Tested: Microsoft Bluetooth Stack A2DP Quality and Registry Settings - 8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario General

The entire (long, very long) document, including real-world audio samples and the results of all 15 tests, can be found here.
This experiment was inspired by this article by Menneisyys. This study clarifies several of his previous findings with more concrete evidence.
The Bottom Line
Using the Microsoft Bluetooth A2DP implementation results in distortion at 5512.5 kHz and its harmonics at 11025, 16537.5, and 22050 Hz.
Additionally, at least with the Logitech Bluetooth 2.0 USB dongle:
BitPool: Reduces distortion (particularly at 5512.5 Hz) as BitPool increases
UseJointStereo: Has no effect
SampleRate: 1) No difference between 44.1 kHz and 48 Khz; 2) Sample rates of 22,050 Hz, 32 kHz, 64 kHz, and 88,200 Hz can cause accelerated playback at certain bitrates. Not once did I experience a case of decelerated playback, however.
Unconfirmed: I think there's a tiny bit less distortion with headset and UseJointStereo = 0 (I don't have a way to test since I can't capture the output of the headset for analysis like I can with the Logitech dongle).
Of course, your results may vary depending on the capabilities of your gear.

Wow, you did very professional work here! Concluding, what would you say are the best settings to put for best audio?
Thanks, Horst

I've seen quite a few reports that a BitPool of 48 is the best for them, so that wouldn't be a bad place to start.
Here's my experience:
With my car audio system (Sony MEX-BT5000), 48 is also the sweet spot. Even just one value higher (49) results in skipping even when placed right next to the receiver. At 48, I can even keep the phone in the back seat (not that I do--it's usually in the belt clip).
I've changed headsets to a Sony Ericcson HBH-DS970 since I did these tests. It's much more forgiving than the wiRevo. I don't know how high it can go since the car system is the weaker of the two and I'm too lazy to figure out since then I'd have skipping in the car

