Audio for air travel

bazzabear

bazzabear

bazzabear

Soldato
Joined
2 Nov 2013
Posts
4,239
Going to Florida later this year.
I got some Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds recently to make the travel more bearable - and have belatedly realised my mistake: That I won't be able to connect these to the airplanes entertainment system!

Is there a decent solution for using your good quality headphones with the airplane's systems? Will something like this work well?


Or am I overthinking, and the crappy headphones they supply on the flight are fine?
 
I’ve seen people use them on long hauls, presume they work fine. Even the best airlines have limited and often heavily censored entertainment though. Best bet is taking your iPad or tablet on board and watch downloaded stuff off Netflix. Solves everything. You also won’t be pestered by the announcements coming through.
 
Vandle said:
I’ve seen people use them on long hauls, presume they work fine. Even the best airlines have limited and often heavily censored entertainment though. Best bet is taking your iPad or tablet on board and watch downloaded stuff off Netflix. Solves everything. You also won’t be pestered by the announcements coming through.
Click to expand...
Cheers. I don't have a tablet though, and don't want to be watching on a iPhone screen for 8 hours!
 
I actually dont have an answer to your problem re hooking up the wireless earbuds to the planes system but I will say that if you are doing longhaul, noise cancelling phones of any type are a must in my opinion.
I fly lots to Manila in the Philippines and Shanghai for work (80+ trips to China and counting!) and would never travel these days without my trusty Bose Quiet comfort 20's (in ear wired, but I just checked out of curiosity and Bose seem to have discontinued them). That reduction in noise, the constant drone muted helps your fatigue at the end of the flght and also means you are able to sleep a little easier. I also have the over ear ones 45's I think but prefer the in ears mainly because they are less in the way when using a neck cushion and trying to sleep, I also fnd the Bose very comfortable, could easily wear them the whole 15 hours when you could still get direct flights to Manila.

Oh and last time I flew Virgin it was a single 3.5mm.
 
Last edited:
I concur about noise cancelling being essential. This maybe completely irrelevant for you but I'd also recommend headphones rather than earphones.

I've got a pair of bose QC25, I've had them for probably 10 year and they never miss a beat. They have the adaptor in them for all planes and have an extra slot for a spare battery. I can easily do a flight to australia on one battery. Awesome bit of it.

My issue was when apple upgraded to no port, i had the lightening to jack and now i have had to get USB-C to port but they live happily in the case so it's always there for when I need them.
 
I'm a bit reluctant to throw the money at another pair of headphones, given I already have the excellent earbuds. Not that I'm denying being tempted! :D

That's why I'm asking for any experience of the bluetooth transmitters.
 
I picked up some Bose QC SE the other week as was getting fed up with my old QC20 ear buds and my AirPod pros, and how I find myself constantly fiddling with them to get the fit right.

The SE is a weird one, basically they are QC45s but come with a soft case instead of the regular case. But they are a lot cheaper.

Can be used wirelessly or plug the cable in to use wired.

Battery on them also very good, had a work trip last week and used them a lot and still got half the charge left.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom