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 simply not as convenient as buttons on the wire. If I tap the thing in my ear, it tends to get shoved further into my ear and may still not register.
- They fall out of my ears, no matter how “snug” they seem. This makes me only want to use them in places where I won’t lose them, e.g. at home but not out for a walk.
Crucially, there isn’t a single problem above that occurs when using wires. The only inconvenience is that the default headphone wires are stupidly short (provided by a company that sells wireless buds, hmmm) but that is fixable.
> 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, which just drops stale packets rather than trying to retransmit them. Drop enough packets in a row, and the carrier thinks the device has gone out of range and disconnects it (as the alternative would be boiling your battery by turning the antenna gain up to infinity, as sometimes happens when cellular baseband misbehaves while ranging.)
> Gestures and voice are simply not as convenient as buttons on the wire. If I tap the thing in my ear, it tends to get shoved further into my ear and may still not register
Have you tried the AirPods Pro where you squeeze the stems? They're essentially buttons.
> Crucially, there isn’t a single problem above that occurs when using wires.
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.
Or: try to change your shirt while keeping your headphones on + playing. (I know, unusual thing to do, but I've changed my shirt with wireless earbuds in without a thought.)
Or: get up and go to the bathroom, while continuing to listen to the livestream you're watching on the desktop PC sitting on your desk, without missing anything. (Provided I'm at home, I can usually get about 40 feet away from the Bluetooth source before my wireless headphones disconnect.)
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 recording than others).
Additionally my on-the-road headphones (Sennheiser HD25) last for a decade now. If the cable ever should fail I can get a replacement. If the earpad is through I can get a replacement. The only problem recently is, that phone manufacturers decided they need to be stingy about adding a 3.5mm TRRS-jack.
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.
I have a pair of really good wired Sennheisers. I never owned or used Bluetooth devices for more than giving it a try.
I may be audiophile. But when I put a music on I want to get fully absorbed and hear every little detail while I don't worry about battery life. Sounds weird I know
My problem is I lose them. I bought the Bose QuietComforts earlier this year and have lost one or the other a couple of times already. Right now one is sitting in the console of my truck and i can’t find the other one. No clue where it could be and of course the batteries are dead.
It would be nice if they all had Tile or similar tech, but if their batteries go dead just sitting there (super annoying thing about the bose) then it’s useless too.
(FWIW also tried the Sony wf1000-xm4s and hated them.)
A number of these complaints seem like they are issues of implementation and not of wirelessness in and of itself.
I definitely found 3rd party Bluetooth headphones to be not worth the trouble early on, but since Apple introduced the AirPods I got tempted back to them. Either Bluetooth got a lot better or Apple's doing something clever (or both), because with the occasional "one pod didn't wake up; put it back in the case and take it out again" issue, they work perfectly for me.
I do still use corded headphones -- I'm an audio guy; I have a bunch -- but it's increasingly rare.
I was a fan of the originals, but bought the Pros shortly after they came out. I'm on my second pair now - the first pair came down with the dreaded "crackling" and Apple replaced them.
I find that they stay in my ears well enough that I regularly use them when driving my Jeep without doors, even when I'm not listening to music. They provide some level of reduction of the wind noise that I'm certain has been damaging my hearing in my left ear in particular.
I had a kid a few years ago when I switched. Wearing headphones and holding a child sucks because they will probably get pulled out of your ears. I always hated cords tangling in my pocket and I'd often have the wires snag on a doorknob or drawer when walking around--often breaking them. I also used a messenger bag.
Ear fit sucks, is it worse with cordless headphones? Ear fit always comes up with earbuds, wireless or wired. I've heard individuals say wireless is better for them because there's no wire tugging on their ear. I'm surprised to see a lot of people walking around with over-the-ear headphones (I tend to use them at home or on a plane).
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.
I’ve been looking for a small, wired and preferably powered external speaker for travel to provide louder and better quality sound masking than the tiny speaker in the phone. There are a million little Bluetooth speakers out there but the random inverted hiccups (sudden silence then resume) wake me up every time. I’m sure it’s the Bluetooth because it doesn’t happen when I use the phone speaker.
