Corded headphones are making an unexpected return
Summary of thread - you can&#x27;t keep everyone happy, and for some people there&#x27;s no such thing as non-replaceable battery or broken cables if they have a soldering iron. The variety of things to complain about is greater with wireless.<p>Wires (+)<p>- Connection more reliable<p>- Sound quality consistent and stable (this is non-negotiable for some who won&#x27;t buy a phone without an analog jack)<p>- Buttons on wire are convenient<p>- No battery worries<p>- Better audio &quot;resolution&quot;, can hear more details (but theoretically wireless should be able to match &quot;Harman target&quot;), no compression<p>- Can replace cable, earpads if it fails (modular, good value Sennheiser HD25 has easy to replace parts - cable, earpad - and lasts &gt;10 years; some manufacturers do not add 3.5mm TRRS jack)<p>- Clear which device is connected<p>- Simple and easy to understand<p>- Harder to lose<p>- Can use amp or USB DAC for sound quality<p>- Supported by decades worth of devices<p>- Better for environment as less disposable and repairable<p>- 1&#x2F;8&quot; RCA stereo jack is &quot;best interface ever&quot; (but ground connects last, plugging in may cause jumbled connections and shorts, and noises - bad with amps and speakers - partial plugging in possible, unbalanced signals; pros prefer XLR or heavy-duty cables such as Speakon, and TS&#x2F;TRS cables only for patch cables such as guitar to amp; newer equipment uses audio over ethernet &#x2F; Dante)<p>- Can convert to bluetooth with an adapter (e.g. fiio ubtr, although has less battery life) or 3d print a converter for flexibility<p>- Cheaper<p>Wires (-)<p>- Default headphone wires are short (but fixable)<p>- Headphone wire must be removed before taking off a shoulder-strap bag or shirt (can route under shirt or bag, but takes more time to put on or off and may yank wire if looking at phone so need slack in pocket)<p>- Tethered to source<p>- Taking off a face mask &#x2F; shoulder-strap bag or passing a doorknob or exercising may tear headphones out of ears and damage them (need to treat wired headphones as consumable)<p>- Might tangle e.g. with keys in pocket, or if walking or running and putting things in and out of pocket (folding wire may help although some people thinks it damages wire; better wire materials may help)<p>- Some wired headphones are earbuds, so might be affected by issues people note for wireless earbuds<p>- Wires and ports may be fragile (may be able to solder to fix)<p>- Wires may crackle if not held in the right angle (although most headphones now come with replaceable cables, 2.5mm jack in headphone end)<p>- Annoying carrying cables<p>- May have cord noise<p>Wireless (+)<p>- Can change shoulder-strap bag or top without taking off headphones<p>- Portability: listen away from source (e.g. bathroom, up to ~40ft at home)<p>- Audio is fine in general (Airpods 2nd gen)<p>- For some (e.g. AirPods 2nd gen) no connection issues and good switching between phone and iPad (but auto-switching is not always wanted such as with an interval timer; sometimes connects to the wrong device)<p>- Bluetooth problems mostly solved in AirPods and Beats lines)<p>- Can help with hearing protection (e.g. reducing wind noise, especially on a motorcycle)<p>- Note that wireless headphones aren&#x27;t necessarily earbuds (may have wrap-around design, although over-the-ear may hurt for glasses wearers), so some earbud issues are not necessarily linked to wireless; so longer battery life and can plug in if needed (so some people just use earbuds for sport)<p>- AirPods noise cancellation increases apparent loudness (also have transparency, normal mode; this is not necessarily just for wireless though)<p>- Not reliant on an analog jack (more device choice, one less part to fail)<p>- May be &quot;cool&quot; (but too popular so maybe &quot;uncool&quot;)<p>- Convenient when moving around e.g. working out<p>Wireless (-)<p>- Don&#x27;t connect, or only one connects, or randomly disconnect (possibly interference especially in crowded areas but not issue for everyone)<p>- Connection speed can be slow (varied experiences)<p>- Might connect to wrong device<p>- Sounds sometimes glitches out randomly (e.g. by large diesel generator), may have internal noise&#x2F;audible hiss<p>- Bluetooth protocol - just drops stale packets, and enough dropped packets disconnects<p>- Earbuds fall out of some people&#x27;s ears, so only use in &quot;safe&quot; places such as at home not outside (some people find OK for 5k run, may need better fit, and not necessarily a wireless only problem; more a problem if moving head a lot)<p>- Gestures and voice