Related

Bluetooth A2DP Headphones Problem

I recently upgraded from a Nokia N95 to a Touch HD. I've been trying to get my Sony DRBT21 bluetooth headphones to work with the touch HD. The phone pairs with the headphones, but the sound quality is poor with no bass and sounds crackly.
Additionally when I turn off/on the headphones, only the headset and microphone profiles connect back to the phone, not the A2DP stereo part. The only way I've found to get it to reconnect is to repair them.
Any idea if this is a known issue with A2DP headphones on the Touch HD? I'm not expecting to get brilliant audio quality, but as it is right now with crackles and distortion it isn't worth listening to.
Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how I can fix or optimise this?
Cheers
Was the device properly paired? Were you prompted for the PIN? If not, do so manually by going to Bluetooth settings and pair the headset from there.
As for the A2DP not being available when reconnecting, this seems to be a known issue as I experience this intermittently with HTC's own Bluetooth and another third-party one, too. This issue was also observed on my previous HTC Polaris! A workaround for this issue for me is to power off Bluetooth and then power it back on: not a good solution!
It prompted for the PIN which I entered, and looks to be set up correctly. The main issue seems to be the background static when listening to music (hissing and crackling). Is there anything in Advanced config that could be tinkered with to try and alleviate the problem?
This won´t help you:
My Motorola S9 and HT820 (Both A2DP/AVRCP) working fine with HD and Diamond. Also I had some difficulties reconnecting the first times, due to the not used pairing-PIN. The motos doesn´t need it. The HD and the diamond needed some time to accept this
Now they reconnect as Hedset and Stereoheadphons.
Maybe there is another BT-Master (your old phone) active that occupies the A2DP connection with your headset.
I have one HD and S9, sometimes it's a little hard for them to connect but the sound can be very good, the only problem is that with high BitPool values above 30 (medium quality) it's very easy to break the sound when the HD is in our pockets and we are outside the house.
hi, im using the same headphone with you. you got that cracking noise with no bass because it's playing via the headset function, not as stereo headphone.
try disable the heatset option in the bluetooth, then open your music player and try again.
And yes, when u turn off your headset improperly. i.e. turn off from the power button, and not through bluetooth -> disconnect, then turn off... you will have to go to setting -> set as stereo headphone...
I had a play around with Advanced config and found that if I change the max bitpool from 30 to 50, the crackling and static disappears. It seems better now. Many thanks!
Edit: Changed to Max Bitpool 80 and Min 65 and the quality is brilliant. Found some further information from a post on another site (PPCSG) which may be useful to any with a similar issue:
Using ACT (Advance Config Tool), go to BLUETOOTH:
*below are my settings->
-Use Joint Stereo: Yes (default)
-Bitpool: Very High
-Max supported bitpool: 80
-Min support bitpool: 65
-Sample rate: 48000Hz
*My settings may not be the best, therefore you may want to trial and error.
The following shows the named values for the A2DP\Settings key.
By default, A2DP uses a bitpool of 48. A lower bitpool value improves system performance. Increasing bitpool to a higher value causes an overhead on Bluetooth and system resources.
Microsoft suggests the following bitpool values for optimal buffer sizes.
30 - Low audio quality
40 - Medium audio quality
48 - High audio quality
58 - Excellent audio quality
-The maximum reported bit pool value, which can be negotiated with the peer device. Default value is 80.
-The minimum reported bit pool value, which can be negotiated with the peer device. Default value is 14.
-SBC sample rate to use. Default value is 44.1 KHz.
least of your worries...
what bothers Me more is that the old A2DP bug from the HTC Diamond has made its way to the HD ROM, in that if you listen to music via A2DP and recieve a phone call, you take that call and end that call then your music continues playing through the phone speakers! You have no idea how embarassing this is on a train!
that doesnt happen on mine, go straight back to my headphone again...
Even though it doesnt happen on mine, to be safe I plug a dummy headphone jact to the phone so even if bt gets disconnected, no sound goes through decice speakers. Makes me feel comfortable on the train. This was also an issue with Cruise which was addressed by a hotfix later on.
gurluver said:
try disable the heatset option in the bluetooth, then open your music player and try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that, and the difference is staggering!
I can now confirm that it isn't a hardware issue, that these phones (Sony HBH-IS800) are capable of sound quality just as good as other Sony in-ear jobs. Thanks for that!
Now, all I have to do is try to sort out the drop-outs. It seems as though the slightest barrier can cause drop-outs, for instance, putting the phone in my jacket pocket, or passing my jacket sleeve in front of it. Not sure whether it's the particular material of my jacket, or the metal in the buttons, or what, but it's hugely irritating.
Funnily enough, seems to make a difference if I have the connecting wire behind or in front of my neck. More to follow on this one....
Cheers
Pete
noise ?
For people using the HD and motorola S705 as bluetooth A2DP : do you have also an annoying background noise when listening to quiet music ? Or before the sound starts. You know a noise like pffffffffffffffffffffff
HTC P3600
Hello,
I already installed the tornado_a2dp.cab on my PDA HTC P3600 with WM5. but I can't sincronize MP3 (Windows Media Player or TCPMP) with my headphones Nokia BH-206.
Anybody help me to solve this problem?
The mp3 sound only worked (10seconds) in Windows Media Player when I press the button to do a call
Hi.
I have done the changes mentioned in this thread and got much better sound when listening to music.
But i still have a static noise when im in a call.
Is there a way to fix this?
mugis said:
I had a play around with Advanced config and found that if I change the max bitpool from 30 to 50, the crackling and static disappears. It seems better now. Many thanks!
Edit: Changed to Max Bitpool 80 and Min 65 and the quality is brilliant. Found some further information from a post on another site (PPCSG) which may be useful to any with a similar issue:
Using ACT (Advance Config Tool), go to BLUETOOTH:
*below are my settings->
-Use Joint Stereo: Yes (default)
-Bitpool: Very High
-Max supported bitpool: 80
-Min support bitpool: 65
-Sample rate: 48000Hz
*My settings may not be the best, therefore you may want to trial and error.
The following shows the named values for the A2DP\Settings key.
By default, A2DP uses a bitpool of 48. A lower bitpool value improves system performance. Increasing bitpool to a higher value causes an overhead on Bluetooth and system resources.
Microsoft suggests the following bitpool values for optimal buffer sizes.
30 - Low audio quality
40 - Medium audio quality
48 - High audio quality
58 - Excellent audio quality
-The maximum reported bit pool value, which can be negotiated with the peer device. Default value is 80.
-The minimum reported bit pool value, which can be negotiated with the peer device. Default value is 14.
-SBC sample rate to use. Default value is 44.1 KHz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the same problem as you on my HTC Incredible. Any idea of an app that lets you configure those settings for Android?

