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Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

wsj.com

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Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#171

Post by notatoad »

dagmx wrote: post #125
zaptheimpaler wrote: post #94

Wireless headphones suck. I have a good pair (WF-1000XM3) because my phone doesn't have an audio jack and they are always a pain. They connect to the wrong device frequently, the battery life is barely a few hours and the sound quality is ok. Always have trouble with voice quality on calls too. Often only one headphone will turn on but not the other. They are supposedly easier to carry because no cords, but they are…

I had the same Sony's. Pairing and reliability was a nightmare. I switched to AirPods (Pros and Max) and a lot of my issues dissapeared. Honestly it's a shame because the audio quality on the XM3 was better than the Airpod Pro but the software is just not there. The AirPods aren't perfect either of course, but it's a night and day difference between the reliability of them vs the Sony. I found the Sony was extra bad…

the XM4 adds the ability to be paired to multiple devices at a time, which seems to be the real magic of the airpods. when the headphones can be connected to both, you don't have to worry about disconnecting from one device before connecting to another lest you have your phone and your laptop fighting over your headphones.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#172

Post by atoav »

theshrike79 wrote: post #114
arpa wrote: post #72

Corded earphones: * never run out of juice * never have internal noise/audible hiss * never have trouble connecting * you can hear your vinyl rip FLAC as it is, not subjected to lossy psychoacoustic compression * you can use a variety of devices spanning decades to listen your music on

* will at one point start mysteriously crackling unless you hold the wire in that one weird angle from that one spot

Who buys headphones without replaceable cable?

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#173

Post by boudin »

arpa wrote: post #72

Corded earphones: * never run out of juice * never have internal noise/audible hiss * never have trouble connecting * you can hear your vinyl rip FLAC as it is, not subjected to lossy psychoacoustic compression * you can use a variety of devices spanning decades to listen your music on

And they do not require a bluetooth controller, a battery, wireless headset are much worse for the environment.

2 bonus points: -the chord makes it much harder to lose the headset - when on a call, people around don't think you're someone losing it, having a discussion with yourself out loud

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#174

Post by hmrr »

atoav wrote: post #170
makecheck wrote: post #3

I have never really gotten used to wireless buds, and still find myself reaching for wires half the time: - Wireless buds don’t connect 100% reliably; sometimes I get one and not the other, or neither. Sometimes they will randomly disconnect during use. - Sometimes the sound glitches out randomly, which is so irritating that I don’t care how good the sound supposedly is the rest of the time. - Gestures and voice are…

As someone who worked as a freelance audio engineer I have certain pairs of (chorded) headphones that I just want to use to hear my mixes (or other music) on. I know how they sound and what they do to sounds. Every in-ear solution I had in my ears up to now doesn't even get close in terms of "resolution" (this is not a technical term but it is true, that some monitoring solutions will let you hear more of the recordi…

I’ve got a 18 year old pair of HD25’s. They are indeed excellent. On their third cable and ear pads now. But quite frankly I don’t use them any more. Switched to AirPods (2nd gen). They are absolutely no good for pro audio due to the latency but general audio perspective they are perfect.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#175

Post by nayaketo »

derefr wrote: post #165
makecheck wrote: post #3

I have never really gotten used to wireless buds, and still find myself reaching for wires half the time: - Wireless buds don’t connect 100% reliably; sometimes I get one and not the other, or neither. Sometimes they will randomly disconnect during use. - Sometimes the sound glitches out randomly, which is so irritating that I don’t care how good the sound supposedly is the rest of the time. - Gestures and voice are…

> Sometimes they will randomly disconnect during use. FYI, that's interference. Wi-fi "randomly" disconnects for a few seconds due to interference just as often, but you don't notice, because 1. the OS hides short disconnects, and 2. most protocols you use are TCP-based, and so use retries. (If you were doing something involving UDP streaming, you'd notice.) Bluetooth audio, on the other hand, is a realtime protocol,…

> Put on your wired headphones. Sit down (e.g. on the bus.) Now try taking off your shoulder-strapped bag to hold it in your lap, without first taking out your headphones.

