[IDEA] Sony LDAC Bluetooth Codec Support

[Hyperduel]

Hello everyone,

I'm making this thread with a suggestion for adding the Sony LDAC Bluetooth Codec standard on all future releases of moOde OS. 

Reason:  As of this post, Sony LDAC Bluetooth Codec is the best Bluetooth Codec standard for Audio.  While SBC audio can go up to 500ish kbs, Sony LDAC standard can do 24/96 at 990 kbs.  

Issue:  While Sony included LDAC starting with Android 8.0 free of charge + other linux devices including the format free provided it as a receiver, the decoding part that might have minor issues due to Sony putting the decoding part is proprietary.  Worse we can do is just have moOde support LDAC as an output format only (and not accepting any inputs).  However, it would be cool if moOde can do both ways (a man can dream). 


Info:  My friend scblock posted this thread about adding LDAC support in moOde.  However, I think there was a misunderstanding between him and Tim, and thus that thread was locked as spam  I know scblock, and he is a nice guy.  He only did the guide to help people who one didn't know LDAC can be rolled into moOde and two he wanted to show it can be done.  He did it on his free time but he just made the guide based on the steps he came up with (he is not a professional) and on the available Dependencies he referenced (including libLDAC).  

The guide he posted as of today does work on current Pi boards.  I consider his posts not being spam.  There's a few others on this forum that can vouch for scblock for what he was trying to show as a proof of concept with the available Dependencies.   

However, it would be supercool if we don't even have to compile LDAC every time there is an update on moOde.  It would be great to have it from the start where it would be included in the BT part of moOde.  You can even make a LDAC BT section to have the data sent back/forth by performance or by sound quality. 

Since other audio devices are using LDAC from the start, it would nice to have moOde able to stream data on this standard to all audio devices that uses LDAC.  I hope Tim you might consider this feature for future releases and take consideration on what scblock was trying to provide. 

Thanks.

[azimuth]

I agree and I love LDAC. With something like a FiiO BTR5 or a EarStudio ES100, you could stream whatever is playing in moOde while you are wearing headphones all over the house or even mowing the yard. Basically to ANY LDAC device. LDAC is the only way Bluetooth is considered hi-fi for me as I am used to Coax and a Pi2AES.

Why LDAC? Higher speed transfer rate...



I know this is propaganda from Sony's site on LDAC, but you need to hear it an experience it. 

And yes, it did start with Sony, but LDAC source code was contributed to Android Open Source Project, allowing SRC (Smartphone) manufacturers to install LDAC software for FREE. More and more hi-res players and BT devices are coming as LDAC compatible for good reason.

And if it can be added with just a few changes to moOde, this would be awesome! Mostly because LDAC is not a Bluetooth protocol, rather just a different codec.

[Hyperduel]

I agree and I love LDAC. With something like a FiiO BTR5 or a EarStudio ES100, you could stream whatever is playing in moOde while you are wearing headphones all over the house or even mowing the yard. Basically to ANY LDAC device. LDAC is the only way Bluetooth is considered hi-fi for me as I am used to Coax and a Pi2AES.

Why LDAC? Higher speed transfer rate...



I know this is propaganda from Sony's site on LDAC, but you need to hear it an experience it. 

And yes, it did start with Sony, but LDAC source code was contributed to Android Open Source Project, allowing SRC (Smartphone) manufacturers to install LDAC software for FREE. More and more hi-res players and BT devices are coming as LDAC compatible for good reason.

And if it can be added with just a few changes to moOde, this would be awesome! Mostly because LDAC is not a Bluetooth protocol, rather just a different codec.

Agreed.  LDAC is excellent and it would be sweet if moOde have the LDAC codec within its OS so my other wireless devices that supports LDAC can communicate and stream with moOde.

[Tim Curtis]

AFAIK LDAC and aptX codecs are proprietary with restrictive licenses. It would be illegal to bundle them in moOde distribution. I've already posted about this several times in other threads however, if Sony has re-licensed LDAC as Open Source then please post a link to this new license.

[TheOldPresbyope]

Sony has muddied the waters. The repo referenced in the OP is Sony code for the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and is declared to be under the Apache 2.0 license. That sounds great (unless you use GPL2 and not GPL3) but then

---------------
 Certification
---------------
   Taking the certification process is required to use LDAC in your products.
   For the detail of certification process, see the following URL:
      https://www.sony.net/Products/LDAC/aosp/

If I go to the Sony.net site I see a progress line that reads: Inquiry->NDA->Contract->,,,->Certification

The whole site appears to address corporate customers.

Good luck sorting this out.

Regards,
Kent

[Hyperduel]

Sony has muddied the waters. The repo referenced in the OP is Sony code for the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and is declared to be under the Apache 2.0 license. That sounds great (unless you use GPL2 and not GPL3) but then

---------------
 Certification
---------------
   Taking the certification process is required to use LDAC in your products.
   For the detail of certification process, see the following URL:
      https://www.sony.net/Products/LDAC/aosp/

If I go to the Sony.net site I see a progress line that reads: Inquiry->NDA->Contract->,,,->Certification

The whole site appears to address corporate customers.

Good luck sorting this out.

Regards,
Kent

This is for audio products that aren't using something like Android and Linux.  This is how libLDAC was able to be a thing from my perspective.  Of course we would need to be aware of any risks of course.

[Tim Curtis]

According to this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDAC_(codec) the LDAC encoder apparently is Open Source licensed but the decoder is proprietary. This means that devices that receive and decode an LDAC stream require a license from Sony.

[TheOldPresbyope]

According to this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDAC_(codec) the LDAC encoder apparently is Open Source licensed but the decoder is proprietary. This means that devices that receive and decode an LDAC stream require a license from Sony.

So moOde could include it to drive Sony active speakers and BT headphones but not itself to act as a LDAC BT speaker. I have no way to test this so will have to sit on the sidelines.

Regards,
Kent

[Hyperduel]

According to this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDAC_(codec) the LDAC encoder apparently is Open Source licensed but the decoder is proprietary. This means that devices that receive and decode an LDAC stream require a license from Sony.

So moOde could include it to drive Sony active speakers and BT headphones but not itself to act as a LDAC BT speaker. I have no way to test this so will have to sit on the sidelines.

Regards,
Kent

I do.  If Tim wanna add it in moOde under a beta/experimental thing I can test it out like there's no tomorrow.  Most people will use it for the current Walkman DAPs.  It should also work on other DAPs that decode LDAC.

[Miss Sissy Princess]

According to this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDAC_(codec) the LDAC encoder apparently is Open Source licensed but the decoder is proprietary. This means that devices that receive and decode an LDAC stream require a license from Sony.

I would prefer to see moOde only incorporate standards that are fully open and not encumbered by patents, NDAs, trademarks, and licensing fees.

If Sony won't make LDAC™ an open standard, then let it go the way of other Sony proprietary standards (yes, I know Sony partnered with other companies on some of them) like ATRAC, Elcaset, DAT, MiniDisc, Betamax, MemoryStick, UMD (Universal Media Disc), and Super Audio CD (SACD).

None of this, found on Sony's website, is good for consumers or healthy competition in the marketplace: