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> Audiophiles probably aren’t too keen on being unable to listen to high-bitrate files. Ignoring issues of latency and connection robustness, is this a bandwid

by joshvm 8y ago

> Audiophiles probably aren’t too keen on being unable to listen to high-bitrate files. Ignoring issues of latency and connection robustness, is this a bandwidth limitation of Bluetooth or is it that the driver/codec support isn't there? Or is it audiophile hyperbole? There's no technical reason why you couldn't stream lossless digital audio to a pair of headphones, which might well have a better DAC chipset than the phone.

analog31 8y ago
I suspect the issue is battery life in the headphones, due to hauling more data over the wireless link. Now, with headphones, you could put in a bigger battery and none's the wiser, except maybe the cost accountants. But it might be more tricky with earbuds.
zanny 8y ago
Bluetooth radios generally operate at an order of magnitude lower power than wifi or cellular radios, especially in LE mode. Really the Bluetooth protocol is mostly just a ultra low power 802.11. It has more channels but they are thinner bands are only 1-2 Mbit (depending on classic or LE mode). That being said its not really a bandwidth limitation. One device can use multiple channels and thus you can easily get, say, the 6 Mbit that DVD quality PCM takes up. It is more that being so low power means bluetooth gets pummeled with a lot of inference. This isn't much of a problem if you are using one channel and alternating to avoid hot regions but the 2.4 band is super congested. Trying to drive constant 6+ Mbit through Bluetooth losslessly would take way more power than most Bluetooth devices are capable of or willing to spend to accomplish it.
- superseeplus 8y ago
  There are codecs which make Bluetooth audio suck less, but they are a fragmented mess. The two really popular ones are AAC and AptX. iPhones support only AAC while Android phones might either not support either or support only AptX. Sony has its own proprietary codec LDAC which only works with their headphones. To make matters worse, not all headphones support both AptX and AAC.
  - _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
    Add to that the fact none of those are codecs I'm interested in. Give me flac/opus.
dbuder 8y ago
2mbits probably isn't enough for higher bitrates but I think it's a bluetooth audio issue, like with USB audio being 16b/48khz max. The phone has more space for a DAC than earbuds (you could fit whatever you want in decent sized headphones), you're probably getting a sub 2mm square QFN or BGA/CSP integrated amp and dac on any wireless earbuds and the designer is going to optimize power consumption more than would be done on a phone. Higher bitrates are pointless anyway apparently, audiophiles eat it up so it gets produced - so they(electrical engineers) say.

by joshvm 8y ago

analog31 8y ago

I suspect the issue is battery life in the headphones, due to hauling more data over the wireless link. Now, with headphones, you could put in a bigger battery and none's the wiser, except maybe the cost accountants. But it might be more tricky with earbuds.

zanny 8y ago

Bluetooth radios generally operate at an order of magnitude lower power than wifi or cellular radios, especially in LE mode. Really the Bluetooth protocol is mostly just a ultra low power 802.11. It has more channels but they are thinner bands are only 1-2 Mbit (depending on classic or LE mode). That being said its not really a bandwidth limitation. One device can use multiple channels and thus you can easily get, say, the 6 Mbit that DVD quality PCM takes up. It is more that being so low power means bluetooth gets pummeled with a lot of inference. This isn't much of a problem if you are using one channel and alternating to avoid hot regions but the 2.4 band is super congested. Trying to drive constant 6+ Mbit through Bluetooth losslessly would take way more power than most Bluetooth devices are capable of or willing to spend to accomplish it.

superseeplus 8y ago
There are codecs which make Bluetooth audio suck less, but they are a fragmented mess. The two really popular ones are AAC and AptX. iPhones support only AAC while Android phones might either not support either or support only AptX. Sony has its own proprietary codec LDAC which only works with their headphones. To make matters worse, not all headphones support both AptX and AAC.
- _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
  Add to that the fact none of those are codecs I'm interested in. Give me flac/opus.

dbuder 8y ago

2mbits probably isn't enough for higher bitrates but I think it's a bluetooth audio issue, like with USB audio being 16b/48khz max. The phone has more space for a DAC than earbuds (you could fit whatever you want in decent sized headphones), you're probably getting a sub 2mm square QFN or BGA/CSP integrated amp and dac on any wireless earbuds and the designer is going to optimize power consumption more than would be done on a phone. Higher bitrates are pointless anyway apparently, audiophiles eat it up so it gets produced - so they(electrical engineers) say.