Sony has long been a leader in the world of wireless headphones, pioneering features like active noise cancellation (ANC) and high-resolution audio, but it has never produced a set of wireless headphones that can do Bluetooth Multipoint — the ability to connect a set of headphones to two devices at once. This omission has become even more noticeable in recent years as brands like Jabra, Anker Soundcore, 1More and JBL have embraced it, even on models costing less than $100.
However, Sony has finally decided to do something about it: starting in November, the company will add Bluetooth multipoint to its LinkBuds, LinkBuds S and its flagship WF-1000XM4 headphones via a firmware update.
Sony WF-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones. Simon Cohen / Digital trends
Similar to multipoint on wireless headphones, these models will be able to receive music from one device, say a computer, and then seamlessly switch to another device, like a phone, to answer a phone call — automatically returning to the computer when the call is made. Although according to Sony’s press release, you need to download and install another app called Auto Play if you want to automatically revert to the first device.
Multipoint is a very handy feature that has been thrust into the limelight since the pandemic forced huge numbers of people to work from home, alternating between Zoom calls, phone calls and their favorite media. So why did it take Sony so long to bring multipoint to market?
The company didn’t say, but I’m guessing it’s facing a technological hurdle with support for its internal high-resolution audio codec, LDAC.
LDAC is capable of delivering 24-bit/96kHz lossy high-resolution audio from a compatible device to a set of compatible headphones (under ideal conditions). But to do this, LDAC consumes a large amount of Bluetooth bandwidth. At the most demanding quality level, LDAC consumes 990 kbits per second — almost all that Bluetooth can handle. That leaves precious little bandwidth for things like a second, permanent Bluetooth connection.
In fact, on every set of wireless headphones I’ve tested that offer both LDAC and Bluetooth multipoint, the two features are mutually exclusive — enabling one disables the other. Even on Sony’s wireless headphones like the WH-1000XM4 and XM5, which support both features, a choice has to be made — you can’t use them at the same time.
It’s possible that Sony was looking for ways to avoid applying a similar set of rules to its headphones, but Sony tells Digital Trends that, just like on its full-size headphones, you won’t be able to use LDAC and multipoint at the same time.
One of the ways Sony can work with multiple points and hi-res audio would be to adopt Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive codec, which offers a similar, if not identical, level of audio performance to LDAC, but with far lower bandwidth requirements. I’ve reviewed several excellent aptX Adaptive headphones that also work with multipoint. But Sony seems to be going in a different direction. When it introduced its WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones, it dropped support for aptX and aptX HD, which were available on the XM4’s predecessor, the WH-1000XM3, and since then I haven’t seen a set of Sony headphones or earbuds that include either of Qualcomm’s codec.
Sony LinkBuds S in earth blue color. Sony
Sony’s multi-point announcement was actually something of a footnote in a press release designed to highlight two changes to the company’s LinkBuds products: a new “Earth Blue” color for the $200 LinkBuds S that is made from recycled water bottles, and a new version LinkBuds designed for corporate use, called LinkBuds UC ($250).
LinkBuds UC comes with its own dedicated USB dongle in the case, allowing them to connect directly to a Mac or PC computer, without relying on Bluetooth. The headset is also certified for use with Microsoft Teams, and you can customize the headset’s gestures — including its smart wide-area touch capability — to perform Teams-specific tasks like raising your hand, instead of the usual play and volume commands for music.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn