Some days ago I found out about a Windows app/driver combination, that allows Windows 10/11 users with a BT computer to play audio to their buds/headphones via LDAC. This should work with most BT transmitters that your laptop/computer may have (or an USB BT adapter - Class 1 recommended).
I am not affiliated in any way with them, I just thought that it's something awesome which many may not know about, so here I am. I tested it with the WF-1000XM4, as well as with the WH-1000XM5.
This is the app part of the package. The app allows you to select what codec to use (between SBC and LDAC), and you can set additional settings below. For LDAC you can select which samples rate are made available in the Sound control panel.
This allows you to use a playback software that can use the audio interface exclusively, switching sample rates based on the sample rate of the audio source. For example, having the 88.2 kHz sample rate enabled in the app and then playing a 88.2 kHz audio file will result in the audio data being sent unmodified to the LDAC encoder. On Android devices the audio is always upsampled to 96 kHz.
Of course, some care more or less about this stuff. However, I find that the sound quality greatly improves. I took advantage about the multiple sample rates by using Tidal, selecting my XM5 as the playback device, then enabling "Exclusive mode". I was then able to see the sample rate that is streamed via BT in the app.
Your buds/headphones don't have LDAC support? The app also supports SBC, and enables you to set certain parameters that enables sending audio at higher bitrates, which it seems that can make SBC sound almost as good as aptX HD (link).
All this is achieved by replacing the default Windows driver that is used when playing sound via BT, with a custom one wrote by the person who made this.
More info can be found on their FAQ page.
Unfortunately you can only try this for free for 10 days. After that, it requires a license (which I bought happily). Normally it's $9.99, but if you buy a license before the trial expires, it's $5.99.
Have fun listening!
