Earbuds
Earbuds
We used to have earbuds that don't need to be charged because they had a headphone jack, didn't get lost so easily because they had a cord attached to a headphone jack, never lost the bluetooth connection because they had a headphone jack, and they cost less because they had a headphone jack. https://bsky.app/profile/daisyfm.bsky.social/post/3l3mfjc6sn62k
But they did tangle all the time. That was annoying.
And the cord would sometimes break inside/connector went bad.
The TWS equivalent to that is one of the buds no longer turning on. I just had to RMA a pair because of that.
Yeah! That's why I loved Sennheiser IEMs, they had oval cables that never tangle up, no matter what you do. Still have a pair for my Switch
Loved those as well and I am very angry they are no longer sold (at least not here). Even Sennheiser doesn't escape the enshittification for their mid-range earbuds
Remember when they got stuck somewhere and yanked out of your ears? Somehow my Bluetooth headset don't get that because it has Bluetooth
I hate it when the Bluetooth gets caught on the door handle and rips my blue tooth out
I do this simple trick (Warning: YouTube video), and my cables don't tangle at all, unless of course I forget to do that. It might cause cable to break more easily, but idk., my earphones tend to break just before warranty ends, which is fine for me.
As a runner I hated cables. All the time I'd be in the middle of a run and my hand would catch the cord mid stride and yank them out of my ear.
Only because people couldn't be bothered with learning the over-under cable coiling method.
All these people saying they like wireless earphones are completely missing the point. Devices with headphones jacks can do both. Taking away the headphone jack means you have to rely on wireless earphones, which have all the issues the post describes.
But Apple was so BRAVE when they removed the jack!
I wholeheartedly agree, I use Bluetooth most of the time, but I want wired to fall back on. When I'm on the go, bluetooth works just fine, but when I'm sitting down at home I prefer to use my full-size Roland headset on both my PC and my phone. No latency, and superior sound quality.
Bless the few companies out there still putting them (and the SD card slot) into Androids, but even they're getting more and more scarce. I need to upgrade soon and I've never felt my opinions were so limited, let alone combining with other things like network compatibility, unlockable bootloader, etc.
Android used to be the anti-Apple. You used to have so many options, and so much freedom.
Wdym, there are adapters and natively wired USB-C headphones.
Adapters are a cop out. Just put the adapters in the phone. It also means you can't charge and listen to music.
Also while there are some natively wired usb-c headphones, I can't think of any. Any decent headphones will use a standard 3.5 or 6.5mm audio jack, and then the dac being built inwith those usb-c headphones means you can't use a seperate dac, it means you can't plug them into studio gear. It's just so incredibly limiting.
There is already a universal standard (3.5mm/6.5mm jack) it carries analog audio, why change to a digital connection which requires digital to analog conversion? Why not let the user be able to have a dedicated piece of gear to do that if they wish.
No professional equipment, or even semi professional equipment uses usb-c. It's a good old fashioned analog audio jack and it's like that for a reason
i really don't want to have to carry one more piece of junk, and while USB C is way better than alternatives, bending the dongle in your pocket while it is attached to the phone is a scary thought, wired earbuds make a hard right turn right out of the socket. The socket does fill with lint, I kind of get it that removing reduces loss of the phone from water damage or related assembly costs to making the socket not-a-water-vector
It also means you gotta rely on the sound quality of the smartphone. I carried an Oppo HA-2SE strapped to my phone just because I wanted better. Wireless earbuds are just like carrying a Fiio BTR-5 and some good IEMs but without all the fuss. Totally has it's own brand of fuss though.
Correct. That's why I will NEVER buy brand new wireless earbuds from Apple, Samsung, or any other phone manufacturer. Oh, you took the aux port out of your phones? Go fuck yourself. I will not financially reward you for limiting my freedoms.
Currently I use Jabra Active 8s. The Jabra Active 10s are supposed to be so much better, but for the price, the 8s are just pretty good.
It also destroyed the "pass the aux cord" when driving with friends.
"Hey, I want to show you a song. Pass the aux cord."
Plugs
Plays
Now:
"Hey, I want to show you a song. Let me connect to your car's Bluetooth."
"Oh, I can't while the car is driving. Can you pull over for a minute?"
"Which submenu was is it in? Bluetooth or Settings?"
"Do you mind if I remove one of the devices already connected?"
"Oh, it just auto-connected to your phone instead."
"Here, I'll just send you a link."
"Your phone locked. Can you enter your password again?"
"Oh, you don't have [streaming service] premium? We'll have to sit through an ad first."
I feel a cold and detached anger, reading that.
Still can't get my honda to Bluetooth.
My old car was a Kia. (Don’t hate me. It was 2009, and I was earning $19,000 a year.)
I got a used model that was the one higher than base, that included the deluxe audio package. Basically, it included an aux input and the crappy speakers had metal grills instead of plastic ones.
I spent years trying to figure out why the aux jack never worked, until in 2014 I took apart the insides, and then took it to a dealership to confirm that the factory had installed the standard wiring harness, which didn’t include connectors for the aux jack. They said it would be cheaper to buy a new car than it would be to have them fix the wiring.
I wound up missing the aux roadtrip experience entirely, and replaced the radio with one that did Bluetooth.
Bastards.
You can still do that if you want. My car's bluetooth is finicky, so I just have a USB C->aux cable adapter I use. You can share between people and have them share their music. It doesn't help with the password issues, but you absolutely can still use an aux cable with modern phones. You just need to use a USB C->aux rather than an aux->aux.
So glad the Europeans finally broke Apple and their ridiculous charger shenanigans. A coworker just got a new iPhone and asked me if I had an iPhone charger, I told them no all Ive got is USB C. They said they didn't know what they had and showed me the bottom of their phone and, sure enough, it's USB C. They had no idea that only Apple kept making their own charge connector and that basically everyone else had settled on one charger/data port like two or three standards ago.
You just need to use a USB C->aux rather than an aux->aux.
And make sure it's not a cheap adapter so you get a reasonable volume out of it.
You can sorta cheat at this with a USBC DAC/dongle (converts USB C to a headphone jack) and just pass the dongled cord around.
You can do this with wired carplay/android auto if you really want. Basically every car made after 2018 has the two, even the cheapest of the cheap.
Bluetooth audio (only) only ever had a pretty short reign. And basically every car that came with bluetooth also had a USB port for ipods which still works with modern iPhones (and some android devices).
Why on earth would you not just hand them the phone to put a song in queue. Also what songs are exclusive to a specific streaming service? Just play it on whatever you were already listening on.
What do you mean used to? I still do. IEMs with replaceable cables are nigh on indestructible.
Yeah this is just another case of apple diehards forgetting the rest of the world exists. Almost everyone still has earbuds with cords.
Hardly just Apple. Android phones have been shifting to removing the headphone jack as well. The workaround is meant to be to use a USB-C dongle, but I ended up just getting multiple bluetooth headsets. I miss my wired earbuds though, that I could hang from my ear when I needed to talk to someone, and never had to worry about charging.
I've thrown away so many headphones because the cable frayed though. There's always some downsides.
