The transition from physical headphone jacks to Bluetooth devices is still tough today due to the loss of quality in many devices. Many manufacturers decided to do without the physical connection in not a few mid- and high-end devices to gain internal space but the Bluetooth market needed a boost, and it seems that we finally see it arrive with lossless audio.
If Apple already introduced lossless audio, with little compression, in several of its terminals a few months ago, now it is Qualcomm that takes the step of adopting a new wireless technology for its processors. The North American firm has announced the arrival of aptX Lossless, a protocol that allows to transfer audio up to 1 Mbit / s to compatible devices.
Wireless, uncompressed CD quality
The quality of Bluetooth audio, except in certain terminals equipped with higher power chips, has always been questioned but it seems that Qualcomm wants to solve this in its next processors. If the American manufacturer already loaded its processors with few chips intended to improve the sound of its computers, now comes lossless audio too.
Qualcomm itself says that its new aptX Lossless technology is incorporated into its aptX Adaptive and Snapdragon Sound to further elevate the quality of wireless audio. This is achieved by being able to emit 16-bit 44.1kHz sound without quality loss to any Bluetooth receiver capable of processing this torrent of data. “Lossless CD quality,” Qualcomm says of its new Lossless.
If your source and headphones allow it, aptX Lossless can output at 1 Mbit / s
Incorporated into aptX Adaptive, Qualcomm chips that are already capable of detecting the power of the receiving headphones will be able to offer an extra quality to the output audio at 1 Mbit / s as long as, of course, that the quality of the audio file also allows it. Spotify, for example, already has Spotify HiFi, lossless audio is also present in Apple Music, Amazon Music HD or Tidal and we will soon see it reach more streaming services. For now audio, soon also video.
“At Qualcomm Technologies we are excited about the future of sound and continually look for ways to help our customers deliver new and exciting listening experiences. Lossless audio means mathematically accurate bit by bit, no loss of the audio file and so far it has not state available the bitrate needed to deliver this over Bluetooth. ” – James Chapman, Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.
The main features of the new aptX Lossless are the following:
- Supports lossless CD audio quality: 16-bit 44.1kHz
- Also allows up to 24-bit 96kHz lossy
- Exact bitwise transfer
- 1 Mbps bitrate
For now, Qualcomm has not revealed which will be its first processor to incorporate this aptX Lossless technology to its audio chips, but the proximity of the presentation of the future Snapdragon 898, if it finally receives that name, suggests that We might see Qualcomm’s lossless audio debut in early December, the launch window for its super high-end processors.
More information | Qualcomm