I carry a 1st gen iPhone SE for wired audio, so I guess now it’s basically an iPod.
Edit: Well, looks like there’s some stuff on eBay I didn’t see in previous searches. Retro 2000s stuff. I can roll the dice for £5 plus shipping. Use case is still relevant.
That’s not been my experience. In fact I can leave my phone inside and still get Bluetooth out close to the street.
I was originally very upset about Apple removing the headphone port, but after getting my first AirPods I basically stopped caring. They just worked so well, I never wanted wires again.
By the by, I had more headphones yanked out by door handles than I’ve had wireless buds fall out, but I’ll grant that the latter is strongly affected by individual ear geometry.
I had all of these problems with several cheap models of bluetooth earbuds until I got some Sennheiser CX 150BTs a few years ago. They connect to both my computer and phone at the same time if they're both on, switch between the two automatically thereafter (whoever plays audio first gets exclusive use), sound decent, and get 8-10 hours on a charge.
Cons: mic volume is low, and when a device disconnects they will play disconnect sound until they reboot.
And contrariwise, while for day-to-day wear I love my bluetooth over-ear headphones, my 'plane earphones' are wired Bose QC25s. Partly because in-ear provides superior noise canceling, partly because when I'm on that 5:30am flight I can lean my head against the side of the plane without upsetting my headphones, but mostly because if I drop my phone I can fish it back up with the headphone cable. :D
You don't have to accept wires to not have buds. There are 4 options:
1. Wireless buds
2. Wireless non-buds (some sort of wrap-around design to keep
them on)
3. Wired buds
4. Wired non-buds
I go with (2) personally, but mainly because Apple stopped me using wires. My main problem with bluetooth is that the headphones aren't loud enough (yeah you have to watch the line between loud and damaging but headphones are my opportunity to play music loud). Recommendations for loud wireless headphones appreciated!
I was a white happy owner of the Nokia BH-503 on-ear BT headphones. Sadly they just recently broke, I had them for like 10 years and.
My point is, that they just didn't have any of the problems you mention above (with the exception of random sampling frequency changes that changed pitch minimally, but noticable).
Sound quality was ok, I think it was one of the first A2DP headsets. Ok, for what it was mind you, my good over-ears are definitely better.
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.
> They fall out of my ears, no matter how “snug” they seem. This makes me only want to use them in places where I won’t lose them, e.g. at home but not out for a walk.
In this case wired is just another mode of failure as they will get loose if the cable is tensioned. If you are afraid of losing them you can use one with a wire between the buds (non-TWS).
I used ear buds for the first time in years today (nothing special, soundcore) and they'd be decent if not every single step I take while walking got transferred into my ears. It's quite loud and distracts from the music. This alone makes me buy over ear headphones...
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.
> Today I learned that for most people, even on HN, headphones means earbuds.
Yeah, I found that odd. I thought "headphones" very specifically referred to the type you wear on your head (hence the name?). I thought this was going to be about audio quality of headphones versus earbuds (wired or wireless). Instead it's just fashion works in cycles, what's old is new again, we're back to 2005 again etc.
Yeah i never get the love for air pods, maybe i just have weird ears but no earbud has ever fit my ear in anyway that I would be acceptable.
I have a pair of jabra active elite's that i use for working out/biking/doing crap outdoors and they are fantastic. Can't really think of a single complaint with them.
I can give pretty much the same anecdotes as you. The bulkier over-ear headphones seem to have no trouble with connectivity, brilliant battery life, and great sound. While every pair of in-ear headphones has had troubles. A lot of people I know have the fancy sony over-ear headphones and the issues they have had are very rare.
> I really only use earbuds for sport. In my opinion, that's what they are for.
People have different ears. People have different needs. Maybe if you talked to more people about why they used earbuds instead of headphones - you’d know that earbuds can be for anything.