Just buy ones with detachable cables, or, better yet, mod headphones to use standard connectors such as MMCX (a set of Koss KSC75s). This also allows for different male connectors (3.5, 2.5, 4.4, quarter inch, XLR..) to suit different needs. There's even bluetooth cables that can plug into otherwise wired headphones. Audiophile world > convenience world.
And they would inevitably get tangled up in your pocket every time and you had to deal with the cord somehow when you connected, usually under your shirt or something. I went through a new corded headphone every 3 months or so. Meanwhile, the free pair of airpods I got from work are still going after ~5 years.
I'm going into my third pair of ear buds because the batteries only survive for 1h after 2-3 years if you are a heavy user, my wired JBL is still going strong.
I remember they used to last me for years around 2005-2010. Now it is like every year at latest i need to get new ones because the cable got fucked.
I bought a pair of wired earbuds off of wish or temu, something like that, they were like eight or nine dollars.
Honestly compared to any Bluetooth headphones I've used, equivalent or better sound quality. And the wire can be pulled out and replaced for just a buck if need be. I've had them for 2 years now and they have been wonderful.
Also Moto phones with their operational 3.5 mm jacks for the win.
They also didn't add an extra layer of compression between the player and your ears - because they had a fucking headphone jack and wires that could transmit audio data without compression.
In ancient times, the wire also acted as antenna to pick up FM radio
The copper age...
It still does if you buy a phone with a headphone jack and avoid shitty companies that disable the FM tuner.
On the other hand, bluetooth headphones never catch on a doorknob and yank out of your ears
On the other other hand, we already had the option of choosing Bluetooth headphones back when most phones still offered headphones jacks.
Truth is, there are obviously pros and cons of each, but it just sucks that we no longer have the choice without jumping through extra hoops.
And the noise cancelling/amplification is something wired headphones probably would never do, and they aren't more expensive than ear buds, unless you got the cheapest ear buds (that probably sounded like shit and had cords that would fray within months of use), oh and if you used them at all "actively" the cords would eventually wear out even in expensive models. I've got a 20$pair of ear buds from 3 years ago(wanted to make sure I wouldn't lose them before investing in expensive ones, now I don't actually like my expensive ones except for airplanes, and still use my cheapos). Oh and you couldn't be more than 3 feet from your phone if it was charging, and you couldn't fast forward, rewind, play/pause (if you had a great pair it had a volume control, that didn't actually change the volume, just added resistance to the signal).
Ask my wife, I was one of the biggest sticks in the mud about losing my headphone jack and changing over to Bluetooth, but since I made the change, I've found plenty of reasons to be happy with it. I still miss my old phones built in infrared blaster though. And easily replaceable battery. There were some neat things you could do with the aux jack (credit card reader), and there was some convenience to having things corded together (especially if you're absent minded) but it's not as rosey as many would insist it was.
The rose tinted glasses people use when looking back (car technology, streaming being worse than cable, the Internet sucking (though much better arguments for this one)) is really a burr in my side.
You can get headphones with removable cables.
Meh. I don't miss getting the cord caught on door handles and having the earbuds violently yanked from my ears!
I like having choices so you do your thing even if it's not the same as my thing.
It's this for me, too. I like to pop them in (or really just one) while I do chores and stuff. I did it before the wireless ones too. And now, I feel spoiled by the lack of wires-getting-caught-on-stuff that I don't want to go back to wired as my primary earbuds.
That being said, I do keep several spare pairs of wired earbuds around, and I am planning on picking up an inexpensive pair of in ear monitors for quiet, music practice
I've literally never had that happen to me, but I've always seen it posted constantly. It's it partially a meme? Or is everyone just constantly getting their headphones ripped out?
It definitely used to happen to me!
It's not a meme, I've broken countless headphones that way. Well, maybe not on door handles, but e.g. in a bus there may be a lot of things the cable can catch on, like arm rests
I didn't believe the hype about wireless headphones until I bought some with noise cancelling and all that for around $130.
Pros:
1 - You don't realize how "tethered" you feel on older headphones until you really try to use wireless headphones. There's a certain freedom you feel when you realize you can place your phone on a hotel table but lie down in bed.
2 - Noise cancelling and noise passthrough is a transformative experience when travelling or find yourself abroad. Airports are much easier to feel relaxed in when 80% of the noise or so can be filtered out as you wait for your flight to board. Additionally, the flight experience is less annoying (no engine drone gets through, even passengers can mostly be ignored) but you still have the option for pass through if someone absolutely needs to talk to you.
3 - Many of these headphones come with some kind of EQ feature, which can occasionally mean that you get speakers with more tunability and thus slightly better bang-for-buck that works globally across apps.
4 - Audio quality. Since these are expensive drivers, you're often going to get better sound quality than those cheap 30 dollar throw aways were ever going to give.
Cons:
1 - Latency. These things could never be used in professional audio situations other than listening to a pre-rendered song for quality judgements. I don't thing gaming would be nice with these either, even if I've tried (and failed) to play counter strike on these on occasion to keep noise levels down.
2 - Mic quality of the built in is lacking on my particular headphones (Sennheiser CX Plus). They're really only intended to capture the outdoor for noise cancellation IMO, not the greatest for calls or recordings. They're servicable, but it's the area I'd like the most upgrade (and it would probably improve noise cancellation features as well.)
3 - Environmental / Sustainability Concerns: Other than people just "losing" these devices with built in batteries that are bad for the environment being a problem in and of itself, there are other long-standing concerns I have about these devices. They often require proprietary non-open software to configure, meaning if the software gets delisted, you will no longer be able to configure them until someone comes up with some kind of alternative using reverse engineering (good luck). Batteries are likely to degrade over time, meaning you'll eventually end up with a worthless ear bud on the left or right and the only solution will be to throw them out. These things are often pretty bad scoring on repairability metrics, and I can't even blame the companies producing them here because they're so small.
4 - Despite passthrough being a feature, it's hard to convey to people that you can actually hear them through the device. There should be some kind of blinking light on the outside that indicates that passthrough is enabled or something.
So I actually do love these devices, but #3 of the cons is really the biggest real issue I have with them. If they're going to cost over 100 dollars, I would like to know that these things won't just become ewaste in the same way that cheap crappy wired headphones end up being as well (which sea life often chokes on or gets tangled up in.) If they costs a premium, I would really like to know that they aren't a figurative dead end when they eventually fail.
Tbh I like the convenience of not being physically attached to my phone when listening to music. That said, the removal of headphone jacks from phones is a disgrace.
At least type c can send audio through aux via an adapter
Wait, did they removed the headphone jacks? Forever? From every brand!? 😨
If you want a nice phone, pretty much yeah
Sony still has it (And SD card too)
A friend was complaining that he was always losing his air pods. I told him about my awesome idea to sell a little cord that would connect them so they were easier to keep track of.
He was like, 'Dude! That's a great idea... You've got to start selling those before someone beats you to it-'
Then it dawned on him and he called me an asshat.
All this romanticizing the past, but who members having to play with the jack until it was just the right in and out to get full stereo. I member. Who members breaking a wire for the left speaker only, so you only have right audio. I member
The real problem is that new phones dont have it, while there are actually people who use it.
To be honest i dont use it either, but i still prefer having it. Just in case you know? Phones without it did not get cheaper after all...
