[Gridlinked]

From Poweramp on Android.

 

[Sonic Defender]

As has been being discussed, you may need to consistently go into Dev options to set the session Codec particulars. My LG G7 defaults to LDAC Adaptive, but I can change it and use the EQ built into HF Player. I am not sure why people use the Sony App EQ? I take it there are situations when you must, but really, if you are listening to music I would think that it is worth the extra effort to use a player with a decent EQ built into it. For what it is worth Apt X sounds as good as LDAC to my ears.

 

[eobet]

Forgive me for not reading 124 pages:

Is it still true that the iPhone 8 does not have all the bells and whistles when it comes to Bluetooth audio quality compared to Android phones, unless you use Airplay, which these headphones do not support?

Do you get higher quality wireless audio if you play music through Sony’s app, than just over regular iPhone 8 Bluetooth connection?

(We will naturally get a good quality 3.5mm adapter ASAP.)

 

[garethr]

Forgive me for not reading 124 pages:

Is it still true that the iPhone 8 does not have all the bells and whistles when it comes to Bluetooth audio quality compared to Android phones, unless you use Airplay, which these headphones do not support?

Do you get higher quality wireless audio if you play music through Sony’s app, than just over regular iPhone 8 Bluetooth connection?

(We will naturally get a good quality 3.5mm adapter ASAP.)

Nope. Quite the opposite. All iOS devices stream over BT only using AAC which is better than standard AptX. AAC is a great codec and we’ll implemented on iOS, especially with AAC native sources like Apple Music.
You’ll only really hear better with LDAC but support is limited to mostly Sony headphones.

Also worth noting that on iOS devices if using the Sony app EQ it will remain in AAC rather than falling back to SBC on some Android devices that lack AAC support.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Nope. Quite the opposite. All iOS devices stream over BT only using AAC which is better than standard AptX. AAC is a great codec and we’ll implemented on iOS, especially with AAC native sources like Apple Music.
You’ll only really hear better with LDAC but support is limited to mostly Sony headphones.

Also worth noting that on iOS devices if using the Sony app EQ it will remain in AAC rather than falling back to SBC on some Android devices that lack AAC support.

I agree that AAC is a fantastic Codec and based on a few technical articles about it I also recall (not in great detail any longer) that AAC does indeed stack up extremely well in the world of Bluetooth Codecs. I have an Android phone that supports pretty much everything including AAC and really, even SBC can surprise you, but no I wouldn't settle for it of course, but with well mastered material and well implemented Bluetooth on both ends, hell even SBC can be solid. So yes, AAC is solid for sure.

 

[eclein]

I’m on my 6 month with these and truly love the sound. I’m not totally into Bluetooth sounding as good as wired sound but its a heck of a lot better. I’m a long time headphone hobbyist and the Sony’s for me are my favorite wireless headphone. I’m usually listening with IEMs and its great to finally have good sound and freedom from cords using these!
I think that the Sony app is a great way to update the firmware and tweak these a bit but nothing super special.
So far mine are intact with no cracks in the frame, knock on wood, and are my first really enjoyable bluetooth set.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I’m on my 6 month with these and truly love the sound. I’m not totally into Bluetooth sounding as good as wired sound but its a heck of a lot better. I’m a long time headphone hobbyist and the Sony’s for me are my favorite wireless headphone. I’m usually listening with IEMs and its great to finally have good sound and freedom from cords using these!
I think that the Sony app is a great way to update the firmware and tweak these a bit but nothing super special.
So far mine are intact with no cracks in the frame, knock on wood, and are my first really enjoyable bluetooth set.

Try trimming the bloated bass back with equalization, but don't use the Sony EQ, hopefully your music player has a built in EQ instead. Once the bloated bass is trimmed back, and the stock bass is very bloated, the XM3 sounds amazing. I owned the Z1R and I will go out on a limb and suggest that the dynamic balance that the Z1R exhibits is also evident in the XM3. Not of course at that level of technical prowess, but there is a sound ethos that is undeniable, but really important to trim back the bass to really hear what the XM3 is capable of, IMO. Glad that you're enjoying it.

 

[eclein]

Sonic Defender :Thanks for the tip, trying it now (not ideal eq but ok for try)... I like!
Happy Holidays and thanks again.

 

[eobet]

Nope. Quite the opposite. All iOS devices stream over BT only using AAC which is better than standard AptX. AAC is a great codec and we’ll implemented on iOS, especially with AAC native sources like Apple Music.
You’ll only really hear better with LDAC but support is limited to mostly Sony headphones.

Also worth noting that on iOS devices if using the Sony app EQ it will remain in AAC rather than falling back to SBC on some Android devices that lack AAC support.

Thank you for the information!