Simple reasons like not wanting headphone hair are reason enough to not use headphones. Same for other aesthetic reasons. Personally, I am not a bigger user of earbuds either because I have small ear canals that don’t play nicely with most in-ears but I 100% understand why people would use them for more situations than headphones. I frequently wish I could use in-ears because I also wear glasses and overear headphones do not play nicely with my glasses. Again, so simple to think about as to why use earbuds over headphones…
I wondered the same. I grew up in the heights of the Discman era and everyone used In-Ear buds. After i got my first pair of over ear AKG, I just couldn't go back. And I am very happy with my Sony WH-1000XM4 for work/commute/just leave me be usage
I probably have that same Sennheiser Urbanite XL and I love it. It has micro-USB for charging and listenening, using the built-in DAC. It has 2.5mm audio jack with included headphone cable to 3.5mm. It has Bluetooth. And two big batteries inside.
I'm certainly an edge case, but I use only earbuds because I really hate the sensation of having things on my head. I can't even comfortably wear hats.
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 will still deteriorate after 2 years.
I dont know about current M1 MacBook, EarPod and HomePod, but Apple has a history of speaker being relatively easier blown out. But even then they last 4 - 5 years.
Again may be I am cheap. I expect these things to last a decade. I have often dream of a Wireless earphone where the long end part is a screwable battery.
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 pro is probbably my favourite headphones that I have. I use it 95% of the time
The only time I use wired headphones is if I need to use my amp when I really need/want to listen to the quality of something or if im using non apple os.
Wires are a pain in the a$% for me personally and ironically more fragile than my airpods pro. It's hard to move around with wires and they tangle a lot wether if im wearing them or not.
The airpods pro are small and you can have noice cancelling, transparency, and normal mode. The only downside is I have to charge them every 5~ hours.
They connect to my phone, and my 3 computers easily without unhooking the wires.
The only annoying thing about the airpods pro is that people don't know that i have something in my ear because my hair is long and I am listening to something. When they are trying to start a conversation I usually can't hear them.
The only time they fall out of my ears is if im cleaning the house cause im moving my head around too much. They don't even fall when I'm working out or running
The 1/8th inch RCA stereo jack is the best interface ever created. The fact that it's essentially unchanged from when this 44 year old used it in middle school is pretty good proof.
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 harder because I need to carry two things (case + headphones) most of the time instead of one. Given how low the battery life is, carrying the case is essential
In contrast, my wired headphones are 100x easier - i plug them in and they work. It takes less time than fiddling with bluetooth and they are 100% reliable.
I might be in the minority here, but wired headphones have always been a disaster for me.
I only buy wireless ones now, even though they're fraught with their own issues. It seems like there's always a tradeoff to be made, specifically regarding quality.
My biggest complaint has been the damage that I've always seem to have done to the headphone jacks of devices that I use. I'm not harsh on my devices, but I do tend to put my phone in my pocket and walk around with headphones on. And if it's not the headphone jack that gets destroyed, it's the cable; I went through ~5 different cables/earbuds when I was using the Shure SE215s.
Bluetooth headphones aren't great either. I have not lost a pair of headphones in years, but I've gone no more than 12 months without purchasing a new pair. This gets expensive when I also want my headphones to have active noise cancelling and sound reasonably good (I don't care about audiophile cans, because I wear my headphones primarily when I'm active). And don't even get me started on a pair that has a good (not even great) mic... I'd love to be able to have a phone conversation when walking through midtown Manhattan.
Military perspective. If you are wearing a helmet and running around all day there is aren't any products that will stay in your ears. On long marches it is normal for young soldiers to abandon any concept of headphones in favor of full speakers. They put one, sometimes two, speaker in the top of their pack and simply blast music for everyone around them to hear. The effect is the ultimate retro, harkening back to the days of ghettoblaste/boomboxes.
No mention of latency? I strongly prefer headphones wired for calls because they affect on lag is huge. Wireless headphones typically have more lag than the entire rest of the connection, usually 100 to 300ms.
