Editorial: Headphone jack vs. USB audio. Which is better?
- ?
- Anonymous
- p6y
- 27 Jun 2016
thank you for this article. there were some things i really didn't think about. i was interested in the upcoming Moto Z line and while the lack of the 3.5mm jack bothered me, i thought, well, if they're giving me an adapter with the phone then it's fine. but i managed to completely disregard that this adapter would be in charge of the D/A conversion. and i guess there's little doubt that it would be a cheap DAC.
so, with digital output, i would have to buy a phone and also look for a good adapter, which probably costs a bunch of money because why not.
and bluetooth headphones, well... even if i didn't have a decent pair of wired ones (v-moda's M-100), i just don't like them. before i bought mine, i tried some bluetooth headphones in a local store. can't remember which manufacturer it was, but they were rather expensive, a little more than the M-100. they were alright... but not... good. i tried a few others as well, but it was never satisfying. the difference to wired headphones was just too noticable. and i can't pay $400 for a pair that just matches my $270 ones.
however, not having a cable does come with another positive side effect. if the plug moves during playback, even just rotates slightly, you can get noise. hell, the cable itself can cause unwanted sounds if it bumps against your clothes or something when you walk around. that's the nature of analog signals, i suppose.
but there's also another annoying drawback that you have to deal with when using wireless headphones. those things won't power themselves, after all. you need batteries. not only does that add a running cost, but also unnecessary waste. and it's just annoying, as already mentioned.
to me it's just not worth it. i'd much rather stay with my wired headphones and universal 3.5mm jack.
if these current trends and developments continue, which they probably will one way or another, i'll have to buy old phones in a few years... i don't want VR, i don't want dual cameras and i don't want audio over USB
- D
- AnonD-4254
- XNw
- 27 Jun 2016
Dear Editor,
I, a 30y old male, loved your article.
I seriously think you guys should talk (write) more, because you have a lot of knowledge and it shows while reviewing phones and all.
Reg. the topic, I previously believed that the USB audio was of better quality, because the 3.5mm jack has external interferences from radio signals, magnetic influence, etc. due to its slightly exposed antannae (for FM Radio and by design too).
I have no memory where this belief came from, but I now believe that 3.5mm jack shouldn't go anywhere.
One reason would be what the author said regarding convenience, quality and costs... Because, its better get a high quality audio in phone once and for all, like HTC 10, Galaxy 7, Redmi 2 Prime, etc, than to keep changing quality with changing headphones.
But secondly, also because, irrespective of who's right or wrong in the end, we all have a right to a "choice" of our own.
3.5mm or USB music, fine, our choice. We want both in one phone.
But for the sake of thinness and democracy, I'm ok with 4-6 phones without 3.5mm jack, if its necessary.
Only, it should not become an industry standard, like the removal of Infrared became, around 2006...
- D
- AnonD-375713
- Pkp
- 27 Jun 2016
RishiGuru, 27 Jun 2016I had posted the same thoughts of the author of this articl... moreI got lucky to only find people that were wiling to know new stuff when I posted about the 32 bit 384 kHz sample rate on the LG V10 and the DAC/amp module for the G5. Usually regarding Audio you can simply prove stuff with math and logic, but that's a very passion filled topic so you may find people that will completely ignore it all and feel coat it with their "experience". You seem to have the bad luck to find the fanboys there. It's a really recurring problem on audio world, couple that with part the public here that considers something stone age when it's over 2 months and you get it. It's good that we do have people that think for themselves and do real research instead of falling for the marketing department talk.
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- AnonD-83963
- u14
- 27 Jun 2016
👍👍 great article
- ?
- Anonymous
- nps
- 27 Jun 2016
Didnt even bother to read....
- r
- rohan
- YMk
- 27 Jun 2016
Well said
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- AnonD-448452
- 2@x
- 27 Jun 2016
Nice article, enjoyed reading it.