FLAC & General BT A2DP 'Quality' Question...

First of all, thanks to Cyanogen and contributors for his G1 and N1 ROM's.
Recently, I've been using FLAC for music playback ripped from my CD's for tracks that I want lossless (especially for classical music). Most of the time, I'm using my Motorola S805 (Bluetooth) for the cans that I got on Black Friday back in 2009 from Newegg for a low price of $20 USD, shipped. -- Best money I spent for Black Friday Granted they're normally overpriced but they perform fairly well for the price I paid.
So after using FLAC and the S805 on my ASUS notebook which has built-in Bluetooth, I moved some of the FLAC files onto my Nexus One and paired my S805 to the N1 and started some FLAC playback...
The difference in quality blew me away. It's so much clearer playing back FLAC files on the N1 to my S805's than it ever was using VLC under Windows 7. I'm at a loss on why the difference. -- Yes, I've attempted to adjust the "volume" on both the Windows Mixer and the S805 internal volume controls as the same on the N1. There's virtually *no hiss" when playing back FLAC files on the N1 than on my ASUS notebook. I have a very noticeable "elevated" noise floor on the ASUS among "compression artifacts" which I don't think I should have.
Does anyone know what might be the cause?
Thanks!
Cheers,
Kermee
Happened to come across this so I'll reply even though it's quite old.
The audio output on the Nexus one is average. I believe you can find the frequency graph of the Nexus One at the gsmarena.com review of it. So while it's not stellar, it's not bad. More than likely you're hearing a difference because your notebook's output is low quality.
Notebooks generally have poor audio quality and tend to generate a lot of noise. You'll especially notice it when your computer is under load or when you plug it into a powersource. It's like electronic interference, afterall everything on the laptop is packed together pretty tightly. The other reason is just poor hardware. Sound gets neglected frequently on notebooks. The best solution is to pickup an exteranl soundcard (I know soundblaster makes a few usb ones) or even better get yourself a usb DAC (digital analog converter) and a headphone amplifier. ibasso.com has several versatile ones.
Goto head-fi.org for some audiophile info.
pongalong said:
Happened to come across this so I'll reply even though it's quite old.
The audio output on the Nexus one is average. I believe you can find the frequency graph of the Nexus One at the gsmarena.com review of it. So while it's not stellar, it's not bad. More than likely you're hearing a difference because your notebook's output is low quality.
Notebooks generally have poor audio quality and tend to generate a lot of noise. You'll especially notice it when your computer is under load or when you plug it into a powersource. It's like electronic interference, afterall everything on the laptop is packed together pretty tightly. The other reason is just poor hardware. Sound gets neglected frequently on notebooks. The best solution is to pickup an exteranl soundcard (I know soundblaster makes a few usb ones) or even better get yourself a usb DAC (digital analog converter) and a headphone amplifier. ibasso.com has several versatile ones.
Goto head-fi.org for some audiophile info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't explain why Bluetooth headphones, completely disconnected from the computer, sounds bad
I'd say the most likely reason is some difference of A2DP implementation between the two. Maybe the standard Bluetooth stack on a computer lacks polish on this part.
Well the N1 isnt a good audio player at all since the frequencies are cut off. Also flac really wouldnt make a difference until you buy a high end set of headphones (UM3x, Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 etc.) and a source to match it (nice DAC, amp). Instead of wasting all the space on flac you should just go for vbr or the like since bluetooth will not be able to fully take advantage of it. Head-fi is a great place to start, but be careful since your wallet will hate you if you really do start getting into buying nicer headphones.
If you're just using your nexus one and an A2DP headset, there isn't a difference in audio quality between a file ripped at V0 bitrate and flac. You're only going to really hear the details a FLAC file has with a high end audio setup or good headphones with an amp, and your nexus+the motorola headset do not fall into those categories It isn't a criticism of your setup, they literally cannot reproduce the details.
As far as your question, it might have to do with the bluetooth stack as well as the hardware/interference in your laptop, but that's just a guess as I'm not too knowledgeable on the workings of bluetooth audio.
The N1 is barely a year old, and since it's designed primarily as a phone, it should have a fairly new Bluetooth radio and stack, probably much newer than whatever you have bundled in your Asus laptop. In fact both the desktop dock and the car dock use Bluetooth to stream the audio to the auxiliary audio port, which may seem a bit roundabout to audiophiles, but thanks to the new hardware there's very little noticeable loss to the average consumer, and it makes it easier to connect and disconnect from the dock.
That said, being such a new technology, Bluetooth has only recently improved to the point of being a decent quality source for streaming audio. I have an old USB Bluetooth adapter in my desktop that I bought right about the time when A2DP was first available, and its audio quality is pretty bad, too. And like any standard for streaming data, Bluetooth's perceived streaming quality is highly dependent on the hardware on both ends, meaning that the maximum quality you'll get is that which is achievable of the older of the two devices.
Any audiophile will tell you that if you want true quality, you should just ditch wireless technologies altogether, which I too have done. But for your purposes, and in the interest of saving money, you can bring your laptop up to par with your N1 by simply installing a new Bluetooth stack, or, if that doesn't work, buying a new USB Bluetooth adapter, preferably one that is advertised to work well for music.
Wow. I completely forgot about this thread. LOL.
I figured it out in the end what was happening. -- The negotiated 'bitpool' setting between my Windows 7 BT stack and the A2DP headphones was somehow negotiating at the "min" which was somewhere around the low 30's. Using some BT diagnostic tools on my MBP (different machine than the ASUS Windows 7 machine), I found the "max" bitpool rate which the A2DP headphones supported was 53.
I found out that the N1 was connecting to my A2DP headphones at the "max" bitpool rate which my headphones supported. The sound quality between a bitpool rate of "53" vs "30" is huge. Hence why playback on the N1 sounded so much better.
I never did find out how to force the 'bitpool' rates in Windows 7 and gave up. I did under Snow Leopard 10.6 on my MBP.
Cheers,
Kermee
The default Microsoft Bluetooth stack in Windows 7 does not include the ability to change the bitpool settings, nor does the standard Broadcom WIDCOMM stack.
Most people opt to use the BlueSoleil Bluetooth stack for more advanced functions, and I can confirm that BlueSoleil does have the ability to adjust bitpool settings. Unfortunately the product costs about $25, and you will need to check to make sure that BlueSoleil is compatible with your laptop's integrated Bluetooth.
Ok, I just have to put this out there, unless you have a very good sound card, a good amplifier, and good headphones, there is no reason to use FLAC audio files unless you just feel like wasting HD space.
Bluetooth audio has really bad bitrate and won't even come close to flac.
wolfcry0 said:
Ok, I just have to put this out there, unless you have a very good sound card, a good amplifier, and good headphones, there is no reason to use FLAC audio files unless you just feel like wasting HD space.
Bluetooth audio has really bad bitrate and won't even come close to flac.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree bluetooth audio quality leaves a lot to be desired. It is so nice to be able to drag flacs over to the phone and listen, though. Definitely one of my favorite features of Android and that 32gb card investment made it happen!

