>In a sea of 3D audio products and true-wireless earbuds, USB Type-C headphones were nowhere in sight at CES 2019.
>This absence isn’t an accident, however. Rather, it’s the deafening silence of an abandoned product category. While many looked to USB-C audio as the successor to the famed physical port, the available models aren’t catching on, and they don’t seem to be going anywhere. Their absence at CES 2019 doesn’t paint a rosy picture of their future, either. As my college professor used to say, “Sometimes what isn’t seen speaks more about a work than what is.”
>USB Type-C headphones generally just aren’t good headphones. End of story. Between the horrifically messy software and horrendously painful hardware — looking at you, Google Pixel USB earbuds — it seems odd to opt for shoddy USB Type-C headphones when cheaper, better wireless options exist.
>If you don’t believe me, Google the term “USB-C headphones,” and see who tops the page. The SoundGuys have been covering that beat since the beginning, and the results never really got to a good place. Between objective testing and relaxing the definition of “good” a bit, the audio review site just hasn’t been able to find a credible challenger to Bluetooth or analog headphones.
compatibility problems arise when manufacturers doesn't do like apple do and require strict specification on peripherals. if this great innovation, usb-c headphones dies, it's androidfags fault.
Joseph Anderson
Thing is if you don't want a 3.5mm you get a bluetooth headset
Matthew Edwards
Only niggers use BT
Josiah Peterson
I hope Bluetooth will adopt some specification that adds a way to instantly pair devices with NFC. Part of the reason why the blowback against companies removing headphone jacks is so strong is because there really isn't anything quite as convenient as the ease of simply plug-and-playing a pair of wired headphones. Sure, Bluetooth is wireless, but for many people, the inconvenience of a wire is far less than the inconvenience of the pairing process.
Luis Martin
Gee, maybe people just want to use the standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
William Nguyen
I'm white and I exclusively use bt headphones Also straight and not beta
Cooper Sullivan
My only USB-C audio is B&O DAC originaly for LG G5 I got cheap from fire sale
Thomas Thomas
>USB-C is a mess. More at 11. No shit, sherlock. Why on earth would anyone invest in a new technology when the standard itself is so messy?
Alexander Gutierrez
holy fucking shit dso these retards not realize Bluetooth absolute fucks your audio quality. make some fucking usb c headphones or fucking bring back the headphone jack then what the fuck
Ryder James
Who would have thought?
Parker Turner
You're a honorary nigger then.
William Davis
Headphones, sure, nobody will buy stuff like that for a single device they own just because the plug is the same.
On the other hand, I recently got an Audient id44 interface for my home studio, which uses USB-C for connectivity, so it plugs directly into my Macbook Pro, and is class compliant so it even works on my new iPad Pro with every audio app on there. Amazing studio quality hardware, flexible USB-C connectivity. I can definitely imagine all the pro audio trade shows this year will be full of USB-C hardware.
I've always prefered dealing with analog audio over digital. There is no delay that you get with digital setups. No matter how complex the setup, a delay in analog is difficult to get although if you get one is also difficult to fix. Since it's so common on digital, they often have methods to correct the delay built in. The 4 pin 3.5mm goes into my phone.
Fuck, my Nokia N9 did that 7 years ago. Sony Android phones also started doing that YEARS before Apple. But NFC on iOS is crippled and NFC doesn't ship inside most Android phones, so nobody makes earbuds supporting NFC pairing (except Sony). 3.5mm forever.
Dylan Richardson
You are deaf then.
Matthew Foster
>proprietary garbage good
Brandon Thompson
Charging 169 quid or however much they cost and making them only work with Apple products isn't solving the problem that the other Apple trend of removing the jack created the problem in the wider industry. Bluetooth is common. NFC is relatively common. Both could be used to create a wide range of NFC pairabke accessories of all price range and types.
Also I'm not sure how Apple's solution plays with multiple devices. I would love to stick an NFC-ready BT dongle on my computer, and NFC-enabled adapter onto my Superluxes, and just swap between my two devices on a whim. Ideally NFC pairing would be more than simply automating the pairing process, but would automatically disconnect other devices and connect to a device you tap it to, treating them essentially like a wireless headphones plug.
