Wired headphone sales are exploding

An alternative to a wired dongle is a high-quality bluetooth amp, e.g. from Fiio. It's reliable, keeps your phone free from cables, but you can keep using your high quality wired headphones.

I got a pair of AirPods Pro, paid for by a past employer, and it's the only Apple product I like. I'd even give some of my own money to Apple if I had to buy another pair.

When I'm wearing wired earbuds, the feeling of getting the cord caught on something and having the earbuds violently yanked from my ears is one of the most annoying things, like a slap in the face.

Plus I like being able to put my phone wherever I want, when I'm listening to podcasts while doing yard work. The phone stays in the house, or on a patio table, not in my pocket where pruning shears or dirt will get to it.

There are various other situations where having wires going to my ears is annoying or impossible.

Backlash is probably wrong. There was some hype around wireless technology, but that always fades eventually. You can see this in other electronics like "smart" home appliances: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/01/half-of-smart-applia...

It seemed cool, people bought it, and then eventually many realized they didn't care about the fancy feature(s).

Are Google one of the last holdouts ?

I've been on cheap Android phones and just moved from Samsung to Motorola and both have headphones sockets.

It's simple, I can buy some IEMs that sound better, cost less than a third of a barely-even-comparable wireless earbud, and roughly conforms to market standards so I can swap out the cable and tips. And I never have to charge them.

I have a pair of Airpod Pros that I use solely for audiobooks and podcasts when I'm doing chores or shopping, but the audio quality is so garbage that's all they're really good for.

Except on the go, I don’t see the point for Bluetooth headphones. Due to the built in batteries that are uneconomical to replace they are essentially consumables, even high end ones like AirPods Max. Pairing and (re) connecting is a never ending pain. For less than $200 you can get a set of wired open back headphones that sound so good that unless you are in the audiophile niche they are your forever headphones. Models like Beyer Dynamic DT990 are built to last and very repairable, it just makes sense.

Every phone has a Type-C port, so why aren't headphone manufacturers following the trend?

here's hoping that someday headphones without pressure (e.g. active/passive noise cancelling) will make a comeback, too. But then again I think there still exist cheap wired ones without such "advanced" technology. As one woman in the article said best: "'I don't like how this feels' and we're all kind of returning to the last place we were comfortable."

This article makes an elephant out of a fly. The explonation is much simpler...

The microphone and communication protocols on Bluetooth is shit. Everyone that talks alot on the phone knows that the microphone one a wired headset is sooo much better than Bluetooth, simple as that. You hear better and they hear you better. That is it

Every blue tooth audio thing I've had sucked... and then stopped working altogether.

My daily headphones are the Google Pixel USB-C earbuds, but they seem to be no longer made. Anyone have good recommendations for similar style USB-C headphones w/mic?

The drivers or whatever can influence the wireless experience a lot. Apple has the best bluetooth reliability of any manufacturer I've experienced. I can be out in a field next to my house and somehow the half-asleep laptop finds my headphones instantly unless I remember to switch its bluetooth off. On my windows machine sometimes, for seemingly no reason, you will be left standing around waiting and waiting for it to find the device right next to it.

The convenience of being able to get up and walk around the house, or got out with the phone without wires getting caught makes it worthwhile though. On the other hand for stationary peripherals like mice I would never go wireless. I hate that feeling of complete helplessness to the pairing/connection lottery and the time waste of it.

If they want to take them away, they'll have to rip my Sennheiser HD600 from my skull.

Legendary for their neutral, correct and pleasant sound, comfort, effectively forever durability, and being affordable to boot.

I can plug them to current or 40 year old hardware, and they do work. I use them with Topping DX3 Pro+[0] today.

It is no wonder they want us to instead adopt something active, crippled with bluetooth latency and dependent on lossy codecs, with a non-serviceable battery built-in.

0. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/t...

For me it's cost. I used to be able to get those JVC gummy earbuds wired, for nine dollars. Now I have to spend upwards of $20 for Bluetooth. And of course, when the battery can't be recharged anymore, I'm supposed to throw them away. Much prefer the wired headphones. Sometimes Bluetooth makes sense, But economically wired makes more sense.

Tldr: that's a fashion trend. Couldn't care less.

Personally I use wired headphone at home, either open back or closed back depending on the situation and Bluetooth outside when I don't want to be bothered by a cable.

I think it gets the best of both worlds. Couldn't care less if I look 'cheap' because I have Bluetooth headphone.

I like my EarPods, except that the wires keep tangling up. T for that I want to try those zipper hacks

They have a good mic and fit properly.

AirPods, nope nope nope. I could throw them away after one year and the multi device “dream” s was a nightmare.

I still have my HD580, but I don’t want to have the big cups on anymore

Because it's a freaking pain to connect them, obviously! In my experience they work well enough once you have, but consider the experience of "plugging them into a different device".

Barely any devices support being paired with more than one central. So you have to tediously disconnect with the first device in some shitty menu (e.g. on Android the UI is not at all clear), then maybe put it into pairing mode (again usually though some terrible UI because manufacturers think pairing is a rare operation) and then finally pair it on the other device.

Absolutely ridiculous. Oh and what's the Bluetooth equivalent of a headphone splitter? Auracast? It's taken decades to get that and basically nothing supports it.

I do use Bluetooth things and I think the sound quality and reliability can be very good (if you're lucky), but the connection process is miles worse than plugging in a wire.

There's a much simpler explanation. I regularly see boomers with wireless "earpod" type earphones out and about. They're not cool any more.

Fashion is fickle and it's best to not pay any attention to it. Choose the right tool for the job. Sometimes wireless is better, like when running, sometimes wired is better, like doing serious listening in a quiet environment.

It's fashionable. Some famous people have been seen with visible wires, therefore everyone needs wires.

All these arguments here about technological superiority are quaint but miss the point. People in the wider world don't have the same concerns the people of HN have here, they're following icons.

As soon as they started talking about celebrities and it being a fashion statement they lost me on this being a real resurgence.

For about a month we had videos of people getting in fist fights over fucking Stanley tumblers of all things, those stupid Labubus popped off too, and God knows how many other things come and go in like a month. Unless theirs a sustained long term resurgence in the market, it's probably just another tiktok fad.

There are two tiers of bluetooth devices. There are the Apple and Samsung devices (and Bose and other high-end brands), which just work. Then there are the rest, which are terrible.

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Wired headphones is the style these days.