Does Android 11 fix the audio codec issue with 10?

[ultrarunner2020]

Hey guys;
I have a Moto G7 Optimo Maxx (Tracfone) with Android 10.
I own two pair of Bluetooth devices:
Jabra Elite Active 75t
JBL/UA Train Wireless headphones

I know that the Jabra's support AAC, but I was never able to get my phone to use AAC.
I can select it (Developer Options) but the selection always reverts back to SBC once I swipe away from the setting.

Apparently, this is an issue with Android 10. So I am wondering whether Android 11 has fixed this issue.
That said, my phone will not upgrade to Android 11 anyway (I checked for updates on the phone, and checked online for a listing of Motorola phones for Android 11 upgrade).

If I knew that the issue was fixed with Android 11 (or perhaps 12?) I would consider upgrading my phone at some point. Perhaps I should wait for Android 12, but I am certain that Tracfone will not offer a phone with 12 for at least 12 months after its release.

 

[smvim]

Odd that AAC is a problem on your G7. I've been having no issues at all with AAC media files going back to JellyBean on several different makes and models of phones. It's not a limited-use, licensed audio codec like one of Microsoft's abominations, AAC has been a pretty widespread, commonly used audio codec for decades now. Are you having problems playing back all files with AAC audio or just one in particular? This isn't necessarily an Android OS problem as you've stated. What media player app do you use? That has more relevance than the operating system as different media players can support different arrays of multimedia codecs. If it is just one file, are you sure it's actually using AAC as its audio stream?
Also, keep in mind Developer options relate to hardware (phone)-software (OS) interaction, while things like multimedia codecs support are just software. The problem you're having might not be anything to do with just how your Jabra is connecting to your G7 but rather just a software issue.

 

[ultrarunner2020]

Maybe I'm getting this all wrong. Here is what I thought i knew about this:
1. AAC (like SBC) is a compression algorithm used to stream audio files over Bluetooth.
2. AAC is a better codec for streaming over BT than SBC, but may result in problems with connection if the signal is weak or has interference on it.

It is also used to compress files stored on a hard drive. I believe iTunes tracks are encoded with AAC when you download them. I normally convert these to .flac (I know - going from a lossy to a lossless format could be an issue, and I get a warning in Foobar 2000 when I do this). I'm not sure why I do this, except that many of the tracks in my music library have been ripped from CD's as .flac, so I want to keep the entire library as one format.
I also use a DAW (Reaper) to create 'DJ' mixes, and always render my mixes to .flac.

Then there are a few proprietary codecs that may or may not produce better sound quality over BT than AAC, but at this time I do not own any devices that can use them.

3. A codec is set as the default in the phone/OS, and therefore that is the codec which will be used for streaming from the phone to any device over BT - so long as the device supports it.

You are telling me that #3 is not true, and that perhaps I need to look at my music player (PowerAmp 3.x) rather than the Developer settings on my Android phone.

So far as my music library goes; does the fact that I store the files on my phone as .flac cause any important issues when streaming to BT using either AAC or SBC? I suppose that converting from one codec (whether it's a lossy one or not) to a lossy one like AAC (or even more so SBC) could cause a deterioration of the music quality over BT.

I will do some more research on this.
Thanks for the help on this.

 

[ultrarunner2020]

OTOH, I can completely solve the entire problem by ditching Bluetooth and getting a good pair of WIRED IEM's or headphones for running.
The problem is trying to find something with high quality sound that also has IP rating.

 

[michael roberts10]

The good news is yes, the frustration with Bluetooth AAC experienced by many owners of Bluetooth headphones with AAC codec compatibility is over thanks to Android 11 giving users the capability to turn off a so called "AAC whitelist" which I believe existed on earlier Android versions, but could only be deactivated by rooting and editing a system file. AAC whitelist restricted Bluetooth AAC codec use to certain listed headphone brands. If your headphones were not on the list, even if they supported AAC Bluetooth, they would be restricted to SBC codec only. In Android 11, simply go to developer options, turn off "AAC whitelist" and if your Bluetooth headphones support AAC, you will finally get the option to use the higher quality codec. It works great on my Moto G9 + with my Anker Soundcore Life Q20.

 

[ultrarunner2020]

Unfortunately, my Moto G7 Optimo Maxx on Tracfone is not getting the 11 upgrade.
If I can find a method to download and install the new OS, I will try; but my phone isn't rooted, so I doubt that will work.

 

[smvim]

Since the phone and its operating system are a 'fixed given' on this matter, approaching this from a different direction are there options to listen to audio content that isn't relying upon AAC compression when using your Bluetooth headphones? File size is increase is a factor but a smaller audio file when compared to its equivalent involves more compression.
Or if file size is an issue, perhaps converting audio files from using AAC to MP3 compression?

 

[ultrarunner2020]

I'm not sure I understand the relationship between a file's encoding method and the transmission of that file over BT.
I understand that AAC is an (lossy) algorithm used to compress audio files in order to reduce file size.
But I'm not sure I understand what the file format (AAC, MP3, flac, etc) has to do with streaming that file over BT using any codec.
If the file is in the AAC format, and it is streamed over BT, I would assume it needs to be converted to whatever codec is being used over BT.
Thus, if you store your files as AAC and then send them over BT using AAC, the need for conversion would be eliminated. But what does that buy you? Will the audio sound better, or will the only advantage be lower latency?

I currently store my music as .flac, so regardless of which codec I am using to stream over BT, a conversion will be necessary.

I guess I need to read further on this in order to fully understand how it works.