meh, same as "record sales are back" - it's missing a zero in scale and two zeroes in money.
Wired headphone sales are exploding
371–380 of 752 posts
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#372Earlier quoted context omitted.
For me the fact that vinyl discs wear out is their decisive disadvantage. Many decades ago, those who bought vinyl and desired adequate audio quality never listened to vinyl discs, but they copied them immediately to magnetic tapes and always listened only to the tapes, keeping the vinyl discs only as a master source, to avoid wearing them out.
I mean, yes they do wear out but the rate is pretty slow if you look after them. I have some of my father’s old early LPs and they still sound pretty good. You can get rid of a surprising amount of surface noise with a static gun and a line contact stylus (where shape is close to that of a cutting head so you get the biggest contact patch). I think most people only copied to cassette if they want to use a Walkman, pl…
He said tape not cassette. Tape would mean real to real tape in this context - cassette doesn't make sense. Tape can be wider than cassette, only two tracks, and run faster - all give you a lot better sound quality. Not as good as a good digital system and it costs more but still very good.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#373I wonder how much of this has to do with the popularity of the MacBook Air and now, potentially, the Neo. My current desktop setup is a MacBook Air and a big 4K monitor. I considered getting an outboard DAC/amp for headphones but the headphone jack on the MacBook Air sounds pretty great to me through my mid-price Hifiman cans.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#374This trend story about wired headphones is possibly a "submarine" story as Paul Graham calls it[1], like a headline that "Suits make a corporate comeback": "The suit is back," it begins. Trend articles like this are almost always the work of PR firms. Once you know how to read them, it's straightforward to figure out who the client is. With trend stories, PR firms usually line up one or more "experts" to talk about t…
I saw one yesterday pointing out how phone cases are passé and "unnecessary" because of replacement plans.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#375This isn't a Vinyl vs CD thing where a clearly inferior technology lives on due mainly to sentimental reasons. There are a number of concrete advantages to wired headphones over bluetooth headphones. - They don't need charging. Charging may seem like a minor inconvenience, and we're used to charging a lot of devices. However, even a minor inconvenience is still an inconvenience. - They're harder to lose. When Apple a…
I think a big part of the reason is that there is only one wireless option -Bluetooth- and it is a terrible product from a user experience perspective. It's 2026 and I still can't move through my world with earbuds in without my audio randomly switching to my wife's car in the driveway or our Bluetooth speaker that is on upstairs.
> only one wireless option -Bluetooth- and it is a terrible product from a user experience perspective
That’s an implementation problem, not a technology problem. iPhone with AirPods here - your scenario just does not happen. There’s even an option for “yes be stupid and connect to my car even when I’m in the middle of a phone call” if you really want to use it…
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#376This isn't a Vinyl vs CD thing where a clearly inferior technology lives on due mainly to sentimental reasons. There are a number of concrete advantages to wired headphones over bluetooth headphones. - They don't need charging. Charging may seem like a minor inconvenience, and we're used to charging a lot of devices. However, even a minor inconvenience is still an inconvenience. - They're harder to lose. When Apple a…
> However, even a minor inconvenience is still an inconvenience.
I do not miss spending 30 seconds untangling my headphones every time I used them nor do I miss trying to find clever ways to wind my headphones back up so as to minimize the likelihood of them becoming tangled. If someone solved this problem well I would use them, but putting my airpods on a charger once a week is a much lesser inconvenience IMHO.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#377Earlier quoted context omitted.
AirPods Pro 2 went through a washing machine cycle and still works. Having cables it’s a pain, need to pass behind your clothes or outside dangling. Can’t charge phone while using wired headphones
Phones used to have a 3.5mm port for a reason: sturdier, simpler and independent. Having dangling cable is offset by wireless having to be charged charged, for some only in a case with a charger.
They still do too.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#378I picked up a Sony MDR-Z7 and Z1 and an iFi headphone amp and threw out my wireless Apple headphones. Of course comparing them to the expensive Sony's isn't fair but once you experience the soundstage in the wired headphones you will never look back. You don't need to even buy the expensive headphones, you can even get something like a V6 or a 7506.
The difference is the battery dies in the wireless models in 2-3 years irrespective of the brand but these wired headphones live on for ever.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#379This isn't a Vinyl vs CD thing where a clearly inferior technology lives on due mainly to sentimental reasons. There are a number of concrete advantages to wired headphones over bluetooth headphones. - They don't need charging. Charging may seem like a minor inconvenience, and we're used to charging a lot of devices. However, even a minor inconvenience is still an inconvenience. - They're harder to lose. When Apple a…
And latency!! Anything that needs to be real time is impossible without wired headphones. Even the lowest latency wireless is noticeable.
I’ve been using AirPods on audio and video calls for many years now, and I notice no latency. Same with my bluetooth mouse.
Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding
#380My wired headphones never run out of battery. They also don't drop the connection if my pocket is at the wrong angle from my ears.
All that and they cost a fraction of the price! Wireless headphones are a strictly inferior product to wired, and it astonishes me that Apple convinced anyone to buy them. They're a total rip off.
Wireless is more comfortable. I don't have to deal with cables brushing against my ears or sitting on my neck.
Wireless can't get caught on doorknobs or other protrusions.
I don't have to plug them in. I put them in my ears and they work.
They automatically work with multiple devices. I put them in and make a phone call. I put them in and take a video meeting on my computer.
There certainly are advantages to wired headphones and more power to you if you prefer those tradeoffs. But it's bizarre to call wireless "strictly inferior." It should not be difficult to find at least one thing about them that someone might find to be superior.