aptX Adaptive / aptX Lossless USB Transmitters

[mcnaugha]

I found the Bose speakers to be underwhelming for their respective size. They should produce more sound , maybe another 20% so they can be used outdoors with friends

Well it might have been interesting to hear what competitive products you would suggest meet your requirements… Bose isn’t daft though. For that use case, they want you to buy two.

 

[KB8P]

New toy today… missed the news that this had launched last September… possibly the world’s first portable aptX Lossless speaker. At least, from a big name brand. The Bose Soundlink Flex (2nd Gen).

Confirmed lossless bit rate with the FMA120:



Also tested with the BT11.

Currently £149. Probably going to go on sale within the next few days/weeks knowing my luck.

Some might find this is a lot to pay for a small speaker but it doesn’t behave like it’s small. I remember the first time I heard one of these in a friend’s house, roughly a decade ago, and my mind was blown at how it filled the room and had incredible bass. Its present day counterpart is equally muscled. Bose does typically over-egg the bass and this product lives up to that. Otherwise my music sounds good as anticipated.

It’s kinda unexpectedly heavy. 585g. The secret to its bass output perhaps. 12hr battery (no doubt, not at lossless playback though).


If looking at this, watch out for the discounted previous model. They appear literally identical and a lot of them being sold at the moment as folks clear inventory or prepare to upgrade to this one. Make sure the model number starts 887.

There is a “big daddy” version of this speaker called the Soundlink Max (£399) which launched last May. This was way beyond my requirements. It may also support aptX Lossless but, as usual for now, Bose does a terrible job of marketing this and declaring it clearly in the specs. Usually you have to go to the product FAQ and check for a question about Snapdragon Sound. This links you to a knowledge article which hints an Android source is needed. This needs to be updated to suggest obtaining a USB transmitter in the absence of an integrated one.

update the program and firmware of fma120 to the latest version. program is 1.1.3 and the firmware is 1.0.8.8

 

[mcnaugha]

update the program and firmware of fma120 to the latest version. program is 1.1.3 and the firmware is 1.0.8.8

Last time I updated the program it wouldn’t run. I’m running on macOS 15.3 Beta.

The firmware is already up-to-date. This version of the app mustn’t display the version in full.

 

[fiyace]

I don’t think I’ve experienced this. These days I’m using it only when I want to listen to music on the go with my Bose QCUE’s. Haven’t noticed an issue.

You haven’t knocked it into LE mode by any chance? Seems a little too easy to do sometimes.

Anything that could interrupt the signal between the BT-W6 and the receiver? Does it happen when there is clear line of sight between the two and no more than 1 metre?

Solved it....was getting stuck in LL mode, despite changing the settings to High Quality / Lossless and setting audio quality to 24 bit / 48kHz. Basically had to reset it a bunch of times and finally it changed to Lossless mode and wow what a difference.

 

[itchyears]

Eppfun need to remove the fun from their name, here is there power fault fix instruction Guide for the Eppfun LE audio BT transmitter or Eppfun LE511 or AK8675 Max1 or QCC3086 SoC type clone etc

Once it power back on or if your Eppfun unit is still powering on, flash it asap with the latest firmware here, you can find the firmware on eppfun download page called:
eppfun AK8675 Max1 Software for Power issue V2.0 (1223) (dec 27th 2024)


Eppfun told me many others had the fault, and Id bet its down to everyone using it as a desktop BT transmitter ie leaving the unit powered on 24/7 which caused it to power die on itself which the new firmware fixes. I had my unit switched on 24/7 since that power on button is very weak and probably would snap off with constant on and off use.

Anyhow flash the firmware linked above and the eppfun is an excellent BT transmitter box and now recommended. The new firmware also fixes aptx lossless not working on the other 3.5mm and optical inputs.