This used to bug me a lot but I've found an easy solution. Just route the wire under your t-shirt or shirt or jacket. When I'm not using my headphones, the headphones hang around my neck. If I feel like taking off my headphones and placing them on the table, it takes 5 extra seconds to pull the wires from under my shirt after disconnecting them from the phone.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#176

Post by atoav »

fy20 wrote: post #164
jorvi wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That link completely glosses over the fact that UK electrical networks are one big ring circuit instead of a radial circuit. This is because during WW2 they needed the metal savings, and this is also why every UK plug is fused and quite bulky. IMO the EU way is the best. Radial circuit, fused in groups, and the plug is either the Schuko plug (very safe since the earth/ground is always engaged first) or Europlug (rela…

Ignoring the circuit design and fuse location (which I agree with you on), the child proofing of British sockets is much better than Schuko sockets (CEE 7/3), as they require the ground pin to be engaged before protective cover of the live/neutral pins is opened - it's impossible to open just by pushing something in the live socket. How does this work with child proof Schuko sockets (I've never seen them)? Also as so…

AFAIK in childproof Schuko there is a lid covering the holes for neutral and phase and you have to press into both holes at once to open that lid up. The force to do so is also not insignificant.

If I had to overcome it on purpose with two knitting needles I would fail as a grown up man. With two screwdrivers I could do it.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#177

Post by zwaps »

Today I learned that for most people, even on HN, headphones means earbuds.

All wireless earbuds I have ever used, including Apple Airpods Pro, sucked. Fit, charging stability, not randomly breaking, sound, you name it.

By contrast, I have wireless Sennheiser (over-ear) headphones which sound great (compared to my old wired HD25, say), last for 20 hours or so, and plug into USB, Headphone jack and, well, Bluetooth. Run out of battery? Just plug it in.

I really only use earbuds for sport. In my opinion, that's what they are for.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#178

Post by terhechte »

dagmx wrote: post #125
zaptheimpaler wrote: post #94

Wireless headphones suck. I have a good pair (WF-1000XM3) because my phone doesn't have an audio jack and they are always a pain. They connect to the wrong device frequently, the battery life is barely a few hours and the sound quality is ok. Always have trouble with voice quality on calls too. Often only one headphone will turn on but not the other. They are supposedly easier to carry because no cords, but they are…

I had the same Sony's. Pairing and reliability was a nightmare. I switched to AirPods (Pros and Max) and a lot of my issues dissapeared. Honestly it's a shame because the audio quality on the XM3 was better than the Airpod Pro but the software is just not there. The AirPods aren't perfect either of course, but it's a night and day difference between the reliability of them vs the Sony. I found the Sony was extra bad…

Same here, I had the XM3 and the pairing issue was very frustrating. Particularly because I want to use the headphones on multiple devices (two Macs, iPad, iPhone) and pairing between devices took forever. I bought the Airpods Max and couldn't be happier. Pairing with devices almost always just works, most of the time I don't have to do anything. I walk with my phone and listen to a podcast, then I awake my Mac from sleep, hit play in Spotify, and it works. This alone is worth the steep price of the Airpods Max for me.

The only issue I had with them was that I recently tried to connect them to a Mac that wasn't in my iCloud. It is possible to do a non-iCloud paired direct bluetooth connection with them and this worked. But ~1 week later they suddenly disappeared from my main iCloud account. I'll not try that again.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#179

Post by hmrr »

makecheck wrote: post #3

I have never really gotten used to wireless buds, and still find myself reaching for wires half the time: - Wireless buds don’t connect 100% reliably; sometimes I get one and not the other, or neither. Sometimes they will randomly disconnect during use. - Sometimes the sound glitches out randomly, which is so irritating that I don’t care how good the sound supposedly is the rest of the time. - Gestures and voice are…

Been using 2nd gen AirPods since they came out. Never had any connection reliability issues at all. They switch between my phone and iPad all the time as well. No glitches at all here other than one time I was walking past a large diesel generator. As for gestures, I don’t use them. I usually use Siri, my watch or phone as a control surface. As for snug that depends on the person at the end of the day. I don’t have problems with mine even doing a 5k run.

I’m not going back to having to untangle a pocket full of wires and car keys. Also I’m not having the cable tugging when I’m walking or running and having to shove the things back in every two minutes. This product was a life changer for me.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#180

Post by kelnos »

hmrr wrote: post #179
makecheck wrote: post #3

I have never really gotten used to wireless buds, and still find myself reaching for wires half the time: - Wireless buds don’t connect 100% reliably; sometimes I get one and not the other, or neither. Sometimes they will randomly disconnect during use. - Sometimes the sound glitches out randomly, which is so irritating that I don’t care how good the sound supposedly is the rest of the time. - Gestures and voice are…

Been using 2nd gen AirPods since they came out. Never had any connection reliability issues at all. They switch between my phone and iPad all the time as well. No glitches at all here other than one time I was walking past a large diesel generator. As for gestures, I don’t use them. I usually use Siri, my watch or phone as a control surface. As for snug that depends on the person at the end of the day. I don’t have p…

Ah yes, the "I've never had a problem so you must just be doing it wrong" defense.

Please understand that not everyone has the same experiences as you do.

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