Lightning Headphones: Are They Better or Just an Inconvenience?

[dk001]

...

Its you who want to penny pinch because it means you will have to spend more money. For crying out loud, it's just headphones.

Not when you have current very good headphones in the $200US+ range.
Aside from that, I have yet to find really good sounding / functioning BT headphones in the lower range.

and a btw; Apple BT tech pretty much bites these days. If they are going BT, I really hope they fix it.

 

[jmgregory1]

Not when you have current very good headphones in the $200US+ range.
Aside from that, I have yet to find really good sounding / functioning BT headphones in the lower range.

and a btw; Apple BT tech pretty much bites these days. If they are going BT, I really hope they fix it.

Your complaint is a common one and you could replace the very good headphones in your statement with almost anything when technology shifts happen. "I had to get a new car because when the gas companies stopped producing leaded gas, my car ran terribly. Unless I spent more money to buy leaded additive (which is much like a headphone jack adapter)."

And as far as BT, it is a technology that has been and will continue to improve. I have a pair of great sounding, long life, noise canceling and extremely long range (class 1) BT headphones. And things will only improve with BT5 class devices. Frankly, I think we would be better off to just dump wired headphones altogether to force improvements in wireless (BT and others like Airplay) technologies.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Limiting people to their proprietary connector when we had a universal standard previously is not a good move for consumers.


Penny-pinching cost savings for Apple will lose them far more in brand loyalty and good will than this will save them. I'm sure some middle management is very happy they found a way to increase profit per device and that focus groups indicated that people won't leave Apple over this, but it's damn stupid long term. Just as the Lightning connector was a needless pain in butt for consumers--nearly everyone I know had to get rid docking stations/keep two docking stations/couldn't use their phones as conveniently (or at all in some cases of car connectors)--this is another.


This is just more indication Apple has lost its way.

This whole "Tim Cook is a penny-pincher" narrative is getting tired. It's not as if Steve Jobs was an extravagant spender. Steve's brand of "elegance and simplicity" also had the effect of reducing components/component costs, and there's a very, very long list of ports and technologies that came and went during Steve's tenure. Also a long list of Apple-promoted "non-standard" technologies. The company has always marched to its own drummer - all those decades of Motorola and PowerPC CPUs, SCSII HDDs, Apple Bus... Fill a box with "standard" components and the "standard" OS, and you have just another Windows PC, or an Android smartphone - commodities, rather than distinctive products. Do you want "Think different," or "Same old same old?"

Now, about that Lightning connector... Would you rather Apple stick with it, or move to USB-C? Now that you're invested in Lightning chargers and docks, etc., shouldn't you be happy that this additional use for the Lightning port indicates a continuing commitment to Apple customers who have made that investment?

 

[AsherN]

Also a long list of Apple-promoted "non-standard" technologies. The company has always marched to its own drummer - all those decades of Motorola and PowerPC CPUs, SCSII HDDs, Apple Bus... Fill a box with "standard" components and the "standard" OS, and you have just another Windows PC, or an Android smartphone - commodities, rather than distinctive products. Do you want "Think different," or "Same old same old?"

Now, about that Lightning connector... Would you rather Apple stick with it, or move to USB-C? Now that you're invested in Lightning chargers and docks, etc., shouldn't you be happy that this additional use for the Lightning port indicates a continuing commitment to Apple customers who have made that investment?

A lot of those non-standard components were in the closed loop of the Apple ecosystem. This change is not.

Lightning or USB-C? in the long run, going USB-C would be the right move. At this point, it would be like the 30-pin to Lightning ove. You are affecting a limited number of peripherals.

3.5mm is an universal standard. If there is a move away from that in the phone market, it should move to a cross platform standard. And USB-C will be it. The holy grail of removing 3.5mm is the ability to have a DAC/Amp matched to the headphones. An argument for the irrelevance of an adapter is removable cords for headphones. But here's the thing, one of the advantage of larger headphones is the ability to have a better DAC/Amp in the headphone. But that only works if the headphone receives the digital signal. So a removable cable headphone would need 2 or 3 connectors. Lighning, USB-C and 3.5mm.

