How to tell if apt-X CODEC is available and being used

Question

Level 1

19 points

How to tell if apt-X CODEC is available and being used

I have some bluetooth headphones which support apt-X CODEC. I have read that Mac OS X 10.6.5 supports apt-X, but that's really uncorroborated googling.

How can I determine from the Mac OS whether or not apt-X CODEC is being used when I connect my bluetooth headphones? There's no notification on the headphone as to which CODEC is being used for the audio. It sounds to my ears like apt-X is in use but I'd like to see some evidence! I say that it sounds like it's in use, as the same song sounds 'better' - less 'artifacty' when listening on the same headphones on the Mac via iTunes, than on a 3rd gen iPod Touch when paired with the same headphones. The iPod definitely doesn't support apt-X. But that could also be other factors, eq etc.

Thanks

Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Jan 5, 2011 1:19 AM

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Answer 1

Jit

Level 1

0 points

Feb 2, 2011 9:23 PM in response to Gary Cowell

Did you ever find out for sure if your apt-x headphones were being supported by the mac?

I too have found little other some 3rd hand news sources claiming that as of 10.6.5 all macs support apt-x.

I'm in the market for some new wireless headphones, and if my MacBook pro will play nice with apt-x that will help nudge me towards some compatible bluetooth headphones.

May I ask what model you have and how you like them?
The only apt-x headphones I've found online are the Sennheiser portables, and a new pair from Creative that have yet to be reviewed anywhere.

Thanks

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Answer 2

bgausden

Level 1

4 points

Apr 9, 2011 9:27 PM in response to Jit

I'm using the MM-450s and they sound pretty good although I find that e.g. bass drum tends to break up pretty badly. Now whether this is the amp in the headphones or the amp in my iMac (the same behaviour exists both wired and wireless) or the actual speakers (?) in the headphones I don't know.

I'd rather not buy a decent head amp to determine if this is a fundamental problem with the headphones or just an artifact caused by the wireless codec and/or the amps driving them...

Re Apt-X vs the standard Bluetooth codec, my 2011 MBP8,2 sounds "better" than my 2009 iMac but that could be me just kidding myself.

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Answer 3

Ckrap

Level 1

9 points

May 22, 2011 8:26 AM in response to bgausden

I'm using Sennheiser PXC 310 BT paired with my 13' 2010 macbook pro and the sound is crystal clear. Bass is rich and tight. The mids and highs are clean and well defined as well.

The follow story is before I knew apt-x was natively supported by my macbook...

(I tried the bluetooth adapter (BTD300 Audio) to get optimal performance out of my headphones... And I really couldn't hear the difference between using and not using the adapter. I thought maybe the bluetooth adapter was't worth it's price.)

As it stands my macbook pro must've been supporting apt-x natively so I couldn't hear the difference in sound quality.

By the way didn't the MM-450 come with a cable to use without the bluetooth function? Mine comes with a cable.

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Answer 4

Feb 15, 2012 10:35 AM in response to Gary Cowell

Hold alt and click on the bluetooth icon in the top bar. Now choose the headphones and you will see all the connection details including which codec is being used.

__

www.marcinbober.com

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Answer 5

gregwee

Level 1

0 points

Feb 20, 2012 7:30 PM in response to marcin_pl

Mine doesn't show the codec like in the picture. I'm using a Sennheiser MM 550-X which supports Apt-X. I 'think' it's using the Apt-X codec, but it would be great to find a way to actually tell if it really is. BTW, I'm still on Snow Leopard 10.6.8, and when I "option" click on my bluetooth connector on the bar, it shows that mine is Version 2.4.5f3 (V34 C685).

