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The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

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Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#91

Post by Tarrosion »

digi_owl wrote: post #75
sigmar wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? Their issue seems to be that it is not analog. The lightening port and bluetooth connection are two-way data connections, and the phone will be able to identify what is attached (rather than just outputing an analog signal). Here's the quotes that make that clear- > But intentionally or not, by removing the analog port, Apple is givi…

Bingo. We already see this with HDMI and HDCP where you can get a diminished experience, or none at all, because the playback device and the TV can't get their ducks in a row.

Amazon will serve me HD video on my smart TV using its Amazon app, but not on my computer using the same TV as a second monitor. And lest you think the problem is the computer, I can get it on my PC just fine using a regular computer monitor...it's a bummer to think about this sort of thing with simple audio as well.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#92

Post by ajross »

agentgt wrote: post #34

> Besides, with only Apple earbuds currently supporting the Lightning audio connection, the only way to connect an iPhone 7 to a recording or mixing device will be over the suboptimal Bluetooth connection or a dongle provided by Apple. If you are recording stuff from your iPhone using the 3.5mm jack you are already suboptimal perhaps even to the bluetooth. For one you are going through the iPhone DAC (luckily the iph…

> If you are recording stuff from your iPhone using the 3.5mm jack you are already suboptimal perhaps even to the bluetooth.

This isn't true at all, unless your hardware is legitimately bad. All but the worst cables and amplifier chains can carry a 20 kHz signal (again, we're talking audio here -- that's basically D/C to modern electronics) at better than the ~45dB signal/noise ratio needed by the ADC on the other side.

And bluetooth isn't in general lossless. If the codec sets match, it's theoretically possible to send a music file directly over an A2DP pipe, but in practice I find almost all audio gets re-encoded for the transfer. In my car, I actually get significantly clearer music with the jack than I do over bluetooth.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#93

Post by Aloha »

wfo wrote: post #80
mead5432 wrote: post #20

I understand the argument that forcing content through a proprietary jack opens the door for controlling said content and has huge implications for hardware manufacturers and the way people use their stuff. What I am having a hard time understanding is why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? It isn't like apps running in iOS had to interact with APIs to do all the other thi…

Apple has been very good at predicting (or perhaps directly causing) the demise of certain technologies: the disk drive, the CD drive, the ethernet port. They removed them much to the chagrin of many a loyal customer, and a few years later they nearly ceased to exist across the entire industry (we're still waiting on the ethernet port to go away but give it time). How many times will it take you forgetting your dongl…

How long will it take me to buy the clunky charging dongle - one for my bag, one for the car, and just leave them there? I'm an outlier - I don't use the headphone jack to listen to music but rarely - I use it to make phone calls - because both the audio quality and the volume offered is much superior to any reasonably priced wireless solution I've seen - with the added advantage of me not needing to charge it.

I suspect that Apple has enough usage data reported from customers to indicate how many of its customers use bluetooth (which is a universal and open protocol) to justify this from a business perspective - while it'll be inconvenient for me - I understand that in many ways, I'm not the typical Apple customer.

The EFF article? its FUD, pure and simple. A couple of the early android devices had no headphone jack - there was no great outcry about the encroaching DRMed world, some minor grousing about the annoyance of not having a headphone jack was all. Apple will likely support the adapter as long as most everyone else does - as in the past they were never the first to get there, just the most notable.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#94

Post by jpttsn »

electic wrote: post #41

The real issue here is this might be anti-competitive, and go as far as being an anti-trust issue. Apple can now limit who makes headphones for the iPhone and the ones that are "allowed" could end up seeing their headphones far more expensive than the Apple and Beats brands. This is all because 3rd party brands will have to pay licensing fees to Apple to use the port. So we could end up seeing headphones that are 20%…

Apple has a fairly small share of the phone market, which can matter for anti-trust legislation.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#95

Post by GarrisonPrime »

aroman wrote: post #50

> Besides, with only Apple earbuds currently supporting the Lightning audio connection This is just factually incorrect. Even before today's announcement lightning headphones have been available from multiple independent headphone makers, including Bose and Phillips[0]. https://www.google.com/amp/www.mirror.co.uk/tech/dont-panic-...

How about "only Apple earbuds or Apple-approved devices"?

Surely, the point is Apple can easily control what works and what doesn't. Whatever the situation is today is no comfort against the potential abuses of the future.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#96

Post by q3k »

aroman wrote: post #50

> Besides, with only Apple earbuds currently supporting the Lightning audio connection This is just factually incorrect. Even before today's announcement lightning headphones have been available from multiple independent headphone makers, including Bose and Phillips[0]. https://www.google.com/amp/www.mirror.co.uk/tech/dont-panic-...

They're not independent - they license the proprietary Lightning standard from Apple at a fee [1] [2].

As a potential headphone manufacturer you can't even know the exact agreement (including terms and royalties) without signing an NDA.

[1] - https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/

[2] - https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action#1-1

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#97

Post by jrowley »

ErikAugust wrote: post #90
jrowley wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm imagining some scenario where say Spotify partners with Bose, and if you plug in Bose headphones then you get higher quality audio than you can get elsewhere. Or say tidal (Jay Z's streaming service) says you can only listen to some songs via Kanye's new headphones.

Yes, seconded.

This is totally off topic, but just checked out your website and damn, you're a hell of a runner. I'm thinking about signing up for my first ultra real soon!

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#98

Post by rimantas »

wfo wrote: post #80
mead5432 wrote: post #20

I understand the argument that forcing content through a proprietary jack opens the door for controlling said content and has huge implications for hardware manufacturers and the way people use their stuff. What I am having a hard time understanding is why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? It isn't like apps running in iOS had to interact with APIs to do all the other thi…

Apple has been very good at predicting (or perhaps directly causing) the demise of certain technologies: the disk drive, the CD drive, the ethernet port. They removed them much to the chagrin of many a loyal customer, and a few years later they nearly ceased to exist across the entire industry (we're still waiting on the ethernet port to go away but give it time). How many times will it take you forgetting your dongl…

  > How many times will it take you forgetting your dongle
  > to just pony up and buy the apple approved headphones?
Uhm, Apple headphones are right there in the box. You get them with your iPhone.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#99

Post by otterley »

What about the fact that Apple ships a Lighting-to-3.5mm-stereo-analog adapter in the box? As far as I can tell, there is no practical difference from the previous scenario, other than that you need to plug in the dongle to make analog recordings.

I agree with a lot of what EFF does, but in light of the adapter provided, they're blowing this issue way out of proportion.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#100

Post by Kenji »

> It advertises that the move helps make the phone more water-resistant.

Absolute, utter nonsense. I have a 3 year old Samsung Galaxy S4 Active that sports an open headphone jack and can be SUBMERGED in water without any problems.

I don't want to have any heavy batteries sitting over, on or in my ears. Let alone the trash DAC and amplifier that these bluetooth devices have.

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