There are still phones that have it. Sometimes even pretty good ones. It's just that they are not advertised so heavily. I recently learned about HTC U23 or 24 or something. Now I feel dumb because I never bothered to check because I always thought all good phones don't offer headphone jacks anymore.
LG had it to the end, it was amazing. Still keep my v60 around for listening to music.
I think you meant new iPhones* don't have it. There are new models coming out every year with a headphone jack.
You can still get a Sony Xperia 1 VI, or a 5 VI, or a bunch of mid range devices with headphone jack. There are offerings with headphone jack, so if you want one, you can get one.
Now the problem is we love to complain but not put our money where our mouth is. Has the lack of headphone jack made the iPhone sales suffer? No, they've gone up. Does Samsung sell fewer Galaxy's? Nope. Is the Xperia range a massive success because they have a headphone jack? Not by any stretch of imagination...
...because most people don't actually care enough to vote with their wallet instead of yapping away while they buy a jack-less phone anyway.
Who remembers being able to fix it with two inches of electrical tape?
Yeah I remember sitting in class wiring my headphones back together
You're the second person to say this but I've been using the headphone jack for like 3 decades and haven't encountered this issue.
I remember getting horrible feedback in my car's stereo when I tried to simultaneously charge my mp3 player from the car's cigarette lighter adapter and run an aux cable. Somehow this resulted in a feedback loop that ruined the audio quality. I had to either charge or listen to music, not both.
Having lived through that period but absolutely never experiencing this I wonder... Could the (port on the) devices just have been shitty?
I remember crackling when turning the plug and mono when not being inserted properly, though
Are you purposely saying "remembers" wrong or do you think the actual word is "members"?
I expect it's a South Park reference. 'member South Park?
They’re probably referencing ‘member berries.
Last time I used wired headphones on my old phone, I was riding a bike. One of the buds slipped out of my ear and got caught in the front wheel, dragging my phone out of my pocket and smashing the screen. 10/10
I wish I could watch a video of that.
Also, headphone cords go under clothing when doing activities like that.
https://www.isadoraduncan.org/about-1
Isadora Duncan’s death was as dramatic as her life. On September 14, 1927, she encountered a young driver in Nice, France and suggested he take her for a spin in his open-air Bugatti sports car. As the car took off, she reportedly shouted to her friends, “Adieu, mes amis, je vais a la gloire!” — “Goodbye my friends, I go to glory!” Moments later, her trailing shawl became entangled in the rear wheel, breaking her neck instantly.
same
I got some wireless headphones and now I keep leaving my phone behind.
Because I hear music, I assume my phone is in my pocket and sometimes it isn’t.
That's a weird assumption, probably developed from years of using the cables. I didn't use them because of how inconvenient and uncomfortable they were to use. Yanked an earbud and didn't use headphones in place of speakers. Bluetooth is great
Luckily the music pauses after a few dozen meters
These jacks are still in every other audio device. They were removed from phones to force BT usage, which Google needs for their profiling telemetry network and Apple for their Find my Device thing. God forbid someone turns BT off or even decides they would prefer a phone without BT entirely. There is no other reason and how people prefer to listen to music has nothing to do with the subject.
Doubt there is any conspiracy. Headphone jack was probably removed to cut cost since wireless earbuds were becoming popular and majority of users did not mind. It annoyed me at first as well, but once I went with BT earbuds and headset, I cannot imagine going back to wired except when stationary on PC. Battery life is 30 or so hours and I do not thing I have ever had problems with connection.
Only thing that worries me is that your earbuds probably are an e-waste once battery no longer can hold a charge. That said my current earbuds are basically destroyed even though their battery still is fine.
There were cut because they make a lot of money selling wireless earbuds.
It's no conspiracy. It's just a valid strategy to expand your business. It's not unheard of that companies form cartels. Car companies manipulate millions of vehicles to trick lab tests. Companies like Apple and Google don't have your best interest at heart. Don't ever assume their decisions are driven by popular demand. They actively lobby to steer demand.
Removing a few cents worth of metal to cut costs? Because not enough users need it? That sounds more convincing than one of these companies trying to expand their proprietary BT global network features? Not to me at this time.
Waterproofing is very difficult with a headphone jack. You'll notice virtually every single phone with a headphone jack is 'splash resistant' while many without are able to survive being submerged. It also saves a relatively large amount of internal space, for something that easy to move external with an adapter.
If we're talking about adding back in older communication standards, I would personally prefer an am/fm receiver and IR blaster; it would be cool to use my phone like a universal remote.
Samsung had headphone jack until note 10 and ip67/68 rating since s5. Similar story with other brands. What you described are two separate trends.
am/fm
Cheap phones still have fm radio support. Pretty sure it's disabled in software in everything else, and you need cabled headphones to serve as an antenna either way (not sure if usb c works).
profiling telemetry network
Of course they need it for the very real scary words functionality
Every single signal your Android phone sends, like looking up the address of a website with Google DNS, or just synchronizing your time with Google time servers, which are defaults in most Android phones, goes right into at least a shadow profile.
Android exists to create highly detailed profiles of individuals, using your own device usage, and detecting other devices around you. Like WiFi hotspots to offer more detailed position information.
Every single time any of this happens, you leave a data point in a Google database. Collecting all BT devices every time you see them as data points is so dramatically valuable if this is your core business. Google is an advertisement platform.
The ease of pairing Bluetooth headphones lately is pretty nice as well as not having to run a wire up my shirt to avoid snagging.
I do look back kind of fondly on physically plugging in my headphones and just having it work.
for some reason Bluetooth headphones NEVER connect properly for me. I have to delete them and re-add them. Ended up buying $25 IEMs that are wired and they sounded better than my $200 name brand wireless ones lol
In my experience. Once you pass $100 Bluetooth rarbuds it drifts onto diminishing returns territory. Once the Active Noise Canceling feature started to get passed down to sub $100 earbuds then the more premium ones started to look less and less appealing unless you hop on a good sale.
The IEM selection has been getting pretty good lately as well.
This issue is solely the fault of capitalism. By removing choice you are forced to by a more premium product, but you're advertised it by all the supposed benefits: one less external opening on the phone, no more tangled headphones, no more dealing with headphones that only work when the cord is plugged in just right, no more chance of your headphone port going bad.
They skip over the fact that most of these issues are directly problematic because of cost cutting and designed obsolescence (aka engineered lifetimes). The opening is one thing, but headphones tangle in pockets easily because they use such thin flimsy cords. Same thing goes for cords breaking in the lining and only working at certain angles: a more robust cord would be less prone to issues.
On top of this, the entire designs of phones not having repairability in mind is the only reason that a headphone port breaking is a big deal. If they were designed to be disassembled with replacement parts being readily available, it wouldn't be an issue. They could even make the ports more robust to decrease failure rate.
One word:
Backwards compatibility.
see also: smart TVs, phones without replaceable batteries
Capitalism also solves the phone jack problem, with the retail availability of USB-C to 3.5mm stereo adapters. Here's a Pixel OEM one for $8 on ebay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/276001290580
I never got rid of my wired headphones, all I had to do was plug their jack into the USB-C dongle and plug that into the phone.
