Wireless audio seems to be the future, as the 3.5mm headphone jack is dying a slow, inevitable death. Apart from adding an additional battery-powered device to the mix, wireless audio also suffers from degraded quality. In an attempt to fix it, Qualcomm is announcing its latest way to make Bluetooth audio better, AptX Adaptive.
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The new codec adjusts the bitrate automatically based on what you’re listening to. Bitrate scales from 279kbps to 420kbps, which are used for CD and Hi-Res quality music. AptX Adaptive dynamically adjusts the bitrate when you’re gaming, watching a video, listening to high-quality music from the streaming service, having a video call, and so on. The codec optimizes audio quality and latency required for the specific tasks. There are several benefits to dynamic bitrate switching, the most important being better power efficency. Qualcomm claims that aptX Adaptive works right out of the box and doesn’t need configuration.
Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. has launched Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive, a next-generation audio codec designed to be dynamically adjustable. This exciting addition to Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.’s premium audio portfolio combines enhancements in robustness, premium audio quality, scalability, low-latency and low-bit rate audio transmission to support a superb wireless listening user experience for today’s most popular and demanding applications including mobile gaming, watching video and music listening. aptX Adaptive technology is uniquely engineered to automatically adjust to provide optimum audio quality or latency depending on the type of content being played on the device while also taking into account the external RF environment to support a robust connection.
Additionally, AptX Adaptive can also scale the bitrate without cutting out the audio unlike other codecs, like LDAC. While other codecs offer higher bitrates, they don’t use them nearly as smart as aptX Adaptive does. Qualcomm says that aptX Adaptive will be supported on smartphones and tablets running Android 9 Pie starting in December of this year and aptX Adaptive decoder for devices such as headsets, headphones, and speakers, are planned to be available to customers on the Qualcomm CSRA68100 and the Qualcomm QCC5100 series Bluetooth audio SoCs by the end of September.
Source: qualcomm