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Answer 6

markilou

Level 1

0 points

Apr 4, 2012 3:34 PM in response to Gary Cowell

Same thing here: 2.4.5f3 on my Mini with Leopard 10.6.8 connected to my Nokia Essence apt-X headphones but nocodec mentioned like in Marcin's picture above. Maybe the feature is only available on Lion, or it's even a hardware limitation as apt-X might need a BT module from CSR to work, maybe the same that enables BT 4.0 on the new Mini and new Air ? strange that this isn't documented though as I think it would be another nice selling argument for Apple ...

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Answer 7

Dec 24, 2012 9:44 AM in response to gregwee

i had the same initial problem.

sennheiser px 360's freshly connected and working on the macbook pro 15" but after checking the bluetooth icon with "alt click" it seemed they were using sco codec.

However after a mac restart the codec changed to apt x. and has remained since.

then again i cant really hear any significant difference in audio quality.. maybe just a touch more open..

so its not the end of the world if you cant release apt x.. although with mountain lion its there.

BTW.. sennheisr px 360's 9 £70 on ebay) awesome... just dont hit the srs button...eeek.. nasty nasty remove it.

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Answer 8

Dec 26, 2012 10:58 AM in response to Gary Cowell

I have the mm450-x but do not see the Apt-X codec as per marcin_pl's technique. I see my device's mac address only. When going through the BT settings on my MB Air OS 10.8.2, I do not see Apt-X listed in 'show more info'.

Their website says otherwise:

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/bluetooth-wireless-headphones-portable_504513

I'm also getting BT issues when using different devices paired to this (such as my iPhone 4S).

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Answer 9

Liam DD

Level 1

0 points

Jan 15, 2013 11:13 AM in response to Gary Cowell

Anyone figured out how to tell whether they're using the Apt-X codec yet, or how to enable it? I've found solutions for Lion and Mountain Lion users, but none yet for people still stuck on Snow Leopard like myself. 😟

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Answer 10

Feb 17, 2013 8:37 AM in response to Gary Cowell

I have found that, for Sennheiser MM 450-X, 2010 MacBook Air shows aptX for the codec while 2011 Mac min shows SBC for the codec.

I have tried restarting playback, restarting iTunes, and repairing 450-X on the 2011 Mac min but no success for aptX to come up.

I am kind of confused! Does anyone have an answer for this?

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Answer 11

Feb 17, 2013 5:24 PM in response to FrankInChina

I also tried Sennheiser MM 450-X on my 2010 Mac Pro running the latest OSX (OSX 10.8.2), with the codec showing SBC, NOT aptX.

Both my MacBook Air and Mac mini on which I tested Sennheiser MM 450-X also ran OSX 10.8.2.

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Answer 12

rideMTB

Level 1

0 points

Aug 11, 2013 10:19 AM in response to Gary Cowell

It may be necessary to turn on the aptX codec via Bluetooth Explorer -> Utilities -> Special Options

That did the trick for me.

The bluetooth explorer used to be available by pressing option then the bluetooth button, but now its bundled seperatly either with xcode or here : https://developer.apple.com/downloads/index.action?name=bluetooth%20explorer

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Answer 13

Aug 11, 2013 8:15 PM in response to rideMTB

Thanks rideMTB! Your advice worked for me on my Mac mini. I will do the same on my Mac Pro.

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Answer 14

mailming

Level 1

0 points

Sep 15, 2013 3:22 PM in response to FrankInChina

It may be necessary to turn on the aptX codec via Bluetooth Explorer -> Utilities -> Special Options

That did the trick for me.

The bluetooth explorer used to be available by pressing option then the bluetooth button, but now its bundled seperatly either with xcode or here :https://developer.apple.com/downloads/index.action?name=bluetooth%20explorer

After this the sound is awesome with mp3, however, HIFI has cracking sound, give a try, might meet your expectation.

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Answer 15

MDMac86

Level 1

0 points

Feb 22, 2014 11:01 PM in response to Gary Cowell

If none of these recommendations work for you ... Try turning off multipoint functionality on your headphones if the feature is available. Having this enabled forced the SBC codec to be used regardless of the 'force aptx' setting.

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