- D
- AnonD-551566
- PH0
- 27 Jun 2016
Alien, 27 Jun 2016So form what I understand it means you cannot use the headp... morejust keep in mind that from that list most can be either turned off or have nothing to do with battery (selfie camera for example) maybe u were thinking about ram and bloatware and not battery drain, anyways to the point, imagine u using headphones at night and becuz they're USB u cant charge ur phone while listening a movie (for example) it can be an inconvenient for some ppl (hopefully not for u) that's what the post is about, the pros and cons about headsets ^_^
- D
- AnonD-551566
- PH0
- 27 Jun 2016
RishiGuru, 27 Jun 2016I had posted the same thoughts of the author of this articl... morehey, what doesn´t kill u makes u stronger ^_^
just remember there can be good replies (even when they tell that u r wrong) and others are just nonsense, u must learn to differentiate them
saw ur post in the link and well... keep in mind that in a post of a review for a device not all ppl will know about audios, so maybe that's why u got trashed a bit XD
- U
- Urreadingme
- U{t
- 27 Jun 2016
U r using a xiaomi headphones too.....
- A
- Alien
- ndn
- 27 Jun 2016
So form what I understand it means you cannot use the headphones while charging and vice versa having USB-C.
Where's the innovation in that? I'm not an audiophile, actually my phone is always on vibrate. But I use one headphone almost all the time, specially at night, so that I don't bug my family or neighbors.
P.S nobody wants to listen to you playing your music or games or whatever you're doing, so have the common sense and use the headphones. Specially if you really are an audiophile.
I know technology has to improve each year, but some features really are useless bs that do nothing but drain the battery and resources and phone manufacturers should give us the ability to choose what we want or not.
I for one NEVER use:
- Fingerprint scanner
- Online payments
- bluetooth
- Radio
- NFC
- Wireless hotspot
- Miracast and everything related
- Speakers
- Light sensor
- Stupid selfie camera
- GPS
- Compass
- Heartrate monitor
- Barometer
I would love to be able to order custom made phone..
Maybe in the future there will be a smart company that will give us the freedom of choice when it comes to 3D printed phones with customized hardware.
- J
- Julliard
- RIE
- 27 Jun 2016
Our phone is getting more and more ridiculously thinner each year. Why want to make it thinner? Remove the earjack? Crazy idea ever. Well, oppo did that first of course with the Oppo R5 with 4.9mm thickness. No one buys that. Even Vivo can make thinner phone with theirs 4.75mm thick Vivo X5 Max and still have headphone jack. If Apple make anything thicker than 4.75mm and can't put a headphone jack people will bashed them good.
- K
- Kmrl
- YV7
- 27 Jun 2016
Anonymous, 27 Jun 2016Stopped using the 3.5 jack long ago after i got plenty of e... moreDo you listen music with your earphone or go to fight with it.
My previous Samsung earphone survive 3+ years and the second Samsung one survived 2+ year. I have another Samsung earphone that is 1+ year old and still running perfectly.
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- AnonD-93439
- pX9
- 27 Jun 2016
3.5 mm else go wireless .
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- AnonD-263387
- rKn
- 27 Jun 2016
GSMArena you should do more informative editorials like this!
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- AnonD-152638
- mhA
- 27 Jun 2016
Not only do you have yo charge your wireless headsets, they also draw more power from your device compared to using the 3.5mm plug.
Not all bluetooth headsets are wireless. They don't use wires to connect to your device, but some of them use wires to connect the ear pieces. Others are simply bluetooth receivers with sthort cable analog headphones connected.
Bluetooth headphones that dont use cables at all, are pretty big and much less pratical to take with you than cabled headphones that can still be good even if they are in-ear or light foldable models like the classic porta pro.
Besides the battery weights a lot more and uses way more space than a cable, meaning that wireless headphones are always bigger and heavier than their cabled counterpart.
And no there is no real lossless bluetooth protocol and APTx support isnt widely used, anyway.
And often BT headsets are much noisier than the 3.5mm output of your devices, and the frequency resonse is worse as well.
