Local Superstar

Answered

Ace Ultra music streaming quality BT vs App WiFi

14 replies
172 views

Hi

I have Ace Ultra and I'm loving being able to stream either via Bluetooth or WiFi via the App. I have a question about the quality.

Which would be higher given that I have an Android phone which supports Qualcomm aptX HD audio and access to Amazon Music Atmos and Ultra HD music.

Will the BT link with my phone playing from Amazon music give me higher quality sound?

I am assuming this would be the case as when I play music this way, Amazon is reporting the highest quality music being streamed to Ace Ultra.

SmiljaAnswer

So I'm guessing that means I can stream lossless over BT with Ace Ultra?

According to… Yes.

Lossless audio requirements for Sonos headphones | Sonos

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

Airgetlam

Generally speaking, no. Bluetooth tends to be ‘compressed’ for bandwidth purposes (although not always, I think). Sonos has no control over this compression, it occurs long before the signal reaches a Sonos device.

Bruce

SarahNAuthor

Local Superstar

Thanks Bruce. Where does the Qualcomm aptX HD thingy come into play then? Ace Ultra and my phone support it and the phone shows it's active when Ace Ultra is paired. So does this not give a higher resolution stream?

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆

Schlumpf

Virtuoso

Hi @SarahN

I tend to say that your suspicion is right. Bluetooth aptX imho really does a great job. Sonos on the other hand seems to do a quite good recoding to send audio via wifi to Ace Ultra. To be honest I don’t hear any difference in stereo audio between these two different ways. I think the most obvious advantage of the BT stream is that it can handle spatial audio.

Ralf

SarahNAuthor

Local Superstar

Thanks. That's my suspicion too but like you, not sure how much of a difference I can hear although the Atmos stream via Amazon Music did sound a bit better to my ears. I'm glad my phone supports the Qualcomm aptX audio

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆

User117655

Prodigy II

From what I understood from original spec discussions the BT aptX should give better quality (source dependent) as Sonos stated that wifi compresses. This is confirmed by Google (for what its worth):

(I didn't fancy searching through the forum to find my 'remembered' discussions but the above confirms what I retained in me head...)

kdowling

aptX HD is a high bitrate compressed audio, but it’s not lossless. But I believe it’s better than the compressed wifi Sonos is using. The aptX Lossless codec is lossless and the Ace and Ace Ultra both support it. I use a iFi Zen Blue 3 Bluetooth v5.4 transmitter on the output of a Port to get lossless bluetooth to the Ace and Ace Ultra.

Here’s a list of Bluetooth bit rates.

SarahNAuthor

Local Superstar

So I just checked online for my phone specs and it supports aptX Lossless (it's a Motorola Razr 60 Ultra phone).

So I'm guessing that means I can stream lossless over BT with Ace Ultra?

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆

SmiljaAnswer

So I'm guessing that means I can stream lossless over BT with Ace Ultra?

According to… Yes.

Lossless audio requirements for Sonos headphones | Sonos

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

SarahNAuthor

Local Superstar

So after receiving the above replies and doing some digging online into my phone's specs, it does seem to be the case that using BT and Amazon Music will give me higher quality sound compared to WiFi streaming via the Sonos App.

Of course Ace Ultra can swap sound with my turntable or CD player and my Fives which is awesome even if it's not full HD quality (yet? 🙂). Here's hoping one day music streamed using headphone linking will be lossless instead of lossy!

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆

Airgetlam

The question I have is the other side of the equation…which I’ve not bothered to look in to. Does the Sonos device receive/process AptX? It isn’t one, it’s always both sides in order to support a stream.

Bruce

SarahNAuthor

Local Superstar

I'm guessing so but I'm not technically minded. All I can see is that Ace Ultra can play aptX lossless from a phone that supports it? My phone fits that bill so I conclude I can get lossless audio via Bluetooth 🙂

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆

Sign up

Login to the community