A new Bluetooth streaming codec that promises to stream CD-quality audio without losing audio detail, aptX Lossless, has arrived in the first pair of headphones. The NuraTrue Pro TWS headphones are the work of Australian audio company Nura, with a regular retail price of $329.
“These are the first headphones to be announced with Snapdragon Sound and aptX Lossless . We are excited to announce that many more Snapdragon Sound-powered devices with aptX Lossless will be released soon,” Qualcomm spokeswoman Lauren Miller said in a statement. Snapdragon Sound is the name of Qualcomm’s overall audio platform, one of whose features is aptX Lossless (though, very importantly, not all Snapdragon Sound devices support aptX Lossless).
The catch is that you won’t find devices that support the new audio codec at the moment, as “there are no devices currently shipping with this feature,” according to Qualcomm spokesperson Sarah McMurray. In addition to a device that supports aptX Lossless, your music also needs to be CD quality or higher to get the maximum benefit – this is great for Apple Music subscribers, but not so relevant for Spotify users expecting HiFi.
Qualcomm announced aptX Lossless last year, promising that it would be able to stream CD-quality, 16-bit/44.1 kHz audio over Bluetooth. That doesn’t mean no compression is applied at all, but Qualcomm says it’s lossless compression, so the sound your headphones receive should be “mathematically bit-for-bit accurate, with no audio file loss,” according to Qualcomm spokesman James Chapman. aptX Lossless can reach bitrates of 1 Mbps, compared to 990 kbps for its closest competitor, LDAC.
In addition to aptX Lossless support, the NuraTrue Pros support active noise cancellation, spatial audio, multipoint connectivity allowing them to connect to multiple source devices simultaneously, and the ability to use either earbud independently. They can be charged wirelessly and provide up to eight hours of playback from the headphones themselves, or up to 32 hours when paired with the charging case. The NuraTrue Pro brings back the audio personalization feature that Nura pioneered with its original pair of over-ear headphones.
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