Qualcomm S3 and S5 Sound Platform: lossless audio… and wireless

More than ever, Qualcomm stands out as one of the key figures in Bluetooth audio. After having recently presented his somewhat cloudy “label” Snapdragon-Sound
then its codec AptX Lossless
the founder has just announced its new generation chips at the MWC.

These clearly outline the future of the protocol, but also show that the brand has not finished developing proprietary solutions.

More practical, more audiophile

All that was missing from Snapdragon Sound were chips openly created for this certification (headphones / earphones side), it’s done with the two platforms just announced: Qualcomm S5 Sound Platform and Qualcomm S3 Sound Platform. These two series concern all Bluetooth chips with the QCC517X references (the X indicating a number) and QCC307X.

More than just new features, they will include, with more or less high-end features, the following features.

First, the integration of the technologies necessary to be certified Snapdragon Sound: support for the AptX Adaptive codec and reduced latency (to 68 ms here). Added to this is the implementation of AptX Lossless, a kind of superset of AptX Adaptive, allowing up to 16-bit/44 kHz lossless transmission.

Next, a Dual-Mode approach to Bluetooth. This implies that if the chips continue to operate in classic Bluetooth, they also integrate the new Bluetooth LE Audio standard. As a reminder, this new audio standard, totally different from the Bluetooth we are used to, will allow significant advances in terms of autonomy and functionality.

The two families S5 and S3 also allow a Multipoint connection (connection to several devices at the same time). This function concerns classic Bluetooth only, since LE Audio already goes much further as standard.

Finally, these two Qualcomm platforms integrate an adaptive active noise reduction function, which third-party manufacturers can implement directly on their devices.

An upcoming deployment in 2022

These Bluetooth 5.3 and low consumption chips will be found above all on mobile solutions, such as headphones and true wireless. The difference between S5 and S3 is, according to the specifications, on two specific points. Firstly the processing power: the S5 integrate two DSP cores (digital processing) at 240 MHz, against a single core for the S3. In addition, the Low Energy part of Bluetooth, which will carry Bluetooth LE Audio, can go up to 2 mb/s (packet transmission speed) on the S5. Without speculating too much, this may mean that AptX Lossless will not be available in LE Audio on S3 chips, the theoretical throughput not being sufficient.

Qualcomm indicates that the chips will be deployed in many audio brands by the second half of 2022. All that remains is to update the compatible chips on the smartphone side (for a switch to LE Audio) and deploy a compatible Android version. Barring disaster, this will be the case with Android 13, expected later this year.

Source: Qualcomm