 

[Beerstalker]

No, the headphones will most likely just have USB-C (maybe 3.5mm for hooking up to legacy devices).

Then you will just use a lightning to USB-C cable to hook it up to an iPhone/iPad, or a USB-C to USB-C cable to hook it up to android devices, or laptop/desktop computers. They could probably even come up with a 3.5mm to USB-C cable to use with legacy devices so they wouldn't even need a 3.5mm jack on the headphones (might have to be proprietary cable made by the headphone company if USB-C doesn't support analog audio directly).

I'm wondering if we will get a new iPod line-up that drops the 3.5mm jack from all of them too? Moving to lightning digital audio on all of their portable devices.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

As someone who listens to music at work with headphones while charging...no thanks.

While this may be the case, before we start crying about it, maybe will we see inductive charging or a pass-through option. Sit back and see what they come up with, or join the 21st century and buy a good pair of bluetooth headphones you will never look back at wired headphones again.

 

[dadudzik]

Many of us plug in many more items than just earbuds into the 3.5mm jack so it's not OK to just get rid of it.
If some like Bluetooth, that's fine. If some want to use lightening headphones, go for it. For the rest of us who rely on the 3.5mm jack, Please leave it alone. Now everyone is happy and everything just works!

 

[TheAppleFairy]

Many of us plug in many more items than just earbuds into the 3.5mm jack so it's not OK to just get rid of it.
If some like Bluetooth, that's fine. If some want to use lightening headphones, go for it. For the rest of us who rely on the 3.5mm jack, Please leave it alone. Now everyone is happy and everything just works!

Well the 3.5mm headphone jack has been around for over 50 years. Time to move on, that is a hell of a run for a piece of technology.

 

[dadudzik]

Indoor Toilets have been around for decades. Maybe we should get rid of them also and free up alot of space in our houses.

 

[AsherN]

Well the 3.5mm headphone jack has been around for over 50 years. Time to move on, that is a hell of a run for a piece of technology.

Why do you think that is? Could it be, maybe, because it's simple and does what it is supposed to do? There's a reason professional audio gear still have either 1/4" or 3.5mm jacks.

 

[Beerstalker]

Many of us plug in many more items than just earbuds into the 3.5mm jack so it's not OK to just get rid of it.
If some like Bluetooth, that's fine. If some want to use lightening headphones, go for it. For the rest of us who rely on the 3.5mm jack, Please leave it alone. Now everyone is happy and everything just works!

What else are you still using the 3.5mm jack for?

Your Car? Most cars now have USB ports, you should plug a lightning to USB cable into that and hook up your phone that was as it will give you better sound, charge your phone, and other things.

You home stereo? Most home stereos have USB inputs, and a lot of them now support Airplay, both of these options are better than hooking your phone up with a 3.5mm cable.

Square reader? Get the new chip/NFC reader and stop accepting mag stripe only cards (there shouldn't be many of these left).

You have a really expensive pair of headphones you don't want to get rid of? Get a lightning DAC and keep enjoying them, they may sound even better than before.

These are the major uses I can think of and they really aren't that big of a deal unless you insist Apple keeps supporting old tech that should be updated. Apple shouldn't have to worry about holding back their new devices to support your 10 year old car, or 8 year old home stereo etc.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

Why do you think that is? Could it be, maybe, because it's simple and does what it is supposed to do? There's a reason professional audio gear still have either 1/4" or 3.5mm jacks.

Because it's convenient.

 

[AsherN]

Because it's convenient.

Because it works. It's also in rofessional equipent because you want to send to he headphones the same analog signal you send to the speakers.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

A lot of those non-standard components were in the closed loop of the Apple ecosystem. This change is not.

Lightning or USB-C? in the long run, going USB-C would be the right move. At this point, it would be like the 30-pin to Lightning ove. You are affecting a limited number of peripherals.

