Anker Zolo Liberty+ AAC Support?

I just got my pair of Liberty+ earbuds and to my disappointment, it seems like AAC is not present as advertised. I specifically chose this pair of buds because both the Liberty and Liberty+ spec page show that AAC is supported. I’ve already reached out to Anker about it, but is this something I’m doing? Is there a firmware update I’m missing? Is this a problem with just my pair?

For reference, I’m using all the headphones I’m testing with a Pixel 2 XL running 8.1, which explicitly shows which audio codec is being used with connected audio devices in the Bluetooth settings.

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The AAC audio codec is strictly used for Apple devices and Android uses the SBC codec, which is why your Pixel does not show it as being ng used but the default SBC codec. You can go into settings >Bluetooth >click gear icon next to connected Bluetooth device >make sure whichever box for a specific codec is checked off so that is used over the default codec

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Are you sure AAC isn’t supported? When I owned my Pixel Buds, in those same settings you mentioned, there was a 4th connection option turned on called “HD Audio: AAC”.

I found a screenshot from a Pixel connected to a pair of Jaybird X3’s to show you what I mean.

I wouldn’t care if it was actually shown in the settings or not, but there is absolutely a difference in sound quality between devices that support AAC and those that don’t, much the same way AptX and AptX HD devices do.

Try this…
go into developer options scroll and you will see Bluetooth audio Codec

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That should work for devices that support multiple codecs, but for whatever reason, the setting doesn’t stick once you back out of it. It’s been like that since the first beta. Super annoying, but thank you for the suggestion.

Sorry I can’t help you there if the issue is even present in their betas. What I have found is that once I set the codec I want, I don’t exit but rather just switch to the app I want and it holds those settings until I close everything out.

I wasn’t a backer for these, I picked up my pair from a backer on eBay. Was there a backer update that indicated AAC would be added later with a firmware update or something along those lines?

I tested a bunch of headphones at work yesterday that support AAC and all of them automatically enable the codec in the Bluetooth settings on my Pixel 2 XL. I tested Airpods, Pixelbuds and the Bragi Pros. I’ve found that most companies don’t often mention which codecs they use, but it says a lot for Zolo to proactively mention it and it’s not really there.

i agree with you the codec isn’t showing.i was a backer and i cant get it to show aac when connected to pixel2. i have used a number of different earphones that support aac or aptx and pixel readily shows the codec.For some reason its not showing for the liberty+ whicj makes me somewhat suspicious!

this was the response i got from Liberty support which looks like a load of BS! “The Liberty+ is different from the product used the CSR technology, so you can not see the AAC code without grabbing the headphone software package by a specific tool.”

I’m not buying that answer either. I’m waiting on a response to an email I sent them last week, but if their official answer is that the AAC codec just doesn’t show, then that’s garbage. It’s not just about it showing, it’s a difference in the sound quality. Some people might not notice, but it’s the very first thing I heard and caused me to go looking in the first place.

Edit: I appear to have received the same response.

"Because of the special chip used in Liberty+, its AAC function is different from that of the CSR chip. Only the special device can capture the software package and view the code.

This will not affect the performance of your Liberty+"

I found the same problem as you did. I can select AAC or aptX with Apollo 7s, but not with Liberty+. I don’t think Android cannot detect it unless it has no such capability…

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Connecting my Liberty non plus:

03-09 17:55:05.857 4041 4194 D A2dpStateMachine: A2DP Codec Selectable Capability: {codecName:AAC,mCodecType:1,mCodecPriority:2001,mSampleRate:0x1(44100),mBitsPerSample:0x1(16),mChannelMode:0x2(STEREO),mCodecSpecific1:0,mCodecSpecific2:0,mCodecSpecific3:0,mCodecSpecific4:0}
03-09 17:55:05.857 4041 4194 D A2dpStateMachine: A2DP Codec Selectable Capability: {codecName:SBC,mCodecType:0,mCodecPriority:1001,mSampleRate:0x1(44100),mBitsPerSample:0x1(16),mChannelMode:0x3(MONO|STEREO),mCodecSpecific1:0,mCodecSpecific2:0,mCodecSpecific3:0,mCodecSpecific4:0}

Connecting my Liberty+

03-09 17:55:32.108 4041 4194 D A2dpStateMachine: A2DP Codec Selectable Capability: {codecName:SBC,mCodecType:0,mCodecPriority:1001,mSampleRate:0x1(44100),mBitsPerSample:0x1(16),mChannelMode:0x2(STEREO),mCodecSpecific1:0,mCodecSpecific2:0,mCodecSpecific3:0,mCodecSpecific4:0}

How unfortunate, thank you for warning me OP, I can send them right back to Amazon in mint condition, never took them out of the foam.

Edit:
The response the support gave pretty random and I did not understand it.
But it sounded like they use some proprietary solution and only their App on iOs can encode AAC compatbile with the Liberty+

I have the non plus model and the same problem. The quality is junk on SBC.
I tried several android devices all of them having clearly problems with higher tones. On iOS devices it sounds fine.
I created a ticket on anker support let’s see if there will be any solution.