Optical audio out (spdif/toslink)

(sorry I can't post any links, but you can google the words in bold)
Are there any Android head units that support optical audio out?
I've been researching the last few nights (hours!) for a WIRED way to get a toslink optical cable to a Audison Prima AP8.9 Amp/DSP.
Are there any electrical engineers out there who have thought about bypassing the onboard DAC to get digital output?
Or.... is my only option to provide <96kHz optical audio to get an AptX lossless Bluetooth receiver like the Neet AptX lossless bluetooth receiver. Can anyone share experience on how well the Android units perform constantly connected to a BT receiver for all car audio? Esp. if you have the new Pumpkins with the Parrot BT card, in case that improves things.
Thanks!
I'm looking for the same answer, i've installed the neet receiver, but unfortunate for me, the head unit does not connect. I don't think it can be used as transmitter.
I've found this, but I don't know if it works...
http://www.matrix-digi.com/en/products/158/index.html
You all may be overthinking this. Turns out plenty of modern android devices can use standard USB audio hardware. You just need an OTG cable, and the kind of USB audio output device that doesn't need a specialized driver under Windows or Linux. I've hooked up many different USB audio dongles you my Galaxy S3 and S4. The S4 wouldn't charge while hooked through the particular OTG cable, but the S3 does. As a matter of fact, I've been using it as the media player in my car for years.
Admittedly, I've only used the optical out on some of my devices occasionally, but I imagine it would still work for most.
Update: Not all supposed "OTG" cables work. This is the one I bought in Jan 2014 that works for both audio and charging on my S3 with CyanogenMod 11: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YPYORM/
Today I received an Android 6.0 Head Unit from A-Sure for an Audi A3. I connected a Terratec Aureon Dual USB DAC. I got sound, but couldn't control the volume. Changing the android system volume had no effect.
I am considering spending a couple of bucks on the app "USB Audio Player PRO" and test it again. If this doesn't work, i will have to return the unit.
Greetings from Germany
So i had to return the Head Unit. I tried a different one by "Skandinav", with this one there was no sound at all from the USB DAC
retlaps said:
Today I received an Android 6.0 Head Unit from A-Sure for an Audi A3. I connected a Terratec Aureon Dual USB DAC. I got sound, but couldn't control the volume. Changing the android system volume had no effect.
I am considering spending a couple of bucks on the app "USB Audio Player PRO" and test it again. If this doesn't work, i will have to return the unit.
Greetings from Germany
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
You need to connect to DAC with digital volume control like Helix DSP Pro
Greetings from Singapore
daviestar said:
(sorry I can't post any links, but you can google the words in bold)
Are there any Android head units that support optical audio out?
I've been researching the last few nights (hours!) for a WIRED way to get a toslink optical cable to a Audison Prima AP8.9 Amp/DSP.
Are there any electrical engineers out there who have thought about bypassing the onboard DAC to get digital output?
Or.... is my only option to provide <96kHz optical audio to get an AptX lossless Bluetooth receiver like the Neet AptX lossless bluetooth receiver. Can anyone share experience on how well the Android units perform constantly connected to a BT receiver for all car audio? Esp. if you have the new Pumpkins with the Parrot BT card, in case that improves things.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, you can connect to the DAC, thereby outputting digital audio from applications and transport flash drive.
this can be done not only with android devices, but also with conventional tape recorder, some installations you can look at my YouTube channel
unfortunately links for new users are forbidden, you can search by my nickname - "jonjonni toslink Евгений Фещенко"
daviestar said:
(sorry I can't post any links, but you can google the words in bold)
Are there any Android head units that support optical audio out?
I've been researching the last few nights (hours!) for a WIRED way to get a toslink optical cable to a Audison Prima AP8.9 Amp/DSP.
Are there any electrical engineers out there who have thought about bypassing the onboard DAC to get digital output?
Or.... is my only option to provide <96kHz optical audio to get an AptX lossless Bluetooth receiver like the Neet AptX lossless bluetooth receiver. Can anyone share experience on how well the Android units perform constantly connected to a BT receiver for all car audio? Esp. if you have the new Pumpkins with the Parrot BT card, in case that improves things.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, don't fall into this hole. (warning to new users)