3.5mm is an universal standard. If there is a move away from that in the phone market, it should move to a cross platform standard. And USB-C will be it. The holy grail of removing 3.5mm is the ability to have a DAC/Amp matched to the headphones. An argument for the irrelevance of an adapter is removable cords for headphones. But here's the thing, one of the advantage of larger headphones is the ability to have a better DAC/Amp in the headphone. But that only works if the headphone receives the digital signal. So a removable cable headphone would need 2 or 3 connectors. Lighning, USB-C and 3.5mm.

USB-C could eventually be the right move, but I was addressing the irony, rather than the practicality.

And USB-C has problems from needing to be too many things to too many industries. USB-C can support either analog or digital output for headphones, but analog is completely optional - one smartphone with USB-C might provide analog out, another doesn't. A USB-C plug on a passive/analog headset does not guarantee compatibility with a given USB-C port.

The thing is, the old practice (internal headphone amp, passive headphones) is gradually dying. Most of that is due to the growth of wireless headsets. At what point do those become so prevalent that the electronics manufacturers decide that the headphone amp is an excessive expense?

3.5mm hasn't been a "universal standard" for all that long. I remember when 1/4" was the universal standard, and it's no coincidence that we still expect to see a 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter packaged with anything but earbuds. And it's been a gradual transition. Initially, the 1/4" plug was hard-wired, and the adapter was for 1/4" to 3.5mm. Now, 3.5mm is more typically hard-wired, and the adapter goes the other way.

Overall, as a former audio engineer, I see the need for a local DA converter/headphone amp to be inelegant, but that's only true for wired headphones. There's simply no alternative when it comes to wireless. When I think back on all the problems that accompany wired headsets - setting up 16 sets of cans for a one-hour string overdub session (and dressing the cables to avoid tripping), announcers jumping up from behind the console and having the headphones ripped off their heads ("Hey, the left side isn't working!"), dropped iPhones yanking on earbud connectors... If I was still in the biz, I could very well be advocating a move to all-Bluetooth in the studio. I probably could be retired now if I had a nickel for every set of wired headphones I had to repair or replace. But then, I earned far more than that by doing those repairs... just should have dropped those nickels into the jar.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

Because it works. It's also in rofessional equipent because you want to send to he headphones the same analog signal you send to the speakers.

OK keep it in your professional equipment (though it will go away there some day too), but still don't "NEED" it in your phone. Other than for convenience, for those who are upset about the move away from the jack, they will get over it. There will be a period of adjustment. Do we also need a SD card on our iPhones or an IR blaster?

 

[Mac 128]

No, the headphones will most likely just have USB-C (maybe 3.5mm for hooking up to legacy devices).

Then you will just use a lightning to USB-C cable to hook it up to an iPhone/iPad, or a USB-C to USB-C cable to hook it up to android devices, or laptop/desktop computers. They could probably even come up with a 3.5mm to USB-C cable to use with legacy devices so they wouldn't even need a 3.5mm jack on the headphones (might have to be proprietary cable made by the headphone company if USB-C doesn't support analog audio directly).

I'm wondering if we will get a new iPod line-up that drops the 3.5mm jack from all of them too? Moving to lightning digital audio on all of their portable devices.

There's no reason't drop the headphone jack from the iPod line, which I doubt will see another update. They all have a Lightning connector already so, a firmware update may be all that's needed to take advantage of Apple's new Lightning headphones. But they will keep their 3.5mm headphone jack.

The ONLY iPod that might get an update is the Shuffle, because if any device could use a switch to Lightning it's that one. Then Apple can get rid of their non-standard combo 3.5mm headphone and data/charging port. I wouldn't be surprised to see them add a BT radio for wireless use, and data transfer as well. Talk about not being able to charge and listen at the same time, the Shuffle has never been able to do that, even with an adapter.

OK keep it in your professional equipment (though it will go away there some day too), but still don't "NEED" it in your phone. Other than for convenience, for those who are upset about the move away from the jack, they will get over it. There will be a period of adjustment. Do we also need a SD card on our iPhones or an IR blaster?

