|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
85.60.76.77
In Reply to: RE: Wired or Wireless posted by SgreenP@MSN.com on July 11, 2020 at 20:15:28
I may be old fashioned, but I prefer hard wired headphones. Had too many problems with mmcx connectors.Wireless phones need a very good transmitter and receiver to sound good.
Edits: 07/19/20Follow Ups:
...and burn through battery power...
Yeap. Never run out of battery power with fixed wire
I've had a couple of 'fixed wire' headphones where the wires inside the cables broke....wasn't worth the effort to try to take apart, order new parts and fix a $150 pair of head phones so after only 4 months they were fixed-wire trash.
IMO avoid fixed-wire headphones like the plague, you have no idea how long you have before the wire breaks and then what?
BTW most all 'very good' headphones are not fixed wire.
Dynobots Audio - Music is the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
I've broken a bunch of earbud leads getting them tangled in bike spokes, caught on bushes or just general wear and tear. Those nearly always break at the earpiece, so it's a matter of prying off the cover, making a note of the wire polarity, then shortening the cord, tying a new knot, scraping the insulation and soldering. Possibly more effort than $25 earbuds warrant, but it's a discontinued model that sounds OK and is a nice shape to insert, and the repair costs nothing.
Changing the jack on full-size headphones is easy in comparison, and you can upgrade to a nice Switchcraft or Neutrik 1/4" plug (or a pretty good Rean (Neutrik's cheaper line)), or perhaps change from 1/4" to 3.5 mm or vice versa. A $10 to $20 soldering iron kit, some 60-40 rosin core solder, and optionally stuff like heat shrink tubing, RTV (silicone) sealant to improve the strain relief. If this is beyond your technical comfort zone, look out for a "Repair Cafe" in your area, where someone will hopefully have tools and guide you through the repair.
There's a very good explanation of bluetooth audio on a blog somewhere. The most common BT audio mode, A2DP, can be OK if the bit rate is turned up to the maximum. But the default setting is far lower, and there's no practical way to tell what that rate is or to adjust it. IIRC the site links to an app that can modify the bit rate (but it wasn't compatible with any of my ancient devices). Worth trying if you've got hardware that's otherwise good, but impractical to upgrade (like an OEM car audio system). I'd hoped/assumed that the newer apt-X BT standard would be lossless, but reportedly it's not much better than full-bitrate A2DP. There's better versions of BT, and Sony has a genuine lossless protocol which some other brands/devices support.
Figuring out the capabilities of BT receiving devices is also cryptic: the best method seems to be to boot Linux, link up with the BT speaker or headphones, and then query the BT driver from the command prompt. (IIRC the site links to a suitable bootable Linux image.)
If you just want to listen to music without being encumbered by wires, consider lashing a tiny lossless player to the headphone band and plugging in with a very short cable.
Understood.
I agree, I think we tend to put more effort into products than they deserve. This is a fun hobby but I really want to pick my own projects instead of having one forced upon me due to something breaking.
Oddly enough pair of $22 SENSO Bluetooth Headphones gets the most play time. I listen to them for hours while at the office and usually while going for walks, biking etc. etc. etc. Sure not by any means "Audiophile" but they are comfortable and very listenable.
IMO, headphones walk the fine line between clarity and harshness/hardness. You want them to be nice and clear sounding with good range -but- too much of a good thing can easily and quickly turn into listener fatigue. This is not even getting into the warm-ear-muff effect which also decreases listening time.
Dynobots Audio - Music is the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
Don't know what you guys do to your earphone wires. Ive been using Etymotic earphones for at least 8 years without a problem. New designs have the wire with plugs on the end so if there is a problem, the wires are easily replaced.
The Etymotic earphones do sound great....unfortunately for me, I need ear-hooks otherwise they will fall out my odd shaped ear canals.
Dynobots Audio - Music is the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
Not sure what you are doing to your wire that they mess up that fast. But having said that, I changed most of the wires on my headphones by soldering new wires on them.
I think a lot of the more expensive headphones have replaceable wire because many people like to try a different cable on them.
I changed most of the wires on my headphones by soldering new wires on them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why do you in up needing to change the wires on your headphones?
Broken -or- try something new?
Don't know why mine broke so easy and fast...I had an old pair of Pioneer headphones that I used for years and years without a problem. I guess, Old vs New build quality and ie 'revenue generator' factors.
Dynobots Audio - Music is the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
Just because I drank of that 'special cool aid' that made me believed other cables are better then the original once. And yes, I had done some comparing on my Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser and I did hear a difference.
But was the change necessary??? That's a different question.
LOL...yes that special cool-aid is something.
Looks like you went to Audiophiles-Anonymous and kicked the habit.
Necessary, probably not. BTW, it was Beyerdynamic DT1350 that broke after only 4 months. Never purchased another pair of Beyerdynamic or captive-wire headphones since.
Dynobots Audio - Music is the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
I love my Beyerdynamic DT990 600 Oh from the Mid '80s. Probably my favorite headphone with a slight smiley face EQ.
Yes, their cables can break after time. I think I installed some Mogami cable on them many years ago. It got a thick TechFlex tubing over it, so I can't see anymore what cable I used.
If you like these 1350 you could try first to cut the first few inches off close to the plug, since the cables break there some times and install a new plug.
Or just totally eliminate the original cable and run a a cable into both cans with a y-splitter in front of it.
Good advice.
I still have a couple pair of captive-wire headphones, Grado SR60 and Sony MDRv6. If the wires ever break in those [which I doubt] I might do the solder thing.
The Beyerdynamics did sound fantastic though.
Dynobots Audio - Music is the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
I had the Grado SR60 for many years and enjoyed them tremendously. They are a lot of fun. Unfortunately one driver died last year, so I rebuild them with the Magnum driver. Unfortunately again my daughter broke one of the gimbals and the replacement gimbal is at my in-laws in the USA, I am in Spain. Due to Covid19 we were not able to see them this May and we will not be able to see then this fall, as planned. So I still have to wait to get the replacement gimbal next year (most likely).
The Grado Cable is almost indestructible.
ENJOY
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: