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Courage, indeed.
And this is why I’m currently typing my comment on an iPhone 6S...
For myself, I'm sticking with an older phone and IEMs with replaceable cables. Super happy with it because I'm OK with the tradeoff of dealing with the wire instead of dealing with batteries and replacements every 2-3 years. So sure, Apple has made some profit off of wireless buds. But they could make even more profit by adding a headphone jack and allowing folks who want wireless buds to use them. (no, dongles and lightning headphones do not solve this issue -- I want to be able to use the same connector for all my devices, and I want to be able to use it while charging) At least add it to the SE, for Pete's sake.
How would this generate more profit for Apple?
What are you talking about? Is someone stopping you from using wired earbuds?
Something like this: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/headphones-bluetooth-momentum-f...
and then put it directly into their mouth right (airpods are the perfect choking size)? Yeah, i can totally see the need to have them attached together in that situation. heh what is it about toddlers that makes them constantly try to kill themselves.
Now he's older and when he gets hold of them he tries to put them in his ear rather than his mouth. I've been cutting down on wearing them when I'm around him anyway, since he's copying everything now.
These hooks are a much better solution: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089B5T9L7?psc=1 Despite their flimsiness, they have not failed on me once while running, etc.
Both of these "solutions" have the obnoxious problem of needing to be removed to charge the airpod. The Powerbeats Pro has built in hooks that are nice and sturdy, but the case is obnoxiously massive compared to the airpods case.
My problem is that I must have freakishly small ear canals, because neither of these earbuds actually fit into my ears - despite trying nearly every aftermarket replacement eartip.
The Shokz openrun pro doesn't need to go into my ear and kinda works, but the sound quality sucks for music and the head loop protrudes from the back of my head and isn't adjustable.
Over ear headphones don't work with hats or bike helmets, so those are only good sometimes.
My next step is to pay $150(!!) for a custom piece of silicon to attach to the airpods (which will still have to come on and off for charging): https://www.adv-sound.com/products/eartune-fidelity-custom-f...
I guess I could pay $500 for these: https://www.adv-sound.com/products/m5-tws-custom
Or maybe I could get surgery to enlarge my ear canal (haha)
If anyone reading this has any better advice, I'm all ears (hahaha) Sigh -
My only gripe with them is that the quality is way lower than even fairly cheap normal ear buds, so I mostly use them for podcasts and books.
Should be mentioned though, for the price the music quality is worse than what you'd get with other devices. It reminds me of a higher quality phone speaker. Definitely not bad compared to some headphones I've used, but it's not amazing. Hasn't been an issue for me though, I happily use them when working. Voice audio sounds perfectly fine. IMO you get them for the other benefits, not because they're the best sounding thing on the market.
> Aftershokz Aeropex, silly name aside, is a decent product that gets you a Bluetooth device you can wear all day without losing
Make sure if you get bone induction headphones that you test them out in louder environments before running or getting them dirty. For me, I had to turn them up so high when outside with normal street noise that they gave me a pretty terrible headache.
You have to be really careful doing that. It's very easy to screw up your ears with bone conduction headphones if you try to drown out background noise by increasing the volume.
I have fumbled with the 3s while trying to remove them while walking. I think it’s the stem and how light they are.
They even have the H1 chip and all of the quick pairing/built-in Apple magic that Airpods do.
Still, the OP's complaints are valid. But when they work, which is most of the time, they're great. Surprisingly (but not insanely) great.
It's a really great exercise, and pretty good training for rowing crew (though it's not quite like the real thing).
It's surprising how little of a hassle headphone cables can be - I understand that the market is going elsewhere but I've stuck with wired and couldn't be more content. This does have the side effect that I've been soft locked out of Apple phones though, so I switched over to Android devices.
Plus the annoying telephonics that the wires cause was enough for me to finally buy wireless earbuds. Yes, I can try to route the wire under my shirt. Yes, I can try to wrap the wires around my ears to cut down on the telephonics. But all that is more hassle than dealing with Bluetooth.
I used to jerk my wired earbuds out of the jack all the time.
I haven’t tried running with my AirPods yet, as I feared they would eventually fall out.
Did they ever fall out? Only a small portion of the time. Half the time I noticed it and caught them.
Was the idea of them falling out stressful? Hell yeah. Nothing like a $50+ bud to stress the hell out of you when you're trying to get a run in and it just will. not. sit. in. your. ear. correctly. Add sweat to the equation and things get messy quick. And the fact that in some places, like public transit, you have a good chance of losing the bud forever if it falls out.
I am much happier with the IEMs I've been using for a half a year or so now. They hook over my ears optionally, so they're never really in danger of falling out and I never have to mess with them. And they're wired to me anyway even if they do fall.
