Does ROG 9 support XPAN & Newer Aptx Lossless?

[GilroyPro]

Really looking to buying this phone. A few key features I'm looking for if available on this phone. Are XPAN, which is used for earbuds that support WiFi. And The newer Aptx Adaptive R3, which supports Aptx Lossless at 24/48khz at potential 2.1mbps transmission rate.

[Junglist724]

I just connected my ROG Phone 9 to my Fiio BTR17 and it does not show the AptX-LS name on the display like it does when paired with my ROG Phone 7 or Creative BT-W6 usb-c dongle. I'm almost 100% sure it's because the ROG Phone 9 does not make 44.1KHz available when using AptX Adaptive. AptX lossless at 48KHz is only supported over LE audio when the receiving device has a QCC5181 chipset and I don't think there is a single product that actually implements AptX adaptive/lossless over LE audio.

So really it doesn't support any form of AptX lossless even though it's advertised.

[GilroyPro]

Check Qualcomm Codec Preference settings  Make sure 24/96 quality setting is not enabled. That will force Aptx Adaptive over Aptx Lossless 

[Junglist724]

It's disabled and I already manually changed to 48KHz sample rate using the bluetooth codec changer app. 44.1KHz is not an available option on my Rog phone 9 but it is on my 7.

[AndrewMcN]

Hey GilroyPro,

As Junglist724 says, the QCC5181 is a Gen 2 SoC which only goes up to 16-bit 48kHz and that’s over LEA.

You’d need a receiver device with the Gen 3 SoC’s, like the QCC3091 or QCC5229, to achieve 24-bit 44.1/48kHz lossless over both Classic Bluetooth and LEA. (Notwithstanding the S7 SoC’s)

The Bluetooth snoop log will let you see evidence of the codec config but it can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. A good log filtering tool helps.

The aptX monitoring service on Android only kicks things up to lossless when it sees a compatible source being played. It may not just show lossless on the BTR17 without such a source playing. I don’t have that receiver so I can’t confirm or deny that.

The ROG Phone 9 should downsample up to 24-bit 48kHz for 16-bit 44.1kHz lossless transmission to the QCC5181. Ultimately that’s still great. Hi-Res is about shifting DAC filter artefacts in the upper mid and treble area further up the frequency range so that you’re less likely to find them effecting your music. I don’t know the precise detail but I think the artefacts would be found at quite high gain. So, the chances of them impacting your music is even lower. Hi-Res literally just gives us a chance to avoid/negate the artefacts with our own equipment versus that used by the producer of a readymade 16-bit 44.1kHz file. It’s possible certain filtering does better than others.