You really shouldn't feed the trolls. But as long as we're piling on ... while it makes sense for studios to use 1/8" & 1/4" TRS plugs for patch bays and uniformity, it doesn't make any sense to use it in a portable consumer device because of that reality. You might as well say that the iPhone should have an Ethernet port because the professionals use it.

Look, professionals are going to need wires much longer than the rest of us. But the average consumer is mostly concerned with convenience. And eliminating wires is always going to be the first choice, all things being equal. Nobody knows what kind of wireless improvements Apple is going to offer up if they drop the headphone jack, but I'd bet it's going to impress all but the most stubborn audiophiles. Lightning is a good fallback in any case, and every pair of new wireless headphones are going to have a wire port so that they cane used when the batteries run out. And as time goes on, there's going to be very few customers that need more than that.

 

[castlerock]

Limiting people to their proprietary connector when we had a universal standard previously is not a good move for consumers.


Penny-pinching cost savings for Apple will lose them far more in brand loyalty and good will than this will save them. I'm sure some middle management is very happy they found a way to increase profit per device and that focus groups indicated that people won't leave Apple over this, but it's damn stupid long term. Just as the Lightning connector was a needless pain in butt for consumers--nearly everyone I know had to get rid docking stations/keep two docking stations/couldn't use their phones as conveniently (or at all in some cases of car connectors)--this is another.


This is just more indication Apple has lost its way.

Ahh, but it's not penny pinching. It's an additional revenue stream

 

[dk001]

Your complaint is a common one and you could replace the very good headphones in your statement with almost anything when technology shifts happen. "I had to get a new car because when the gas companies stopped producing leaded gas, my car ran terribly. Unless I spent more money to buy leaded additive (which is much like a headphone jack adapter)."

And as far as BT, it is a technology that has been and will continue to improve. I have a pair of great sounding, long life, noise canceling and extremely long range (class 1) BT headphones. And things will only improve with BT5 class devices. Frankly, I think we would be better off to just dump wired headphones altogether to force improvements in wireless (BT and others like Airplay) technologies.

The fuel analogy ... not a good fit. A key to fob only conversion would be a better fit.
That said, you are correct in that it would be great to go wireless. We aren't there yet and to have Apple try to force the issue is good / bad. Still, unless I go high dollar, I cannot get the sound I am looking for with BT at this time. When it comes to BT devices, Apple has the worst functionality of any BT device I own. Quality, range and connectivity are mediocre at best. For me, and I suspect many others, not jack and I'll skip it. If BT functionality improves. If Apple BT quality improves. If decent quality sounding headphones price point improves. Then I would consider it.

Lastly; battery life. Single biggest reason I predominately use wired today. Aside from sound quality.

 

[jmgregory1]

The fuel analogy ... not a good fit. A key to fob only conversion would be a better fit.
That said, you are correct in that it would be great to go wireless. We aren't there yet and to have Apple try to force the issue is good / bad. Still, unless I go high dollar, I cannot get the sound I am looking for with BT at this time. When it comes to BT devices, Apple has the worst functionality of any BT device I own. Quality, range and connectivity are mediocre at best. For me, and I suspect many others, not jack and I'll skip it. If BT functionality improves. If Apple BT quality improves. If decent quality sounding headphones price point improves. Then I would consider it.

Lastly; battery life. Single biggest reason I predominately use wired today. Aside from sound quality.

Point being, you can't force adoption of change without someone with a leading position taking a drastic step. The fuel analogy is appropriate, because leaded gas was absolutely a standard and every gas powered vehicle required it to run. And millions of cars needed to be replaced when the govt mandated the change. Sure, there was some time when people knew the change was going to happen, but all those cars, trucks and motorcycles designed to run on leaded gas became big paperweights really fast.

I agree that Apple has had issues with BT, but they haven't had to dedicate the time to resolve things fully, or work more to get Airplay adapted to headphone use. Perhaps shifting to a new adapter will help, but even if not, it is just a matter of time before wireless for sound (headphones) is the standard. It's already taken a dominant position with speakers so my guess is we are but a couple of years away.

