German research organization Fraunhofer IIS has unveiled LC3plus Lossless, an audio codec that promises to streamline wireless audio transmission by introducing dynamic lossless capabilities to its established LC3plus technology. The new codec represents a complete solution for high-resolution wireless audio, automatically switching between lossless and lossy compression based on available bandwidth. This adaptive approach maintains perfect audio quality when possible while seamlessly falling back to high-quality compression when needed, all while preserving LC3plus’s core benefits of low latency and robust transmission.

Dr. Alfonso Carrera, Executive MBA, noted that Fraunhofer considers its family of codecs to be a kind of “toolbox,” offering various capabilities based on the needs of any given application. LC3plus offers various bitrates, up to 500 kbps per channel, and a variety of latency modes, including the promise of a 1.25 millisecond mode coming in the near future.

In situations where such high bitrates or low latency are not needed, these features can be disabled, allowing the codec to run at higher efficiency. LC3plus Lossless builds on LC3plus, offering lossless streaming whenever possible while retaining all of the modular capabilities of LC3plus.

Fraunhofer emphasizes the practical benefits of its approach to lossless audio. The system’s ability to seamlessly switch between lossless and lossy compression modes preserves all of LC3plus’s existing advantages, including its Advanced Packet Loss Concealment and superior performance in challenging wireless environments.

“True wireless stereo earbuds that can now be marked with the Hi-Res Audio Wireless logo are perfectly adapted to the use in Bluetooth LE Audio thanks to the low bitrates of LC3plus,” notes Manfred Lutzky, Head of Audio for Communications at Fraunhofer IIS.

While LC3plus Lossless has not been implemented in any product as of CES 2025, Carrera noted that LC3plus is incorporated into Android 15, with the expectation that its new Lossless variety will see adoption in the coming year, with devices from audio companies like Bang & Olufsen to follow.