I also have bluetooth earbuds but they don't sound as good as my wired ones, and I also use them less because of 3 other minor hassles: battery charging, my wife steals them, and my wife loses them. Wired ones have none of those issues.
I'm sorry you liked something that is rightfully becoming obsolete 🙁 people liked landlines and beepers too ☹️☹️
Grow up. Dude wrote a good comment highlighting how these policies harm the consumer and you reply with "wow how cringe, capitalism good , actually"
That's actually one that I don't think is specific to any instance. By being a Lemmy user we all share some vague view that large corporations are bad, otherwise why would we be here?
Every single problem we face is caused or exacerbated by the logic of capitalism.
So yes, capitalism is bad. Sorry that pointing it out triggers you, but it's important to do so that people begin to understand and we can collectively do something about it. Infinite growth on a finite planet isn't feasible and it's killing all of us.
Communist earbuds made with 14/2 romex
Go back to reddit then. There's a reason you left
What do you mean used to?
That's still what I use. I have seen people using the wireless ones though, they seem quite popular at the moment.
I'm just not sold on the idea of earphones that have planned obsolescence built in, and require Bluetooth.
My current earphones are fab, I've been using them for 10 years now, and they plug in to everything and work with everything.
Why downgrade to something that'll have a ruined battery after 2 years, doesn't work with most stuff, and let's also not forget sometimes doesn't work at all because the battery might need charging.
My wired earphones have not once refused to work for any reason, period.
Moto g84 babyyy!
Hello Moto!
Fair but back when I still used wired headphones on the regular, the things that annoyed me enough about wired headphones to go wireless were:
• the need to untangle them, every time I pulled them out of my pocket
• the cable lasting significantly shorter than any pair of wireless earbuds I‘ve owned (which aren’t many. I got my first pair in early 2019 and my second one end of last year, while I had to buy new wired earbuds at least once a year)
• the hassle of pulling the cable through my clothes, so they don’t get caught
• the cable, through its own weight constantly pulling on my earbuds when I move, so I constantly had to readjust it, so it wouldn’t pull them out of my rest
• because most don’t come with a case, I lost the silicon tips surprisingly often.
• they got yanked out of my ear, either when I got caught on something or when I pulled down my pants and didn’t take my phone out of my pocket first.
Wired earbuds aren’t perfect, at least not for everyone. Sure, they can last longer, but in praxis, for me they didn’t (and I didn’t buy the cheapest no-name earbuds either). And also, I don’t use my earbuds with a lot of different devices, so I don’t need them to be able to connect to anything. Them needing to be charged is a bit annoying at times but so do my phone and my laptop. I prefer the inconvenience of plugging them in once a week to untangling them for a minute every time I want to use them.
Last year, when my wireless AirPods had finally kicked the can after 4½ years, I used the wired Apple EarPods, I had laying around, for a month or so. They’re decent but dealing with the cable got on my nerves quickly, so I got myself some 40€ wireless earbuds again and am much happier. I do still use wired headphones but they’re over-ears, for when I want to actively listen to music in lossless quality instead of just having something for when I’m on the go.
Bluetooth has been around for a few decades now, it's not going anywhere.
And they used to get tangled on everything all the time, got caught on things all the time, frayed and wore out all the time, had janky connectors that had to be jiggled to sit in just the right position to get stereo sound, and got tied in knots when you put them away not matter how carefully you wound them.
There’s a reason everyone is using Bluetooth now, gramps.
Bluetooth is lower fidelity, and I'd rather have tangled cables and ports than batteries that only last 5 years or less.
It might be lower fidelity but it’s not like it’s bad. I got some AirPod Pros using my credit card points and they’re awesome, plus the active noise cancellation means that they have more space to work when they aren’t fighting the metro system or whatever else. I did have some $100 ones that were pretty mediocre so I totally get that bluetooth can be bad but so can most anything else.
People chasing that last 2% of sound quality…I’m not going to waste our time saying that it doesn’t make much of a difference but they need to understand that almost nobody gives a shit. The only people that need to care are doing it for their job and that’s an entirely different situation.
And none of that even gets on the fact that without a cable to manage I can deal with them much more comfortably on the metro, in a car, on a bicycle, while walking, etc. I don’t need to think about where my phone is and I can even share them far more easily and comfortably. The battery, for my use case, just goes and goes and I barely need to charge them. They do everything better except for sound and they already crossed the threshold for great sound quality ages ago so that one is irrelevant to 99% of users.
Don't know where you pulled the 5 year from. I've got mine for longer than that and I have no problems with the battery. Also, didn't notice the lower fidelity, but I mostly listen to podcasts so I not gonna dispute that claim. Why I bought the bluetooth earbuds was because no matter how much I paid for wired earbuds (up to 120€) none of them survived more than 2 years. Approx after a year one would stop working and some time later the other would die too. So yeah, if you enjoy the shitty ultra thin wires that's great, but in my experience even cheap bluetooth earbuds work minimum three times longer than wired ones.
On the other hand Bluetooth can crackle if the airwaves are too noisy, you have to spend more for the same audio quality (and it's still going to take a nosedive when calling someone because A2DP codecs like AAC or AptX aren't available in HSP mode), and the buds have limited batteries which makes them unreliable for long-term wear.
It's all about trade-offs and individual requirements. Of course these days you're pushed to get wireless ones because most phone manufacturers are too cheap to include a headphone jack.
There’s a reason everyone is using Bluetooth now, gramps.
Such as not having other options with their current phones
Or not being up to par with Bluetooth. Seriously, you would still see Bluetooth everywhere even if you had a jack. I prefer Bluetooth over cabled alternatives even now with a phone that has it, so does my brother my sister my friends and family. I'm also sorry to say this but even my grandparents have preferred Bluetooth
Because of the curse of wireless headphones more people use fucking speakerphone in public
bought a wireless headset
just keep it wired to my computer anyways because i never have to care about charging it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
For a stationary PC a wired Headset is the bestathing you can get. It is cheaper and has better sound and microphone quality. For your phone it is something different.
In the before times, in the long long ago.
I'm only willing to buy a phone that has the jack, it reduces the selection, but I'm not willing to compromise on that. And someone gifted me some airpods recently (pro 2). Tried them out and they were ok I guess, but they also had too many downsides, so they sit on a shelf now. It's not a good enough alternative for me.
There are USB-C headphones.
Which cannot connect to a phone unless it's unlocked, as accepting every USB-C connection carries security risks. They also require negotiation, which can fail at any time, meaning you have to unlock, disconnect, reconnect.
I also have a nice, external (and still cheap) DAC on my computer. It has a headphone jack. This means I need to be able to disconnect the USB-C dongle from my headphones, unless I want to have two separate headphones for my phone and my PC. By extension this requires me to go searching for the dongle from time to time.
I love USB-C. But the headphone jack had what companies and people claim to want: simplicity.
Headphone jacks solved a single but extremly common problem very well. USB-C provides a workaround for it.
that's really interesting. USB-C was meant to be the one peripheral to unite them all: data, video, audio.
But no one considered that video/audio don't typically need to be security vetted, so shovelling them down the same wire protocol as data makes them less useful not more, and now we have to solve a hardware problem with software to let a simple media piece through.