inconvenient without buttons as tapping just pushes into ear without registering (but AirPods Pro have buttons on stems and some use Siri&#x2F;watch&#x2F;phone instead of gestures; can also use device with wire between earbuds with controls and bluetooth transmitter)<p>- Batteries are inconvenient as need to be charged and get worse over time (can use one and swap to charge while using; maybe could have replaceable batteries - this is a HN obsession, can just resolder as cheap wholesale; wireless charging and case helps, USB-C headphones help too if used with USB-C computer)<p>- Latency (~200ms) means not good for pro audio or games or music or video (although some software may compensate e.g. YouTube)<p>- Bluetooth is not as quick to connect as DECT (e.g. Jabra DECT wireless headset suitable for all-day in call centre)<p>- Bluetooth is a complicated protocol with error correction and lots of failure points (software, hardware, bluetooth controller, protocol, medium, codecs) and not everything support bluetooth<p>- Easy to lose (would be good if had a way to wirelessly locate)<p>- Sometimes computer doesn&#x27;t connect on bluetooth, especially on Linux and when using with mic or not<p>- Some models don&#x27;t connect while charging (but wireless headphones can be temporarily wired)<p>- Other people may talk to you without realising you are wearing them if you have long hair, or think you&#x27;re talking to yourself<p>- Bluetooth has lossy, pyschoacoustic compression (may cut out at low volumes to save battery), codec may be worse when using microphone as well (but not for all models)<p>- Worse for environment as finite lifetime with Li-ion battery<p>- Annoying carrying case (but needed for battery life)<p>- Expensive (but cheap clones may be OK, some say replacing every 3 years is good value for how much they use)<p>- Microphone can be bad<p>- May be security&#x2F;privacy issue<p>- May be uncomfortable on your side<p>- Possible ear infections (as prevents ears from naturally clearing)<p>- Some complain volume not high enough<p>- May be heavier and bulkier<p>Speaker (+)<p>- If you&#x27;re in the military and headphones will fall off, so just share music with a boombox<p>Individual models<p>- Sennheiser PX100 for good quality sound outside not driving as doesn&#x27;t isolate from surroundings<p>- Sennheiser HD220s for radio and TV on tablet or phone late at night<p>- Sennheiser HD485s for music<p>- Bose QuietComforts (case is annoyingly big, but charges quickly)<p>- Bose SoundSports have wire between earbuds which clip to collar so hard to lose; also charge fast<p>- Galaxy Buds+ had bad battery after a year<p>- AirPods 150 Eur with 90min listening time after 1 year of use, 40 minutes in cold<p>- AirPod Pros (need to replace if has &quot;crackling&quot;), falls out for some not others, may be better with Apple devices, AirPods Pro take 5 hours to charge<p>- Nokia BH-503 on-ear bluetooth headphones lasted 10 years (minimal problems except slight pitch changes, OK sound quality but not as good as over-ears, one of first A2DP headsets)<p>- DT770 have bad non-replaceable cables (although can modify with a miniXLR socket), but may not be updated<p>- DT 700 Pro X (Beyerdynamics successor to DT770) has replaceable cords<p>- Shure SE215 in-ear headphones have detachable MMCX cables for 100 Euros<p>- Wireless Sennheiser (over-ear headphones) great audio (vs. old wired HD25), last 20 hours, plug into USB, headphone jack, bluetooth - mitigates battery issues<p>- Sony over-ear headphones have few isues<p>- Sennheiser wireless earbuds don&#x27;t suck<p>- Sony WF-1000XM4 can pair multiple devices so don&#x27;t need to disconnct then reconect e.g. phone and laptop<p>- Sony WF-1000XM3 &quot;good&quot; wireless headphones but connect to wrong device, low battery life, OK sound quality, bad voice quality on calls, one will turn on but not the other, buttons too sensitive e.g. if wearing hood or rainy&#x2F;windy days, poor pairing; some people have good experience with this vs. AirPod Pros, but plug in XM3 for lossless music<p>- Sony WF-1000XM2s similar issues to XM3 but worse<p>- Sony WF-1000XM (first gen) very reliable with android but nothing else, very bad pairing<p>- Sony WH-1000X (headphones, not earbuds) - good audio, battery charge once a week, pairing perfect, comfortable all afternoon, but microphone low quality codec<p>- Bose QC45 has good quality codec even with microphone<p>- Apple Beats Fit Pro similar to AirPods Pro but has wingtip to keep in ear<p>- Bose QC15 had replaceable batteries (2009-2015)<p>- Beyerdynamics studio headphones last 16 years with replaced cords<p>- Apply corded EarPod microhpone sounds very good