I have the Prima dac/amp, and the sound is amazing, and it can be connected to an Android phone via OTG to Toslink adapter, or via Bluetooth adapter with Toslink out, but it has one very nasty issue: when the amp is starting, and there is no Toslink signal, it won't register the connection. So if you later connect your phone, you have to cycle through the input sources Digital->Aux->Master->Digital to again register your connection.
So unless you connect your phone or turn on your BT receiver _before_ you start the car up, you will need to fiddle with cycling the source (while also driving the car). (That is if you also have the optional control unit with a display.)
Why they designed the device this way is just beyond me.
I hope its all right to join an old discussion.
I have a similar problem, I want to connect an android head unit in my car to an external digital amplifier. The amplifier itself have SPDIF input (mosconi GALDEN Pico 12 channels https://mosconi-system.it/product/gladen-pico-812-dsp/) but I can't find an android head unit running Android 10 with SPDIF output for my car. I've found converting card USB->SPIDF (for example: https://www.amazon.com/Douk-Audio-C...1&keywords=usb+to+spdif&qid=1617899902&sr=8-3) but I still missing some points:
-In Android 10, how do I switch all audio outputs to the converting card? Is it a part of the Android or external application?
-What happen when playing multi channel media (such as 5.1)? does each channel transfer on each on?
-Is it possible to use the same method to BT? The Pico have an optional BT card.
Thanks in advance, Haim
haim_gds said:
-In Android 10, how do I switch all audio outputs to the converting card? Is it a part of the Android or external application?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android usually automatically switches to USB audio when found, but many implementations do not. Sometimes there's a setting in the developer menu for prioritizing USB audio, but sometimes that doesn't do anything.
USB audio of any kind is not supported on my Sony X800D Android TV.
haim_gds said:
-What happen when playing multi channel media (such as 5.1)? does each channel transfer on each on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Multichannel USB sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. Certainly it can work, such as on many Android TV implementations like NVIDIA shield.
haim_gds said:
-Is it possible to use the same method to BT? The Pico have an optional BT card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Multichannel Bluetooth is not a standard, although some implementations like enhanced aptX can support it.
Have you also considered that SPDIF surround is always encoded, and thus is output at a fixed volume? Your head unit would not be able to control the volume; it would have to be done after decoding, like at the power amplifier stage.
MarkerB said:
Android usually automatically switches to USB audio when found, but many implementations do not. Sometimes there's a setting in the developer menu for prioritizing USB audio, but sometimes that doesn't do anything.
USB audio of any kind is not supported on my Sony X800D Android TV.
Multichannel USB sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. Certainly it can work, such as on many Android TV implementations like NVIDIA shield.
Multichannel Bluetooth is not a standard, although some implementations like enhanced aptX can support it.
Have you also considered that SPDIF surround is always encoded, and thus is output at a fixed volume? Your head unit would not be able to control the volume; it would have to be done after decoding, like at the power amplifier stage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know of if it's possible to allow the headunits to play higher than 48khz resolution through the optical or coax outputs ?
dfal47 said:
Do you know of if it's possible to allow the headunits to play higher than 48khz resolution through the optical or coax outputs ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to ask - what
marchnz said:
Have to ask - what
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The unit forces 24b 48khz audio, coaxial can output 192khz tracks and optical upto 96khz . Higher resolution audio output.
Neutron or UAPP will allow higher resolution, but you'll probably lose Navi directions as those programs bypass the android audio layer and mixer.
Basically you need a high resolution non- Android media player, with a navi input and mixer, that also has an spdif output.
The Alpine UTX-A09 looks like it can do that, assuming it isn't Android based /doesn't force 16/48 output from all sources when the mixer is enabled (in non "Alpine Direct" mode). Looks like the Alpine pxe-x09 has a mixer, so it should also be able to mix in navigation instructions.