 

[imparanoic]

I agree that AAC is a fantastic Codec and based on a few technical articles about it I also recall (not in great detail any longer) that AAC does indeed stack up extremely well in the world of Bluetooth Codecs. I have an Android phone that supports pretty much everything including AAC and really, even SBC can surprise you, but no I wouldn't settle for it of course, but with well mastered material and well implemented Bluetooth on both ends, hell even SBC can be solid. So yes, AAC is solid for sure.

but AAC is still only 320kbps, while it's slight improves on regular bluetooth 4.2, still sounds compressed and a bit lifeless, on the other hand, most andriod phones ( unless you are using a Samsung phone) are compatible with LDAC (max 990kbps) and APTX HD, significantly better sound as it's really good, in fact it sounds significantly better than literally all phones built in 3.5mm (expect onkyo DP-CMX1) even though it's wireless

 

[nc8000]

but AAC is still only 320kbps, while it's slight improves on regular bluetooth 4.2, still sounds compressed and a bit lifeless, on the other hand, most andriod phones ( unless you are using a Samsung phone) are compatible with LDAC (max 990kbps) and APTX HD, significantly better sound as it's really good, in fact it sounds significantly better than literally all phones built in 3.5mm (expect onkyo DP-CMX1) even though it's wireless

Yes LDAC does sound better than aac if you can use it but on iOS devices you must use aac and aac is a very good codec and bit rate is not everything

 

[Sonic Defender]

but AAC is still only 320kbps, while it's slight improves on regular bluetooth 4.2, still sounds compressed and a bit lifeless, on the other hand, most andriod phones ( unless you are using a Samsung phone) are compatible with LDAC (max 990kbps) and APTX HD, significantly better sound as it's really good, in fact it sounds significantly better than literally all phones built in 3.5mm (expect onkyo DP-CMX1) even though it's wireless

We may have to agree to disagree here, I use LDAC, but when I compare with AAC or AptX I really don't hear any differences. Simply the act of trying to "spot" the difference can create in our minds the difference we are seeking. I hosted a head-fi meet here a number of years back and I conducted blind listening, multiple trial per subject with 5 subjects, all young people with good hearing. There was one man in his 40s at the time who was an engineer and he swore (as did one other subject) that he had self-tested and was 100% confident that he could hear the difference between a 320kbps mp3 and the lossless master it was made from. I don't want to take too much time here, plus this belongs in the sound science forum so to be brief after all the subjects listened to at least five trials each (a trial was a pairing of the mp3 file and the lossless master without knowing which was which) not one of the subjects could do better than 50% detection of the mp3 file which means complete random guessing. In order to even have the least about of reliability in saying people could hear a difference they would need to be in the 90% + detection range. This is not a unique result, many others have done similar listening tests and people can't tell the difference, they just think they can. So in short, 320kbps is perfectly adequate and transparent to the listener.

There have been some people who apparently train themselves very well, and it takes time and a great deal of effort, but some seem to suggest that with great effort they can spot the differences. My suggestion is that if you have to train yourself and practice to eventually be able to detect very, very, very small differences, for all practical purposes, people can't hear the difference when just listening for music. If anybody listens to music so intently attempting to detect minute anomalies, well, they really aren't listening to music are they? I would suggest that if you are actually simply listening to music and enjoying high-fidelity, accurate reproduction of music, which clearly even files such as an AAC at 320kbps are capable of, that is when something like AAC is absolutely perfect. If people want to train their hearing brain like a Buddhist Monk so that they can detect small differences in a signal, if that is how they decide to enjoy their music listening experience I will say that is absolutely their right, but for me anyway, life is too short and the time I have available to listen to music even shorter so I don't bother trying to spot the differences.

This is all academic anyway, I have not had a storage issue for years so all of my files are lossless anyway, but when I do happen to use AAC which does happen from time to time, I swear I can't hear any difference. I do use the XM3 via LDAC 95% of the time I'm sure. I guess I just hope that people always keep an open mind and are willing to test assumptions rather than simply accept them as fact.

 

[garethr]

but AAC is still only 320kbps, while it's slight improves on regular bluetooth 4.2, still sounds compressed and a bit lifeless, on the other hand, most andriod phones ( unless you are using a Samsung phone) are compatible with LDAC (max 990kbps) and APTX HD, significantly better sound as it's really good, in fact it sounds significantly better than literally all phones built in 3.5mm (expect onkyo DP-CMX1) even though it's wireless

AAC is audibly transparent at 320kbps. And the Bluetooth version has no impact on the codec so there is no such thing as ‘regular Bluetooth 4.2’. If you’re meaning SBC, well that done well in itself can sound good too and has a maximum bitrate of 328kbps.
It’s a common misconception that Bluetooth versions have an impact on audio quality, but they don’t. The Bluetooth version is just the transport protocol, it’s the codec which is important.
Bluetooth 5 for example has a lot of advantages over 4.2 or earlier but audio quality isn’t one of them.

 

[telly]

For playing through spotify, I found that I had similar results with both LDAC and AAC. I did a majority of my listening in a plane.

 

[leo253]

I'm surprised no one is talking about the 4.2.2 update...I had 4.1.1 - Obviously, a lot of ppl on here were talking about how they noticed a drop off in NC from 2.0.0 to 4.1.1 - There may have been for me, but I didn't really notice. Anyways, going to 4.2.2, I notice that music is a little crisper/tighter (bass was maybe toned down a bit). Also, NC may actually be better - It's hard to say, because I don't have a 4.1.1 right next to me, to do a direct comparison.

Only thing though...Noticed a crash within the first 5 minutes of use...Hopefully, that's just a fluke, because that never happened to me before (unless I walked way out of range).