I use a little Bluetooth to 3.5mm adapter and clip it on to my wired headphones. This one is the fiio ubtr which is nice and tiny tho a little more battery life would be nice. I designed my headphones to be 3D printed on a resin 3D printer and I wired them with a short cable going to a male 3.5mm jack. I can plug them in to a Bluetooth adapter or just use 3.5mm male to female extension to use them as wired headphones. I love the flexibility. I have photos and source files on GitHub here:
There is a newer design in the linked OnShape document which is smaller and uses two 3mm titanium rods for a headband. They’re really nice and they’ve been my daily headphones for what feels like a year now. I love knowing that no matter what breaks on them they can be repaired forever.
Even if they're not cool anymore, I hope they keep making them. I don't even mind buying a new pair every few years if the batteries get too worn out. I use them when I work out, I use them for zoom meetings, and sometimes even to listen to music :). I charge the case once in a while, probably every couple weeks, aside from that I rarely run the airpods themselves out of battery -- takes a few long zoom calls to do it, and then I just alternate ears if I need to.
Corded headphones at my desk use to make me so angry. Always tangling. And with earbuds, cord noise. I don't miss corded headphones.
I love my AirPods Pro because I can take them on a run with my Apple Watch and be able to listen to music + do guided runs without having to carry anything else. Glad I bought them just for that.
They suck otherwise. I have these wired earphones I bought 5 years ago for $99 that I use most of the rest of the time. They sound better, fit better, connect 100% reliably, and I don't have to worry about their batteries dying in the middle of something because they randomly decided not to charge last time I put them in the case.
I'd rather have no wires, but AirPods are a significant compromise to get rid of a wire...
I find it's rarely worth it. Only the one use case, actually. Same for the watch.
Yes, they aren't a novelty anymore, they don't screen from other people effectively, cheap clones are almost identical, too many people use them and the cool factor dropped, yadda yadda yadda.
...or maybe most users after some years realized the true costs of having non replaceable batteries.
Making them replaceable on the AirPods would be very easy; and a nice move that would also bring them some more customers including me, but apparently milking users to the last cent pays more.
I carry a set of wireless earbuds in my pockets 90% of the time. They still haven't replaced wired headphones for me, for two reasons: 1. Lag-free audio. Even if I didn't play videogames and need instant audio response, Windows makes no attempt whatsoever to compensate for audio lag. Android does a decent job when it comes to Youtube, but embedded videos on the web are still wildly out of sync. 2. Comfort. I've spent hundreds of dollars on various TWS earbuds and not a single one of them is comfortable when I'm laying on my side in bed. My wired buds are entirely comfortable that way. Oh and it's also quite annoying that you have to choose between wireless buds with physical buttons that hurt to push or ones with capacitive buttons that are liable to get triggered to start playing again after you take them out and put them in your pocket.
The idea a 3.5mm jack takes up a huge amount of space in a phone is so much bullshit.
If it had been up to me I would've rather removed Bluetooth functionality from phones rather than the headphone jack. Bluetooth never seems to work quite right and it'll probably forever be a security/privacy issue.
I would even take the audio jack over the front camera and Bluetooth both.
Airpods are throwaway products. After 1 year of active use, my 150€ AirPods offer only a mere 90min listening time. And if it is cold outside, it can go down to about 40mins.
> For disorganized types, corded headphones are easier to keep track of and needn’t be charged.
This is why I've never bought wireless headphones. You don't need to be disorganized to appreciate the convenience of not having to charge yet another device you want to use on the fly.
Why would I pay more for something that takes more mental bandwidth to use?
[+] [-] fuzxi|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] makecheck|4 years ago|reply
- 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 simply not as convenient as buttons on the wire. If I tap the thing in my ear, it tends to get shoved further into my ear and may still not register.
- They fall out of my ears, no matter how “snug” they seem. This makes me only want to use them in places where I won’t lose them, e.g. at home but not out for a walk.
Crucially, there isn’t a single problem above that occurs when using wires. The only inconvenience is that the default headphone wires are stupidly short (provided by a company that sells wireless buds, hmmm) but that is fixable.