Our desire for tech unity has regressed us
What's next, PCI-e headphones?
And adaptors
All the stories of people complaining about wire troubles as apologists for cell phone manufacturers read like scenes from an infomercial.
I'd gladly take a phone without a camera before I took one without a headphone jack.
You could also just pass the wire inside your shirt, there you go, no yanking on door knobs anymore. People just folding over backwards to defend the loss of choice is insanity, we lost the sd card slot and headphone jack on premium phone brands, and they STILL aren't waterproof, but an old ass Moto G3 that had both was actually waterproof.
Really? You'd rather a headphone jack than something as incredible as the camera?
I am team headphone jack. But it's not as bad as people will say. You can get a USB-C to 3.5mm converter for like $5. Just attach it to your headphones and never remove it, as if its the same old cable.
You'd ditch your phone's camera just to not have to do what I just described?
I use wireless when it makes sense, like on the airplane, and I use wired when it makes sense, like on my exercise bike.
Not op, but I would also trade a camera for a headphone jack if there were no other option. It's because I take on average one picture a month whereas I listen to dozens of hours of music in that same time period. So I guess we all have different priorities, and it would be nice if phone manufacturers didn't force unnecessary change on us.
100%. I use the camera probably once every three to four months while I'm using my headphones through my phone at least a couple hours a day. I'd be much happier just using a dedicated camera when I needed it than either fuck around with an adapter or be locked to wireless headphones .
Apologists?
So you enjoy dealing with a cord?
I enjoy all the benefits that the cord provides and will choose corded over wireless 99 times out of 100. I find the disadvantages of a cord dramatically easier to deal with than the disadvantages of wireless.
I mean, all the phones I've ever had (including my current Samsung A52 from a couple years back) have a headphone jack, but I haven't used anything wired in around 6 years.
I just find Bluetooth to be much more convenient and a nicer experience. I even bought a Bluetooth adapter for my desktop so I could use the same headphones there.
Not to mention, I just looked and there are plenty of phones with 3.5 mm jacks on the market, so it looks like the option is still out there for those that prioritize such a feature.
basement dweller?
I was so pissed when Apple took the 3.5mm jack because I knew the rest would follow, and they did.
OTOH, now that I've gone to the dark side, I listen to music more often and enjoy it more thoroughly because I'm not dealing with tangled cables or having them accidentally yanked out of my ears, and therefore I'm more likely to have my earbuds with me. (they are now always in a pocket in my backpack) I can even fairly comfortably go to sleep with them on, which I do often.
I understand the audiophile arguments, and I'm sure that even with Buds2 Pro, SSC, and some fairly painstaking attention to EQ/DSP settings I'm leaving something on the table. I don't care about whatever that something is. I haven't enjoyed music this much and this often since I was prepubescent.
I have nothing bad to say about anyone else's choices, but the rush to shit on bluetooth earbuds gets a little "I don't even own a TV" sometimes. (for folks old enough to remember that kinda snobby trope around Y2K or so)
Well the most annoying issue is that BT headphones work perfectly well with a phone or laptop that has the jack, it's not an either/or situation. So they were only removed to make you have to spend $200. The arguments about cost, durability or waterproofing are all nonsense.
100% true, I agree with you! They proved this when apple pulled the jack - someone took that model apart and found there was still plenty of room. And Samsung (Galaxy S7 comes to mind but likely there are others) did waterproofing with the jack anyhow.
Planned obsolescence at play here 😢 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
The luxuries that come from anything with a battery are great, but everything running a lithium-ion battery has its days numbered, and that's really unfortunate for the consumer and absolutely stellar for the business.
Meh.
Most average consumers (in other words, 90%+) don't know, and don't care about the audio quality, etc. They like convenience.
So that's who you market to.
I suspect the average person, lost, tore, broke, etc. wired ear buds before the battery would have given out anyway.
Just my anecdote, but 15 years back or so when Bluetooth earbuds weren't a thing yet, I bought a new wired pair every six months or so at least. Even when I'd run the wire under my shirt and stuff the slack in my pocket, eventually it would get caught and yank the earbuds out of my ears. When that happened too many times, the connection between the wire and the jack or buds would deteriorate.
I've actually never lost a Bluetooth earbud. I buy ones with the little wings so they actually stay. I don't have connection problems unless I'm on the opposite side of the house from my phone, so granted I'll switch to my trusty 30m long wired earbuds in those cases. I've also never had a battery die in one of these. As I type this I'm wearing a pair of Sony Bluetooth headphones that I bought at least 5 years ago, maybe 6 or 7, and as far as I can tell they work as well as they ever have.
While the major issue with wireless earbuds is that they could easily be lost, I'd prefer that over the old wired earphones which gets tangled up or yanked accidentally. If you also buy good quality wireless earphones, you would never lose sound on either left or right earpiece, unlike with the wired ones which often happens no matter the quality. But I still keep my wired earphones as a backups in case I lose my more precious wireless earphones or breaks.
If you also buy good quality earphones, you would never lose sound on either left or right earpiece, unlike with the wireless ones which often happens no matter the quality
Wired earphones are bound to more mechanical failures because they are susceptible to being tangled and yanked than wireless ones lol. I will pick wireless earphones any day.
It's really easy to turn a pair of wireless earbuds into wired earbuds with some hot glue and a piece of string.
How do you lose sound in one ear with a wired connection? Haven't heard of that problem before. At least, not the jack being the problem.
Oh my god how I hated those headphones with cable. I destroyed at least 3 phones because of them. I would have them in and walk and would want to do something on the phone and suddenly I'd get caught on the cable while moving and the cable would jerk the phone out of my hand and it would land on the asphalt and the screen would break. And fixing the screen is so expensive, it's better to buy a new phone, or just live with a broken screen where you cut your fingers on.
Since I switched to Bluetooth headphones this literary never happened again. And every single one of the problems described here has a fairly good solution, at least with the Samsung ones I have:
-
I need to charge them perhaps once every two weeks, so I really don't remember when they would have been without charge at a inconvenient time.
-
I can find them by several means:
- They're connected to the find my device samsung network, so even if they are not close they will be picked up by other Samsung devices. I forgot them at a hotel 500km away, searched for them and found them
- I can play a sound
- The Bluetooth can show me to which direction to go and how far away they are
-
They never lost Bluetooth connection, I can even connect them to two devices at the same time
The only point would be the cost, they do cost a lot more. But compared to buying a new phone constantly because the cable hangs somewhere and jerks the phone out of your hand, even this is undeniably cheaper.
The thing is, bluetooth is not a perfect solution. It drains battery, is patchy and has variable audio quality, creates yet another thing to remember to charge (children are rubbish at remembering so just end up blaring awful videos on long journeys for everyone to hear), you can have issues with connecting devices that are literally inches away, and crucially - they are not mutually exclusive. I currently have a Samsung A52S which has a 3.5mm jack as well as Bluetooth technology. Even phones 10 years ago offered both. They are just removing an option many people still opt to use - especially those who can't afford good quality expensive wireless headphones.
