Top from left:
Cambridge Audio’s Alva
TT turntable features
aptX-HD Bluetooth
audio, as do HiFiMan’s
Ananda-BT and PSB’s
M4U8 headphones;
Sony’s WH-H900N
headphones (bottom
left) use LDACNo Scrapple
from Apple
A complication arises because these
headphones can deliver the benefits of
aptX-HD only when used with an audio
source that also includes aptX-HD—
and unfortunately, aptX-HD is avail-
able in no Apple products. However, it
is available in many Android phones
and tablets. It’s also available in some
portable music players, such as the
Astell&Kern Kann and the FiiO M6,
and even in a turntable, the Cambridge
Audio Alva TT.
Sony has its own higher-quality
Bluetooth technology: LDAC. LDAC
carries up to 990 kbps, giving it a seri-
ous technical advantage over aptX-HD.
However, LDAC has one huge disad-
vantage: It’s available mostly in Sony
products, such as the WH-1000XM 3
and WH-H900N headphones. Sony
does make LDAC available free to any
Android phone maker, though, so
you’ll find it not only in Sony’s phones
but also in other Android models, such
as Samsung’s Galaxy phones.
Bluetooth causes an additional
problem: latency, or delay, of the audio
signal. With SBC, the delay is typically
around 200 milliseconds (one fifth of
a second), but it can be even longer.
When you’re playing music, this isn’t
a problem, because you won’t notice if
“All Blues” starts a fraction of a second
later. But if you’re watching jazz videos
on YouTube, you’ll definitely notice it if
Elvin Jones’ stick hits his snare 1/5 of a
second before you hear the sound, or if
Cécile McLorin Salvant’s lips are out of
sync with her vocals.
AptX typically has about half the
latency of SBC, but Qualcomm offers
an even better solution: aptX Low
Latency, or LL. It typically has just
32 milliseconds of latency, which you
won’t notice. AptX LL is only starting
to hit the market, but you can get it
now in headphones such as the Bang &
Olufsen Beoplay H9 and MEE Audio
Cinema Matrix ANC. Unfortunately,
I know of no phones that currently in-
clude aptX LL, but using the Avantree
Leaf or Creative BT-W2 USB Bluetooth
adapter, you can add aptX LL to any
laptop computer, and Bluetooth mod-
ules such as the MEE Audio Connect
let you transmit aptX LL from TVs and
stereo systems.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for
Apple to add LDAC or any variant of
aptX—the tech giant is notoriously
reluctant to rely on other companies’
technology. But because all versions
of aptX, especially, are relatively easy
to include in a Bluetooth product,
expect to see aptX-HD and aptX Low
Latency appearing in many more
smartphones and headphones in the
coming year. LDAC and aptX-HD are
noticeable sonic upgrades for negligible
added cost, so if you’re considering a
new set of headphones, it’d be a good
idea to put either one or both of these
Bluetooth audio formats on your “must
have” features list. JT