There are Low Latency Audio Improvements in Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

For iOS (iPhone, iPad & iPod), Android, Windows Phone, etc. App and Hardware talk
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Since the other Jelly Bean post has a title that is completely false, I figured it is best to create a new thread.

There are low latency audio improvements in Jelly Bean. They will continue to make improvements in the next version of Android (K).

See the following videos:
Audio Latency Slide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc8YrVc4 ... ge#t=1366s
Audio Latency Improvements
Latency Improvements for:
- OpenSL
- soundpool
- tone generator

Significant improvements in warm latency for some devices
- Device-dependent

More to Come

Q&A question about Low Latency Audio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc8YrVc4 ... ge#t=3280s
Q: You mentioned in the slides that audio latency is improved in Jelly Bean.
Can you tell me how much it has improved in milliseconds?

A: The improvements are very significant in some cases, but they're also very device-specific. So we don't want to give hard numbers right now, because, basically, our job is not done. So I would say, test with the devices that you care about right now, see what the improvements are in your situation and await further instructions.
Fireside Q&A question about Low Latency Audio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJbPPjA ... ge#t=3552s

My notes from the fireside chat:

Basically what was said is that they are doing a few things to improve the latency. One is the implementation of a fast mixer for OpenSL. They are trying to get the latency very low but once you get to the sub-10ms level the problems become more device dependent.

For the Galaxy Nexus with ICS latency was ~100 ms and with their changes they got it down to ~12 ms. They still want to make the latency lower than that to 10ms or lower. Not all Jelly Bean devices are showing such a dramatic improvement.

They work will not be completed with Jelly Bean, they will continue to make improvements in the next version (K).

USB Audio

They also added USB audio output support to Jelly Bean see the bottom of:
http://developer.android.com/about/vers ... -bean.html
USB Audio

USB audio output support allows hardware vendors to build hardware such as audio docks that interface with Android devices. This functionality is also exposed with the Android Open Accessory Development Kit (ADK) to give all developers the chance to create their own hardware.
Last edited by bandicoot352 on Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post

Very cool! Even 12ms is quite usable, and this'll definitely heat things up. I'm getting a Nexus 7 tablet to futz with, so I look forward to giving it a go.

Post

It had to happen :-)

Post

And I just bought an iPad :x

No matter, by the time (if!!) the great music apps are there, we're well into 2013.

Post

T-CM11 wrote:And I just bought an iPad :x

No matter, by the time (if!!) the great music apps are there, we're well into 2013.
Don't worry. The iPad is a VERY convenient platform and has hundreds of audio programs. I think you'll be happy with it. :-)

In fact, I have invested quite a bit into the iPad, so when upgrade time comes around again, there will have to be some very compelling audio improvements and a lot more audio software available in order to get me to switch back to Android again.

--Sean
C/R, dongles & other intrusive copy protection equals less-control & more-hassle for consumers. Company gone-can’t authorize. Limit to # of auths. Instability-ie PACE. Forced internet auths. THE HONEST ARE HASSLED, NOT THE PIRATES.

Post

So with low latency, Android can have plug ins. It will be interesting to see if thats exploited.
Last edited by UltraJv on Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post

Added YouTube link to Fireside chat to the original post.

Post

UltraJv wrote:So with low latency, Android can have plug ins. It will be interesting to see if thats exploited.
Good point! That would open things up quite a bit for audio, and would likely be something that would push me back over into Androids' camp. :-)

--Sean
C/R, dongles & other intrusive copy protection equals less-control & more-hassle for consumers. Company gone-can’t authorize. Limit to # of auths. Instability-ie PACE. Forced internet auths. THE HONEST ARE HASSLED, NOT THE PIRATES.

Post

UltraJv wrote:So with low latency, Android can have plug ins. It will be interesting to see if thats exploited.
Yup, Android can have plugins, iOS will have the inter-app audio, effectively acting like Rewire. This is going to get interesting. I'm getting an N7 to futz with/try out as a car computer, so we'll see.

Post

My next phone is going to be a Nexus. No doubt about that. Unskinned Jelly Bean is awesome.

Post

Well it's a start but IOS can already do 5ms latency with 256 sample buffer size.
You'd think that those Unix kernal guru's would be able to implement that fairly easily but obviously not.

Post

The most important thing here is : finally, they care about audio :D That means that other improvements will come, and that developers will... develop audio applications for Android.

Oh, I just bought an iPhone 4, yesterday.

:bang:

Post

Ok, Ive got Jellybean OTA on Nexus S now. Caustic is still reporting high latency (72ms) Does Caustic need a new API for the low latency audio?

Post

UltraJv wrote:Ok, Ive got Jellybean OTA on Nexus S now. Caustic is still reporting high latency (72ms) Does Caustic need a new API for the low latency audio?
From what I heard the real low latency is for the moment only possible on the hardware-software combination that is Nexus7+Jelly Bean...

Post

T-CM11 wrote:
UltraJv wrote:Ok, Ive got Jellybean OTA on Nexus S now. Caustic is still reporting high latency (72ms) Does Caustic need a new API for the low latency audio?
From what I heard the real low latency is for the moment only possible on the hardware-software combination that is Nexus7+Jelly Bean...
Ok thanks. Will keep watching this...

Post Reply

Return to “Mobile Apps and Hardware”