It is a cheap, universal option. Bluetooth technology is expensive and have diminishing battery performance. I've accidentally put £5 wired headphones through the wash before and still work perfectly. They last an entire plane trip UK to Australia without running out. If I am doing a task that requires my hands and don't want to snag, I have wireless ones I can use.
It's not something that needs replacing. I don't need my phone to be thinner than 3.5mm, I m going to put a chunky protective case on it regardless.
It's like getting rid of public transport because most people drive.
-
Wired headphones are great, and my mouse has a cable too. I might be a dinosaur.
Yeah but have you ever gotten the cord caught on something and had the earbuds ripped from your ears? Instant rage.
That only happens if you don't know to put the cord through your tshirt or top you're wearing along your back.
Things that are cheap arent as financially successful as things that are not, even if the more expressive product offers a worse experience.
It's super undemocratic when megacorps or politicians can completely ignore & overrule more than 3/4 of the population & force them/us into something for the financial good of the few.
Eg like railroads, even fairly big corporations would/did prefer railroads directly to their factories, not to mention people traveling by train.
It was good but too cheap on every step.
And with minimal running costs compared to alternatives, so extra too cheap.No car roads ever need to be more than one lane, for everything else (all the current extra lanes) there should be rail tracks giving the people freedom to not-drive at all, or the freedom to drive the last bit & otherwise park the car on a train cart.
...
And giving us and nature more space back, not having huge, wide scars all over the surface decimating, separating, and profoundly changing what's left of the ecosystems. And just not having too look and hear all the traffic & trucks is also nice, or being surrounded by huge paved-over surfaces.And also, my peeps, fight the system with usb dacamps usb --> 3.5mm and/or 4.4mm (they start at ultra-cheap and even those are usually as good as most phones used to have):
Those USB adapters always seem to damage the USB port (or their side of it breaks) when I put the phone in my pocket.
Tried several of them, because I have some expensive headphone pairs. I even tried to use a Bluetooth thingie with a jack, but having a second device to charge wasn't really convenient as well...
I really can't stand people that make this argument, I felt the same way at first, but then I actually started using Bluetooth headphones and they are frankly just better, in almost every way.
And if you really want wired headphones still, you can just buy an inline adapter for like £2.
Reception cuts out of I turn wrong. Headphone batteries are usually flat when I decide I want to listen to something or take a call. Phone wants to pair with every other BT device except the headphones (save for the time it somehow forgets them and I have to dive into the menu and re-pair). Old phone's BT is starting to get flaky. So much latency no matter what. Sound quality still not there yet.
I do like not having a cord, but literally everything else about bt headphones is a step backwards against simplicity & longevity. I have minidisc equipment from the early oughts that still sounds fantastic on the PortaPros I also got at that time.
Also you kids get off my lawn, apparently
To quote the original writer of the post above, in the thread which continues from it:
And phones were sturdier because they were thicker because they had a headphone jack.
If you prefer bluetooth, I hope you know that bluetooth still works on devices that have headphone jacks.
If you're saying it's good that they got rid of the headphone jack, you're telling me good that we have one option instead of two.
Same.
Was against them until forced to try them. Absolutely would not go back. Being made to charge them is a minor inconvenience in comparison to the many upsides that wireless brings.
There are also USB-C earbuds. I've kept a pair in the glove box in case I'm out and don't have my wireless in my pocket. My wireless are not a part of my every day carry, so it's nice to have a backup. I'm grateful to have them when I need them, but I HATE using them now that I have grown accostomed to true wireless.
Bluetooth earbuds might be better than wired earbuds. Definitely not some headphones.
wired usb-c headphones have all of these features today
But they suck.
- The usb plug is usually at the botttom so if you are holding a phone or tablet in your lap the wire is in the way.
- usb headphones sometimes stop working if the phone or tablet goes to sleep so you have to unplug and replug them
- you cant charge while using the headphones
- youre missing out on the thousands of standard headphones that have been produced for decades
youre missing out on the thousands of standard headphones that have been produced for decades
nope. You can just get a cheap adapter with USB C on one side and 3.5mm Audio Jack on the other. I don't know about the audio problme though.
Lovin’ the lack of cord so much I didn’t even realize it had ruined lives…
These worked better than any noise-canceling wireless earbuds I have tried:
They were much cheaper too.
Want new plugs? Get some earplugs, optionally cut in half or trim to size, punch a hole and fit them on.
Portapros were pretty great, too. And cheap.
Can't hear anything over that cable noise!
I still use wired headphones and earbuds. On the phone it's got a USBC connector, so I had to find a compact adapter. Fortunately USBC is a tough connector so they're holding up well enough.
The earbuds themselves are very cheap. They normally only last a few years (3-5 or so). I snagged a couple little zip up pods that hold earbuds from a job fair years ago. As long as I do a quick coil up, it's easy enough to pack them away and get them out without tangling. They also don't get hurt living in my satchel.
I've considered moving to something wireless, but I have enough battery driven devices to babysit already.
Can't beat an infinite battery that doesn't need the resources, production, and disposal of batteries.
Any wireless connection that is less than a meter and connects 2 or more objects that are already physically attached otherwise, is a useless wireless connection.
We used to share our tunes with a simple Y-cable.
Anyone have a tip for me on how to connect two Bluetooth headphones to one device? I've tried on Android (Samsung) and an iPad with no luck... I'm back to the good old Y-cable I've used since the Walkman days.
On Apple there is a share audio feature. If Apple has it I’m sure Samsung has it somewhere.
you get 3.5mm dongles that plug into USB C or lighting ports. Or you can get a wireless DAC with a 3.5 port on it. I’ve got both for different use cases.
Get a bluetooth audio transmitter dongle. Most of them support two pairs of headphones. That's also the only way to get APT-X LL support for low latency audio.
Since I don't listen to music and thus sound quality is not important to me, I prefer wireless buds while working and at gym, but while at home on my computer I use wired over-ear headphones.
Nevertheless I refuse to buy a device without a headphone jack out of principle. If everyone who complained about Apple removing it would've stuck to their guns and refused to buy such device, there's a chance they, or atleast the competition would've decided to not follow along. Instead, consumers just went along with it showing the manufacturers that it's okay to charge more money for less features, and here we are. Not me though. My next phone will have a headphone jack as well.
I don't use wired headphones anymore, but I keep the 3,5 mm jack in my phones as long as possible. I do this, among other reasons, because of backwards compatibility, freedom of choice, second use usability of device, reliability when needed.
Convenience. No more rubbing noise from a cable. No more struggle with cable at desk.
My buds last for a few hours on one charge. I have two pairs.Never need 2 pairs when you use wired.
Just don't use Apple shit
Sadly, I reckon about 2/3 of Android phones no longer have a jack, or close to 100% of flagship models.
Yes, but Apple is what made it commonplace
How are you supposed to plug into the fake cassette tape that somehow tricks the car to play your phone (or discman) through the tape player?
Although now it's hard to find a car with a CD player ffs.
You can get Bluetooth ones now.
I do still like my Bluetooth earbuds, I can instantly connect them to my TV and not disturb anyone else at 3am
Had horrible audio quality both inherently and due to the constant cable dangling noise, didn't stay in the ear due to the cables' weight pulling them down, didn't last long due to the cables getting tangled while carrying, you couldn't wear in bed or during sports or with large coats due to the cables, you couldn't move away from your phone due to the cable length or if you forgot they yanked your phone off the table..