And the cost issue with current BT headphones to get quality sound is really no different than with wired headphones. Cheap wired headphones sound ok at best.

 

[palmerc]

Limiting people to their proprietary connector when we had a universal standard previously is not a good move for consumers.


Penny-pinching cost savings for Apple will lose them far more in brand loyalty and good will than this will save them. I'm sure some middle management is very happy they found a way to increase profit per device and that focus groups indicated that people won't leave Apple over this, but it's damn stupid long term. Just as the Lightning connector was a needless pain in butt for consumers--nearly everyone I know had to get rid docking stations/keep two docking stations/couldn't use their phones as conveniently (or at all in some cases of car connectors)--this is another.


This is just more indication Apple has lost its way.

Wired is not only over, but is absolutely a horrible experience for the key application the phone is meant to be used for - mobile audio. So it isn't about 3.5mm vs. Lightning, it's about wired vs. wireless. Nothing about that solution is proprietary.
[doublepost=1469741237][/doublepost]

The fuel analogy ... not a good fit. A key to fob only conversion would be a better fit.
That said, you are correct in that it would be great to go wireless. We aren't there yet and to have Apple try to force the issue is good / bad. Still, unless I go high dollar, I cannot get the sound I am looking for with BT at this time. When it comes to BT devices, Apple has the worst functionality of any BT device I own. Quality, range and connectivity are mediocre at best. For me, and I suspect many others, not jack and I'll skip it. If BT functionality improves. If Apple BT quality improves. If decent quality sounding headphones price point improves. Then I would consider it.

Lastly; battery life. Single biggest reason I predominately use wired today. Aside from sound quality.

The - let's not do anything until we have a perfect solution - argument against change will lead to no change. The single issue holding back improvements in the wireless space is a lack of customers and the free but crappy ear buds that dominate mobile phones. Killing it is how we move forward.

 

[dk001]

...
The - let's not do anything until we have a perfect solution - argument against change will lead to no change. The single issue holding back improvements in the wireless space is a lack of customers and the free but crappy ear buds that dominate mobile phones. Killing it is how we move forward.

In return the "let's do it now to drive change.." plays the opposing side and grants early adopters with a subpar solution.
I find it disturbing when, not the sound quality, rather the connection quality on my iPhone 6S+ is inferior to my current Nexus 6P and former Note 5. I'm not seeing anything where Apple is looking to improve this. Between that and the poor performance any this time for BT / Lightning "cheaper" headsets...
As for crappy, what makes you think Apple will provide anything but that with any of their mobile devices? I could be surprised but I don't see them including an upgraded set of Beats.

 

[bobmepp]

Wired is not only over, but is absolutely a horrible experience for the key application the phone is meant to be used for - mobile audio. So it isn't about 3.5mm vs. Lightning, it's about wired vs. wireless. Nothing about that solution is proprietary.
[doublepost=1469741237][/doublepost]

The - let's not do anything until we have a perfect solution - argument against change will lead to no change. The single issue holding back improvements in the wireless space is a lack of customers and the free but crappy ear buds that dominate mobile phones. Killing it is how we move forward.

Wired may be over for many, but for those wanting the best sound quality that they can afford, Lightning to dac/amp to wired headphone is the way to go. My own (relatively) future proof solution is that I have spent under $1000 for an excellent mobile dac/amp and planar magnetic headphones. My dac/amp also doubles as a backup battery. This is a lot less than one would have to spend for non-mobile equipment of similar quality. Even if Apple goes with USB 3 for some future iPhone, I should still be able to use this gear with an adapter. Eliminating the headphone jack will also likely lead to the development of many more Lightning based cables, dongles, dac/amps, etc, that will be lightweight and offer far improved sound compared to integral phone dac/amps. Wireless reproduction (particularly in the higher frequencies) as well as bluetooth connectivity will have to get a lot better before I would even dream of using it for serious music listening. Incidentally, Apple eliminating the headphone jack will help to accelerate these improvements, so I totally support it, if it proves to be true this Fall.

incidentally, I completely disagree with other posts that suggest that improved sound reproduction cannot be heard with compressed audio formats. I am using Apple Music at the highest quality setting and it sounds absolutely great on many recordings, to the point that it is indistinguishable to my old ears from cd quality or lossless. Of course, poorly recorded material sounds bad whether it is lossy or lossless.