I used to run with Bluetooth over-ear headphones, which was great in winter, and, uh, less great in summer (the foam would get completely soaked and foul-smelling).
The ear supports on the Pixel Buds are pretty secure, though, I expect it to be OK, especially at my pace.
While I’m up and moving around, or relaxing on my bed watching something on my iPad with a cat that has an inclination to chew on cables? AirPods/Bluetooth.
On another hand, I've a pair of Bose wireless headphones for close to 6 years now. Battery is still good enough for 2+ hours of workout.
edit: lol, an instant downvote - didn't realize I was on Reddit. It was at best a suggestion for when you have to get by with cabled headphones. I'm not on some holy war.
I have an older pair of JBL E55, which are about 50% cheaper than yours, and on a modern phone they sound slightly better on wire than on wireless, presumably because their internal DAC is mediocre.
> From https://9to5mac.com/2021/12/30/apple-airpods-bluetooth-limit...
> One of the most notable comments in the interview came from Geaves when asked whether Bluetooth could be “holding back” the AirPods hardware and “stifling sound quality. In his response, Geaves danced around criticizing Bluetooth directly, but acknowledged that Apple would really like a wireless standard that allows for more bandwidth.
Courage, indeed.
And this is why I am not even typing this. I’m just imagining things, because it’s free and good for the environment.
For outside, I actually find wireless headphones to sound better for three main reasons:
- Better fit. Proper fit is essential for good sound and I rarely get a good fit on wired in-ears due to the constant pull on the cord.
- Microphonics (cable rubbing noise). Microphonics is very obvious and annoying. It is far more obvious than for example the difference between AAC and lossless. Audiophile reviewers hardly ever evaluate microphonics, because they test under ideal conditions behind their desk. Cable noise is not considered part of the driver's sound signature, but in real life it has a huge impact of what comes in your ear.
- Noise cancelling. Music sounds better without bus engine sounds.
That's nothing to do with wireless though?
I'm a bit of a convert to (Anker .. 'SoundCore P2' I think) wireless earphones (AirPod style, not sports-style-round-back-of-neck), but for ages I used noise cancelling wired earphones, with a little Bluetooth receiver when I wanted them wireless that I thought was the best of both worlds. I now think no wire at all is nicer though. (But probably not if I had to pay Apple prices! These Anker ones were £30.)
The disadvantages of the bluetooth is by far outweighed by the wireless advantage. The mobility, flexibility and convenience of no tangles and accidental wire pulling and causing phone to drop - all worth it.
And wireless UX is only going to get better. Wired is dead.
You can thread the wired headphone/IEM cord under your shirt, or even over your ear and down your back [0] to prevent tangles and wire pulling that causes a phone to drop.
It's less convenient than wireless earphones, but it solves the problem, and comes with advantages (better noise isolation and sound quality with certain models, plus you don't need to worry about the batteries degrading and having to buy a new pair after possibly 2-3 years, so you save money). I'm considering switching back to wired after my current AirPods pair dies for these advantages.
>Wired is dead
Not at all. You can get high-quality, professional earphones (in-ear monitors or IEMs) that fit in a pouch in your pocket, which are great for people in loud environments (better than noise cancelling due to their noise isolation); who appreciate music (sound quality is noticeably better for any genre); or who do professional audio work.
— They never deafen me with connected/disconnected sounds (which can never be configured quiet enough) or music briefly playing at insane volume after switching or connecting.
— I know I get the source quality.
— I would never lose one randomly (always a chance with “true wireless” models).
— I don’t get weird phased low-frequency rumble from active noise compensation gone wonky.
— Most of all, their passive noise suppression with Shure’s black sleeves, depending on exact noise profile either beats or is on par with top-of-the-line active isolation (both according to rtings’ test benches and my subjective experience), and does not end when battery runs out inevitably at the most inconvenient time.
Addendum: 1) I connect them via a tiny Ikko Zerda DAC, which I started using way back when I still had a phone with a headphone jack (this is subjective, but with lossless sources I hear more detail—as in literally small instrument parts I didn’t hear before in complex arrangements—compared to built-in DAC). 2) I generally pass the wire under the top layer of clothing, and personally taking an earbud out and letting it dangle is about as difficult as switching on the transparent mode on AirPods (and without audio degradation inherent to such modes).
For as long as we both live, manufacturers will make wired headphones, and people will buy them. Latency and quality might not be important to the casual user, but for some wired headphones and speakers will be, and will always be, essential.
And it Just Works. Although my Mac has a tendency to switch back to my speakers (also bluetooth) after ~15 minutes without my input, that's really annoying. Might have to do with the speakers turning themselves off?
So, what you're saying is, it doesn't just work!
I promise I’m not trying to be sassy! This is exactly the type of issue I always run into with wireless audio, and basically never experience with wired headphones. I hate these types of little, persistent annoyances.
I don't like wires either, to be clear, but I think they're a small price to pay for their reliability.
Obviously the airpods are great for a great number of people, and I bought them too. I think it's safe to say Apple made good tradeoffs for their business. I ended up switching back to heaphones with a wired option and then switching phones to get a headphone jack because the dongle annoyed me enough. I am very much in a minority - don't get me wrong, apple will not miss my business. But that they lost it should be a conscious decision as "this won't work for everyone, but it will work for most people really well by default" - not, "when people are ready for it they will see the light". The former forces you to acknowledge and quantify who it won't work for when finding product market fit, and the later assumes you don't need to do that.
There are two situations where earbuds are far more convenient:
Getting ready in the morning - I can put the earbuds in once I'm out of the shower and dried off and listen to a podcast. They don't get in the way of getting dressed, moving around etc.. This is just not workable with wired headphones and my partner has already started work so I can't use a speaker, and even if I could I'm moving between different rooms and floors of the house.
Driving - getting headphones out of your pocket, untangling them and putting them in is basically impossible to do (safely) while driving. But earbuds are never tangled I can just open the case and put them in all while my eyes never leave the road. Means I can make phonecalls or listen to stuff easily and safely. This is a particular case of them just being quicker and easier to put in than wired earbuds - no having to thread it down your jumper just because you want to watch a 5 minute YouTube video.
I remember early consumer wi- fi was just garbage compared to wired and… we still used it happily.
Granted sometimes we go back… my cars Bluetooth is so maddening I use a cable instead.
I said above that wired headphones have infinite battery life. I suppose I could say the same about a desktop computer versus a laptop, but I don't think that would be fair.
> the cheap USB C adapter
I have to ask, what kind of internet speeds do you have where even a cheap wired adapter can't beat it? That's pretty incredible.
edit: Oh, and to themselves. Knotted up cords leading to wires failing caused more than one set of mine to only work in one ear.
- Cables would get cluttered in my clothes
- Cables would eventually all break at one point
- The cables were a mess in a any jacket / bag
- The microphone was making weird sounds when they hit my face and and people would complain
- etc.
Of course, I'm also baffled about how everyone I know and hear about seems to be unable to keep their macbook power cable from self-destructing, and I just keep accumulating them because they never die. My favorite one is still a MagSafe 1 from, I think, 2012.
[edit: in retrospect, perhaps the fact that I have a "favorite" power cable is some kind of red flag. Re-evaluating my life...]
I misplaced my AirPods for a bit a while ago and switched to wired headphones and couldn’t believe I had put up with it for years before I got AirPods.
I've ended up using the FiiO UTWS5 (over ear bluetooth hooks that connect via standard IEM connectors) + Moondrop Katos, the setup is sublime. Fantastic sound quality, very reliable and great battery life with no faf and can fit it in my pocket.
If you still want wired, the Apple dongle actually has a DAC/amp that is regarded surprisingly highly in the audiophile headphone community. Just remember to charge your phone.
I think most of the mainstream options for wireless stuff will make hi-fi enjoyers miserable, you just have to look at something a bit more interesting.
The only disadvantage is you don't get so much of the supporting features. Ambient mode isn't great, there's no ANC (I don't really care about these things), and it doesn't have the fancy pair-switching integrated stuff, so wouldn't be great if you switch between laptop and phone.
But for audio, we've reached a point where it is absolutely excellent.
There are issues with wireless headphones, but they also solve a lot of genuine problems with wired ones.
That being said, I use my Airpod Pros almost all the time, because I'm hooked on wireless and being able to stand up and walk around, etc.
I ended up with a pair and turns out wireless headphones were a giant QOL improvement. I can run around do chores while my computer/phone charges upstairs and listen to music at the same time. I'd never use earbuds though, I absolutely can't stand anything inside my ear canal.
I still want my phone/computer to have a headphone jack in it, and mine does.
With my Airpods Pro, my original pair are working great, no breakages, amazing for working out with, no cable to get tangled. I love them.
I think I’m going to buy 3 of those adapters and leave them where I use my headphones. What a waste.
Wireless changing helps the charge while listening though, so that’s a plus.
And realistically, it's not that significant to just buy an adapter and keep it permanently affixed to your headphones. Will be better if/when apple fully moves off of lightning to usb-c but I have found that when I want a high fidelity experience w/ music I'm more likely to be sitting and plugged in anyways.
