Is a headphone jack essential to you or just something you like complaining about?

Psycho Sonny · 29 Aug 2019 at 15:03

Gornall said:
Picked myself up a pair of Jabra 65T Elites to go with the new Note 10+. Honestly, I was apprehensive at first but now I'm already wondering why I took so long to swap over.

I use them for work, commute and the Gym. I do a lot of bag/boxing work at the Gym and not once have I lost one.

I already have XM3's the sony headphone and I'm personally looking at their in ears but they are around £220 iirc. i was looking at the jabra's too but tbh i'd never be happy and eventually go for the sony's anyway so i'm willing to wait and just get the sonys eventually so i just wanted a cheap stop gap. only cost me £30 so i'm happy to pay that in the short term.

cost is an issue as well as longevity. the battery will go and then you will need to buy another pair. wired just works forever and never needs charging, etc. i see the appeal for both. for the gym i agree i would want wireless. everywhere else not so much of an issue unless you are clumsy.

Things change I've changed · 29 Aug 2019 at 17:25

Psycho Sonny said:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/fao-anyone-with-a-sony-mobile-phone.18862808/

i also just ordered a sony sbh-24 for £30 from sony so i should get another.

This looks like a good device, can't see if it supports APTX though?

Psycho Sonny · 29 Aug 2019 at 22:21

Things change I've changed said:
This looks like a good device, can't see if it supports APTX though?

Its made by Sony and their 3rd version (3rd gen) of such devices so I'd expect it to be decent it's rrp is £50 but currently £20 off today when I checked 3 days ago it was £50 so I'd expect it to be decent for that money. Sony make brilliant devices by mistake sometimes. I remember the ps1 was better than some CD players costing £2000 for playing music cds using the rca out cables.

Same thing with these iems Sony have made end game iems for £5 it's crazy.

SexyGreyFox · 29 Aug 2019 at 23:18

After a year of using bluetooth headphones I won't be bothered if my next phone has no jack socket.

NVP · 30 Aug 2019 at 01:02

NVP said:
Is Bose the way to go then or do byerdynamics or whoever's do them now too?

Recommendations of decent wireless buds please people

After many a review and video I've come to the conclusion that there is not one set of wireless buds with a decent microphone. Not one with the sound quality I could conference call on rendering them all pointless.

If that isn't a necessity to you then the Sennheiser Momentum appear to be best but no qi case - solvable via third party solutions, but most likely will be included in the next revision so possibly worth waiting for that.

robj20 · 30 Aug 2019 at 05:49

I'm not surprised so many people don't mind wireless. See so many people that as long as the sound comes out of the headphones they're happy with no regard for quality, probably be happy with mono as well.
Its happened to video as well, people over the moon streaming in low quality.
Makes me feel sad that people that strive for high quality media are a dying breed.

SexyGreyFox · 30 Aug 2019 at 18:41

I have a proper DAP with £280 Fidue in-ears but the sound quality from my Moto G6 Plus > Poweramp > JBL E25BT's is excellent, obviously not as good as the former equipment but still good enough to please me and I like it LOUD.
I have asked other people who I've called if they could hear me clearly and all have said yes.

Psycho Sonny · 31 Aug 2019 at 10:39

robj20 said:
I'm not surprised so many people don't mind wireless. See so many people that as long as the sound comes out of the headphones they're happy with no regard for quality, probably be happy with mono as well.
Its happened to video as well, people over the moon streaming in low quality.
Makes me feel sad that people that strive for high quality media are a dying breed.

its the same with everything.

you get people posting i want a 55" 4K tv brand new for less than £450 in home cinema section with good picture quality. that isn't possible. then they say wow my no name tv is excellent very pleased with it. when the picture quality will be crap.

the majority of people just don't care. they eat at mc donalds, listen to low quality compressed streams and watch stuff on dvd.

neoboy · 31 Aug 2019 at 10:45

I remember being very polite and just nodding along when a friend of mine got a Polaroid TV and boasting about how great it looks, thing couldn't even use Netflix smoothly

FishLicker · 31 Aug 2019 at 11:26

Just because something is wireless doesn’t automatically make it rubbish. That seems to be a common theme now, but I have a pair of £20 Anker bluetooth headphones that sound as good as any cheap wired earbuds I’ve had. And my B&W P7s are good regardless of wired or not, and in reality the main issue it has to contend with isn’t the wireless factor but the fact they’re closed back.

