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Can Bluetooth version affect TWS sound quality?

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Hello everybody,

I've been recently thinking of replacing my halfway artifact Galaxy S9 with a Galaxy S24, and since the latter doesn't have a 3.5 mm jack connector, I've also been thinking of buying a set of Galaxy earbuds. I have one of my friends' Buds2 Pro to test for the weekend, and could I be any happier I have borrowed them... The sound quality is surprisingly poor - to me at least -, it's much worse than what I expected.

The low-range is decent, which shouldn't be surprising considering the genres popular nowadays, I think they're perfect for that purpose. The mid-range is actually significantly clearer compared to the wired AKG in-ear headset that came with my S9, although it really lacks space, and I mean really - it feels like a little music stick poking my ears after having been completely embraced and buried in music for years. I'm sorry for the dumb analogy, I don't think I could explain it any better as English is not my first language. Finally, the high-range is what hurts my ears the most, all high sounds are way too clinky, clicky and clacky.
I mainly listen to death metal - melodic, symphonic, technical - and a bit of black metal and psychedelic stuff every now and then, and I don't want to sound like an audiophile or a snob, but I might be a bit of a music addict - I love and I need to hear all the instruments properly.

After a few hours of listening, I thought that the Bluetooth version (S9 5.0, S24 5.3) may affect how these buds sound, although I doubt that it could affect the amount of outlet they have. Still, hoping that there are many helpful users with much more experience with TWS earbuds, I wanted to ask whether it is worth for me to keep considering them, or I should rather look for a decent wired headset with USB-C connector for the same price. I understand that the manufacturers have to squeeze batteries and Bluetooth antennas besides the speakers into these tiny buds, so they may never sound as good as their wired counterparts where all the space are for the speakers.

Any help, advice and opinions, or bud recommendations are welcome - thank you in advance!
 
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Lower quality? No, it's not going to happen. it's fully digital data. If the Bluetooth version is too old, the phones simply won't pair. Any eventual differences in sound quality will arise from the source itself (software configuration), since the DAC stage is done within the earphones themselves.
 
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Bluetooth audio codec (SBC vs. LDAC vs. AAC vs. aptX vs. maybe others) does supposedly matter a bit. FWIW I could not hear much difference myself.

I think audio reproduction quality for Bluetooth audio mostly depended on source quality, and the quality of the device itself. If you find the highs intolerable, you can try a good pair of earbuds with balanced armature drivers, connected to a good Bluetooth DAC.
 
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Bluetooth audio codec (SBC vs. LDAC vs. AAC vs. aptX vs. maybe others) does supposedly matter a bit. FWIW I could not hear much difference myself.

I think audio reproduction quality for Bluetooth audio mostly depended on source quality, and the quality of the device itself. If you find the highs intolerable, you can try a good pair of earbuds with balanced armature drivers, connected to a good Bluetooth DAC.
The Buds 2 Pro should default to SSC (Samsung Seamless Codec) on any compatible device, which I don't know if the S9 is. And yes, it would be a pretty important part of how the Buds respond.
 
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Bluetooth audio codec (SBC vs. LDAC vs. AAC vs. aptX vs. maybe others) does supposedly matter a bit. FWIW I could not hear much difference myself.

I think audio reproduction quality for Bluetooth audio mostly depended on source quality, and the quality of the device itself. If you find the highs intolerable, you can try a good pair of earbuds with balanced armature drivers, connected to a good Bluetooth DAC.

The Galaxy S9 should be compatible with aptX, aptX HD (although there are reports this has been removed, it's at least on the spec sheet though) SBC, LDAC and AAC, I don't think it'll be missing anything in the quality front

These are the supported codecs on the S10+, should be able to check in the same place on the S9 (tap build number 5 times in about phone to enable dev mode, and navigate there)

Screenshot_20240914_112413_Settings.jpg
 
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The Galaxy S9 should be compatible with aptX, aptX HD (although there are reports this has been removed, it's at least on the spec sheet though) SBC, LDAC and AAC, I don't think it'll be missing anything in the quality front

These are the supported codecs on the S10+, should be able to check in the same place on the S9 (tap build number 5 times in about phone to enable dev mode, and navigate there)

View attachment 363367
Issue at hand, at least with any Samsung TWS, is they don't use aptX. So either they are able to use SSC on a compatible device or they fall back to SBC.

Here's how my B2P's show up on my S23U:
Screenshot_20240914_114144_Settings.jpg

Screenshot_20240914_114258_Settings.jpg
 
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