 

[Drewdog]

According to some rumors, Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will not include a headphone jack, requiring headphones to connect to the devices using a Lightning connector. In light of these rumors, we've taken a look at several different pairs of Lightning-connected headphones to explore the benefits and drawbacks of an iPhone with no headphone jack.

In the video below, we compare headphones at three price points: the $45 Brightech earphones, the $300 Philips Fidelio M2L headphones, and the $800 Audeze El-8 headphones to offer some insight into how they sound compared to headphones connecting with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Apple has perhaps been preparing for the removal of the headphone jack since 2014, when it introduced a Made for iPhone specification to allow third-party manufacturers to create headphones with Lightning connectors instead of 3.5mm headphone jacks.

While Lightning-connected headphones can only be used with iOS devices and prevent the devices from being charged while in use, two obvious negatives, there are also some significant benefits.

Our iPhones today include a 3.5mm headphone jack with a built-in digital to analog converter, or DAC, for playing music, which is then amplified through a built-in amp. Size and cost constraints associated with the 3.5mm headphone jack limit the quality of the DAC and amp, but iLightning-connected headphones, the DAC and the amp are built into the headphones themselves instead of the iPhone, allowing manufacturers to control sound quality.

In our tests, all of the Lightning-connected headphones, from the $45 pair to the $800 pair, sounded better than comparable headphones connected to an iPhone using the 3.5mm jack, so while many of us may be disappointed with the inconvenience of no headphone jack, at least there's the silver lining of better quality audio when using Lightning-connected headphones.

Note: Philips provided MacRumors with the Philips Fidelio M2L headphones free of charge for the purposes of this hands-on test. Audeze provided MacRumors with a loaner set of the El-8 headphones which were returned at the conclusion of testing and the Britech headphones were purchased by MacRumors. No other compensation was received.

Article Link: Lightning Headphones: Are They Better or Just an Inconvenience?

I'll
[doublepost=1473310283][/doublepost]I'll skip this gen, my IP6 is still fine. I'm definitely buying the Lightning headphones tho.

 

[Mac 128]

Where is the 3.5mm (source) to Lightning (headphone) adaptor?

I kept shaking my head during the keynote, then went online to check things out. No way to use your new Lightning headphones with your old Apple gear like iPods and Macs, or anything else, all but guaranteeing that a customer needs to carry two sets of headphones with them!

They're bundling Lightning headphones AND a 3.5mm adapter, so why not just bundle the old 3.5mm headphones with the 3.5mm adapter? At least that way a customer only needs one set of headphones, and an adapter to use them with the iPhone. I guess existing iPhone customers can just use their old earbuds with the new adapter which just seems to defeat the purpose.

I'm all for lightning headphones, but this seems like a half-baked roll-out. I hope to see Lightning ports added to the Macs at an event in October, but even then, it doesn't address legacy Macs. And where are the adapters? Heck I would take a Lightning to USB-C adapter even, but they would also need USB-A. So why not just a much simpler and cheaper 3.5mm adapter with an analogue passthrough chip, which could be used on all current Apple products?

Seriously where's the support for this transition?

 

[zhenya]

Well, frankly this is where we are at with Apple today, and something that the people who loudly proclaim that Apple has 'always been this way' are missing. Apple used to use the opportunity to ditch things from their product to specifically make the user experience better. Today's Apple is still keen on changing things, but that change often leads to more confusion and more hassle for the customer, and, not coincidentally, more profits for Apple. It's a complete 180 from how the company used to be run.