And the mic position on stereo Bluetooth headphones, is usually not in a good place, and pick up a lot of wind noise. At least with mic on a cable you can palm it and hold it in front of your mouth, to block out wind noise, and thus still be able to use the headphones as headsets on a windy day.
And there are phones with IP rating and 3.5mm jacks.
Your headphones will likely not have a IP rating. But there are even fewer BT headsets with any IP rating. And they are even much more sensitive for moist or rain. And a BT headphones is always more expensive than a 3.5mm cabled headphone with the same quality. Meaning that replacing your water damaged headphones will be much more expensive if you choose BT version.
One can wonder if the author actually lijkes to listen to music on his/her mobile, if he/she still hasn't seen any of all the dissadvantages of using BT over 3.5mm.
Or does he/she have his/her hopes set on gettting a free set of bluetooth headsets from any of the brands mentioned in the article?
- D
- AnonD-375713
- Pkp
- 27 Jun 2016
Eske Rahn, 27 Jun 2016To a large extent you are right, but there are a few basic ... moresome interesting and valid points shown here, maybe I could respond with some of my own considerations about each, let's go in order:
1) AGREED. I own one BT Headset that just sounds king. 2nd only to my monitors here, and it was hard to find these headphones, but now that they are pretty old (Nokia BH-504, notorious as problematic beast sounding devices) I've even replaced the battery cell on it, but still seems like the board is going kaput. With a normal headset I would just swap the cable like I've always been doing. The added electronics and battery are a real annoyance, and yes I've had them die on me when I most needed them (1h bus trip), and agreed it's a joy killer.
2) Considering having a better sounding headphone than with the phone's own DAC, well that can still be possible with an external USB DAC/amp, without removing the jack (like it has been for now). Also you can have the separate box, or headphones with it. Standard wise, USB Audio has been the same standard for like 10 years at least so that's OK.
3) Indeed, my Nokia 5610d says hi here. They tried 1st this, and then went straight to the 3.5mm one, even tho the 2.5mm is a standard not proprietary port. Still no adapter age again, that was once good only because the others were even worse (straight out proprietary adapters).
4) well that TRRS with 1 mic is just for calls, but most of the Noise Cancelling headphones have their own circuit. While it's a fact that you'll need a battery for it separately, you'll get a headset compatible with anything older. Agreed that the USB Noise Cancelling headphones would be more practical in that sense, but also more expensive and harder (if possible at all) to fix a classical broken cable.
I think the biggest point of the article is mostly to debunk the marketing that removing the 3.5mm jack is good and "Look how USB Audio makes your old headphones look trash!", pointing that every single audio thing said about it is highly volatile info that will be headphone dependent now, + bringing back the conveniently forgotten info about the single port use.
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- AnonD-405240
- r3H
- 27 Jun 2016
... thanks for this enlightening and insightful article. its one of the best that i've read in years as an earphone /headphone 🎧 addict...
- RishiGuru
- utg
- 27 Jun 2016
I had posted the same thoughts of the author of this article few months back. It was when LeEco released their new trio of phones with bullshit CDLA digital lossless audio tech claiming they were better than 3.5mm audio jacks.
Link:
http://www.gsmarena.com/leeco_le_2-reviews-8053p8.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/leeco_le_2_pro-reviews-8052p2.php
I received a lot of "hate words" for spilling the truth and many whos-who of smartphone world told I know nothing about smartphones. Hope they are reading this article now and knowing the actual truth about how audio works.
- D
- AnonD-551566
- PH0
- 27 Jun 2016
first of all, great post i learned a lot from it ^_^
second, i use a BT headset and it's true what it says... once u try it, u never go back to cables, i find it annoying when i tried cables again, never been a fan of USB headsets and to me BT is the only option for headphones, i was pretty impressed to the information on the post (got a lot of insight) and even when (as someone else mentioned) is annoying to be charging the BT headphones, we have to charge a lot of things nowadays (laptop, powerbanks, smartwatches, etc.) so one more thing is not a problem for me ^_^
cheers