On a recent post, there were a lot of comments, which said that they were missing the headphones on newer mobile devices.
How many actually use the headphone jack?
I ask, because I have one on my phone, since I really wanted one, but I rarely use it. Like Tops 1/Month.
I think people who dislike the headphone jack must be young and not have (good) wired headphones.
Older people (older than teenagers and young adults I mean) often have a few pairs of good headphones they got over the years, and it’s a massive waste to just throw them away and buy wireless because that’s what the trends demand. And in most cases wireless won’t sound as good, because the budget needs to go to bluetooth chips, and dacs, and batteries and all that crap, instead of just focusing on audio.
According to Wikipedia, ‘The original 1⁄4 inch (6.35 mm) version descends from as early as 1877’, and it’s been an industry standard since then.
You can use it not just for headphones but as a line out, to connect all kinds of audio devices between them. You can hook up your phone to a car audio system, an old radio (if it has input, I think most do), a guitar pedal or an amplifier, a reverb or an effects unit, etc., just with the “magic” of wires.
There are honestly no good wireless headphones out there. Yes, in the price range ~300€ you can get some decent earbuds. But still not even close in sound quality to what you can buy for 100€ with a wire.
Best option for wireless is to grab a portable DAC/amp like the qudelix5k or fiio btr5 and plug your headphones into that.
I like good headphones but I don’t like spending good amounts of money on headphones with the built-in point of failure of a battery that will inevitably crap out after a couple years. I deal with that enough with my damn phones.
Meh, this old argument.
You’re on a mobile device in environments with gobs of noise.
Damn few people could tell the difference in sound quality in those situations, fewer still would care (e. g. People like you. Not to be dismissive at all - that’s your thing).
A car is 70db+. Just being outside in a city you’re probably looking at a variable noise level of what, 40-70+?
If that’s important to you, cool, do what you like. But most people are looking for something with far less quality. You don’t need that kind of quality to hear a podcast clearly, or listen to “Dance Dance Track 15”.
You don’t need that kind of quality to hear a podcast clearly, or listen to “Dance Dance Track 15”.
You don’t, but once you’ve had it, turning back and going to something more expensive that is worse, more annoying to use and will be aproaching useless in 3-5 years? For what? Like it straight up is less convenient for me because i forget to charge it and then it starts dying mid-run or mid commute.
I’m 39, and I almost never used the headphone jack on any of my old phones, and I’m one of those that doesn’t miss the jack.
I get why people want it, I’m just not in that camp, and most of my friends are the same.
I’m about 20 years older than you, and the only wired earphones I have came with devices. They’re in a box with other crap I don’t use.
I haven’t used wired earphones since about 2006.
So yea, I don’t think “older folks have more wired stuff” holds true at all. All my peers embraced BT and were happy to ditch wires.
According to Wikipedia, ‘The original 1⁄4 inch (6.35 mm) version descends from as early as 1877’, and it’s been an industry standard since then.
I could be mistaken, but I believe the modern headphone cable/jack is 1/8”.
1/4" are the bigger ones like the size of a guitar cable.
When I was a kid, headphones had the beefy one associate with guitars. The smaller ones came out when Walkmans became popular. We called them mini-plugs and you’d buy an adapter to use them with older gear.
Memories based on being born in early '70s. Possibly incorrect.
You’re correct. But you can use an adapter. Some headphones (especially more expensive ones) come with their own. And some devices (like my USB audio interface) come with a big jack for headphones, but again an adapter makes it irrelevant whether it’s a small jack or a large one.
If you’re gunna use an adapter anyway then it makes it irrelevant whether or not there’s a headphone jack in the phone. People in this thread talk about how you can’t use expensive wired headphones with your mobile devices anymore as if adapters don’t exist.
I have very decent wired headphones, but it helped that when I bought my S21 Samsung gave me some Buds+ for free, and then I was able to get a pair of Buds Pro for $20 (likely a price error on their site) and I also have some Bose QC35 that I got with airline miles
Also when I exercise I cannot use wired at all. I upgraded to Bluetooth as soon as they were affordable
Now my wired headphones live in my Nintendo switch case
I have gone too far in the headphone hobby and have exited the nice middle zone where the headphone jack has value. It can’t power my headphones and my phone has no systemwide EQ so there would be no point anyway.
Some people in the headphones sub talked about using qudelix 5k to power it if you wanted mobile but at that point the jack becomes useful only for charging while listening (admittedly useful!). I don’t really think compromise free mobile listening works though, if you have good wired headphones they are fairly likely to be open back already. For those people, a midrange priced Bluetooth Focal Bathys is probably as good as investment as any other closed back for mobile.
Hence why I believe the headphone jack is for those in the middle of the pack: they have closed back wired headphones that are good enough to not want to use Bluetooth, but not headphones too difficult to power or a strong preference for EQ. Which is a ton of people to be fair. I only commented here cause you said “people who dislike the headphone jack must not have good wired headphones,” but I have several and don’t need a headphone jack in my phone. I’m aware that those in my position are a very small portion of the population and agree with most of what you said, just wanted to provide a different perspective.
Oh also, if you’re using an adapter for 1/4” to 1/8”, may as well just use a USB-C or lightning adapter. 1/4 or 2.5mm balanced and a shitload of power would actually make a phone jack useful for my case though!
