Qualcomm today announced Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound technology, an optimized chain of audio innovations and software designed to provide seamless, immersive audio in, and across, devices including smartphones, wireless earbuds, and headsets. Snapdragon Sound is designed to provide a superior sound experience for consumers while listening to streaming music, communicating on the phone, or wirelessly gaming. To coincide with this launch, Amazon Music and Qualcomm Technologies also announced a curated Snapdragon Sound Playlist.
There are many ways sound quality can be disrupted between users and devices. How devices connect with each other, breaks in connectivity, audio dropouts and glitches, latency, and poor audio compression can all contribute to a sub-optimal listening experience. By optimizing interactions between Qualcomm technology stacks, Snapdragon Sound is designed to deliver a more robust and seamless wireless listening experience, supporting high-resolution 24-bit 96kHz audio, ultra-low latency, improved pairing, and crystal-clear voice quality. To solve end-to-end latency challenges, Snapdragon Sound can support Bluetooth latencies as low as 89 milliseconds (45% lower than a leading competitor) for more immersive gaming and a better video watching experience. For those who prefer listening directly from the mobile device, Snapdragon Sound incorporates the Qualcomm AqsticTM DAC, designed to support formats of up to 384kHz 32-bit PCM and DSD with ultra-low THD+N.
Key Technologies
The key components of Snapdragon Sound include:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-series mobile platforms
- Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 mobile connectivity system
- Qualcomm QCC514x, QCC515x, and QCC3056 series Bluetooth Audio SoCs
- Qualcomm Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) technology
- Qualcomm aptX Adaptive(tm), 24-bit 96kHz and 89ms latency
- Qualcomm aptX Voice super wideband voice
- Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec and smart speaker amplifier WCD938x and WSA883x
- Qualcomm Audio and Voice Communication Suite
To ensure high levels of performance, all Snapdragon Sound optimized devices will be tested for interoperability in Qualcomm Technologies’ dedicated test facility in Taiwan on measures of performance including audio quality, latency, and robust connectivity.
A Snapdragon Sound Playlist
At the event, the company also introduced a brand-new, genre-spanning Amazon Music HD playlist designed to showcase the superior sound quality that Snapdragon Sound can achieve. The Snapdragon Sound playlist features producer/musician St. Panther’s brand-new Amazon Original song, “Real Love Takes Time”, Amazon Original tracks from Allie X and You Me At Six, recently remastered recordings from The Clash and new tracks from Celeste, and more.
With more than 70 million songs in High Definition, and over five million songs in the highest quality audio or Ultra High Definition, Amazon Music HD allows customers to hear all of their favorite songs and albums with every bit of detail as their original recording.
Devices supporting Snapdragon Sound are expected to be available later this year. As products are available, consumers will be able to look for the Snapdragon Sound badge on optimized devices to readily identify phones, earbuds, and headphones and, in time, other devices like PCs, watches, and XR glasses designed to deliver the full benefit of these advanced audio features.
