Bose qc ultra 2 headphones -- aptx codec not being found

English Hardware
1

Bought some new wireless bluetooth headphones; bose qc ultra 2 . Way above the normal level of my purchases but I wanted to get some good sound. I’m in assisted-living and powerful speakers wouldn’t be tolerated.

Info from bose says they support aptx codec. In pavucontrol codecs offered for selection are: AAC, SBC, and SBC-XQ. No aptx.

aptx addon to pipewire is installed:

szs aptx
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...

S  | Name                      | Summary                                                       | Type
---+---------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+-----------
   | adaptx                    | XSLT Processor Written in Java                                | package
   | adaptx-doc                | Documentation for adaptx                                      | package
   | adaptx-javadoc            | Javadoc for adaptx                                            | package
   | libopenaptx               | An implementation of Audio Processing Technology codec (aptX) | srcpackage
i+ | libopenaptx-devel         | An implementation of Audio Processing Technology codec (aptX) | package
i+ | libopenaptx-tools         | An implementation of Audio Processing Technology codec (aptX) | package
i+ | libopenaptx0              | An implementation of Audio Processing Technology codec (aptX) | package
   | libopenaptx0-32bit        | An implementation of Audio Processing Technology codec (aptX) | package
i+ | pipewire-aptx             | PipeWire Bluetooth aptX codec plugin                          | package
   | pipewire-aptx             | PipeWire Bluetooth aptX codec plugin                          | srcpackage
   | pipewire-aptx-debuginfo   | Debug information for package pipewire-aptx                   | package
   | pipewire-aptx-debugsource | Debug sources for package pipewire-aptx                       | package
tom@mydesktop:

My previous wireless bluetooth headphones showed aptx as an available codec selection. The new Bose headphones do not.

Perhaps AAC is really aptx?? I saw a reference that said I might need to edit a pipewire/bluetooth config file somewhere.
Any audio experts with some insights? thanks, tom kosvic

2

When I bought some Sennheiser headphones 4 years ago the initial firmware did not include aptx and I had to update the firmware.

May be you have to update your headphones firmware as well?

3

In going through the headphone online manual, I found this paragraph about Snapdragon tech. I think it means that your linux pc must have Snapdragon on it and running to get aptx. I am not finding any linux Snapdragon app from bose.
Anyone read something else into this?

thanks, tom kosvic

Snapdragon Sound technology
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones feature Snapdragon Sound technology.
Snapdragon Sound optimizes Qualcomm® audio technologies across connected
devices to ensure the best sound quality, connection stability, and latency for your
streaming audio.
To experience Snapdragon Sound, you need a Snapdragon Sound-certified device,
such as a compatible Android mobile device. Once you connect the headphones, your
device will automatically stream audio using the **aptX Adaptive Bluetooth** codec.
NOTE: To see which Snapdragon Sound features the headphones support and check
if your device is compatible, visit: support.Bose.com/QCU
4

Snapdragon is no software. You can’t install it. You need Qualcom Snapdragon hardware aka CPU.

5

So I guess there is no way to get Snapdragon running on my pc to allow aptx codec to run. Unless there is some linux emulation.

Like I said my previous headphones ran aptx as soon as the pipewire-aptx module was added.

thanks, tom kosvic

6

Please read @hui’s post. You cannot run Snapdragon. Snapdragon is a CPU/APU arch/model.

7

I read @hui message. That is why “I said I guess there is no way to get Snapdragon running on my pc”.
Not sure why you would not see that I read it from my response.

I found a bose related app on github.

https://github.com/airvzxf/bose-connect-app-linux

It is supposed to emulate the bose windows app. I compiled it and ran it. It makes it possible to change many things that some might find useful. It does not allow you to change/add bluetooth codecs.

I think this issue is dead – solved.

thanks, tom kosvic

8

You could say “I don’t have a Snapdragon CPU/APU in my machine”, but you cannot run a Snapdragon. Like you cannot run an x86_64. Your software now runs on an Intel or AMD CPU/APU ,
I was not trying to nitpick, but this is an essential part of better understanding. Sorry if that bothers you.

9

So you did check that your headsets firmware supports aptX?

You should be able to check this by connecting your headset to an Android smartphone which runs the Bose app.

aptX is an audio compression codec. It can be handled by software (e.g. by pipewire-aptx on your Linux PC) or directly by hardware (e.g. by the Qualcomm SOC of your Android smartphone).

10

As you already mentioned in your post #3 the Bose qc ultra 2 owners manual tells that the headset only (?) supports the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec.

Looking at the pipewire/wireplumber documentation it shows

bluez5.codecs

Enabled A2DP codecs.

Supported codecs: sbc, sbc_xq, aac, ldac, aptx, aptx_hd, aptx_ll, aptx_ll_duplex, faststream, faststream_duplex, lc3plus_h3, opus_05, opus_05_51, opus_05_71, opus_05_duplex, opus_05_pro, lc3.

Default value:

    all available codecs
Type:

    array of strings

I’m not expert enough to tell whether any of aptx, aptx_hd, aptx_ll or aptx_ll_duplex corresponds to the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec you need for your device or if pipewire-aptx is not yet supporting the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec.

11

@susejunky, before I try , do you know if the Bose android app let’s you display and change codecs. The linux emulation of the app, which I ran, did not offer that as an option.

The Bose headphones give choices to pavucontrol that they run, AAC, SBC, and SBC- SBC-XQ. I am running AAC and the sound is excellent. I have no idea whether APTX is any real improvement but I thought I would like to try it.

thanks, tom kosvic

12

@hui, as I said previously my old headphones (grado labs) connected to my ordinary pc using an aptx codec that was offered as an option in pavucontrol based upon it’s connection with the grado headphones. My pc has pipewire-aptx installed. Ergo, my pc with pipewire-aptx module must have suddenly become Snapdragon equipped with all the cpu etc changes needed according to Bose.

I think Bose is just making a marketing feature of the aptx addon module and calling it Snapdragon.

13

I found this reference that seems pretty good.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/bluetooth-codecs-explained-aac-aptx-ldac-and-more/

It appears that aptx is not standard and there are various versions. I am running ACC as pavucontol says but AAC looks to be an apple thing and not even on the pipewire codec list.

The headphones and sound are working fine with excellent quality.

thanks, tom kosvic

14

Sorry I do not own any Bose device.

However all my Jabra or Sennheiser devices can be controlled from a smartphone by their vendor-provided Android Apps. In fact if one has to update the firmware of the headphone for both brands it can only be done by using the appropriate smartphone app.

There is a chance that the current version of pipewire-aptx does not yet provide the aptx variant ( aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec) your headphone expects.

I used aptx with my Sennheiser earphones and did not really notice any difference to aac (however my hearing abilities are probably not well trained). I stopped using aptx as the bluetooth connection became very flaky when i used aptx.

15

Please check if you have ffmpeg from Packman(-Essentials).
I see:

LT-B:~ # ffmpeg -hide_banner -codecs |grep aptx
 DEAIL. aptx                 aptX (Audio Processing Technology for Bluetooth)
 DEAIL. aptx_hd              aptX HD (Audio Processing Technology for Bluetooth)
LT-B:~ #

but the same lines read:

 ..AIL. aptx                 aptX (Audio Processing Technology for Bluetooth)
 ..AIL. aptx_hd              aptX HD (Audio Processing Technology for Bluetooth)

when the OSS version is installed, that is “Decode” and “Encode” aptx are disabled in the OSS version, while AAC decoding and encoding are enabled on both versions.

16

Please have a careful look at my post #10. aac is mentioned as the third in the list of supported codecs.

17

On paper aptx could reach 24bit/48kHz (HiRes quality?) while aac offers 16bit/44.1kHz (CD quality), but if your ears are no longer 18 yo like mine I bet you cannot tell the difference…

18

My ears are almost 85. I did a frequency hearing test on line with my new phones and couldn’t hear anything above 10khz. So AAC looks plenty good for me

I did miss AAC in your pipewire codec list.

tom kosvic

19

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