LDAC Sony has a proprietary wireless audio codec also developed by the Japanese tech giant. Users who have purchased a pair of Wireless Sony Headphones you may have noticed over the years have claimed to support LDAC. here we will discuss What is LDAC?How it works and how it can affect the quality of wireless audio.
What is LDAC?
As mentioned earlier, LDAC is a wireless audio codec developed by Sony. This audio codec is different from older Bluetooth streaming technologies. This codec uses a combination of lossless (when possible) and lossy compression to deliver audio in high resolution.
How does this work?
Bitrate is the term used to describe the amount of data being transferred in audio. A higher bitrate usually provides better audio quality. If you want to download or listen to music in physical audio formats, you can afford the higher bitrate. On the other hand, if you’re streaming music, you’ll want the bitrate to be low for effective streaming.
LDAC uses a different bitrate than older wireless audio technologies. This codec uses either a bitrate of 330/660/990kbps at sample rates of 96 and 48kHz, or 303/606/909kbps at sample rates of 88.2 and 44.1kHz. These bitrates are higher than the bitrates found in older wireless audio technologies. For example, Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s SBC uses a bitrate of 345kbps at 48kHz, while Qualcomm’s aptX uses a bitrate of 384kbps at 48kHz.
How does this affect wireless audio quality?
Sony promotes the technology as a truly wireless, high-resolution audio solution. In fact, only the high bitrate of 990kbps lives up to the codec’s claims. SoundGuys conducted a thorough study of the technology and concluded that LDAC isn’t very successful when it comes to 24-bit/96kHz studio-quality recording.
Other Available High-Resolution Audio Solutions
Other companies are also trying to make high-resolution audio available to the world of wireless earbuds. In 2016, Qualcomm introduced aptX HD, also known as aptX Lossless, which offers high bitrate streaming of 576Kbps over Bluetooth headphones that are compatible with the technology.
Can LDAC be used by other brands?
Sony has developed the technology and continues to integrate LDAC into its products. However, the LDAC encoder is open-source which allows manufacturers to incorporate the technology into non-Sony products. Since Android 8.0 “Oreo”, which was released in 2017, LDAC has been part of the Android open source project.
This enables each OEM to integrate this standard into their Android devices independently. If you’re using an Android device that runs Oreo or above, you’ll be able to use LDAC with compatible wireless audio products.
However, this audio codec is found in most Sony products including – wireless earbuds and headphones among others. Other brands like Anker Life have also adopted LDAC support in some of their headphones and users can use the technology to listen to music on some gaming headsets as well.
Users can also use LDAC in select wireless speakers, home theater setups, soundbars, dedicated portable audio players in the Walkman range, Bluetooth headphone amplifiers, and even in car receivers.
Currently, no Apple products support LDAC and users are not able to use the higher bitrate that the codec supports with the iPhone, iPad, or AirPods.