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Intel pushes USB Type-C as headphone jack's successor
- Thread starter chadskin
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infinityBCRT
Member
hopefully phones that switch to this are smart enough to have a way to allow you to hook up a charger and earphones at the same time out of the box.
If that is resolved, I'm not opposed to everything going to USB Type C. Why not just have every device use the same connector? Gives you flexibility with what you can do with your ports, and it is much more compact than traditional connections.
If that is resolved, I'm not opposed to everything going to USB Type C. Why not just have every device use the same connector? Gives you flexibility with what you can do with your ports, and it is much more compact than traditional connections.
Lil'DigiOp
Member
Nope every piece of music equipment worth a damn uses Aux 3.5
Damn it, just trying to fuck everything up and make me invest in pointless overpriced adapters
Damn it, just trying to fuck everything up and make me invest in pointless overpriced adapters
Via Purifico
Banned
Yeah this shit pisses me off, it's change just for the sake of change.
Most of the time we change ports it's not because it's broken but that it's less functional.
If the phone could support digital OR analog via the Type C port, does that mean we'll get headphones that may or MAY NOT have their own DAC in them? Would this potentially create a situation where a customer unknowingly buys headphones meant for Type C Analog, but find out later their phone only supports Type C Digital?
GoldenEye 007
Member
So how would you charge and listen on headphones at the same time? And instead of being able to rely on the audio internals of the core device, you're now having to consider DACs and other things per headphone? In addition to the speaker quality itself?
PumpkinSpice
Banned
Fuck this, you can take my 3.5mm jack from my cold dead hands.
And is this the real reason this is being pushed:
So it's really just a DRM play?
And is this the real reason this is being pushed:
So it's really just a DRM play?
Yeah, there's an argument here that accompanying the analogue feed with a digital connection would allow for better headset controls that would work across all platforms. Would be neat.
The Faceless Master
Member
Bboy AJ was right all along
ColtraineGF
Member
Don't forget to bold this part
I'm sure this is the most relevant portion to certain parties who will push this new tech.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
I'd like to keep using my headphones w/o a cumbersome adapter.
MultiCore
Member
Yes, this is exactly what I read out of this.
I forsee needing to have a Type C DAC in front of my Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser headphones in the future.... Grr. The theoretical upside is it could be a better DAC/amp than is usually shipped in consumer devices.
-shadow-
Member
Which in this case is probably solely for the benefit of companies because of the HDCP. I doubt the consumers will have actual any benefits. But we'll see what the future holds.
USB-C is less functional than the standard headphone jack.
GoldenEye 007
Member
Is this still a thing in "piracy?" People using 3.5mm jacks to output audio to copy songs for mass pirate distribution?
Company involved in licensing USB C wants you to use licensed cables
Also I can 100% guarantee you you're not going to get analog through that cable unless both devices are fully licensed, because likely there will be a requirement that a device can't send audio down the analog wire unless both devices confirm the HDCP handshake.
Also I can 100% guarantee you you're not going to get analog through that cable unless both devices are fully licensed, because likely there will be a requirement that a device can't send audio down the analog wire unless both devices confirm the HDCP handshake.
MultiCore
Member
Lol, I can't even imagine for a second anyone doing this.
Correct. Nice for people that want this bs, but bs for still everyone else. *sigh*
Never ever thought about the DRM, but... this is for sure the real reason.
Yeah, this is a bizarre complaint to have, both in the companies pushing it and people complaining about it. What legitimate consumer use case would be affected by this?
A USB-C port can do a lot more than a 3.5mm jack. Fast data & power in addition to audio.
teruterubozu
Member
Yup, no way this will happen across the board. Musicians hate change in their gear.
BronsonLee
Member
I hope your brief brush with Goldberg taught you humility!
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Oh joy, I look forward to intermittent pairing issues
I believe this to be more forward thinking. Moving to streaming music, less physical releases, the industry don't want the port to be susceptible to this. Either way, shit sucks.
StarCreator
Member
I'm all for it - 3.5mm should have gone away as an audio standard a long time ago. It's the largest single connector on a modern phone that exists for no reason other than people digging their feet in the sand and being unwilling to switch to something more efficient. Finally doing away with it would be a huge boon to design flexibility and we might see some real progress.