[+] [-] derefr|4 years ago|reply
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, which just drops stale packets rather than trying to retransmit them. Drop enough packets in a row, and the carrier thinks the device has gone out of range and disconnects it (as the alternative would be boiling your battery by turning the antenna gain up to infinity, as sometimes happens when cellular baseband misbehaves while ranging.)
> Gestures and voice are simply not as convenient as buttons on the wire. If I tap the thing in my ear, it tends to get shoved further into my ear and may still not register
Have you tried the AirPods Pro where you squeeze the stems? They're essentially buttons.
> Crucially, there isn’t a single problem above that occurs when using wires.
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.
Or: try to change your shirt while keeping your headphones on + playing. (I know, unusual thing to do, but I've changed my shirt with wireless earbuds in without a thought.)
Or: get up and go to the bathroom, while continuing to listen to the livestream you're watching on the desktop PC sitting on your desk, without missing anything. (Provided I'm at home, I can usually get about 40 feet away from the Bluetooth source before my wireless headphones disconnect.)
[+] [-] atoav|4 years ago|reply
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 recording than others).
Additionally my on-the-road headphones (Sennheiser HD25) last for a decade now. If the cable ever should fail I can get a replacement. If the earpad is through I can get a replacement. The only problem recently is, that phone manufacturers decided they need to be stingy about adding a 3.5mm TRRS-jack.
[+] [-] hmrr|4 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] bradknowles|4 years ago|reply
I’m sorry to say it, but welcome to the future of wireless audio.
[+] [-] herbst|4 years ago|reply
I may be audiophile. But when I put a music on I want to get fully absorbed and hear every little detail while I don't worry about battery life. Sounds weird I know
[+] [-] jcims|4 years ago|reply
It would be nice if they all had Tile or similar tech, but if their batteries go dead just sitting there (super annoying thing about the bose) then it’s useless too.
(FWIW also tried the Sony wf1000-xm4s and hated them.)
[+] [-] ubermonkey|4 years ago|reply
I definitely found 3rd party Bluetooth headphones to be not worth the trouble early on, but since Apple introduced the AirPods I got tempted back to them. Either Bluetooth got a lot better or Apple's doing something clever (or both), because with the occasional "one pod didn't wake up; put it back in the case and take it out again" issue, they work perfectly for me.
I do still use corded headphones -- I'm an audio guy; I have a bunch -- but it's increasingly rare.
[+] [-] Ancapistani|4 years ago|reply
I was a fan of the originals, but bought the Pros shortly after they came out. I'm on my second pair now - the first pair came down with the dreaded "crackling" and Apple replaced them.
I find that they stay in my ears well enough that I regularly use them when driving my Jeep without doors, even when I'm not listening to music. They provide some level of reduction of the wind noise that I'm certain has been damaging my hearing in my left ear in particular.
[+] [-] mike_hock|4 years ago|reply
Wireless buds "solve" a non-issue while introducing real issues.
[+] [-] pfranz|4 years ago|reply
Ear fit sucks, is it worse with cordless headphones? Ear fit always comes up with earbuds, wireless or wired. I've heard individuals say wireless is better for them because there's no wire tugging on their ear. I'm surprised to see a lot of people walking around with over-the-ear headphones (I tend to use them at home or on a plane).
[+] [-] TheCapn|4 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] Kaibeezy|4 years ago|reply
Edge case: white noise generator.
I’ve been looking for a small, wired and preferably powered external speaker for travel to provide louder and better quality sound masking than the tiny speaker in the phone. There are a million little Bluetooth speakers out there but the random inverted hiccups (sudden silence then resume) wake me up every time. I’m sure it’s the Bluetooth because it doesn’t happen when I use the phone speaker.
I carry a 1st gen iPhone SE for wired audio, so I guess now it’s basically an iPod.
Edit: Well, looks like there’s some stuff on eBay I didn’t see in previous searches. Retro 2000s stuff. I can roll the dice for £5 plus shipping. Use case is still relevant.
