also be dicey, go together with LDAC. However for many different situations, aptX Adaptive will show extra versatile, with larger consistency.
