Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack • Hacker News Board

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#41

Post by satysin » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 2:24 PM UTC

I would be ok with this as it would mean I can get noise cancelling headphones that are powered via the connection to the phone and don't need their own power source.

Yes it will make the $3 headphones more expensive but considering I would never buy such headphones I don't have a problem with that. Anyway there will no doubt be $2 USB-C to 3.5mm converters available for people who want to use old headphones.

The nice thing with 3.5mm though is it "just works". I worry that with a complicated interface such as USB we will end up with incompatible headsets even worse than we do today with 3.5mm TRRS.

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#42

Post by petra » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 2:25 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #6

woliveirajr wrote: post #2

As always, the problem is all those old earphones, headphones, and so on. The only chance of such thing prospering is if all those main cellphones come with earphones using such connection. In computers, on the other hand, I'd love to have a phone with USB connector instead of the 3.5mm. That way I could get rid of those noise (caused by motherboard consuming power in variables ways), without using my USB-soundboard.

The proposal sends analog audio out on the auxiliary pins, so adapters will be passive and dirt cheap.

In theory. Once it's programmable, music companies can decide song-x shouldn't play over analog, and we could do little about that.

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#43

Post by nix0n » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 2:25 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #21

Robadob wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably this also means it won't fix the issues of noise mentioned in the parent comment.

You've got analog on the aux pins and digital on the main pins. The digital isn't active unless selected, so it doesn't induce onto the analog. Best of both worlds. (except for the adapter required part).

You'd still have to worry about the power lines, and it'd be nice to have audio while charging.

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#44

Post by leecarraher » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 2:33 PM UTC

finally the audio drm'd connector we've been clamoring for!

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#45

Post by wernercd » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 2:39 PM UTC

cuckcuckspruce wrote: post #3

>Moreover, as AnandTech points out, with the extra power and programmability on offer, in-ear headphones could also be used to track health data like temperature, which can in turn feed into the growing array of fitness-tracking databases. I'm glad that they're just straight up admitting that the reason that they're doing this is snooping. That's quite refreshing.

One mans "Snooping" is another mans "breakout feature".

I'd be interested in a set of headphones that do heartbeat tracking for when I run... I don't like wristbands and I haven't ever really been interested in watches.

As with anything, it's a tool in the toolbox to be used for good or ill...

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#46

Post by berberous » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 2:54 PM UTC

mrpopo wrote: post #38

This is somewhat unrelated, but I find that switching from analog to digital hardware is also forcing consumers to replace their hardware instead of fixing it. Turntables and tape recorders, you could somehow tweak it and it would "work again". It's becoming increasingly difficult with new tech. I broke countless headphone jacks, and if I was lucky, all I had to do was resolder the pin. Can I still do that if my USB-…

I imagine the DAC would be built-in to the headphones, not the cord. And I'm sure some models will still offer cords that detach at both ends.

Also, realize that no normal consumer is resoldering pins. You are in the extreme minority. And there seems to be plenty of repair shops that can fix high-end digital components (e.g. iPhones).

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#47

Post by theandrewbailey » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 3:01 PM UTC

> What's their big problem with the established headphone connector? Well, it's an analog, single-purpose port on digital devices that are now defined by their multipurpose efficiency.

You know, we could remove that huge screen using that same rationale. No more lugging around that huge 6" bulky old thing! Now your phone is as small as a chicklet!

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#48

Post by twoodfin » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 3:06 PM UTC

mynegation wrote: post #30

twoodfin wrote: post #17

If Apple does introduce a Lightning-only iPhone in the fall, I am increasingly convinced they'll include some whiz-bang EarPods to sell it as a feature. Any reason they can't miniaturize some ADC/DACs for nifty adaptation to ambient noise run on the phone?

You mean I will be able to listen to the music on my phone only using god-awful horrible-sounding hard ear-buds from Apple whose only redeeming quality is proprietary lightning connector? Thanks, I'll pass.

Surely they'll offer a dongle to give you the old analog jack.

But I'm pretty excited to see what they can do when they inevitably put computation (and networking to an overpowered phone!) inside each ear & the mic (or in the case of wireless headphones, exploit the existing computation to do a little more than shuffle Bluetooth packets).

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#49

Post by cgtyoder » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 3:13 PM UTC

That's awesome - I have to buy more shit now.

For the vast majority of people, the headphone jack with built-in DAC and existing headphones are very sufficient. The forced push of new tech which doesn't improve anything other than hw manufacturers' profits is just maddening.

Re: Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

#50

Post by logfromblammo » Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 3:19 PM UTC

mrpopo wrote: post #38

This is somewhat unrelated, but I find that switching from analog to digital hardware is also forcing consumers to replace their hardware instead of fixing it. Turntables and tape recorders, you could somehow tweak it and it would "work again". It's becoming increasingly difficult with new tech. I broke countless headphone jacks, and if I was lucky, all I had to do was resolder the pin. Can I still do that if my USB-…

When my headphone jack broke on my laptop, I desoldered the microphone jack and resoldered it into the headphone jack's slot on the motherboard. It had seven pins, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get a replacement part for it that would fit the existing PCB holes in any other way, short of buying an entirely new motherboard.

I guessed one pin each for tip, ring, and sleeve, one each for tip disconnect and ring disconnect, but then there were two pins left over. Perhaps signal and disconnect for a second ring? I couldn't find a near-enough match for the part from anywhere that I knew to look for it.

If there were a universal 3.5mm TRRS standard, I could just buy the standard jack receptacle and replace the part, rather than cannibalizing my microphone jack.

The other problem is that if I just removed the broken jack, my laptop would never use the speakers again, because it would think that tip signal and tip disconnect were no longer shorted, and ring signal and ring disconnect were no longer shorted. Electrically, removing the part is the same as always leaving a 3.5mm jack plugged in. I'd have to permanently short those contacts on the board to simulate a never-in-use jack, and I didn't know the pinout for the 7-pin device in my hand unless I wanted to disassemble it with forceps.

So yeah, screw the 3.5mm TRRS port. Give me a universal standard. And let's not just specify the mechanical properties of the plugs, but also the allowable locations and spacing of the pins for compliant through-hole, cable-connected, and surface-mount devices!