Gornall · 2 Sep 2019 at 08:44

Psycho Sonny said:
I already have XM3's the sony headphone and I'm personally looking at their in ears but they are around £220 iirc. i was looking at the jabra's too but tbh i'd never be happy and eventually go for the sony's anyway so i'm willing to wait and just get the sonys eventually so i just wanted a cheap stop gap. only cost me £30 so i'm happy to pay that in the short term.

cost is an issue as well as longevity. the battery will go and then you will need to buy another pair. wired just works forever and never needs charging, etc. i see the appeal for both. for the gym i agree i would want wireless. everywhere else not so much of an issue unless you are clumsy.

I destroy wired earphones, forever having the cables give out on me so I expect the battery of the wireless buds to outlast the cables for me 100%.

Usually get 6 months out of the wired at most.

Shocky-FM · 2 Sep 2019 at 16:13

My wired headphones usually last 2-3 years and I spend upwards of £80+ usually.

So for me, it's essential. I'd be too scared of wireless earphones falling out of my ear, plus charging them would be a pain.

How much would it even cost for wireless headphones with the same quality as wired at that price? probably quite a bit more. Plus I wouldn't want a mic attached, so that would limit my options.

robj20 · 2 Sep 2019 at 16:38

Gornall said:
I destroy wired earphones, forever having the cables give out on me so I expect the battery of the wireless buds to outlast the cables for me 100%.

Usually get 6 months out of the wired at most.

That's why on decent headphones the cable is separate. Though the original cable on mine is still going strong after many years.

Yaayuh! · 2 Sep 2019 at 16:45

11 years old my cable, still good. If it goes wrong, I can easily replace for £16.37.

NorthstaNder · 3 Sep 2019 at 08:01

Got wireless headphones so not fussed about having a headphone jack. Although my current phone does have one, I never use it.

ttaskmaster · 3 Sep 2019 at 11:26

robj20 · 3 Sep 2019 at 11:30

ttaskmaster said:
Having tried numerous setups done by various fussy audiophiles, using music files that I knew like the back of my hand (because they're recordings of me actually playing) I generally find 'high quality' sound to be warm and rich and vibrant and subtle and full of tone and all the other wibble they spout, as if they were sampling a fine wine... and yet it never sounded as raw and realistic as the live sound did, whereas the cheap kit from Maplins would often do a better job of that.
I mean, the HQ was very nice and all, but it just sounded as fake as a fashion model photo looks.

All equipment had its attributes it's up to the listener to adjust those to get the correct sound or the sound they want.
I have so many presets for different music and different volumes.

Junglist · 3 Sep 2019 at 13:39

Psycho Sonny said:
I already have XM3's the sony headphone and I'm personally looking at their in ears but they are around £220 iirc.

Good luck with that! I've been trying to find some for a week or so now. Amazon had long lead times and I've got mailing requests with Currys and John Lewis. I'm desperate to get them as having just 1 working AirPod really sucks

Psycho Sonny · 3 Sep 2019 at 13:52

JunglistE said:
Good luck with that! I've been trying to find some for a week or so now. Amazon had long lead times and I've got mailing requests with Currys and John Lewis. I'm desperate to get them as having just 1 working AirPod really sucks

got my sony sbh24 today so i don't care. these will do me for now. depending how this fares i might just stick with these.

Rroff · 3 Sep 2019 at 13:52

ttaskmaster said:
Having tried numerous setups done by various fussy audiophiles, using music files that I knew like the back of my hand (because they're recordings of me actually playing) I generally find 'high quality' sound to be warm and rich and vibrant and subtle and full of tone and all the other wibble they spout, as if they were sampling a fine wine... and yet it never sounded as raw and realistic as the live sound did, whereas the cheap kit from Maplins would often do a better job of that.
I mean, the HQ was very nice and all, but it just sounded as fake as a fashion model photo looks.

Real high quality audio equipment, which is as close as possible to transparent, will usually "sound" slightly raw. Equipment that sounds "warm" generally has some degree of distortion going on - not necessarily un-pleasing from a listening perspective but is degraded from the original signal.