Sony's WF-1000XM3 has been praised as one of the best wireless NC headsets but nothing is perfect. The lack of LDAC support is one of those issues raised. So to see the WF-1000XM3 on Qualcomm's aptX site showing support for aptX, a competitor for Sony's LDAC is surprising and puzzling. Could this mean we will see aptX support soon in a future firmware update? Or is this a mistake?
Update March 03, 2020. Looks like Qualcomm took the page down. So either it was a mistake or they put it up too early. See the screenshot below from the website. While the page may be down, the link to the photo still works, so aptX support might still be coming in the future.
First to address the missing LDAC support. Sony claims adding LDAC would have reduced the listening time significantly on the WF-1000XM3 and their aim was for longer battery life, an issue on the original WF-1000X. The interview can be found here, I have extracted out the text, it is Google translated though.
First to address the missing LDAC support. Sony claims adding LDAC would have reduced the listening time significantly on the WF-1000XM3 and their aim was for longer battery life, an issue on the original WF-1000X. The interview can be found here, I have extracted out the text, it is Google translated though.
Because we want to emphasize the Sony WF-1000XM3 to have a longer usage life Consume less battery. Including the importance of the signal of the headphones on both sides that will not be missing from each other. In truth, we understand that users want good quality audio files such as LDAC, but now for the ears. Listen to True Wireless We have to ask for more information to make the sound file quality work well and effective on True Wireless headphones. But we believe that the QNe1 processor chip of this model headphones with DAC can deliver very good sound quality even when not using LDAC.
The part that doesn't support aptX is because we have to use a special chip or processor from CSR (now Qualcomm).
Apart from the LDAC battery issue, according to the interview, it seems that the WF-1000XM3 cannot support aptX since they lack a Qualcomm BT chip. We know Sony uses a Mediatek MT2811S from the teardown (here), so if aptX requires a Qualcomm BT chip, then it is impossible for the WF-1000XM3 to support aptX at all.
So what is the deal here? From my understanding both aptX and LDAC are software based codecs, so technically no special hardware would be required for their implementation and decoding of the codec but perhaps Qualcomm requires customers to use a Qualcomm chip in order to have access to the aptX license. If anyone knows, please leave a comment below.
Of course there is a chance that aptX does not require Qualcomm hardware (BT, SoC) for its implementation at all, and only a license fee is required to use it. So that would mean the WF-1000XM3 could have aptX added via firmware update (same for LDAC) and Sony would just need to pay for a license. This is highly possible, with Sony mentioning in one interview, that further firmware updates are coming.
So if we go with this option, and assume the Qualcomm aptX website is accurate, aptX is coming soon via a firmware upgrade and Qualcomm accidentally revealed this information. But I will mention, both the NW-A100 and NW-ZX500 support aptX HD and they are not listed on Qualcomm's aptX website. So perhaps this is a mistake, but then again it could be true.
Quick update
So looking at the aptx site, it seems that the page first appeared online 2 weeks ago on the 14th of February. Using a special method on Google Search, the date can be revealed, as seen below.
Likewise the photo of the WF-1000XM3 on the product page is listed in the directory named 2020-02. EDIT, the photo has now been removed from Qualcomm's server.
So it was definitely uploaded this month and the device is named correctly, so this aptX update might not be a mistake after all and might be coming soon. If I find anything else, I will update this post in this part of the article.
Quick update
So looking at the aptx site, it seems that the page first appeared online 2 weeks ago on the 14th of February. Using a special method on Google Search, the date can be revealed, as seen below.
https://www.aptx.com/sites/default/files/2020-02/sony-wf-1000xm3.jpg
So it was definitely uploaded this month and the device is named correctly, so this aptX update might not be a mistake after all and might be coming soon. If I find anything else, I will update this post in this part of the article.
So what is the chance we will see aptX in the WF-1000XM3? What about LDAC? For WF-1000XM3 owners, would you like to see aptX added? What about LDAC? Post your thoughts below.
Full sized photos showing the WF-1000XM3 on the aptX site, in case the model disappears from the website.
Source: Qualcomm aptX website
Source: Qualcomm aptX website
Would love to see aptx support, especially the low latency codec, not sure if this is possible on the mediatek chip or qualcomm only
ReplyDeleteAwesome news if true, keeping fingers crossed.
ReplyDeletenot going to happen, need qualcomm to get aptx license.
ReplyDeleteHope this news is true.
ReplyDeleteNo need to have a CSR Chip, they say "we have to use a special chip OR processor from CSR". The WH-1000Xm3 headphones has APtX and AptX HD with a Mediatek Chip, for example. Normally, only APtX LL, (and maybe AptX Adaptive) need a specific hardware.
ReplyDeleteTHe problem with Aptx in mainly the battery consumption, much important than AAC (best codec for battery life). That problem could be much worse with LDAC.
But the main flaw of the LDAC (990 kbs and 660 kbs quality) is the bitrate, which needs a high RSSI (reception power of the device). Both 990 and 660 are already difficult to reach in real life for headphones (just putting smartphone in your pocket can make the RSSI drop under the limit), so for True Wireless and their tiny antennas...
Sony could just they "my product is LDAC" and cap the bitrate to the 330 LDAC quality (even worse than SBC quality), but that will be dishonest... kind of things that Honor/huawei do with their LHDC True Wireless
Except the WH-1000XM3 uses a Qualcomm CSR8675 and not mediatek.
DeleteSony is trying to add ldac to the WF-1000XM4, but only low bitrate.
My bad ^^, thought that the WH already had Mediatek chip. That doesnt change the fact that you can put Qualcomm/CSR codecs on another chip. However, not impossible to think that Sony doesnt want to depend on Qualcomm, including chip and codec for their next releases.
DeleteQuite possible to see next True Wireless generation with low bitrate LDAC, that would be a fantastic marketing trick ^^
The site says Aptx so why is everyone assuming that it will get Aptx HD? Can someone please care to explain? I thought Aptx HD would be impossible to implement because of the hardware limitations
ReplyDeleteWell qualcomm (aptx website) removed the entry so perhaps the information was wrong and no aptx coming to wf-1000xm3.
DeleteAptX is a codec developed by Qualcomm, so I'd expect all of their chips to support it. And by support I mean to provide hardware acceleration, which provides not just higher performance but also low power usage. Mediatek chips on the other hand probably don't support the codec, they might not even be allowed to do so without licensing it (though I know for a fact vendors of laptop Bluetooth cards are and the feature is then blocked in drivers of the laptop vendors).
ReplyDeleteOne thing is almost certain though. If the Mediatek chip doesn't support the codec and Sony has issues with LDAC (software or hardware supported) draining the battery, chances are software supported aptX will do just the same.
That did not age well, XM4 does not support it.
DeleteStill a mystery why Qualcomm would have put up the WF-1000XM3 on their aptx site, it makes no sense, they themselves would know that it couldn't support aptx.
Deletebough other model, not worth payimg this much and no ldac support.
ReplyDelete