Some of the Helix DSPs may mix or prioritize different inputs - the documentation isn't clear.
If you use spdif connection vs optical you run the risk of creating a ground loop unless the source is floating ie running on its battery power.
You can blow out all your high frequency drivers in a second if the ground loop creates feedback oscillations.
A common ground point may or may not prevent it. Using toslink to couple eliminates this potential issue.
For car hookups best practice to use heavy gauge wire for positive* feed, preferably coming directly from the battery for high wattage amps, source auxiliary equipment from the same end point. Do not daisy chain.
Same is true with home hifi, avoid using spdif cables to couple amps, preamps, receivers, cable boxes, etc. Amps, recievers are designed to be floating and not connected to ground. Do mix earth grounded and floating equipment unless connected by toslink only ie a tower PC with a 3 prong plug and a reciever (2 prong plug, floating).
*if you use a chassis grounding point, use only one and do not daisy chain!
dfal47 said:
Do you know of if it's possible to allow the headunits to play higher than 48khz resolution through the optical or coax outputs ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the delay.
DTS has had 96kHz/24 bit for many years, and they work through any SPDIF interface... as you wanted. They don't actually change the hardware interface speed, but rather encode the extra data into the sales 48kHz stream.
I've never bothered to encode anything with it, because I'm guessing it actually makes compression worse. You're squeezing much more data through the same early 90s compression algorithm, and DTS is already lossy enough. Factor-in that higher sample rates are not detectable in blind tests, and it just seems like a bad idea.
Hmm... Unless the 96kHz/24 bit extension algorithm is much more efficient at compression, considering it was introduced much later than the base DTS algorithms in 1991, and may have leveraged more recent technologies. In that case, it would definitely be the better choice. Unfortunately, I haven't read anything about this possibility.
Good reading on the 96kHz/24 bit topic:
DTS (company) - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Get the Rundown on the DTS 96/24 Audio Format
DTS 96/24 is part of the DTS family of audio formats but it's rather rare since the advent of Blu-ray Disc.
www.lifewire.com
Bumping an old, but good, thread. I have exactly the same amp (well, the 5.9), and an Android unit with a TOSlink port - but it seems to be turned off as I can’t see any light coming from the TOSlink cable. Any idea how to turn it on?
I have a FiiO as a backup but prefer not to do SPDIF because I need another device for the Audison to take SPDIF input …
MarkerB said:
Sorry for the delay.
DTS has had 96kHz/24 bit for many years, and they work through any SPDIF interface... as you wanted. They don't actually change the hardware interface speed, but rather encode the extra data into the sales 48kHz stream.
I've never bothered to encode anything with it, because I'm guessing it actually makes compression worse. You're squeezing much more data through the same early 90s compression algorithm, and DTS is already lossy enough. Factor-in that higher sample rates are not detectable in blind tests, and it just seems like a bad idea.
Hmm... Unless the 96kHz/24 bit extension algorithm is much more efficient at compression, considering it was introduced much later than the base DTS algorithms in 1991, and may have leveraged more recent technologies. In that case, it would definitely be the better choice. Unfortunately, I haven't read anything about this possibility.
Good reading on the 96kHz/24 bit topic:
DTS (company) - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Get the Rundown on the DTS 96/24 Audio Format
DTS 96/24 is part of the DTS family of audio formats but it's rather rare since the advent of Blu-ray Disc.
www.lifewire.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Toslink can support 24 bit/192 khz.
Optical coupling is preferred as it carries no risk of creating ground loops; optical isolation.
A ground loop can smoke (literally) all your tweeters and maybe the power amp in a second.
blackhawk said:
Toslink can support 24 bit/192 khz.
Optical coupling is preferred as it carries no risk of creating ground loops; optical isolation.
A ground loop can smoke (literally) all your tweeters and maybe the power amp in a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you accidentally replied to the wrong post. My topic was about the quality of the DTS 96kHz/24 bit encode, which is completely independent of which of the two physical SPDIF interfaces is used.