Working out with the wire? Fuggetaboutit
And the cords break every 3 days and eventually the port gets fucked.
Having said that - I LOVE having a headphone jack.
All right I'll say it as much as I hate how expensive they are and their problems with batteries the convenience of not having to deal with a cord wins out for me. Also since these products are so expensive I generally required the quality of them to be much higher in a way I'm buying earbuds more like I would buy a pair of shoes where I wanted to last for quite a while since I used it everyday.
Whereas before I would just lose a pair of those earbuds and say f*** it they s*** anyway and pick up another one for like $3
Should people have the option still? Yes absolutely I don't think that the Jack should go anywhere it's honestly a very useful port for data input and output aside from just earbuds.
And they were always tangled, and they got yanked out of your ears, and they were never in your pocket.
For all the shit Bluetooth audio and devices get it for fucking sure was better than the past with how they're less likely to break, how they're more convenient, and how modern batteries allow them to work for over a day without charging
Last I saw a worthy earbuds with cables was with a luxury brand that allowed you to disconnect from cables, and have braided cables so that it wouldn't rip, with a comfortable design that prevented tangling, with the cost of it being heavy.
It costed three times more than the next Bluetooth device with no comprehensive improvement to audio quality.
I find neckbands to be a perfect compromise.
I still have a newish mid range phone with it, it runs most newer games, Zenless Zone Zero is the only that doesn't work, you just have to get comfortable with not owning Apple or Samsung.
Is there really a set of like AAA phone video games that push the hardware? Do you have more examples?
You can get a USB-C to Aux adapter for your phone. It's my way of still doing this.
In this thread: people that don't realize that there was a time that you could CHOOSE whether you used wired or wireless. These didn't become mutually exclusive until manufacturers decided to cheap out and screw everyone over.
PSA: Bluetooth and headphone jacks can exist on the same product at the same time.
Fr, tbh i really miss those days.
And they also got tangled easy, caught on things, and winding them up to put them away was annoying.
I don't think I've ever used the headphone jack on the phone I currently have. I do still use wired phones at my computer though.
Samesies. When I got the phone like four years ago, I did, but fortunately, my brother gifted me a pair of Jabra wireless earbuds that same year or the following year. Been happy using mine ever since
I got an older android and never stopped getting headphones, it just makes more sense to me. I mean I'd love to have a better camera but if that means getting a phone without the jack then I'm not buying it.
They can’t take away my iPod and its headphone jack.
I don’t lose my headphones, and they don’t lose connection. Maybe OP shouldn’t use $5 earbuds from aliexpress. As for charging, what’s the problem? It’s not like you have to ride a bicycle to generate electricity, all you have to do is put them in a box.
Wired headphones were a pain in the ass to wear with anything other than a t-shirt, and the wires always got tangled by invisible gnomes in your pocket.
I use wireless headphones even though my phone has the jack connector.
On the plus side it doesn't get in the way, doesn't have a potential of breaking and Carrying around as well as looking a fuck lot more stylish. Audio quality is also great nowadays, check out the tests.
I use wireless headphones even though my phone has the jack connector.
You fuckin' animal
I'd say I'm not a retrograde.
Why? Because 5$ wired earbuds work perfectly and has excellent quality. Hell, even free ones are great.
So why shouldn't we compare them?
Cheap electronics come with various risks, hence my assumption. You can always say that cheap wired headphones don't have connectivity issues, and that'd be a fair point.
I've recently gone back to wired ones because my Bluetooth ones finally gave up after like 8 years and I'm cheap. Not sure I'm missing anything.
All you need is a usb-c to 3.5mm adapter, folks.
Apple sells one for just $9 that has a top notch DAC, in case that's a selling point for you audiophiles.
We used to have earbuds that didn't require us to to carry an extra cord because we had a headphone jack.
So I just leave my adapter attached to my earbuds.... You know how you used to have earbuds that didn't have silicone tips? Treat the dongle like a silicone tip. It's just a part of the earbuds now.
Depending on how much you hate the lack of 3.5mm, $9 to fix that problem is a pittance.
I know I'd pay $9 more for a phone if it had 3.5mm. even if you had to buy multiple adapters for different earbuds, I'd happily pay $50 more for a 3.5mm on my phone, and this should generally be equivalent.
Trying to replace my Sony Extra Bass wireless and all they sell now are Ear Buds with no wired connection. I'm steps away from buying a giant headphone (big ear muffs) and walking around in the streets with it, I've had it.
I have a pair of wired earbuds that are over ten years old and I've sent them through the washing machine by accident and they still work. I don't know what you lunatics are doing to have so many issues, have you tried not swinging your phone around over your head using the cord?
Also if the sound quality isn't great, you can try a headphone amp. I have a portable one smaller than an old ipod, and a cool vacuum tube one that both really improve the sound. Good luck adding an amp (or any other audio accessories) to your bluetooth headphones.
Yes, but they would break because the cable frayed, and you would randomly get yanked when they got caught in something. Also, they were hellish to detangle.
I rarely use earbuds but when I do, I always use wired ones. That's why when I am buying a new phone, first priority is head phone jack. My current earbuds are some 20€ Sony ones and they do the job when I have to listen something in public.
What I hate is my car finally caught up and now has an aux jack for listening to audio from my phone but now my phone doesn't support it, so I still can't listen to anything on my phone in the car.
if you need to have a phone to fill out a job application then the whole thing needs to be available to someone at the poverty level and wireless earbuds are not a survival item, listening to music or speaking quietly is a pretty basic thing someone who can afford earphones in the four to nine dollar range should be able to attain
I'm more of an over ear headphones guy, but I absolutely can't use wired headphones in the public. The cable will catch on anything, and it'd be broken very quickly.
And every electronic is black too so everything is hard to find. I am glad the people who design this shit are overworked and miserable.
fucking wireless headphones, they are a menace to society and if not to society, to my life
As someone who loves and needs wired headphones but loves the convenience of BT - The solution is a Bluetooth dongle.
- Plug your amazing headphones into the dongle
- Keep the dongle in your pocket
- Cable won't get caught as much
- Cable won't suffer as much wear
- Phone is much easier to handle
- If the headphone jack gets glitchy and bad it's cheaper to replace a dongle than a phone
Downside: Many (most?) BT dongles have shitty audio quality so you need to find a good one.
I thought about doing this a while back, but it is just bluetooth earbuds with extra steps and inconvenience, and can easily be more expensive too.
Well this is a solution for people who specifically don't want Bluetooth earbuds/headphones. If you don't mind buying those then you should of course buy those instead.
A Bluetooth dongle still requires batteries that would otherwise not be needed.
You are just moving the problem.
Absolutely. But I'd rather deal with charging the battery in the adapter than risking breaking my headphone cable or my phone. So for me the problem is worth moving.
I use both wired and Bluetooth. I have a wired type-c for music and Bluetooth for all other stuff. But IMHO Bluetooth is more convenient than wired. Cae produce better sound.
