A few questions on bluetooth audio (specifically APTx LL)

kdenery · July 19, 2020

Hey everyone, first time actually using these forums but long time fan of Linus and the community as a whole.
I've finally come to tech problem that googling just can't seem to solve, at least not efficiently. There is just so little info on the APTx LL codec, or "aptx low latency" that i can't get many clear answers.
Basically, I want to have wireless audio for when I'm gaming on my windows 10 desktop, but i MUCH prefer earbuds to a headset, and so i run into the problem of audio latency with normal bluetooth codecs.

Basically, i can't even figure out for sure if Windows 10 as an operating system can even support APTx LL... some people seem to think theres a dell driver you can download that works as a work around, but others are not sure. How can I even tell if my bluetooth card can support it? or is that just dependent on the driver it runs off of in windows 10? Currently I have this card https://www.newegg.com/fenvi-ax200ngw-pcie-half-mini-card-m-2/p/0XM-00JK-00064?Item=9SIADXZ9H62090 and some generic but good bluetooth earbuds. I KNOW ill need to switch the buds to one (of the very few) that support aptx LL, but what im not sure of is will I also need to get a dedicated aptx ll transmitter? Or would that even work, most that I see are meant for TV's, not desktop (or at least they dont specify.)

I have a few other odds and ends as far as questions, but i think I'll just leave it at that, maybe im missing something entirely and I dont even need aptx ll. All i want is bluetooth audio from my desktop to some earbuds that doesnt have noticeable latency.

thanks in advanced yall!

Kilrah · July 19, 2020

Pretty sure the consensus is "not possible".

https://helgeklein.com/blog/2019/01/bluetooth-audio-quality-aptx-windows-10/

Read about people trying the Dell driver but none actually saying it worked, and some saying it completely broke their BT stack.

kdenery · July 19, 2020

34 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Pretty sure the consensus is "not possible".

https://helgeklein.com/blog/2019/01/bluetooth-audio-quality-aptx-windows-10/

Read about people trying the Dell driver but none actually saying it worked, and some saying it completely broke their BT stack.

hey, thanks for the fast reply! Yeah I'm wary of any DIY drivers. While i did find many people saying the dell thing worked, they all were using a specific intel wireless card, which i dont have.

So i suppose that means if i want to do this i need a dedicated third party receiver? Someone recommended this https://avantree.com/audikast-plus-bluetooth-5.0-transmitter-for-tv but im wondering if it can receive audio (id prefer with using the mic built into headsets/earbuds as opposed to dedicated mic.)

EDIT: After a bit more searching, this seeeems perfect, but almost too much too to be true. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B4W40VC?tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1 would this and a pair or earbuds that support atpx ll work for my needs? It SEEMS that this has both aptx ll receiving AND transmitting capabilities. Could anyone else verify I'm not misreading anything?

Am i just asking too much? would it be easier at this point to just use wireless gaming headphones or stick with my wired earbuds? I feel like im trying to reinvent the wheel here, and while it seems like it should be easy and possible, its looking like maybe more problems than its worth.

Well, 2 other quick questions while im here.
1. I use a wireless controller that uses a USB adapter and that has NO lag, I even plug my earbuds into the controller for audio and communication, and again no lag. This DOES come up as a Bluetooth device in windows 10, NOT as a usb device as something like the transmitter above shows up as. How are they doing it!? It's the Astro c40 if that helps anyone.
2. While using my current bluetooth setup, I cant change anything about it in control panel. Like when i go to the new windows 10 bluetooth page, my earbuds show up, i can add new device, all fine, but if i try and change any of the earbuds setting in the OG control panel sound & devices menu, I cant change anything, and in the OG control panels bluetooth settings, it doesn't see ANYTHING and says i have to turn on bluetooth radio to see devices. When i try and enable bluetooth radio it fails and says device unavailable. I first starting messing with these setting because i wanted to see what codec the earbuds were using and possibly change it, but i cannot for the life of my find where that is?? any thoughts?

Edited July 19, 2020 by kdenery
New product found

Kilrah · July 19, 2020

10 minutes ago, kdenery said:

but im wondering if it can receive audio (id prefer with using the mic built into headsets/earbuds as opposed to dedicated mic.)

Doesn't look like it. Also on most BT headphones as soon as you use the mic they drop to "phone hands free" mode and the audio becomes trash, making it not an option to use BT headphones for games.

And yes that's why wireless gaming headphones exist, minimal latency and full audio quality even with mic use.

10 minutes ago, kdenery said:

This DOES come up as a Bluetooth device in windows 10

If you mean it shows up in the device list in the BT settings that does NOT mean it's BT, this is "BT and other devices". I've got many wired things showing up here.

10 minutes ago, kdenery said:

I first starting messing with these setting because i wanted to see what codec the earbuds were using and possibly change it,

It's a common complaint that on Windows it's not possible to know what codec is used. If everything (hardware on PC, drivers and headphones) supports aptX it's supposed to use that, but you can't verify.