And you know what's a major annoyance right? Untangling wired headphones.
I do have a nostalgic feelings for the iPhone 4s and headphones. I wish there were products out there that excited me in the same way my first iPhone did.
The problem is that I’d have to unplug that adapter to use my headphones with a device other than my phone, including other Apple devices like my Macbook. I would subsequently loose the adapter, guaranteed.
If the world could agree to use USB-C for everything, that might work, but Apple—who started this mess—is a prime holdout there.
if i'm on the laptop, by the time i take five paces away the sound quality on bluetooth is so bad it's basically unusable anyway
However, the life of the cable was a few months at best in my experience.
The wires loop back behind my ears so they don't get pulled out easily, the wires have yet to short out, and they are replaceable in case I ever want or need to replace them. I almost always use them with my phone, so the USB-C-to-3.5mm dongle that came with my phone is typically attached to the end.
I don't mean to shill for this or any other brand in particular, but I'm pretty sure there are several affordable, decent quality earbuds/IEMs out there with replaceable cables.
And I can buy a lot of $17 wired earbuds for the price of one set of AirPods. At my rate of failure, literally a lifetime supply.
Getting them caught on door handles, mostly.
I agree with you to an overwhelming degree. I also had an iPhone 6S until about a year ago and I have to say the upgrade to the iNext Pro was pretty underwhelming in many, if not most ways when objectively evaluated.
I have also had AirPods for however long they have been out and even though I would agree with the rebuttal to your point that many other BT headphones are notably even more glitchy, I also paid about 5 times less for some of them that work almost just as well in most ways and aspects.
There seems to be an odd kind of self-delusion going on where somehow whatever is new, is assumed to not only also be better, but significantly better, when if one just takes a first principles approach to evaluating that proposition, at best you find marginal or incremental improvement of diminishing returns.
The 6S was released over 6 years ago, is it even doubly as good, let alone exponentially more capable? There is a huge hurdle in overcoming the reality that the answer is no.
There is all this lamenting about sustainability and environment this and climate change that, but for some reason, e.g., an old Apple device (picking on them because I believe they are the highest standard bar) cannot perform as well due to simple UI and UX changes?
There is seriously something wrong with the whole matrix and I have not been able to get any kind of satisfactory answer as to why, e.g., an old 1st (or 2nd) gen iPad Air all the sudden cannot perform †h same simple, core tasks it performed exceedingly well when it was new, that being loading safari and less than demanding website like HN.
What has changed in the 9 years since the 1st gen iPad Air came out that all the sudden browsing is now an extremely demanding task on the device? It seems like intentional and fraudulent designed obsolescence. Where are the environmentally concerned drawing attention to this like I am?
Just imagine if your car got updates every year, and then you find that 9 years later all the sudden the same engine has 100 less horsepower and can't get up a moderately sized hill anymore. That's not suspect to anyone else?
Again, I would love for someone to explain how I am wrong, that I cannot expect a product I buy to retain the same performance for the same actions/tasks when nothing else has changed. Does the CPU age and die off?
We should all be demanding that a device must retain its performance in all aspects of the original function. Everything else is fraud. Please for anyone compelled to, refrain from your "you don't know how it works" comments, that is not the case, nor helpful, and rather blind to reality.
I hope we never go back to those days. That constant struggle with the wires, having to take the phone with you, too short wire for desktop usage, the wire getting in the way when moving/jogging, etc...
You can get aux adapters for newer iphones for around $10 - great for when you can’t find your airpods
Note that it also causes a problem that bugs me daily, which is that I can't use my headset when my power is low and I need to plug my phone in. They make those little "splitter" dongles that allegedly allow you to do both, but in my experience, they only work about 50% of the time, and while you're on your call, your phone secretly stops charging and goes dead, or sometimes the moment you plug it in, it puts up an alert that says "unsupported device" and neither the power nor the headset work at all. I've tried three or four different brands on three different iPhones and they're all so flaky I've stopped even trying. I wish Apple would just make one and stand behind the quality and make me pay $10 for it. I'd be grumpy about it, but at least it would work.
That's true, but only because they used your device's battery.
It takes more power for your phone to drive headphones than it does to transmit a bluetooth signal. This is not such a big issue any more since recent phones have crazy long battery life as do recent bluetooth headphones. In 2017 it was a bigger issue.
...are you sure? And, is that still true even once you consider the extra encoding the phone’s CPU has to do?
I was under the impression that conventional 3.55mm jacks output exceedingly little power...
These days it really don't matter. Phone have ample battery capacity.
Ironically, with the loss of the 2.5mm jack power has a greater chance to be an issue, since your headphones and power have to occupy the same jack.
