• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Improved audio quality on Bluetooth devices without aptX/LDAC

BillG

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Messages
1,699
Likes
2,266
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Someone discovered a hack that will allow for higher quality Bluetooth audio when using the SBC codec with compatible devices running the Android operating system. Since I suspect many of us here do this on occasion, I thought the following may prove to be useful:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/improve-bluetooth-audio-quality-t3832615

:cool:

P. S. I've not tested this myself on my own devices, but I'll do so in the near future and report my findings if anyone is interested.
 

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,376
Likes
234,556
Location
Seattle Area
That's very useful information. I was disappointed though that Android support required root access and other changes.

But yes, I am definitely interested as I will be taking on Bluetooth device testing soon.
 
OP
BillG

BillG

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Messages
1,699
Likes
2,266
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
That's very useful information. I was disappointed though that Android support required root access and other changes.

But yes, I am definitely interested as I will be taking on Bluetooth device testing soon.

Hi Amir,

While I've not got around to testing the hack just yet, I'm too busy enjoying CCA at the moment, I plan to get to it this weekend.

In the meantime, I thought you might find this interesting: it seems that CSR, and their now parent company, Qualcomm, have been engaging in the usual false advertising in regards to aptX that we, unfortunately, see so often in the audio industry - aptx-HD appears to be a slightly different story, but still not upholding the "better than CD" promise from what I can gather from the below report.

http://soundexpert.org/articles/-/blogs/audio-quality-of-bluetooth-aptx

P.S. I'd love to see some objective analysis of Sony's LDAC codec, but it appears no one's gotten around to it yet.
 

klaberte

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2020
Messages
8
Likes
15
P.S. I'd love to see some objective analysis of Sony's LDAC codec, but it appears no one's gotten around to it yet.

Sorry to bump an old thread.

LDAC is hard to test, as there are no software encoders available. Thus, if you use a hardware receiver, you are testing not just LDAC, but the audio characteristics of the receiver as well. Also, ValdikSS has found that some receivers actually change their EQ for different codecs, presumably to make the manufacture's preferred codec sound "better".

See the section labeled: "But I can hear the difference between codecs in a headphones!" at
https://habr.com/en/post/456182/

Additional related info here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-profiles-codecs-and-devices.8223/post-326303
 

TiborG

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2019
Messages
38
Likes
16
I finally took the time to install the Magisk module with a modified SBC codec set to 486 kbit / s on my Samsung Galaxy S6 with Lineage 17 - Android 10. I set up SBC in Developer Settings and turned off AptX-HD and paired with my Topping DX3 Pro. Audio player FiiO Music, Neutron and UAPP. I was switching between SBC and AptX-HD on my phone and I can't detect the difference in quality. Great !! I will test whether it will have an
effect on my bluetooth cables with AptX.

Bt.pngbt2.png
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom