Aptx HD + ANC (Earbuds)

[Nick77]

Hi guys.

I want to upgrade my cheap SBC earbuds as my phone can now play the Aptx HD codec.

The problem is, trying to find reference to what codecs that earbuds can play, then pairing that with one that offers some noise cancellation on top is proving ridiculously hard.

Even the What Hifi reviews often don't mention the codecs earbuds use, even in the "best earbuds" articles. It's extremely frustrating!

I did find the Mpow M20 buds had everything and looked perfect but they now don't offer them any more annoyingly.

So, does anyone have any recommendations or resources of info on what's available? £150 is my max budget really. Don't want to pay any more than that. Will be used mainly for music whilst at home or walking.

Thanks all.

 

[EvShrug]

All Bluetooth headphones must support SBC as a standard Bluetooth codec… but I’d say most bluetooth headphones with Qualcomm chips have either aptX HD or aptX Adaptive built-in. AptX Adaptive is great, because it’s backwards compatible with aptX HD, but like the name implies it also adapts to other modes when signal strength is weaker or your content is gaming (so lower latency).

Search for TWS headphones with a Qualcomm 5141 chipset, it’s a substantial upgrade and Qualcomm is still releasing updates and new features for it.

 

[Nick77]

All Bluetooth headphones must support SBC as a standard Bluetooth codec… but I’d say most bluetooth headphones with Qualcomm chips have either aptX HD or aptX Adaptive built-in. AptX Adaptive is great, because it’s backwards compatible with aptX HD, but like the name implies it also adapts to other modes when signal strength is weaker or your content is gaming (so lower latency).

Search for TWS headphones with a Qualcomm 5141 chipset, it’s a substantial upgrade and Qualcomm is still releasing updates and new features for it.

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into those.

 

[EvShrug]

LHDC (sometimes also called HWA codec on Huawei devices, but you can also find it on new music players/DAPs like FiiO and HiBy) is a relatively new HiRes codec. It supports up to like 990 kbps (plenty for CD-quality lossless FLACs), but what is cool about it is that you can add the codec to almost any device… for example, you can playback local music files in the FiiO app through LHDC, even if you’re using an iPhone/iPad.