Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Wired headphone sales are exploding

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

581–590 of 752 posts

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#581

Post by bzzzt »

shiandow wrote: post #456
NikolaNovak wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- 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…

It is worth pointing out that not all parts age equally well. The cushions especially are not that durable and should be considered consumables. Sennheiser provides replacements should you need them. The effect they have on the sound is much bigger than you might think.

> Sennheiser provides replacements should you need them.

Not anymore for my old 380 pro. Had to settle for aftermarket versions that feel a little softer but also sound a bit different.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#582

Post by michaelchisari »

happyopossum wrote: post #375
seniortaco wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

If a spec is regularly implement poorly, the spec is the problem.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#583

Post by jwilliams »

manmal wrote: post #573
jwilliams wrote: post #559

I like to do walking meetings or meetings where I'm cleaning/emptying dishwasher/etc. It sounds strange, but I'm a lot more present than when I'm at my computer. Anyway. Somewhat ironically, I use a wired set of headphones for this. It's not just the speakers that are better. I often get people remarking how much better the audio is on their end too... i.e. the cheap inline microphone.

That has probably more to do with the microphone(s) rather than that it's wired. Voice is not a problem at Bluetooth bitrates.

I suspect it’s mostly microphone position rather than anything else (the headphones I have are the basic Apple ones).

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#584

Post by KaiserPro »

scarecrowbob wrote: post #491
KaiserPro wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> bluetooth'd 3M ear muffs. How do you rate those? I made my own, but they sucked balls. I have some Plantronic cans which have ~10db nrr, but they are falling apart now, and I'm looking for alternatives with decent NRR

Well, I have had them for about 2 years and would buy them again. To be clear, these are for noise protection and are heavy. They are big enough that I have another pair of muffs for shooting rifles and some ($$) molded westone earplugs for working on loud stages. I mostly use the 3m when I am running a chainsaw or driving vehicles with the windows down (I find that too damn loud for my tastes). For a while I'd track…

Oooo AA batteries? fuckyeah

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#585

Post by arjie »

> After 5 years of sales declines, which culminated in a $42M drop in 2024, wired headphones rebounded in 2025, growing 3% (about $15M). The trend really gained momentum in the second half of 2025, with sales surging 10% between July and December. Multiple brands and price points are seeing sales growth, a signal the trend is widespread. In the first six weeks of 2026, wired headphones revenue is up a whopping 20%!

This is a Circana Retail Tracking Service content-marketing piece. Like the x% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck is a LendingClub content-marketing piece. 3% being $15m indicates this is a $500m market. Airpods themselves are a $25 b revenue product.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#586

Post by richstokes »

letmetweakit wrote: post #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 Blu…

Agreed. What network are they forgetting here? Pretty sure I've only ever seen that apply to wifi. Are they trying to say you might need to re-pair a bluetooth speaker on a date? I don't get it.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#587

Post by gosub100 »

I would love to hear the Bluetooth engineers battle it out. I know BT isn't the only reason people want wired, but it's got to be one of the aggravating factors.

Is it the specs fault? Hard to believe if they have gone through at least 5 major revisions. Is it those stupid engineers that didn't implement the spec? Is it the chipsets? I want to see a "who made Bluetooth suck?" Showdown

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#588

Post by mchusma »

beloch wrote: 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 occasionally use wireless, but 90% of the time I prefer wired for this reason. Reliable, simple, harder to lose, no charging, easier to connect. I just done think the wires are a problem for me, sometimes a benefit, sometimes a mild inconvenience.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#589

Post by hananova »

Minor49er wrote: post #459
beloch wrote: 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…

Analog formats are clearly inferior to digital ones, but analog speakers are superior to digital ones?

Digital speakers don’t exist. No matter how the signal gets there, the end result is wiggling air in an analog process.

Re: Wired headphone sales are exploding

#590

Post by rout39574 »

dijit wrote: post #120
ahhhhnoooo wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vinyls are not necessarily the inferior technology. Given the choice, I'd prefer to play vinyl in some cases. In social settings vinyl's short length and need to be flipped creates a dynamic social environment. Someone has to regularly choose new music to play, acting with intent to do so. Someone has to regularly walk to the machine. These create dynamism and flow. CDs are much longer, and less tactile. There's less…

This is like saying “Candles are superior to lightbulbs because they burn out quicker and thats an advantage in some situations”. I’m not sure how, its an aesthetic choice but an inferior technology by every metric that counts. Candles still have a place, we still buy them, but we can’t reasonably call them superior either- even if, candles actually would have a real advantage of not requiring power. Vinyl doesn’t ev…

Candles are pleasant light, in a way difficult to acquire with other lighting types. That means there's a niche in which that facet is more valuable than the other technologies.

I had candles at my dinner table last Thursday, and am likely to do so date night tonight... but the bulbs I turn off to give the candles reign are LED...

Post reply on HN