Live data from Hacker News

Wired headphone sales are exploding

bbc.com

511–520 of 752 posts

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#511
Yes, this is a trend, but it doesn't seem like just a fad; a lot of people are choosing to return to "outmoded" things to embrace ritual and intentionality. As others have commented, it doesn't have to make sense to you; having options hurts nobody.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#512
"Bluetooth does not work," Kravitz said in a recent interview, and it's not just headphones, but Bluetooth connections in general. "It's ruining important moments. Imagine the amount of times that you're with someone on a date, you're trying to set a vibe, and then you have to forget the network. On a date!"

The quote above makes absolutely zero sense to me, it's like ChatGPT 0.3a decided to write something about Bluetooth.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#513
post #83

This 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…

- they last forever . I still have sennheiser hd380 pro cans from 25 years ago that sound great. - cannot overstate lack of lag and simplicity. You plug in and it works, perfectly, every time, forever. - easily switch devices. I use my headphone on my phone, tablet, laptop, Synthesizer, Groovebox etc without a blink. And my phone never stops playing music and connects to our car my wife just started the way bluetooth…

Yeah for me the main sell of wireless is mobility/freedom of movement.

I can use them while charging my phone or working out. Can play a video while cooking and moving around the kitchen. Or while watching TV/playing a game in the TV where a cable can’t reach.

However when static I used wired. That’s mostly when on the computer, but like many people here I am assuming that’s a good part of the day.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#514
Back when I still thought all headphones were basically the same, I was writing some music and I could not understand why the cello lines sounded so much louder than the violin lines at the same dynamic. It was only years later that I found out that mainstream headphones are tuned to boost the bass, which is supposedly the mainstream taste.

If your tastes in music are not mainstream (and mine definitely is not), mainstream headphones will ruin your music more than you realize - for years I just thought that was how recorded music is supposed to sound, and it wasn't very good. Trying a neutrally-tuned headphone can change your (musical) life. Unfortunately, very few wireless headphones are tuned that way.

Edit: Part of why I never looked into it sooner, I had heard so much about "audiophile snake oil" over the years, I thought that was all there was. That exists, but there plenty of headphones marketed to "audiophiles" that are legitimate.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#515

Are there recommendations on USB-C to 3.5mm adapters, preferably ones with input and output? My biggest complain with Bluetooth headphones is the astonishingly bad quality when doing voice calls.

As usual, the Apple design is a great baseline: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r...

It doesn't provide full volume output under Android, though.

Otherwise, the CS43131 DAC powers some great designs. I can't comment on their durability, though. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/j...

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#516
post #505

Are there recommendations on USB-C to 3.5mm adapters, preferably ones with input and output? My biggest complain with Bluetooth headphones is the astonishingly bad quality when doing voice calls.

See if Apple's USB-C to 3.5mm adapter works for you.

Thanks for pointing this one out.

I am hesitant to buy Apple accessories like these as I am having quality concerns. Specifically the macbook chargers I've encountered are far less rigid than Lenovo Thinkpad chargers (at least before they switched to USB-C). I never felt Apple did a particularly good job with cables and connectors when it comes to longevity.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#517

"Bluetooth does not work," Kravitz said in a recent interview, and it's not just headphones, but Bluetooth connections in general. "It's ruining important moments. Imagine the amount of times that you're with someone on a date, you're trying to set a vibe, and then you have to forget the network. On a date!" The quote above makes absolutely zero sense to me, it's like ChatGPT 0.3a decided to write something about Blu…

On a date the only acceptable bluetooth usage is for teledildonics.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#518
post #83

This 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 compared the mic quality of Airpods Pro 2, Airpods 4 ANC (similar), and freebie Apple 3.5mm wired earbuds. The earbuds won. My limited research suggested either 1) compression and transmission take a lot of power, so the Airpods don't do as good of a job as something with a bigger battery can afford to, 2) the mic position is worse, or 3) Bluetooth doesn't have enough bi-directional bandwidth for two good signals.

I tested this and based on my testing it’s (3). The AirPods microphone actually gets (slightly) better in quality if you don’t play something through the speakers while using it. Even then the 3.5mm ones were better tho

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#519
post #83

This 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…

> It's old but far from obsolete.

Apple themselves know this. Every MacBook, no matter how few ports it has and how “non-pro” it is, ships with a headphone jack.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#520
post #83

This 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…

> Wired cans don't need to pair, don't glitch out Cables can wear out. You can get a wire break.

All good wired headphones and earbuds (“IEMs”) have replaceable cables. And the ones that don’t are super cheap.
Post reply on HN