Wireless Audio and Bluetooth LE Audio - Assistance, Hearables, and Headphones 3.0

What happened at CES 2023 related to wireless audio and Bluetooth LE Audio. And what might happen at MWC 2023. And why there's lots more happening in assistance, hearables, and Headphones 3.0. This article discusses Bluetooth LE Audio and Android 13. Bluetooth 5.4 updates. Sennheiser's MobileConnect Assistive Listening app that actually works over Wi-Fi. Sonical, Antennaware, et all, Headphone 3.0. UWB, and high-quality wireless audio. Originally published in The Audio Voice 410, February 16 2023.

Widely recognized as a high-quality audio compression algorithm, used in film sound to radio broadcast, studios and finally in Bluetooth, where its incorporated into billions of devices, the successful story of aptX technology is inextricably linked to the history of digital audio and a remarkable corporate journey, from APT to CSR and Qualcomm. This article offers an insider's overview of the aptX audio codec adoption and evolution, and how the technology was interlinked with the author's professional career for the past 28 years. This article was originally published in audioXpress, October 2022.

Audio Codecs, a new Belfast-based company and the developers of the Skylark digital audio data compression algorithm designed for low latency, joined forces with Virscient, a New Zealand based RF consultancy house, to launch a new wireless audio transmission module using Bluetooth Low Energy. The solution uses a Nordic Bluetooth LE SoC to transmit a 24-bit/48kHz high quality, low latency digital wireless microphone signal.

There's a lot of everything in audioXpress October 2022. Starting with a market update on audio for Residential Integration. Next, Jonny McClintock shares The Story of aptX, Gary Galo reviews Sumiko phono cartridges and new 78 rpm stylus, Richard Honeycutt explains RT Measurement, Frans de Wit tackles the design of a DC Power Supply, Ken Bird builds a pair of tower speakers with Oaktron drivers manufactured in the US, and Christopher Paul writes about Triode Common Cathode Stages and its controversies.

WorldCast Systems announced an important evolution of its powerful APTmpX solution for radio stations broadcasting over FM and the Internet. The world’s first and only non destructive MPX/composite algorithm that saves network bandwidth, now offers the perfect balance between maintaining high quality and cost-effective transmission in IP connections. In conjunction with APT's SureStream technology, APTmpX allows using the Internet for radio broadcast with confidence, with full compatibility with digital and analog MPX.

In early March 2021, following a series of announcements in development platforms and solutions for wireless audio, Qualcomm announced Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound, a new end-to-end approach to promote high-resolution digital audio and enhanced voice communications across devices. The systems' approach combines and optimizes multiple Qualcomm technologies for mobile platforms, processing, connectivity, plus the latest aptX Adaptive audio technologies needed to improve the sound experience for consumers. But how can manufacturers and new brands benefit? Will there be a lossless extension for aptX Adaptive? We asked the questions to Jonny McClintock, Director of aptX Sales & Marketing at Qualcomm.

With the audio industry and consumer electronic companies pushing the high-resolution audio concept further, Qualcomm is determined to promote the message that consumers don't have to trade quality for convenience when it comes to wireless streaming, thanks to its aptX HD audio technology. At the IFA 2017 show in Berlin, Qualcomm announced that the aptX HD audio ecosystem is expanding rapidly.