[Publius_Enigma]

I’ve used both wired and wireless headphones and earbuds for about the past ten years. I really enjoy many aspects of wireless earbuds, one of which principally is that I don’t need to carry a player on my person, and cords can easily get in the way of mundane tasks.

However, I will no longer invest in high-quality (and expensive) wireless headphones and earbuds, and have been investing more heavily in wired sets.

One of the key reasons is they many wireless products do not have easily replaceable batteries, let alone other spares, on what is ostensibly a consumable component. I had a pair of expensive Bowers and Wilkins wireless headphones where the battery had degraded to uselessness after five years, only to be advised they were irreparable. The cost of ownership equated to $200 a year, which is definitely in luxury territory.

Other reasons drive me back to wired headphones too. They are more readily interoperable. I can use them with musical instruments, computers, analogue stereo systems. I am not constrained to using them with the amplifier embedded with them. There is no latency, which is a huge problem with Bluetooth headphones for music. They don’t succumb to wireless interference. And I don’t need to navigate the minefield of codec compatibility (SBC/LC3/AptX/AptX HD/AAC/LDAC). I also don’t need to charge them constantly.

I appreciated the article’s author taking the time to document their observations of how wireless listening, and the convenience it supposedly brings, on changing the way we consume music - and other societal impacts - on top of the technical implications too.