At the MWC 2022 show in Barcelona, the manufacturer Qualcomm announced its 5G X70 modem, but also two new circuits intended for Bluetooth headphones and headsets.
The Snapdragon Sound S3 (QCC307x) and S5 (QCC517x) platforms bring multipoint Bluetooth 5.3 connection and low latency for sound in games (68 ms), but also third-generation adaptive noise reduction and above all transmission wireless lossless audio in CD quality.
They thus manage lossless 16-bit/44.1 kHz sound thanks to the aptX Lossless codec. It is also possible to transmit 24-bit/96 kHz HD sound, subject to compression of the type lossy, with deletion of information. However, you will have to be patient, because the first headphones or earphones equipped with Snapdragon Sound S3 or S5 are not expected before the second half of 2022.
The Snapdragon Sound Platform aims to establish robust and reliable sound transmission over Bluetooth, optimizing throughput. In fact, Bluetooth 5 has a maximum speed of around 1.4 Mbit/s, under optimal transmission conditions that are rarely achieved. This is still very fair to match the 1.411 Mbit/s bit rate of CD audio, but it is possible to use lossless compression (similar to that of FLAC audio files) to achieve this.
However, the problem remains to establish the best Bluetooth transmission between the mobile device and the audio device. That’s why Qualcomm offers components for both types of devices. Thus, the manufacturer unveiled at MWC 2022 its FastConnect 7800 solution, which has Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 5.3 and the Snapdragon Sound platform with the aptX Lossless codec.
Note that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, found for example in the Oppo Find X5 Pro smartphone, is part of the Snapdragon Sound platform, and integrates the aptX Lossless codec.
Qualcomm is not the only manufacturer to be interested in the transmission of lossless audio via Bluetooth. Apple could add lossless audio in its future second-generation AirPods Pro.
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The manufacturer currently only offers lossless audio streaming (ALAC codec) and users can only benefit from it if they have compatible wired or Wi-Fi audio devices, for example HomePod speakers, and HomePod mini. But for Bluetooth headphones and earphones, Gary Geaves, vice president of Apple’s acoustics division admits: “We would like more bandwidth. »
Source : Qualcomm