Top
Best
New

Posted by billybuckwheat 3 days ago

Wired headphone sales are exploding(www.bbc.com)
408 points | 677 commentspage 7
deckplecksetter 3 days ago|
For me, using Bluetooth headphones with my (Samsung) phone is smooth and trouble-free. The experience is miles better than wired headphones, and I would never go back. Meanwhile, connecting to my TV with Bluetooth is an exercise in pure frustration.

So it seems to me like the problem isn't Bluetooth, it's shitty implementations of it.

And it's not just cheap devices. My TV is a fancy LG OLED. For the price I paid it should handle Bluetooth just fine.

It's a real shame. When Bluetooth works, it's awesome, but a lot of people have had their opinions tainted by bad devices.

mr_mitm 1 day ago||
Yeah, I'm reading these comments and I would have agreed 10 years ago, but I'm regularly using three different pairs of wireless headphones plus a Bluetooth speaker and have literally zero issues. My Bose headphones are usually even paired with two phones.

Yeah, charging is a bit annoying, but the added comfort is worth it to me and I can't tell that the audio quality is any different.

pier25 1 day ago|||
It's super inconsistent across devices and implementations. I've had so many issues with it over the years.

I've had headphones where a slight change in the environment around me while walking would disconnect audio. Or IEMs not syncing properly the L and R channels.

Even in the best of cases using headphones with multiple devices is just terrible. Also syncing audio to picture rarely works as it should.

olejorgenb 19 hours ago|||
> So it seems to me like the problem isn't Bluetooth, it's shitty implementations of it.

Perhaps, but it kinda seems to me that there must be some inherent limitation of the standard which make it particular hard to create a high-quality experience?

The latency for instance - in my (somewhat limited) experience audio over BT does not sync perfectly with video.

The channels/codecs is/was so limited in bandwidth that until recently (few years back IIRC) headsets couldn't even send and receive decent quality audio at the same time. Even recent headsets like the Shokz Openrun Pro 2 has this limitation. (Which you could argue is an instance of "shitty implementation" since it was released after the availability of necessary tech (LE/LC3))

ActorNightly 23 hours ago||
>So it seems to me like the problem isn't Bluetooth, it's shitty implementations of it.

Yep, but this is a problem that is present everywhere. For example, electric cars are supposed to be simpler, because its one moving part. In reality, you get essentially vertical integration of all the components like battery management, motor controllers, infotainment, gauge cluster and the software that connects all of that, and when bugs are present you can't even get into your car.

smetannik 12 hours ago||
Back in the day when I was in school, I wanted to learn how to solder, so I started fixing my classmates headphones.

This "service" ended up to be quite popular - broken headphone wires were a very common problem.

I think the average lifespan of wireless headphones is definitely longer than that of wired ones.

macleginn 9 hours ago||
With a 0$ Bluetooth-3.5mm jack dongle from AliExpress one can have best of both worlds, or at least continue using wired cans with a phone where the charging port stopped working.
antfarm 7 hours ago||
I love both my Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO and my Apple AirPods. They complement each other perfectly.
xantronix 12 hours ago||
Yes, this is a trend, but it doesn't seem like just a fad; a lot of people are choosing to return to "outmoded" things to embrace ritual and intentionality. As others have commented, it doesn't have to make sense to you; having options hurts nobody.
tintor 1 day ago||
Wired headphones just work, unlike the bluetooth ones.
calin2k 18 hours ago||
so many replies here on HN, this post also have the vibe of AI generate comments. medium-long format, try to cover too much of the pectrum, miss a punch line or a main idea. just my 2c
ramgine 15 hours ago||
I use wireless almost exclusively. ANC in the office is a must. I also know that a good pair of wired headphones will have way more fidelity than AirPods. But I do have some nice wired headphones and I pair them to my iPhone with the Fiio BTR5. It’s been a good mix of the two. I’m of the mindset to go back to an mp3 player and use the fiio to connect to my car Bluetooth
JensKnipper 15 hours ago|
FiiO is great to get the best of both worlds. Using IEMs with FiiO UTWS5.
Zigurd 15 hours ago||
I wonder how much of this has to do with the popularity of the MacBook Air and now, potentially, the Neo. My current desktop setup is a MacBook Air and a big 4K monitor. I considered getting an outboard DAC/amp for headphones but the headphone jack on the MacBook Air sounds pretty great to me through my mid-price Hifiman cans.
youknownothing 14 hours ago|
I wonder how much of the "it sounds better" argument is just a fashionable make-believe, like the gold-plated HDMI cables that, for the most part, don't really make a difference but somehow people believed it does.

Or like people who think that brown-shell eggs are better quality than white-shell eggs.

slicktux 14 hours ago|
CD audio quality is the best…specially with wired headphones

https://youtu.be/cIQ9IXSUzuM

More comments...