Guys – Bluetooth is getting a HUGE upgrade and it’s about to change Everything! This sh*t is more important than you think.
So what’s new?
Bluetooth is at the core of wireless audio today and the biggest upgrade it’s getting is a new codec. For years SBC has been the base codec, but now there’s a new Low Complexity Communications Codec or the LC3 which has finally been published and can be implemented. The umbrella term here is called Bluetooth Low Energy Audio; or BLE Audio for short for the rest of this video. But what does this do? Well, to put it simply, it’s a much more efficient way to transmit audio. That means we will get MUCH higher audio quality at the same bit rate, when compared to the current baseline SBC. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group even claims that you may get slightly better audio quality at less than half the bit rate.
Don’t take their word for it though, you can actually take a listen to the samples from the Bluetooth site here.
A lower bit rate means lower power consumption, which should translate to longer battery life.
What are the benefits?
But this efficiency brings so many benefits. You get much better battery life, which can in turn lead to smaller earbuds. Imagine earbuds the size of a coin – not sure if that’s feasible, but we’ve already seen miniaturisation really speed up and this could accelerate it. You also get independent earbud connection right out of the box. Meaning that each earbud will be connected separately – so no more manufacturers having to implement their own solutions for this. This can also be a major upgrade for wireless hearing aids.
Wait, there’s more?
In addition to the codec, audio broadcasting gets a huge upgrade. Auracast as it’s branded, will allow, say a TV or your iPad to broadcast itself like a WiFi network. And you as a listener can connect to that device and start listening. It looks like you can just search for the device or scan a QR code or tap an NFC tag to connect.
This might also be a very useful feature in the many silent airports we have today. Because you know airports are STUPID, MAKING EVERYTHING SILENT AND CHARGING FOR FOOD..
Ok then.. Auracast technically means it can support “unlimited” devices similar to WiFi. But similar to Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive and Sony’s LDAC it can reduce the quality of the audio if there’s a poor connection. For example, if you’re far away or there are so many wireless devices that it’s causing interference or congestion.
Ok – Apple kind of does that by allowing you to share audio via AirPlay but it’s still different. The source device needs to be an Apple product and you need to use their Airpods. And the person with for example the iPad will need to allow you to connect to it. There could obviously be some access restrictions built into Auracast since the design feels similar to WiFi.
Backward compatibility?
It’s unclear whether we’ll need to throw out all of our devices and buy new ones. Nay for e-waste! But it looks like they’re working on having existing devices support BLE Audio. Let’s hope this works out with as little limited functionality as possible.
The Bluetooth SIG member community is currently hard at work developing new profile specifications that define interoperable support for existing and new audio products and use cases, including hearing aids and Auracast™ broadcast audio.
bluetooth.com
Why is it a big deal?
Ok – so why is this a big deal? This comes from the Bluetooth SIG themselves. Not from a middleman like Qualcomm. While Qualcomm has done some incredible work with its chips and the Snapdragon Sound ecosystem, the fact that LC3 and Auracast are coming as part of the BT standard means every device potentially can have these features. Android, iOS, wireless earbuds, hearing aids, headphones, speakers – you name it. Also – unlike Qualcomm, there will be NO licensing fees to use these codecs, since they’re part of the Bluetooth open standard itself.
The biggest threat we see to this is Apple creating a new standard based on ultra wide band that is NOT based on Bluetooth. Just like Apple went down the lightning connector route, we hope we don’t see a day 5 years into the future where Apple devices don’t use Bluetooth anymore, but only ultra-wide-band for wireless transmission. It might be good for Apple users, but it creates competing standards and that’s a mess.
You’ve been getting an upgrade and we’ve been DHRME. Namaste!