I get the charging part, but... You can buy cords for your buds if that's what you like. You can still buy just regular headphones, even if you don't have the jack you can get a USB adaptor. And, yes, they had no Bluetooth, but eventually they'd get to that point where you had to hold it just right for both ears to play. My last ear buds were from AliExpress, they were both less than $5 and have been going strong for almost a year. If I did that back in the day it would be like listening to music in the other room. You needed at least $10-$15 to get usable headphone.
Headphones aren't ruined because I have the choice to not have them yanked from my ears by every door handle.
Honestly the best would be "behind the head" earphones. No tangle. And then add like a few extra grams to include a portable music player and a small battery. Plus usb-c to transfer and recharge. Or plus bluetooth. Best of all worlds.
But what I really want are big noise protection / noise cancelling headphones with an integrated mp3 + opus player plus bluetooth.
The most popular USBC earbuds on Amazon are $19. They still plug into your phone or laptop. That's what 99% of people who use headphones use them for. Anyone who needs anything more than that probably already has an awesome solution that works for them. We've lost nothing.
I would suggest looking at some IEMs if you want to stick with a wire. For phones that don't have a headphone jack, a USB C to TRS jack (tip ring sleeve / headphone jack) will suffice.
Personally I prefer a good quality BT/USB Dac amp to drive my IEMs as the quality is far superior to any phone headphone jack that isn't a LG V20 thru V60, or the Moondrop MIAD01 DAC phone. Few manufacturers provide good onboard sound. BT buds improve upon this a lot, but a real dac amp and set of IEMs or cans will show you so, so much more.
Look I am not trying to rain on your parade but I really really reallyyyyy dont want other people to get lost or confused by this misinformation. I really am not trying to be antagonistic here I just feel very strongly about how science is being misrepresented in the realm of audio engineering.
DACs are a solved problem in terms of amplifying music to normal listening levels for a normal pair of headphones.
let me repeat that in a different way
DACs are a commodity, they are like bic pens, pens used to be this difficult thing to produce quality versions of for cheap at a mass scale... and then someone invented the bic pen and now it is trivial.... we are at that point with DACs and a lot of people are weirdly uncomfortable with that and want there to be different flavors of DACs and shit.... but it is a lie people tell themselves because the reality in 2024 is boring with DACs.... but also inspiring because hey basically any DAC you get your hands on is going to be of arbitrary quality.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-pc-audio,3733-19.html
Yes if you get a fancy pair of headphones with really high impedance that needs to be driven by an extra powerful DAC ok... but that is NOT the overwhelming majority of headphones. Crucially it isn't that nicer DACs have "more warmth" or other nonsense, it is a question of HOW MUCH amplification a DAC can do before distortion begins, which means a less powerful DAC driving normal headphones at a normal level is never going to encounter conditions where it would differ in performance from a $3000 DAC hooked up to the same headphones.
To put as many nails into this coffin as possible let me also be clear, there are plenty of audiophile level headphones with very reasonable impedance values that can be driven by any random DAC in any random computer or phone in a fashion that is indistinguishable in blind A/B listening tests even with experts from the way an expensive DAC would drive those headphones.
Please stop pushing pseudosicence that is effectively trying to make listening to music into this exclusive thing where you are only getting the "real" listening experience if you have a signal chain full of psuedo scientific gear that costs hundreds if not thousands of extra dollars and yet doesnt make a difference that can actually be sensed by the human ear because the difference is imperceptible or not even perceivable by the human ear at a basic level in the first place.
People are broke as shit right now, they are struggling hard, please don't encourage people to spend the precious little spending money they actually have on DACs that are marketed on effectively psuedosciencific differences (again in terms of what YOU can actually perceive as a human).
Spend money on nice headphones, on a nice neck pillow for your head while you listen, whatever just spend your money on anything else about the music listening experience other than an expensive DAC, PLEASE as an audio engineer I beg you.
If you really feel the need to buy a DAC, hell just buy the base level audio interface from Native Instruments or another trusted brand, those are DESIGNED for musicians and yes you are getting a bunch of hardware you dont need in that box too (like audio recording hardware and inputs) but even still it is going to run you far less than some of these "boutique audiophile DACs".
Agreed with the not needing to spend the money. I just got a DAC with the same brands amp, and it's great. Is it that much better than the audio interface option? Probably not, but I haven't done a blind comparison. I just am happy with the sound, and it didn't cost 1000s of dollars (was a few hundred I think, but again. I was comfortable spending the money).
But yes, as you mentioned, don't buy a DAC or DAC/amp if you can't easily spend the money on one. Good headphones will make the most difference (at least I think, I'm not an audio engineer). Don't spend more than you can afford to. Audio quality isn't worth it.
Wow. Is this what the miserable void of personalities are circlejerking over now?
Yeah it's been like 3 years of this plus "but I like when the port is a circle, not an oval!" 😴
Sounded much better too
It's a lot to lose over the mere fact that the headphone jack cable got stuck on door handles and got ripped out of the ears. But I'll concede to that list of issues. I'm sick of several decades of spontaneous and violent loss of audio.
as companies make acting polite a cost i have, by not changing, become more rude
...what?
It amazes me how salty people are about this. I switched over to Bluetooth headphones. Battery life is amazing. No issues syncing. Quality is great. No 3rd party app needed. It's a nothing-burger.
Imagine something as stupid as this living rent free in someone's brain
It doesn't live rent free in mine, but literally everything you said also applies to wired, which was also a massive nothing-burger.
The nothing burger you're talking about? Nobody ordered that one, we were all eating the other nothing burger, not particularly needing, or wanting a second order, hold the wires.
The one thing I've never been able to get to work properly is automatic connection and play audio when I turn my car on. It's worked maybe a handful of times. It's probably to do with my cheap aftermarket radios.
It's great, but removing features since they're "obsolete" is stupid.
My phone is IP68 probably because it has no headphone jack.
There are phones with jack that are IP68. Here are phones with this setup that are from 2022 or newer.
What no one ever seems to say is that this is the exact opposite of being waste conscious. How do you think you keep outdated tech in your phone? It still has to be made somewhere, right? So somewhere a factory still has to be tooled up and making these parts instead of something else.
You often hear this complaint about the waste of old earbuds and them becoming trash, but what about the factories still making trash? Is a factory still making VHS tapes really benefiting the world? Or are you just making trash because you're nostalgic and can't let go?
Old wired earbuds were riddled with problems. They were a NIGHTMARE. So much so that selling cheap ones next to the gum in checkout lanes was commonplace and still is because they were basically considered disposable/limited lifetime. You often rated earbuds based on how long before they crapped out as the main feature. In their time they were already a huge waste product. Now that we've advanced past them for the most part, they're just trash that some people can't let go.
Only someone who never lived with corded headphones would claim they are superior.
It is not some big conspiracy.
Wired headphones have many pros, but also many cons. Wireless headphones have many pros, but also many cons. You can still buy wired headphones for modern phones using USB-C.
The vast majority of people literally don’t care or prefer having wireless air buds. The people who don’t, still can have wired ones.
The major distinction is that the headphone jack is large and not easily waterproofed. The trade off of having a sealed water tight phone at the cost of losing the headphone jack is worth it for the vast majority of people. It is worth it to me.
If you don’t like it, go buy a Zune.