Qualcomm announces Snapdragon Sound tech for superior audio

"By focusing end-to-end, we are looking to deliver innovations to solve common consumer pain-points across virtually all audio interaction points," said James Chapman, vice president and general manager, Voice, Music and Wearables, Qualcomm.

New Delhi:Chip-maker Qualcomm has announced Snapdragon Sound technology which is touted as a chain of audio innovations and software to provide seamless, immersive audio across devices including smartphones, wireless earbuds and headsets.

To begin with, Amazon Music and Qualcomm have announced a curated Snapdragon Sound Playlist.

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Devices supporting Snapdragon Sound are expected to be available later this year.

“By focusing end-to-end, we are looking to deliver innovations to solve common consumer pain-points across virtually all audio interaction points,” said James Chapman, vice president and general manager, Voice, Music and Wearables, Qualcomm.

By optimising interactions between Qualcomm technology stacks, Snapdragon Sound is designed to deliver a more robust and seamless wireless listening experience, supporting high-resolution 24-bit 96kHz audio, ultra-low latency, improved pairing, and crystal-clear voice quality.
To solve end-to-end latency challenges, Snapdragon Sound can support Bluetooth latencies as low as 89 milliseconds (45 per cent lower than a leading competitor) for more immersive gaming and a better video watching experience, the company said in a statement late on Thursday.

The company also introduced a new, Amazon Music HD playlist designed to showcase the superior sound quality that Snapdragon Sound can achieve.

“With Amazon Music HD, we wanted to make it easier for music fans to stream their favourite music the way it was originally recorded,” said Andre Stapleton, Global Head of Artist and Label Relations at Amazon Music.

“We’re thrilled to work with Qualcomm Technologies and present the Snapdragon Sound playlist, which includes a beautiful new Amazon Original by St Panther, which will be able to be heard in Ultra HD on Snapdragon Sound-optimised devices,” he added.

Lei Zhang, vice president of Mi Smartphone and general manager of Hardware R&D, Xiaomi said that their company is excited to be the first mobile manufacturer to bring Snapdragon Sound to devices.

“Snapdragon Sound will bring new high quality, seamless, low-latency audio experiences to our customers everywhere and provide better sound while engaging in voice calls, video conferencing, gaming and/or music listening,” Zhang said.