Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?
Apr 25, 2021 at 3:36 PM Post #32,371 of 66,424
Well we have an answer. I emailed the B&W rep listed on the press release. He just responded that it is indeed AptxLL between the case and the buds. This is a major bmmer. It was nice of him to respond on a Sunday. My excitement level is subdued. No hi res support which was the only real excuse for the battery life.
So which rep to believe?
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 3:39 PM Post #32,372 of 66,424
So which rep to believe?
This is the individual identified on the official press release for the PI7 but it’s certainly a fair point. It really doesn’t make any sense for them to use AptxHD between the case and the buds but not otherwise. That would be a very strange design choice. And you mentioned no latency and AptxHD has significant latency. So I think all evidence points to AptxLL.
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 3:40 PM Post #32,373 of 66,424
So which rep to believe?
Hot take: none of them.

Assume it's LL, though there are ways to account for latency with aptX HD that are done on the backend to avoid lip-sync issues.

I don't get it. B&W had the PX series and smashed it. What happened with power management here?
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 3:44 PM Post #32,374 of 66,424
Hot take: none of them.

Assume it's LL, though there are ways to account for latency with aptX HD that are done on the backend to avoid lip-sync issues.

I don't get it. B&W had the PX series and smashed it. What happened with power management here?
The guy answered very matter of factly. He seemed very confident. I followed up with some questions and am waiting for a further response. It was you or someone else that was speculating that the battery was the reason for the delay. It also could have been that they were gunning for full AptxHD but ditched it in favor of battery life. Aptx Adaptive is a really bizarre choice.
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 3:48 PM Post #32,376 of 66,424
The guy answered very matter of factly. He seemed very confident. I followed up with some questions and am waiting for a further response. It was you or someone else that was speculating that the battery was the reason for the delay. It also could have been that they were gunning for full AptxHD but ditched it in favor of battery life. Aptx Adaptive is a really bizarre choice.
Interesting and you might be right. Could very well have been Qualcomm or another one of the big guys setting certification terms they couldn't meet.
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 3:50 PM Post #32,377 of 66,424
Well if you're not getting any noticeable latency then the case is using APTX LL, at least if you watch some live tv or playing a game.

Unless the case is the very first with an APTX Adaptive transmitter, I've waited ever since APTX Adaptive was launched for one of those )

They've also finally listed the P17 on Amazon.de for us in mainland Europe :)

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Wireless...ywords=bowers+&+wilkins&qid=1619380373&sr=8-4
 
Last edited:
Apr 25, 2021 at 3:54 PM Post #32,378 of 66,424
I trust what alsorkin was told but I need to get to the bottom this. AptxLL makes more sense to me than AptxHD given the use case. Also I struggle with why they have enabled AptxHD on the buds but then limit it to the case only. That does not make any sense. If they can receive AptxHD from the case they should receive it from any device. The only sources I found say aptx Ll. Has anyone tried to force AptxHD on these?
My Hiby R6 2020 is connected by AptX HD to the Pi7. Quality is stunning - I’m hearing things that I’ve never heard with any other headphones I own. Not tried the case to transmit yet, so cannot comment on the quality or codec used.
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 4:16 PM Post #32,379 of 66,424
If you're dead set on getting the P17's now and are willing to go through a few steps to get the sticker price down a bit, Touch Of Modern has them for $319 with their sitewide 20% off sale. You'll have to set up an account first though before doing anything..

https://www.touchofmodern.com/

Edit: P15's are $200.
 
Last edited:
Apr 25, 2021 at 4:24 PM Post #32,381 of 66,424
Adaptive from the case bridge would make more sense than LL because it can transmit to the PX7, which does not support LL, but does support adaptive.
Losing confidence in my contact. Here is another statement which I can’t comprehend:


“The case is definitely Aptx LL you can send a hi-res signal to the case but it will transmit it as Aptx LL.
The buds will be set to the highest level of whatever they are connected to, so if the source has Aptx HD, that's what the buds will receive.”
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 4:25 PM Post #32,382 of 66,424
Losing confidence in my contact. Here is another statement which I can’t comprehend:
Reading this back to myself he seems to be saying the buds support AptxHD directly which is bizarre since it’s not in any of the marketing materials. But then again Aptx Adaptive seems to include AptxHD so maybe this is just a really poor job of explaining things.
 
Apr 25, 2021 at 4:28 PM Post #32,383 of 66,424
My Hiby R6 2020 is connected by AptX HD to the Pi7. Quality is stunning - I’m hearing things that I’ve never heard with any other headphones I own. Not tried the case to transmit yet, so cannot comment on the quality or codec used.
So they handle AptxHD directly and without the need for the case?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top