bluetooth dac?

I just plugged in a cheap pair of headphones and wow, the sound is amazing using the hifi dac. I don't know much about it but I have a much better pair of Sony bluetooth headphones, is there any work around to use the hifi with bluetooth?
I don't believe so. I could be wrong but I very much doubt it.
Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
This is a post from reddit user /u/codefyre explaining why the DAC can't be used over bluetooth (this was related to the v10, but applies to the v20 as well):
Not possible. Nutshell explanation:
All audio, the audio you hear with your actual ear, is analog. Sound is an analog vibration through the air.
The audio recordings in your phone are digital. MP3, MP4, whatever. Unless you're listening to an old record or cassette recording, you're playback source is digital.
The DAC is a Digital Analog Converter. A high quality DAC converts high quality digital audio into high quality analog audio. A higher quality DAC generates a better reconstruction of the original analog signal. Because wired headphones are analog, they simply transform the analog electrical signal into analog speaker vibrations.
If you think about this for a moment, you should understand why it can't be used with Bluetooth. BT is a digital protocol, so the connection between your phone and your Bluetooth receiver is digital. Bluetooth receivers typically perform an on-chip conversion of the digital signal to an analog output during playback. Some high quality BT speakers have onboard 24 bit and 32 bit DAC's to improve the fidelity of their audio output.
So, if the V10 allowed the DAC to be used with Bluetooth, your signal would be Digital Source - > Analog 32 bit HiFi DAC -> Digital Bluetooth -> Analog Output. Because your audio quality is limited by the lowest fidelity step in the reproduction chain, your final output quality is never going to exceed the fidelity of the conversion in your Bluetooth device. And because the analog -> digital conversion actually lowers audio quality, the highest quality Bluetooth playback can be achieved by keeping the signal digital until it reaches the output device. Running the signal through the HiFi DAC would actually result in lower quality Bluetooth audio.
If you want to match the quality of the HiFi DAC using Bluetooth, you'll need to buy a Bluetooth receiver with a high quality onboard DAC of its own.
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Couldn't have got a better answer, thank you.

What's better to use, aptX HD, aptX or SBC for Bluetooth?