Fug. The technology is so close yet so far, ignored by people who'd rather sell a BT headset to people rather than pioneer what could be a legitimately compelling future for audio connectivity
Asher Hughes
>inconvenience of the pairing process >what are reduced audio quality and cancerous battery management
Henry Watson
> Sure, Bluetooth is wireless, but for many people, the inconvenience of a wire is far less than the inconvenience of the pairing process.
The inconvenience of charging yet another device is far more than the inconvenience of wired headphones.
Faggot.
Brayden Garcia
Why you ditch 3.5mm for USB-C? The entire point is to go all wireless.
Gavin White
iOS has opened up NFC recently, pairing is possible if the manufacturer's implement it. There are a few headphones with NFC pairing too, but I'm not really seeing use for it other than added cost? You pair once, that's it. NFC is more convenient but manually pairing takes all of 10 seconds and you'll never have to do it again for that device.
Adam Thompson
Wireless audio is for NPCs.
Andrew Smith
this
Ian Wright
But... There are already products like this. I recently bought a Sony SRS xb10, a wireless speaker, and I can just tap my phone against the nfc logo on the thing and it connects, don't even have to turn the speaker on
Adrian Bailey
What a load of shit.
>>USB Type-C headphones generally just aren’t good headphones. End of story. There's absolutely nothing stopping anyone from producing great sounding USB-C headphones.
Owen King
>take proven, reliable and simple technology >replace with something worse How could this have happened?
Blake King
Because having a single port is much more efficient, dummy.
Lucas Jones
>There's absolutely nothing stopping anyone from producing great sounding USB-C headphones.
The additional compression required to pass music over Bluetooth.
Juan Bailey
he said USB-C, not Bluetooth
Charles Rogers
The need for a proprietary port, market segmentation and to make people replace their well-working headphones.
Tyler Allen
>make people replace their well-working headphones Just like they made you replace your old parallel connected printer. Are you still mad about that too?
Camden Price
USB has only advantages over the parallel port, whereas USB-C audio has none over the audio jack.
Brody Morales
>USB-C audio has none over the audio jack Completely wrong. Less ports means less complexity, lower costs, more free space for other things... I mean this is basic stuff, try to keep up man.
Ethan Anderson
kys npc
Eli Walker
>zero arguments whatsoever >we need the 3.5 jack forever because people say so lol who's the npc here
Caleb Phillips
That's not entirely true, partly because analog passthrough is an optional feature of USB-C. So there's gonna be added complexity somewhere, either in the jack itself, to bring analog audio to it, or in the headphones, to add a DAC and amp which will be required. It's more like you're shifting shit around.
Landon Sullivan
>in the jack itself, to bring analog audio to it Analog wires are not added complexity. It's the same as with a 3.5mm jack.
>in the headphones, to add a DAC and amp Fair point, but that only affects people who actually use headphones. (Most people don't, so now all phones can be simpler and even cheaper.) It also lets headphones have specific DACs and amps tailored to specific needs.
Frankly, the analog/digital thing is a bit of a mess. They should have chose to go with one.
Jeremiah Green
why would I argue with an npc? youre never changing your mind anyway, kys
Aiden Scott
But if I'm using USB-C as an analog audio output, I can't charge my phone.
Joseph Wright
kys npc
Logan Nelson
>more free space for other things >never specifies what things
A tiny fleshlight so you can put your micropenis in it.
Nathan Lee
>only having 1 port to do everything are you genuinely brain dead?
Andrew Brooks
So, why don't you sew up your asshole and shit out of your mouth? It's much more efficient.
Easton Robinson
I have a wired and a wireless in ear headset for my current phone. The wired have much better sound even though I paid more for my wireless one. Is there any good wireless headsets or did I just get unlucky? How much more do you need to pay for a decent pair of in ears on par with a $70 wired one? $150? $300? I get they will never be as convenient to use, but I would like to have decent audio and maybe even use the same one all the time.
Benjamin Lee
>more free space for other things... >phones are larger than ever >need more free space How can the left phone have enough extra space for a jack, but right one doesn't?
