Qualcomm Debuts Gen 2 Sound Chips for Better Mobile Music

Qualcomm today announced updates to its Snapdragon Sound platform that it believes will pave the way for dramatically improved sound experiences on portable audio devices such as Bluetooth headphones and speakers.

Specifically, new hardware and broadened support for the latest standards-based connectivity will bring features such as back-channel in-game audio chats, lossless audio, and dynamic head tracking for spatial audio to a range of products.

Snapdragon Sound(Opens in a new window) is Qualcomm’s dedicated technology for audio, whether that be for music, gaming, or voice and video calls. It relies on a combination of hardware and software to deliver the highest-quality audio to connected devices.

(Credit: Qualcomm)

Qualcomm marked the debut of the Qualcomm S5 Gen 2 Sound Platform and the Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platform at its Snapdragon Summit, both of which support Snapdragon Sound technology. These two small systems-on-a-chip are optimized for speakers and mid-tier earbuds and work hand in hand with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile processor.

One of the core new features Qualcomm is targeting is dynamic spatial audio. This creates a virtual, three-dimensional sound stage surrounding the user’s head that changes as the person moves around. Qualcomm says its specific goal is to improve the experience of watching movies or playing games, such that when a person adjusts their head or position with respect to the playback device, the sound follows them in a realistic way. Some audio products, including headphones such as the Apple AirPods Pro 2, already include spatial audio.

(Credit: Qualcomm)

Another major upgrade is support for lossless audio at 48KHz. Many of today’s streaming music services already support lossless formats, as do many mobile devices. The missing link is bridging the last mile between the phone and the headphones. The new S5 and S3 Gen 2 SoCs will help bring this high-quality music to more devices. This will be made possible by using the new Bluetooth 5.3 LE audio specification, which offers low-latency, low-power playback at higher bit rates while maintaining signal integrity.

Further, the platforms will integrate the third generation of Qualcomm’s Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation tech. Qualcomm says this will boost the listening experience by better adapting to the wearer’s specific in-ear fit as well as their surroundings. It features several advanced features, one of which being automatic speech detection to trigger Adaptive Transparency mode. The associated baseline tools will help headphone makers account for common issues like wind noise and other intrusive sounds.

The Qualcomm S5 and S3 Gen 2 Sound Platforms are already sampling with select customers, but Qualcomm doesn’t expect commercial devices to reach the market until the second half of 2023.