[+] [-] ashtonkem|4 years ago|reply
I was originally very upset about Apple removing the headphone port, but after getting my first AirPods I basically stopped caring. They just worked so well, I never wanted wires again.
By the by, I had more headphones yanked out by door handles than I’ve had wireless buds fall out, but I’ll grant that the latter is strongly affected by individual ear geometry.
[+] [-] artificialLimbs|4 years ago|reply
Cons: mic volume is low, and when a device disconnects they will play disconnect sound until they reboot.
[+] [-] taneq|4 years ago|reply
And contrariwise, while for day-to-day wear I love my bluetooth over-ear headphones, my 'plane earphones' are wired Bose QC25s. Partly because in-ear provides superior noise canceling, partly because when I'm on that 5:30am flight I can lean my head against the side of the plane without upsetting my headphones, but mostly because if I drop my phone I can fish it back up with the headphone cable. :D
[+] [-] da39a3ee|4 years ago|reply
1. Wireless buds
2. Wireless non-buds (some sort of wrap-around design to keep them on)
3. Wired buds
4. Wired non-buds
I go with (2) personally, but mainly because Apple stopped me using wires. My main problem with bluetooth is that the headphones aren't loud enough (yeah you have to watch the line between loud and damaging but headphones are my opportunity to play music loud). Recommendations for loud wireless headphones appreciated!
[+] [-] fho|4 years ago|reply
My point is, that they just didn't have any of the problems you mention above (with the exception of random sampling frequency changes that changed pitch minimally, but noticable).
Sound quality was ok, I think it was one of the first A2DP headsets. Ok, for what it was mind you, my good over-ears are definitely better.
[+] [-] christophilus|4 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] lobocinza|4 years ago|reply
In this case wired is just another mode of failure as they will get loose if the cable is tensioned. If you are afraid of losing them you can use one with a wire between the buds (non-TWS).
[+] [-] ricardobeat|4 years ago|reply
> They fall out of my ears
Sounds like you don't have a good fit. Sealed buds should not have much room to 'go deeper' when properly seated.
> there isn’t a single problem above that occurs when using wires
These last two have nothing to do with wires, just the fit for a particular model?
[+] [-] dunefox|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zwaps|4 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] globular-toast|4 years ago|reply
Yeah, I found that odd. I thought "headphones" very specifically referred to the type you wear on your head (hence the name?). I thought this was going to be about audio quality of headphones versus earbuds (wired or wireless). Instead it's just fashion works in cycles, what's old is new again, we're back to 2005 again etc.
[+] [-] nullwarp|4 years ago|reply
I have a pair of jabra active elite's that i use for working out/biking/doing crap outdoors and they are fantastic. Can't really think of a single complaint with them.
[+] [-] ImaCake|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bradlys|4 years ago|reply
People have different ears. People have different needs. Maybe if you talked to more people about why they used earbuds instead of headphones - you’d know that earbuds can be for anything.
Simple reasons like not wanting headphone hair are reason enough to not use headphones. Same for other aesthetic reasons. Personally, I am not a bigger user of earbuds either because I have small ear canals that don’t play nicely with most in-ears but I 100% understand why people would use them for more situations than headphones. I frequently wish I could use in-ears because I also wear glasses and overear headphones do not play nicely with my glasses. Again, so simple to think about as to why use earbuds over headphones…
[+] [-] zwirbl|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sebazzz|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JohnFen|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] timeon|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ksec|4 years ago|reply
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 will still deteriorate after 2 years.
I dont know about current M1 MacBook, EarPod and HomePod, but Apple has a history of speaker being relatively easier blown out. But even then they last 4 - 5 years.
Again may be I am cheap. I expect these things to last a decade. I have often dream of a Wireless earphone where the long end part is a screwable battery.
[+] [-] kevindeasis|4 years ago|reply
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 pro is probbably my favourite headphones that I have. I use it 95% of the time
The only time I use wired headphones is if I need to use my amp when I really need/want to listen to the quality of something or if im using non apple os.
