Laevateinn
Member
There's a stopgap (i.e. the adapter). In the meantime, a billion people will eventually upgrade their headphones and when they do a headphone with a 3.5 mm connection won't be available to them.
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Headphone companies: no headphone jack, no problem
- Thread starter rezuth
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There's a stopgap (i.e. the adapter). In the meantime, a billion people will eventually upgrade their headphones and when they do a headphone with a 3.5 mm connection won't be available to them.
ClosingADoor
Member
So you go from a standard to everyone doing something else. That's not a good thing.
Do people just throw out a quality pair of headphones when the pads start to go bad?
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
This seems like such a weird non-issue. The phone comes with an adapter in the box. For no extra cost you can plug in any existing headphones you own plus any headphones you can go out and buy.
It's not like the headphone adapter is $150 and sold separately.
It's not like the headphone adapter is $150 and sold separately.
Digital won't ever surpass nor be equal to analog audio. It's just not how physics work.
Except it's not an adapter. It's a digital to analog converter, and an amp. And a garbage one, at that.
shhh we don't need logic in this thread!!
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Yeah, I'm sure we'll see Lightning ports on Android phones in no time.
It's not a weird non-issue, it's a big issue for the vast majority of people and the adapter being shit doesn't help anything. They are taking an important port out for what? nothing other than to sell wireless headphones that don't sound any better than 3.5 headphones.
"logic"
Again, not an adapter, it's not logic. It's a bad DAC and amp.
Warm Machine
Member
The audio solution for wireless quality is to have the headphones have onboard memory with the capacity to hold a good number of songs. What you play is streamed to onboard memory instead of a simple mimic of what is immediately coming out of the phone. You might have a play delay of one second or so but it'll be as good as whatever data is resident on the device. They would only dump song data when necessary. Anything you play more often would be available and retained in memory.
That's an absolutely atrocious way of doing anything, and absolutely not at all how it should be done, and further doesn't pertain to the point I made. The problem is that when the data is digital, it has to be converted. Inside your headphones. And amplified. Where there's magnetic fields and shit. They induce electricity, which worsens bass dampening, cross-talk and distortion. It's a horrible place for a key component.
They also know the adapter cost them millions in blutooth sales.
I've replaced parts on my analog headphones, typically they need new pads or new cords every few years. High-end sets have this, not all of them do, sometimes you need to throw the whole thing out, or you upgrade. It's not new to the world of headphones. Most people buy with the expectation that things don't last forever. But even this is a limited statement since most just use what's cheap or free.
This is a bit of a weird statement. I mean yes in the sense that all audio has to be pressure waves in the air for people to hear it, but the longer you keep everything digital in the pipeline the less degradation you're going to get. There's a lot more room for a DAC in an over-ear headset then there is in a ultra-slim phone.
people go through phones faster than they go through headphones
I don't see Grado doing anything except maybe throwing in an adapter, or selling one separately, for their headphones. If there's one thing that company's made incredibly clear: They make their headphones one way, and they're going to continue to make them one way.
(I don't have a problem with this, I love my 325s.
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(I don't have a problem with this, I love my 325s.
)Brianimaniac
Banned
I already switched to Bluetooth because the shitty cords on wired earbuds wear out a couple times a year. They're totally disposable.
I still think it's moronic to take out the headphone jack, but wireless headphones wearing out is not the reason.
Worrying about the DAC and amp in a device that's holding, for the vast majority of users, obviously compressed music, seems a bit needless.
brotherbean
Member
The more I think about this whole thing the more ok I find myself becoming with it. Or at the very least, the harder I am finding it to be outraged over it. If this forces better bluetooth/wireless technology then I'm all for it, and I think only a company as ingrained into society as Apple and their iPhone could pull that off. They do something drastic, everyone else scrambles to accommodate the massive user base.
Of course they pull a mint on selling Lightning to 3.5 adapters in the meantime, and I don't see Beats suffering at all in the coming years.
Of course they pull a mint on selling Lightning to 3.5 adapters in the meantime, and I don't see Beats suffering at all in the coming years.
Except previously it supported a wider range of users and now it only supports those that like obviously compressed music.
People have been trying to significantly improve battery technology for years, without much success. Wireless headphones won't be the technology to push that.
well no.. goes from 1/8" phono, to digital audio. That it's Apple and "everyone else on USB" is how it's always been.
this doesn't change any of that.
a) music on the phone is still compressed (unless you are storing your own music)
b) the DAC issue in this thread if being way overblown. The DAC being used is the same DAC that has been used (internal to the phone). And removing the 1/8" port does nothing because......... it was still already using that same DAC.
The REAL DAC issue, is that there is currently no way (yet?) to output a digital audio signal from the phone to a pre-amp, but the removal of the port does nothing to hurt that, and may even do something to help it (maybe)
ClosingADoor
Member
Yes, and that's not a good thing for consumers.
makingmusic476
Member
Am I misreading that sentence, or it suggesting that Lightning ports will eventually be ubiquitous?
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
And at much higher prices.
Aeriscloud
Banned
Holy shit, relax. Samsung will save us all. (Or blow us up trying.)
you're misreading. it's poor wording. what they REALLY mean is that there are close to half a billion lightning devices out there. Hardly scarce. However the term ubiquitous is poor as there are many times more (billions) micro-USB devices out there.
Dreams-Visions
Member
This. Even better really. With headphones that need batteries you have headphones that won't last for 20 years without needing to be fixed. More sales opportunities. They should be ecstatic.
But how long will Apple make 3.5mm adapters? If their goal is a wireless future like they said, wouldn't they try and kill off lightning itself as soon as they got the chance?
Only way I could see that happening is due to people flocking to it for water resistance. People loved the iPhone 6 and 6+ so much because Apple finally made a big phone.
I think the people looking for audiophile grade sound sourced from a cell phone are fairly few in number. Most of us do that sort of listening from home.
maquiladora
Member
I'll sleep soundly tonight knowing that these companies are happy with the decision made by a larger company.
IPhone is huge in the market and if we start getting headphones with lightning as standard and a 3.5mm adapter in the box, that would be bloody annoying.
Jeronimo Jones
Member
Why would they have a problem with it? They can sell them at a higher price than their standard headphones to a captive audience. "Everyone" "wins".
This fucking right here
yongeandcollege
Member
I don't mind Bluetooth, in fact it's really nice when I'm doing chores. But not every thing I have uses Bluetooth and I also like to be plugged in most of the time. That means I would need special headphones for my iPhone and other headphones for everything else. I'm not gonna do that. So I'm going android next time I'm up for a phone. Just got a 6s a couple months ago so I should be good for a while.
Edit: also not going to carry a stupid adapter around with me
Edit: also not going to carry a stupid adapter around with me
Aeriscloud
Banned
Tell us more oh lord of corporate apologists.
I have wired headphones.
My next pair of headphones will be wired.
I'll use the adaptor if I want to listen to music on my phone.
If I lose the adaptor I will purchase a new one for $9.
I don't think I will lose it. I manage to make it through life without losing most things.
My next pair of headphones will be wired.
I'll use the adaptor if I want to listen to music on my phone.
If I lose the adaptor I will purchase a new one for $9.
I don't think I will lose it. I manage to make it through life without losing most things.
Tallshortman
Member
Lol did you think they would not produce new headphones they can sell you?
Shit is a greedy ass cash grab and consumer unfriendly. No one cares what headphone manufacturers think since of course they'll sell you some shitty blutooth headphones.
Shit is a greedy ass cash grab and consumer unfriendly. No one cares what headphone manufacturers think since of course they'll sell you some shitty blutooth headphones.
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