The OnePlus 5 has those 3 options but I do not know the difference between them or which is best to use. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
+1
Both the phone and Bluetooth device have to support AptX for it to work, so often your issue resolved by that.
AptX will provide better sound than SBC. SBC is the default codec used by the A2DP Bluetooth profile.
So, in short, if your headphones/speakers have AptX, use that. If they don't, SBC.
What happens if you choose aptX if your device doesn't support it?
yubimusubi said:
What happens if you choose aptX if your device doesn't support it?
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It will probably just switch to SBC so the connection will work, as that's the baseline standard in Bluetooth. I couldn't say with absolute certainty, as my OP5 hasn't arrived yet.
AptX is a proprietary thing - someone other than the Bluetooth consortium developed it and licenses it. That's why not everything has it - you have to pay to use it in the products you make. They created AptX because the default Bluetooth audio profile pretty much sucks when you start to examine how it butchers bit depth and sample rates just to cram audio data across a low power wireless signal.
On the flip side of that coin - yeah, AptX is better (and I'd use it if both devices supported it) but the audio quality differences are probably not going to readily apparent when listening to $20 to $50 Bluetooth devices. It's been my experience that it takes a somewhat trained ear and better-than-good equipment to be able to easily spot the difference. So, if you're an audiophile, you probably already know to stay away from Bluetooth for the best quality sound. If you're not an audiophile, try to use the best Bluetooth profile you can, but don't sweat it too much.
The A2DP profile is negociated at pairing and the best supported by both devices is picked (SBC < AptX < AptX HD). Problem is that the codec is just one link in the whole daisy chain. Other equally important aspects:
- music source quality (don't expect 128 kbps CBR mp3 to sound good)
- DAC and amplifier (each and every sound system that converts bits to sound has these!)
- speakers (from those in IEM's to those in BT boom boxes - they are all speakers)
So just that you're using AptX doesn't imply you are listening to high quality sound and probably implementing AptX and putting its logo on the product is the cheapest and least development intensive way to raise the price of a product.
Just my two (euro) cents...
Hi,
The question here is how the phone behaves when a higher quality codec has been selected (eg aptX) and a standard bluetooth headset (SBC - only )has been connected?
So far it seems to work (but then the question is why there is a selection available)
Best Regards
Joerg
My wild guess is that tis setting acts like a low-pass filter threshold. The phone will negotiate the highest available option without going above setting.
If the setting is AptX, the phone and speaker support AptX HD, the connection will be made at AptX quality. If the speaker only supports SBC, the connection will be made with SBC.
Honestly I don't see the point in such a setting. 99% of the people would want the best quality available anyway.
Is there a power consumption difference?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
daniel_loft said:
My wild guess is that tis setting acts like a low-pass filter threshold. The phone will negotiate the highest available option without going above setting.
If the setting is AptX, the phone and speaker support AptX HD, the connection will be made at AptX quality. If the speaker only supports SBC, the connection will be made with SBC.
Honestly I don't see the point in such a setting. 99% of the people would want the best quality available anyway.
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It makes sense to have the setting *if* for some reason you want to force SBC or the non-HD aptX. I have it set to aptX HD right now and it seems to work with my car (I'm about 95% sure it doesn't support aptX).
The real question is, if it fails back appropriately, why on Earth would OnePlus set the *default* to SBC?
@aa_chow: There surely is a consumption difference. SBC was designed decades ago with low computational complexity in mind (among others). On the current smartphone hardware (which is probably on par with a medium desktop from 5-6 years ago) the difference would be so small that measurements are impossible (you might see a difference on the battery life of the speakers, but I wouldn't loose my time there) .
@yubimusubi: I cannot even find the reason why that setting is even there! It only limits the best usable codec, which makes no sense to me. Maybe you can find more answers on the oneplus forums.
lag
with the sb, i experience music lag from when i have played in 1 minute and it continues, is it low power consumption or something on sbc? I'm gonna try the apex option when i get home to check if its better.
I'm suffering micro breaks on HD audio (320 bitrate MP3) from aptX HD, aptX or SBC.
Is there a way to correct it?
All my files are stored at 320 and I doesn't have time to convert to a bitrate of 128
Edit: No issues with iPhone 7+ and Huawei P10 using the same BT headset and MP3 files
bartito said:
I'm suffering micro breaks on HD audio (320 bitrate MP3) from aptX HD, aptX or SBC.
Is there a way to correct it?
All my files are stored at 320 and I doesn't have time to convert to a bitrate of 128
Edit: No issues with iPhone 7+ and Huawei P10 using the same BT headset and MP3 files
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Click to collapse
I have an issue on my International LG G6 where it sounds like the 24 bit lossless tracks are essentially dropping frames to borrow a gaming term. Then it will correct itself. It happened on my VW and the problem persists in my wife's new Subaru.
The LG G6 sports Aptx HD. Any ideas?
i prefer aptX but then again ive been using it quite a while now
APTX-HD do not work on One Plus 5. The music hacks constant.

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