With concrete offerings from Apple Music and Amazon Music HD and Spotify HiFi just around the corner, high-quality, lossless music seems to be on the rise. However, when it comes to fully enjoying these possibilities, wireless headphones play against due to the compression that they apply in the transfer process. However, Qualcomm promises to turn this around with its new aptX Lossless codec, which is capable of streaming CD-quality music ( 16 bits at 44.1 kHz ) without cables.
To achieve this, the company also uses a technology known as Bluetooth High Speed Link, which provides transfers of 1 Mbps, surpassing in this sense Sony's LDAC codec (990 Kbps).
The company also ensures that to maintain a stable connection, aptX Lossless has a function that automatically adjusts the parameters of the wireless transmission according to the congestion of the environment. If failures are detected, the transfer can go down to 140 Kbps.
AptX Lossless, a promise of 'next generation'
Credit: Qualcomm aptX Lossless, which is an evolution of aptX Adaptive, automatically kicks in when it detects a track with lossless quality. The user does not have to intervene at any time (as long as their devices are compatible).
Those who want to enjoy even higher quality audio (such as that provided by Hi-Res Lossless from Apple Music), should know that they will not be able to do it with wireless headphones even if they have this new AptX Lossless codec from Qualcomm. In other words, the new system significantly increases quality, but cable transmission still has some advantage in this regard.
Regarding the arrival of this solution to consumer devices, Qualcomm indicates that it will be present in “next generation” devices. This is precisely because the codec must be present not only on the playback device, such as a phone, tablet or computer, but also on the headphones. That is, on both sides of the equation.
