What aptX HD or aptX low latency Bluetooth headphones Should I Buy? c
Pertaining to audio, aptX is advertised as the means of achieving CD quality sound, wirelessly! What is AptX? Get to start to understand aptX, you’ll need to know how digital audio works.
Digital audio is a compilation of audio signals encoded in a digital format that can be used to record, store, generate, and/or reproduce sound. As CNET so eloquently explains, a sample of the collection shows what a sound wave looks like at a specific moment, like a freeze frame. With enough of these freeze frames put together these frames can be converted back into a smooth sound wave by a device designed for digital playback. CD-quality refers to rate of 16 bit/44kHz which accounts for 44,100 samples every second and where each sample has a value between 0 and 65,535 (referred to as “16-bit”).
Digital playback devices can play 16 bit/44kHz though this rate isn’t easily streamed via web or say wireless device as it’s about 10MB in size. MP3 files are much smaller (at about 1MB) and easier to stream because they are compressed. Bluetooth is a global wireless communication standard that allows for the easy exchange of data over short distances. Translation, only so much data can be transferred at one time down the tiny Bluetooth pipeline. Wi-Fi would allot for much more. So if you’re sporting over ear Bluetooth headphones but want to hear the best in audio quality, your device is going to need some help.
This is where aptX comes into play. It is a codec algorithm that compresses the digital audio signal by removing parts of the audio that aren’t noticeable by the listener and cause the least amount of impact on the fidelity of the audio.
AptX Director of Sales and Marketing, Johnny McClintock explained more to LifeWire, “AptX runs at 354 kilobits per second, and it’s a fixed 4:1 compression ratio so the performance is guaranteed… SBC and MP3 and AAC have more aggressive compression and are thus far more efficient than aptX. But if you have the capability of addressing more bits it’s going to sound better.”
There are two types of aptX you’ll see on most devices today. There is Qualcomm aptX HD and aptX low-latency. The HD version supports 24bit/48kHz LPCM audio data which is better than CD-quality (44kHz/16bit) to better enhance audio quality. As for low latency Bluetooth headphones, this version is best suited when watching movies and playing games as it reduces delay and ensures the audio is synchronized with the video. It supports a latency of less than 40ms and 48kHz / 16bit LPCM audio data.
For example, our new HD601 and MS301 are equipped with the aptX low-latency technology, which are definitely perfect for watching videos or playing mobile games.