TIL, Headphones have apps. Apps are quickly becoming this weird add on that I really don't want.
Apps are the new drivers.
Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
221–230 of 431 posts
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good luck with this if you want state of the art in noise canceling
I’ve had the best heat headphones Bose has to offer in the Quiet Comfort series and to me this “state of the art noise cancellation” sounds like artefact- and distortion-inducing noise. I’ve returned them and replaced them with much better, naturally damping, closed head-phones. And the audio is so much better, at a fraction of the cost. Noise cancellation in the hifi-space is just snake oil, and I’m not having it.
Does... does anyone actually think noise-cancelling is for increasing audio quality? I always thought it was just for handling obnoxiously noisy environments, like airplanes, screaming children, etc.
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
usability and portability are what makes BT headphones great. Which BD or Shure gives me 10x the audio-performance while still being able to be used without cables (optionally)?
By portability I mean it can be used anywhere, with any equipment. There’s still lots of places you won’t find Bluetooth, but there’s very few places you won’t find a connector for a 3.5mm jack.
Except of course smartphones
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#224Earlier quoted context omitted.
As usual, if there's no headphone jack, I won't buy that device. Privacy isn't even the deal breaker there. Latency and the ability to use my favourite set (Sennheiser HD600) are.
Can a phone reasonably drive such high-impedance headphones anyway?
When the volume is set quite high (near max setting of the phone, definitely unhealthy for long-term use), it doesn't hold a candle to the Topping DX3 Pro v1[0] I use on my desktop. Important: I don't recommend the v2[1] that's currently on sale, as the measurements aren't anywhere as good. They did destroy the product with the amp redesign they did to get around a high early failure rate hardware problem on the v1 that they were never able to debug. I would suggest the JDS Atom + Atom DAC set or the Topping DX7 Pro instead, cheap (yet powerful well measuring) and expensive (but balanced and ridiculously well measuring) respectively. Or a Schiit Hel for a very portable usb-powered solution for the laptop backpack that also has mic input.
But at lowish volumes (used most of the time, don't destroy your ears!) then yes, phones tend to have reasonable headphone amps in them. With decent power output and lowish output impedance. Unlike most computer motherboards, which have excessive output impedance and out power is so low I'd call anemic, when not flawed in other ways (noise due to poor isolation, or non-flat frequency reproduction due to shit implementations of aliasing filters).
I mostly connect the headphones to the phone to play rhythm games like Love Live sif, allstars or idolm@ster deresute, mirishita. My phone (chinese and a few years old) does very successfully drive the HD600 to a pleasant output while playing these games.
As an aside, I absolutely recommend Sennheiser HD600 to anyone who wants a durable (plus tool-free modular with good availability of parts, and compatibility with HD580/58x/650(aka 6xx),660S parts, thus effectively forever) all-rounder open back headphone with a focus on accuracy that's cost efficient and extremely comfortable. Plus they've been around for a good two decades, thus there's no shortage of reviews to base a purchase decision on.
[0]: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r...
[1]: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/m...
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#225The article should have buried sony for how egregious they are. They require the app to collect location information, and ear. https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00233341 I'm not sure what else they collect.. but those are the 2 bad ones. They've got a few settings that are software controlled (one being the bluetooth's internal volume) What happens if you get a software update and you open the app on…
Geez, that's brutal. I'm glad I'm seeing this....it never crossed my mind that this sort of thing would be something that might get built into headphones. If I want to avoid this sort of thing, I'm thinking / hoping it's sufficient to simply avoid headphones that require an app. Does that seem right?
"I'm thinking / hoping it's sufficient to simply avoid headphones that require an app."
Every effing time they convince users to install an app they magically have a tool to steal peoples personal data.
Not just headphones: the kids toy drone can be controlled using an app from the cellphone? The security camera just purchased doesn't use standard protocols over a web browser but needs its own app? The IoT system doesn't use standard protocols as well but forces the use of their app? Bad, bad and bad! And so on for every piece of hardware that needs a proprietary app that -betting all my horses on that- will ask for full permissions to access everything.
In this context, headphones are among the easily replaceable accessories with secure and better sounding ones. Just get wired ones and avoid architectures that force the use of wireless phones just to make a bigger business out of a misfeature.
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#226This reminds me that I still need to root my phone so that I can remove Google's crapware...
It'd probably be easier to just go and flash lineageos and microG (if you need that) than trying to remove google stuff.
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#227Has anyone had any experience with new Bose headphones? If you use the Bose Connect app, I believe what the author wrote is accurate. But that app doesn’t work on the newer headphones (at least, not the ones I have). Instead I need to download the “Bose Music” app which doesn’t seem to give you the same options for privacy. And if you don’t use that app, the headphones are much less useful (eg, no hardware controls t…
Why do you think they made a new app to begin with? the piracy policy is the same, its just after the media hype died down they saw no reason to add the opt out
> piracy policy
Not sure if this was intentional, but it made me chuckle.
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean you can't really avoid it. It's pushed on to you and theres no clear understanding about how tied the headphones are until you buy it. The WH-1000MX are very good headphones, but sony gonna shit the bed. (PSN anyone)
They're a company that makes a lot of decisions from the viewpoint of participants in a high-trust society like Japan. Many times, those viewpoints don't translate well to other markets.
That trust is hugely misplaced. They frequently make terrible decisions that negatively affect others.
- Them being hugely defensive about the fan backlash over Tlou2 https://www.altchar.com/game-news/sony-contacts-website-over... - They've removed early release credentials from reviewers who give sour reviews - The shit return policy for the digital only games - The way they are trying to push digital only
etc. I realize Sony isn't the only one doing this but with every iteration it feels like they are trying to be as crap as possible.
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#229The move to no-jack phones really only exacerbates this problem.
It's difficult for manufacturers to justify an app for wired headphones, but, now that bluetooth is becoming the new norm, there's suddenly a justification for instrusive, data-collecting apps.
This whole story is a really good reason for keeping headphone jacks on phones.
Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)
#230Everything spies on you. There's money in it. I've come to believe that this can only be fixed with legislation and regulation. There are no technical fixes that could practically be deployed as there is far too much "attack surface" and anyway there is zero incentive to deploy them. In the meantime: install as few apps as possible on phones, be careful about IoT and personal assistance devices, and use Apple or Linu…
iOS exploits are cheaper than Android exploits because they are so plentiful. Plenty of apps on iOS have been caught activating the camera or snooping on the clipboard on iPhones.
If you use Android you have to install a custom rom though to guarantee your privacy.