Corded headphones are making an unexpected return • Hacker News Board

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#351

Post by aulin » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 1:53 PM UTC

bool3max wrote: post #336

aulin wrote: post #335

Amazing how wireless earbuds basically means airpods for almost everyone here, maybe it's a north american thing... I've been using cheap bluetooth earphones (20-30 €) since way before Apple decided to reinvent them, they always sucked, terrible audio, terrible battery, lousy waterproofness... but they get the job done as a sports companion. Having a wire jumping left and right can really get annoying or even dangero…

Hmm, $30 Xiaomi wireless Bluetooth earpods have pretty good battery life and very decent audio quality. I don't know about waterproofness, but the low end range of wireless earphones has improved significantly in the last few years.

I meant more battery quality than battery life, they usually include a small supercapacitor that tends to fail abruptly. I've had ones that lasted for years and others failing after a couple of months.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#352

Post by driverdan » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 1:54 PM UTC

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…

> the battery life is barely a few hours and the sound quality is ok... Often only one headphone will turn on but not the other.

Sounds like they are broken. I have XM3s. The batteries last for a very long time, something like 12h with noise cancellation on. I've never had an issue with the speakers turning on or off individually.

> Always have trouble with voice quality on calls too.

Their mic is their biggest weakness. It's pretty bad.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#353

Post by pfranz » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 1:55 PM UTC

stemlord wrote: post #83

kevindeasis wrote: post #19

Author's opinion is subjective and falls under selection bias. There's a lot of famous people that don't use wired headphones For the wireless argument, here is mine. I use an airpods pro. I also have multiple high end headphones. I only apple os with wireless. If I was using linux, android, windows then I have to use my other headphones, since my bluetooth always have issues with wireless using other os. The airpods…

The form factor and noise cancelling aspects of the airpod have nothing to do with it being wireless though. Wired phones could have those things too.

You're right in theory. In practice that either means a battery in the headphones and/or a new audio cable. I'm sure this has been tried before. It seems like something Sony would try--maybe Lighting headphones would count?

I guess Airpods Max would count?

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#354

Post by christophilus » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 1:58 PM UTC

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…

Aftershokz are really good (not buds). They never fall off, they work really well when exercising, kids don't yank them off, they have nice physical controls. I love mine.

That said, when I'm sitting at my desk to do work, I use wired headphones (and wired mouse and keyboard). When I'm really in the flow, the last thing I want is to be interrupted by a "low battery" prompt.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#355

Post by TheCapn » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 1:59 PM UTC

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…

Without coming across too much as an ad placement, I have to say I have virtually none of these problems with my Jaybird X2 headphones, and I think its entirely a design thing.

My headphones are wired from one to the other. They're wireless to the music device, but wired to each other if that helps paint you a picture. Plus, they have these little rubber fins that help hold the headphones in your ears So for me: I can't lose one without the other, and them being tethered together makes it harder to lose them in general. The controls are on the wire, so none of that "pressing your head" issue you describe. The only time I seem to have issues is when I have my phone in my front pocket opposite to the bluetooth receiver... I think my body just blocks the signal too well. Otherwise I can be 30ft away and still get a strong bluetooth connection.

Enough of the ad talk (Please email me for my info Jaybirds so I can collect my shill cheque) I think its just a design issue. Everyone wants those tiny things that hide away in your ear, but I've always felt the inconvenience of having 2 easily misplaced little buds outweighs any design advantages they have. Its like the trend of making phones smaller and smaller, then suddenly bigger and bigger, but not addressing the convenience of having a smart phone. I don't need a massive screen, I need a stronger battery... so make it 3mm or 5mm thicker if that's what it takes to get 48hr life on a charge.

But now i'm ranting.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#356

Post by pfranz » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 2:02 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #298

I am surprised the vast majority of the 280 comments seems to be about bluetooth connection, fitting, sound quality and not a mention about TCO ( Total Cost of Ownership ). May be I am cheap, but I cant get myself to buy another Wireless Earphone again with non -replaceable battery. They are basically consumables. And Apple expect you to buy a new pair every 1-2 years. And even if you dont use it much the battery wil…

> And even if you dont use it much the battery will still deteriorate after 2 years.

I bought some Sony over-the-ear noise cancelling headphones 3-4 years ago. I only tend to use them when flying (only a few times a year). I have an old pair of original AirPods (2016) I use as backups. I haven't noticed any deterioration. I'm sure there is some, but a majority of the aging is due to use.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#357

Post by Wildgoose » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 2:06 PM UTC

zwirbl wrote: post #314

Wildgoose wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise. My son and I both ditched iPhones when Apple took away the headphone jack. How else are we supposed to use our phones to listen to music in our cars? (My car's bluetooth only works for phone functions, not music, and my son's doesn't even have that option).

I've connected a cheap (~15€) Bluetooth audio receiver to the Aux-In. No phone functionality, but I always ignore calls and texts while driving (and some of the time not driving) anyways

I did try that, but the quality was dreadful and it's just something else needing recharging/eating batteries.

The decision to drop a universally supported headphone jack really doesn't make any sense unless you are trying to force people to buy your expensive wireless ear-buds, (which I can't wear because they are uncomfortable and fall out of my ears within seconds).

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#358

Post by fold3 » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 2:08 PM UTC

walterbell wrote: post #326

lagmos wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really isn't true anymore. Chi-fi iems changed the iem market pretty massively and you can get them with detachable cables for less than $20 these days.

Would appreciate search keyword or brand/model recommendations.

Moondrop, tanchjim, tin audio, dunu

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#359

Post by piokoch » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 2:08 PM UTC

To spare people reading article:

"In short, AirPods have become too widespread to be cool"

This is the same phenomena like the return of vinyl records, there is exactly zero logical reason to use them over CDs or flac compressed files, yet they made a big come back because of being in fashion now.

Re: Corded headphones are making an unexpected return

#360

Post by jacquesm » Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 2:09 PM UTC

nemof wrote: post #245

derefr wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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,…

i've destroyed so many wired headphones by forgetting i'm wearing them and trying to take off my bag and tearing them out of my ears forcefully. it got to the point where i ended up using wired headphones like a consumable. switching over to wireless has been bliss just for this simple reason. my biggest gripe with wireless so far, and this might be specific to galaxy buds+ is that their batteries suck after a years…

I once saw a person walk away from a mixing desk in a studio wearing headphones. He got janked back violently enough that he lost his balance and fell. Pretty good cable!