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I'm totally uninformed when it comes to Bluetooth audio. Is BT transmitting full "resolution" audio, or is undesireable compression being done? Does Apple hav

I'm totally uninformed when it comes to Bluetooth audio. Is BT transmitting full "resolution" audio, or is undesireable compression being done? Does Apple have better control over that? Is it generally just better to use a wired connection?

listic 6y ago
Bluetooth is transmitting crudely compressed audio. There is a proprietary aptX codec which aims to make Bluetooth compression suck less, which Apple devices do not support: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AptX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AptX
- turtlebits 6y ago
  Apple devices support AAC over Bluetooth. AAC is license free, aptX is a Qualcomm codec.
ploxiln 6y ago
There is lossy compression. There is a rather old codec (SBC) at a few different bit-rates, and a couple newer better codecs from the last 10 years (aptX, AAC, ?). Apple does have the control to make sure better codecs are supported and used. It can be pretty hard to determine and control what codecs are supported and which one is used, this is almost always hidden and never mentioned anywhere.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  Not entirely true. Most audio you listen to on a mobile device is compressed already is not extracted and compressed a second time. > Apple does have the control to make sure better codecs are supported and used. It can be pretty hard to determine and control what codecs are supported and which one is used, this is almost always hidden and never mentioned anywhere. Nonsense. Few developers want to add the complexity of shipping and supporting their own audio decompression inside their app so they just use the ones Apple supports. There are exceptions, FLAC for example isn't supported by Apple, but I believe FLAC takes too much bandwidth to work over BT regardless.
dataqat 6y ago
Lossy compression, lots of different codecs with differing qualities and compatibilities. However, Shure Aonic 50 BT sound quality for me was phenomenally good (though they were uncomfortable to wear)... most other headphones I've tried have been mildly tolerable to terrible.
ogre_codes 6y ago
Apple's BT does not apply any additional compression to compressed audio. If you are listening to an MP3 or AAC, it sends the already compressed audio over the channel so there is no quality loss. If you are listening to uncompressed audio source, I believe it's compressed before it's sent because of limits to Bluetooth bandwidth.

listic 6y ago

Bluetooth is transmitting crudely compressed audio. There is a proprietary aptX codec which aims to make Bluetooth compression suck less, which Apple devices do not support: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AptX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AptX

turtlebits 6y ago
Apple devices support AAC over Bluetooth. AAC is license free, aptX is a Qualcomm codec.

ploxiln 6y ago

There is lossy compression. There is a rather old codec (SBC) at a few different bit-rates, and a couple newer better codecs from the last 10 years (aptX, AAC, ?). Apple does have the control to make sure better codecs are supported and used. It can be pretty hard to determine and control what codecs are supported and which one is used, this is almost always hidden and never mentioned anywhere.

ogre_codes 6y ago
Not entirely true. Most audio you listen to on a mobile device is compressed already is not extracted and compressed a second time. > Apple does have the control to make sure better codecs are supported and used. It can be pretty hard to determine and control what codecs are supported and which one is used, this is almost always hidden and never mentioned anywhere. Nonsense. Few developers want to add the complexity of shipping and supporting their own audio decompression inside their app so they just use the ones Apple supports. There are exceptions, FLAC for example isn't supported by Apple, but I believe FLAC takes too much bandwidth to work over BT regardless.

dataqat 6y ago

Lossy compression, lots of different codecs with differing qualities and compatibilities. However, Shure Aonic 50 BT sound quality for me was phenomenally good (though they were uncomfortable to wear)... most other headphones I've tried have been mildly tolerable to terrible.

ogre_codes 6y ago

Apple's BT does not apply any additional compression to compressed audio. If you are listening to an MP3 or AAC, it sends the already compressed audio over the channel so there is no quality loss. If you are listening to uncompressed audio source, I believe it's compressed before it's sent because of limits to Bluetooth bandwidth.