Qualcomm will arrange an exclusive technical explanation session on Snapdragon Sound technology at the Snapdragon Summit in 2022, and the author will also conduct an exclusive interview with the speaker Mike Canevaro; It focuses on communicating several key features: spatial audio, aptX Lossless lossless sound quality coding and support for LE Audio including Auracast.
▲ The spatial audio of Snapdragon Sound can be a virtual 24-channel audio source
Spatial audio is an audio technology that the music industry and the audio-visual game industry are quite optimistic about. Different from the traditional virtual multi-channel mode that only simulates the sound being transmitted around the plane, spatial audio can virtual multiple channels in a three-dimensional space. Those who are surrounded by sound from all directions, combined with headphones with gyroscope, can also locate the source of the sound; Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound further develops the spatial audio technology into Dynamic Spatial Audio with Snapdragon, which can have a 24-channel spatial audio configuration, And the positioning information of the gyroscope can be provided through the DSP of the audio block to provide real-time changes with ultra-low latency. In addition, it also supports mainstream spatial audio specifications including Android 13 native spatial audio, Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio.
▲ Low latency mode can be reduced to 48ms
Another feature for watching videos and gamers is the low-latency mode. Snapdragon Sound can further reduce the delay to 48ms for video viewing and games. Make video and audio more synchronized, especially for accurate listening positioning when playing games. Another item that is closely related to gamers is that in addition to the low-latency mode on the receiving end, Snapdragon Sound also provides a 48ms low-latency mode on the reverse voice channel. For players who use group chat software for game communication, they can also use ultra-low-latency real-time communication tactics Call teammates for support.
▲ aptX Lossless can transmit the original sound quality of 16bit 44.1kHz without compromise
The last item is aptX Lossless for music enthusiasts. Although Qualcomm has already supported 24bit 96kHz encoding in aptX Adaptive, Bluetooth audio has been criticized in the past because it inevitably needs to be compressed. Or low-frequency loss, or affect the continuity of sound; however, with the development of Bluetooth technology to provide stable high-bandwidth, Qualcomm is also introducing aptX Lossless lossless transmission based on aptX Adaptive on the new generation Snapdragon Sound platform.
▲Because aptX Lossless needs to use up to 1.1Mbps bandwidth, so the environment with more interference will not be able to transmit in lossless mode
As its name suggests, aptX Lossless can achieve the original 16bit 44.1kHz audio encoding transmission without compression through Bluetooth and encoding, which is equivalent to obtaining the same uncompressed signal as wired in Bluetooth headsets and speakers as long as the music platform provides CD-level lossless music Transmission to achieve wireless equivalent to wired sound quality.
▲ aptX Lossless realizes wired uncompressed audio transmission through Bluetooth wireless technology
Of course, aptX Lossless requires a stable and uninterrupted environment more than ordinary Bluetooth coding. Also based on aptX coding technology, 16bit 44.1kHz aptX requires a bandwidth of 480Mbps, while 24bit 96kHz aptX HD ( aptX Adaptive ) requires Using a bandwidth of 720Mbps, aptX Lossless needs to use a bandwidth of up to 1.1Mbps, which is even higher than Sony’s LDAC encoding. However, the FastConnect 7800 of Snapdrgaon 8 Gen 2 uses dual Bluetooth chips, which can be strengthened by dual-chip multi-antenna Beamforming beamforming and The connection of the earphones is stable. If the interference is serious, it can also be reduced to lossy transmission based on aptX HD encoding through the feature of aptX Adaptive.
▲Qualcomm has also contributed aptX and aptX HD encoding to Android AOSP following the previous Sony LDAC model. In the future, Android mobile devices such as MediaTek or other chips can be activated without authorization
A few days ago, Qualcomm also contributed aptX and aptX HD two codes to Android AOSP. The author and Qualcomm confirmed that as long as the device side complies with the AOSP authorization, whether it is a Qualcomm Snapdragon platform mobile phone or other devices, aptX and aptX codes can be enabled. However, the same as Sony’s LDAC open mode, if it is a headset or a Bluetooth speaker, additional authorization is still required to use the aptX series of codes. (However, some Bluetooth chips already contain the most basic aptX coding authorization)
▲ Qualcomm Adaptive ANC not only has excellent environmental noise reduction, but also can be adjusted independently according to the sealing conditions of earplugs and earmuffs
In addition, as the demand for active noise reduction technology increases, Snapdrgaon Sound also provides Qualcomm Adaptive ANC adaptive active noise reduction technology, which can be sensed by the microphones inside and outside the earphones, and can be adjusted independently according to the degree of sealing of the earplugs or earmuffs. Excellent ambient noise suppression, and can also provide a transparent listening mode in which natural ambient sound is mixed in. There are also many commercially available Snapdrgaon Sound headphones with this excellent noise reduction technology.
▲ Auracast is an important innovative technology for Bluetooth audio transmission applications, opening up a convenient audio broadcast and sharing mode
Bluetooth LE Audio is also a long-awaited new technology in the Bluetooth audio industry. It not only introduces more power-saving Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and more efficient LC3 universal audio coding, but also provides a new Auracast broadcasting and sharing function, Snapdrgaon Sound Of course, this latest standard technology is also supported; the author also confirmed to Mike Canevaro that in theory, in Aurasound broadcast mode, the encoding low standard of the connected device will be used as the standard, which means that in theory, if all the headphones on the scene receive Support aptX Lossless, you can enjoy lossless shared music, but as long as one of the earphones cannot support aptX Lossless, you can only use common codes such as SBC or AAC for broadcasting.