14Ultra AAC implementation

[eng333]

I'm trying to determine which codec provides the best quality, SBC, AAC, or LDAC (low). I'm not sure if there any are audiophiles out there that either have really good ears or have done some measurements while using the 14 Ultra

From what I read, the AAC implementation can vary widely across android mfrs. Some choose to lower its quality settings to try to preserve battery to the point that it's worse than SBC. My earbud also supports LDAC, but I find the low setting is the only setting that is stable enough for me and at "Low" the quality can be below the best AAC implementation. But of the AAC implementation on this phone could be even worse. SBC might be a better option.

In reality, my ears probably can't tell the difference unless but if someone has done objective measurements, I'd be interested to see.

 

[Kugumin]

It's also very dependent on the SoC you have, so better SoC - better audio processing.

I have 1More Sonoflow, and I'd say if you compare how that plays on Poco F5 and Poco F6... F6 wins. It has better processing, I think also better optimized Dolby Atmos kicks in.

It also depends on the quality of the music you're listening to.

Honestly - converting FLAC to AAC and using AAC as BT codec is enough for me. I know Android will probably transcode it while sending it to BT headphones, but the quality is still pretty good.

 

[eng333]

Most of my stuff is MP3, some FLAC. Some of my videos might be using AAC. But it might re-encode if bit depth or sample rate doesnt match or even if it does match. I've read that AAC is so bad on some android devices that SBC is even better.
That's why I was hoping someone with at 14U with good ears or test equipment might have checked it out. I'm still trying out LDAC (auto/low) and AAC. I think they sound about the same. Haven't compared to SBC yet.