SBC
Sub-Band Codec — the Bluetooth audio fallback.
SBC is the mandatory baseline codec for Bluetooth A2DP audio — every Bluetooth headphone and speaker in existence supports it. Quality is acceptable for podcasts/calls but lossy for music; SBC peaks around 328 kbps in practice. When higher-tier codecs (AAC, aptX, LDAC) handshake-fail, devices silently drop to SBC. Audible artifacts on cymbals or strings often signal an SBC fallback.