I personally went Bluetooth audio instead of wired but USB-C is fine too. Especially if you can charge and pipe audio at the same time (which was possible with previous audio over USB implementations, so I don't see why it wouldn't be here too).
I personally went Bluetooth audio instead of wired but USB-C is fine too. Especially if you can charge and pipe audio at the same time (which was possible with previous audio over USB implementations, so I don't see why it wouldn't be here too).
PulseONE
Member
Some of the potential benefits of it doesn't really outweigh the complete pain that having all of my current headphones and audio devices suddenly becoming incompatible would bring
Only way this would work is if you had BOTH on a phone and only phase out the headphone jack over time IF it takes off
Only way this would work is if you had BOTH on a phone and only phase out the headphone jack over time IF it takes off
In what way? USB-C can do way more that headphone jack does and ever will.
The fact that you own headphones using jack doesn't mean that companies will make equipment with that port forever, when a better port has been made.
Mammoth Jones
Member
If only the next iphone supported usb-c. I love apple but hate lightening.
Yup. I went wireless a while ago and it's definitely more of a hassle to have to remember to charge my headphones every night.
Also people forget the bugs and or issues that occur or can occur with wireless headphones. Random cut out of audio. Or audio just not coming through until you reboot the phone....etc. Every now and then I get these issues. Not just one bad headset or phone as it happens across devices.
Yup. I went wireless a while ago and it's definitely more of a hassle to have to remember to charge my headphones every night.
Also people forget the bugs and or issues that occur or can occur with wireless headphones. Random cut out of audio. Or audio just not coming through until you reboot the phone....etc. Every now and then I get these issues. Not just one bad headset or phone as it happens across devices.
Using an unlicensed DAC or amplifier
How does USB-C help enhance audio?
What the fuck are you even talking about. No, I mean it, literally everything you said here is the opposite of the truth.
3.5 exists because it works.
UnemployedVillain
Member
Are phone manufactures going to start including a second USB C port then?? They do realize going from headphone jack + USB to JUST 1 USB is not an improvement, right?
also, consider intel makes a load of usb chipsets and would have everything to gain by selling more of them
Push more audio data and override the DAC with a higher quality one, although the first case is only to be useful with very high end audio equipment, like ~$1000+.
Push more audio data and override the DAC with a higher quality one, although the first case is only to be useful with very high end audio equipment, like ~$1000+.
Jack Remington
Banned
Why does the headphone jack need a successor?
Naked greed. There's no other actual reason. 3.5 will always work great, and if people really want to use other kinds of headphones they can. But forcing everyone to buy new, wildly overpriced headphones is a lot more profitable.
You going to put anything to back that up?
I see several. Firstly, is the choice between external and internal DACs. External DACs can support higher quality sound at the cost of being bigger and weightier but can also reduce device cost by offloading it to peripherals. Since it seems like it can support analog you can also keep the DAC internal to the device, just have a different adaptor plug, this may have use with something like a software-defined DAC.
Another is power. USB now supports bidirectional power so you can say charge a wireless set of headphones while using them (best of both worlds wired/wireless) or have larger audio equipment charge players/computers while in use.
Another is scale. This would presumably let even mobile devices output the highest end home theater quality audio and you could change the type and bandwidth to match the outputs attached (save data on crappy earbuds).
Another is peripheral support. You could incorporate a compass and gyrometer into a set of headphones easily and make a static sound stage. Great for games and other immersive experiences (think VR minus the visuals). This can also open up things like path finding applications using just audio. Intel themselves have a prototype for earbuds that read your heart rate. It just makes sense to stack functionality into headphones just like we do with other mobile devices.
*rabble*device size*rabble*
There's of course self-serving reasons to adopt too but it's super disingenuous to suppose there is no reason.
it is audiophile's wet dream
24bit 9000000hz without a DA converter that cause quantum jitter
This is exactly the opposite of that. They will use analog audio, only with USB-C instead of a jack connector. This could mean that an adapter will only be three pieces of wire instead of having an integrated DAC.
But outside of phones having two usb-C ports, I don't like it.
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