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Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

theguardian.com

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Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#141

Post by indrora »

stavros wrote: post #136
gizmo wrote: post #123

The "sustainable" and "environment friendly" choice for headphones are wired headphones that are built like a brick. A good pair will last basically forever. Of course that isn't the market these headphones are in, but that's also the problem. New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them. Even if these headphones are great (which I doubt) they're still destined for the garbage heap.…

But "repairable" and "upgradable" are not synonyms. I don't mind that my phone isn't upgradable, but I'd like to be able to easily change the battery when it dies of old age.

Okay but tell that to the mad lads that put an 11th gen processor (and complete custom motherboard) in the ThinkPad T60 from 2006: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/tdfea2/t700_crowd...

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#142

Post by ilaksh »

I like the little wired earbuds from Walmart that cost $5-10. If they wear out then you just replace them.

The part that usually breaks for me on headphones is the connection from the cable to the actual speakers. So testing the wires one way or another fixes it temporarily which leads me to always contemplate trying to repair them but I don't know exactly where the connection problem is.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#143

Post by fgeiger »

gizmo wrote: post #123

The "sustainable" and "environment friendly" choice for headphones are wired headphones that are built like a brick. A good pair will last basically forever. Of course that isn't the market these headphones are in, but that's also the problem. New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them. Even if these headphones are great (which I doubt) they're still destined for the garbage heap.…

I work at Fairphone but am not at all involved with the headphones. Still, I know that this is an issue that we thought about and address.

Headphones should keep working even if the manufacturer goes bust and stops providing software support. And even if your battery dies and spare parts are unavailable. That is precisely the reason why we also sell a cable with a 3.5mm jack for these cans. That way, this product is long-lasting and sustainable even in the (hopefully hypothetical) case that we are not able to support them anymore.

That is the best out of both worlds: you get wireless connectivity and ANC now. And you will be able to use them for as long as you would with wired ones.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#144

Post by alexvoda »

ip26 wrote: post #137
gizmo wrote: post #123

The "sustainable" and "environment friendly" choice for headphones are wired headphones that are built like a brick. A good pair will last basically forever. Of course that isn't the market these headphones are in, but that's also the problem. New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them. Even if these headphones are great (which I doubt) they're still destined for the garbage heap.…

Planned obsolescence can be a good thing. Cans from the fifties and sixties still work. Nobody wants to use them; they are heavy, uncomfortable, have poor performance, need an amp to drive, and use huge old school connectors. They are from a time when music was enjoyed seated in one place. Products that fail prematurely or wear out while the owner still wants them are poorly designed. The pinnacle of design is a prod…

> Cans from the fifties and sixties still work. Nobody wants to use them; they are heavy, uncomfortable, have poor performance, need an amp to drive, and use huge old school connectors. They are from a time when music was enjoyed seated in one place.

And there is still a market for them because some people still want to enjoy music seated and do nothing else at the same time. Of course, plenty more people want something else.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#145

Post by adhesive_wombat »

ip26 wrote: post #137
gizmo wrote: post #123

The "sustainable" and "environment friendly" choice for headphones are wired headphones that are built like a brick. A good pair will last basically forever. Of course that isn't the market these headphones are in, but that's also the problem. New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them. Even if these headphones are great (which I doubt) they're still destined for the garbage heap.…

Planned obsolescence can be a good thing. Cans from the fifties and sixties still work. Nobody wants to use them; they are heavy, uncomfortable, have poor performance, need an amp to drive, and use huge old school connectors. They are from a time when music was enjoyed seated in one place. Products that fail prematurely or wear out while the owner still wants them are poorly designed. The pinnacle of design is a prod…

> The pinnacle of design is a product that works flawlessly until the day you are through with it

Indeed, but for maximum utility, the second hand market is included in the "you" here. Things can continue to be useful to someone long after the first owner is through with them.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#146

Post by jlg23 »

gizmo wrote: post #123

The "sustainable" and "environment friendly" choice for headphones are wired headphones that are built like a brick. A good pair will last basically forever. Of course that isn't the market these headphones are in, but that's also the problem. New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them. Even if these headphones are great (which I doubt) they're still destined for the garbage heap.…

> New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them.

> Wireless headphones last a couple of years, where wired headphones last decades.

Those wired headphones that last decades also won't get any advances made during their lifetime...

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#147

Post by jack_pp »

pengaru wrote: post #86
jack_pp wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it plastic though? I remember seeing youtube clips where some companies make "vegan leather" from mushrooms. Plastic isn't quite the correct word here, when I think of plastic I think of hard plastic like in tupperware.

The complaint here is that it's nebulous b.s. marketing speak that only means "leather-looking without involving animal products" ... and probably some kind of plastic.

Yeah I understood his comment but plastic would be just a wrong word for it.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#148

Post by userbinator »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #132
gizmo wrote: post #123

The "sustainable" and "environment friendly" choice for headphones are wired headphones that are built like a brick. A good pair will last basically forever. Of course that isn't the market these headphones are in, but that's also the problem. New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them. Even if these headphones are great (which I doubt) they're still destined for the garbage heap.…

Not everyone wants to go jogging or working out with wired headphones. They always rub on your skin or on your clothes (especially in winter with may thick layers) with the rubbing sound transferring in your ears as you move around, or worse, snag on something and keep tugging down on my head giving me a bad neck posture (when the cable is routed under my shirt/jaket). The freedom of TWS earbuds can spoil you for lif…

I'm not sure TWS buds with the shape of an AirTag would work, but I do think they could make them with something like an easily removable cap on the stem that holds the cell in place.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#149

Post by alexvoda »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #140
hyperhopper wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are on a site called Hacker News

The AV niche is deep and has plenty of its own communities. HN has a technical audience spanning many niches, yet not all of us are familiar or interested in the finer points of AV hardware.

Yet expecting the HN audience to be curious and to criticize a review for laking scientific precision when it was posted here is very much in line.

We should strive to be more curious and to demand more science.

Re: Fairbuds XL review: noise-cancelling headphones you can fix

#150

Post by RobotToaster »

ip26 wrote: post #137
gizmo wrote: post #123

The "sustainable" and "environment friendly" choice for headphones are wired headphones that are built like a brick. A good pair will last basically forever. Of course that isn't the market these headphones are in, but that's also the problem. New bluetooth standard? New advances in noise-cancellation? You won't get them. Even if these headphones are great (which I doubt) they're still destined for the garbage heap.…

Planned obsolescence can be a good thing. Cans from the fifties and sixties still work. Nobody wants to use them; they are heavy, uncomfortable, have poor performance, need an amp to drive, and use huge old school connectors. They are from a time when music was enjoyed seated in one place. Products that fail prematurely or wear out while the owner still wants them are poorly designed. The pinnacle of design is a prod…

>The pinnacle of design is a product that works flawlessly until the day you are through with it

What about the 2nd, 3rd, etc user of the item? You're ignoring the second hand market.

I use Cameras that were made in the 30's, they still work despite the original user being "through with it" some time ago.

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