Bluetooth – Hi-Res Streaming
All Bluetooth is the same, isn’t it? Well, actually, no. Here, we examine why and point you toward how to stream Hi-Res music from Bluetooth.
Without going into an exhaustive look at where Bluetooth came from, we will jump into the modern day. Bluetooth is a handy way for different devices to communicate quickly with each other.
One of the most popular uses is connecting a phone with a car head unit or Bluetooth speakers to play music or handle calls wirelessly. We want to examine this aspect more closely.
Hands-free is easy for Bluetooth to deal with. The nature of this use is not very demanding regarding audio quality, and therefore, the data transfer required is low. More recently, drivers have relied on Bluetooth to stream music from their phones while on the move. In this application sound quality is more important. However, this is a familiar requirement, and much work has been done to increase the amount of data that can be transmitted and received.
Much of this work is due to a CODEC, a piece of software within transmitting and receiving devices. When a Bluetooth device sends data, it encodes it to squish it. This is all OK, provided the receiving device knows how to decode it. The amount of data that needs reducing depends on the complexity of the data being transferred.
Lately, Hi-Res audio has become more important. This requires a lot of data, so more sophisticated data encoding and decoding is required. As with all software protocols, this has led to different manufacturers developing different “languages,” so there are different CODECs in use.
The most widespread CODEC for Hi-Res music transmission and receiving is LDAC, developed by Sony. Most devices have many different CODECs built into them. Receiving devices can detect the CODEC that has been used to encode the data, provided the receiving device also has the appropriate CODEC on board this happens seamlessly, and the data transmitted is received and used with no loss of quality.
If a device sends information via a CODEC that the receiving device does not have, the data is downgraded to be compatible with whatever CODEC is available. For instance, many high-end Android phones have the LDAC CODEC onboard. However, this is not the case for others and not at all with Apple phones. It is important to know that both the transmitting device and receiving device must have the same CODEC onboard for it to work fully.
Currently, it is not possible to stream Hi-Res music from an Apple phone.
The Audison B-CON is a streaming device that receives and processes Hi-Res music files and can then pass them on to the audio device used either in analogue or digital form. It is approved by the Japan Audio Society (JAS) for Hi-Res music and, in our tests, has proved to perform extremely well when connected to LDAC-equipped phones and Hi-Res music devices. The only other CODEC certified by JAS is LHDC, which appeared in a high-end Huawei handset some years ago.
This is a top-line explanation of this technology. In reality, it is far more complex and confusing. However, we hope this helps those looking to stream Hi-Res music to their cars.
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