Wires are a pain in the a$% for me personally and ironically more fragile than my airpods pro. It's hard to move around with wires and they tangle a lot wether if im wearing them or not.
The airpods pro are small and you can have noice cancelling, transparency, and normal mode. The only downside is I have to charge them every 5~ hours.
They connect to my phone, and my 3 computers easily without unhooking the wires.
The only annoying thing about the airpods pro is that people don't know that i have something in my ear because my hair is long and I am listening to something. When they are trying to start a conversation I usually can't hear them.
The only time they fall out of my ears is if im cleaning the house cause im moving my head around too much. They don't even fall when I'm working out or running
[+] [-] arpa|4 years ago|reply
* 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
[+] [-] jrm4|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zaptheimpaler|4 years ago|reply
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 harder because I need to carry two things (case + headphones) most of the time instead of one. Given how low the battery life is, carrying the case is essential
In contrast, my wired headphones are 100x easier - i plug them in and they work. It takes less time than fiddling with bluetooth and they are 100% reliable.
[+] [-] secureleaf|4 years ago|reply
I only buy wireless ones now, even though they're fraught with their own issues. It seems like there's always a tradeoff to be made, specifically regarding quality.
My biggest complaint has been the damage that I've always seem to have done to the headphone jacks of devices that I use. I'm not harsh on my devices, but I do tend to put my phone in my pocket and walk around with headphones on. And if it's not the headphone jack that gets destroyed, it's the cable; I went through ~5 different cables/earbuds when I was using the Shure SE215s.
Bluetooth headphones aren't great either. I have not lost a pair of headphones in years, but I've gone no more than 12 months without purchasing a new pair. This gets expensive when I also want my headphones to have active noise cancelling and sound reasonably good (I don't care about audiophile cans, because I wear my headphones primarily when I'm active). And don't even get me started on a pair that has a good (not even great) mic... I'd love to be able to have a phone conversation when walking through midtown Manhattan.
[+] [-] sandworm101|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jefftk|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TaylorAlexander|4 years ago|reply
https://github.com/tlalexander/reboot-headphones
There is a newer design in the linked OnShape document which is smaller and uses two 3mm titanium rods for a headband. They’re really nice and they’ve been my daily headphones for what feels like a year now. I love knowing that no matter what breaks on them they can be repaired forever.
[+] [-] ddingus|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rootusrootus|4 years ago|reply
Corded headphones at my desk use to make me so angry. Always tangling. And with earbuds, cord noise. I don't miss corded headphones.
[+] [-] poink|4 years ago|reply
They suck otherwise. I have these wired earphones I bought 5 years ago for $99 that I use most of the rest of the time. They sound better, fit better, connect 100% reliably, and I don't have to worry about their batteries dying in the middle of something because they randomly decided not to charge last time I put them in the case.
I'd rather have no wires, but AirPods are a significant compromise to get rid of a wire...
I find it's rarely worth it. Only the one use case, actually. Same for the watch.
[+] [-] squarefoot|4 years ago|reply
...or maybe most users after some years realized the true costs of having non replaceable batteries. Making them replaceable on the AirPods would be very easy; and a nice move that would also bring them some more customers including me, but apparently milking users to the last cent pays more.
[+] [-] causi|4 years ago|reply
The idea a 3.5mm jack takes up a huge amount of space in a phone is so much bullshit.
[+] [-] Aerroon|4 years ago|reply
I would even take the audio jack over the front camera and Bluetooth both.
[+] [-] sdze|4 years ago|reply
I will never buy them again >:-/
[+] [-] fbelzile|4 years ago|reply
This is why I've never bought wireless headphones. You don't need to be disorganized to appreciate the convenience of not having to charge yet another device you want to use on the fly.
Why would I pay more for something that takes more mental bandwidth to use?
[+] [-] herbst|4 years ago|reply
- Quality is really subpar
- Battery is dying fast, charge often and throwaway product
- Comfort is relative
- most are already on their second or third pair
- Ear infections get more common
- BT still isn't perfect especially on busy places
- doesn't work too well outside of apples walled garden
- yet the majority likes them