My eppfun LE audio review is updated with the above information and here


I have left information below on my work arounds to the USB power input/Audio inputs and few other issues if people want a more easier experience but its not needed

Spoiler

Anyhow my work around if anyone is interested, I use an USB power plug with 5volts/1Amp to usb c which goes into the USB input on the eppfun box to power it 24/7, than I use an COOIDEA Upgraded SPDIF Toslink Automatic Switch Digital Optical Switcher and Cubilux USB C to SPDIF Transmitter, so the end result is I now can work around the USB power/USB audio single port issue and I can feed my TV optical and use my PC USB sound card both sources going into the single 1 optical input into the eppfun box, I don't need to change inputs/sources or switch it on/off all I do is turn on my headphones and it syncs to my PC or TV.

The only smaller issue is the last BT codec is not remembered with your device, so each time you power on your hps and it pairs with the Eppfun it defaults to say aptx lossless I have asked the tech to consider saving it to the last known BT codec used but not sure they do that. You can just leave your hps paired to remember the BT codec but at the cost of your battery on the hps or buds.

 

[tonyt76]

And the USB side is limited to 24/96 anyway…

Do you mean the USB-C side of the BT-W6 or USB-C out on the iPhone?

 

[XTF1]

Do you mean the USB-C side of the BT-W6 or USB-C out on the iPhone?

The USB interface of the Qualcomm chips used in these transmitters is UAC 1.0 compliant, not UAC 2.0.
UAC 1.0 is limited to 24 bits / 96 kHz, so the host—iPhone, Android, PC, Mac, PlayStation, etc.—cannot send more than 24/96.

 

[tonyt76]

New firmware for FlooGoo FMA120

V1.0.9: Added support for Nintendo Switch.

 

[tharding247365]

Anybody know if the Floogoo FMA120 supports LC3+?

I've been thinking about trying out the Creative Hybrid Pros and the Floogoo FMA120

Creative has a headphone variant that comes with it's own dongle that supports LC3+, but I like how fully featured and open source Floogoo's dongle seems to be over Creatives BT-L3 dongle

 

[KB8P]

Anybody know if the Floogoo FMA120 supports LC3+?

I've been thinking about trying out the Creative Hybrid Pros and the Floogoo FMA120

Creative has a headphone variant that comes with it's own dongle that supports LC3+, but I like how fully featured and open source Floogoo's dongle seems to be over Creatives BT-L3 dongle

Not supported

 

[Spektykles]

XPAN tws incoming, from Xiaomi. Will be released in late Feb/March.

 

[bjk8kds]

Wow. Within two hours and both the BT-W6 and SoundPeats Air 5 are going back to Amazon.

The adapter has the same occasional connection issues as every other dongle.
Forcing Aptx adaptive low latency is not as seamless as it is with the cheap China one and its small footprint translated GUI. (Unlike the bloated Creative app)

Then there's the Air 5. After an hour of custom EQ (making sure the noise cancelling crap was disabled), and they actually sound vastly inferior to the old Air 3. Not even the Deluxe Air 3, just the standard. They fit worse now too with their full gloss coating. Also no easy way to tap to game mode, which is essential for me.

Now I'm off to try and hunt down some new-old stock Air 3's to replace mine that sadly don't hold charge for very long these days.

I'll continue to put up with the £5 China transmitter until something truly worthwhile comes along, and I'm certainly not bothering with anything new SoundPeats releases again.

Might look at a pair of older Nothing (sticks) if they can be found new still.

I am also still using Air3, I bought it right before Air4 was released. Now I am eyeing Air5 because I think there is an improvement, but it seems like Air3 is still the best, right?
What I don't like is the cover that doesn't have a stopper and the TWS is a bit slippery when taken out. Currently the battery is a bit low (runs out quickly).
Then are there any suggestions for similar TWS (semi/earbud) so I can upgrade from Air3? Sorry if it's a bit off topic.

 

[tharding247365]

XPAN tws incoming, from Xiaomi. Will be released in late Feb/March.

Likely day one buy for me. Any info on LC3 Support?

 

[Spektykles]

Likely day one buy for me. Any info on LC3 Support?

It is using Qualcomm S7 Pro Gen 1 (new name S7+ Gen1) chip, so should have LC3.

 

[Nick24JJ]

Does the Pixel 9 Pro support aptX Lossless?