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New Beats Products to Debut Alongside iPhone 7 on September 7
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If only John MacFarlane at SONOS had started a streaming music company "SONOS Music"- with his vision of streaming as the 100% future.
Apple then would have bought SONOS much better 'fit' and would have been a lot less than the silly price apple paid for the Dr.
Anyhow thats history - wasn't meant to be.
Shame though.
Apple then would have bought SONOS much better 'fit' and would have been a lot less than the silly price apple paid for the Dr.
Anyhow thats history - wasn't meant to be.
Shame though.
But you can't. The price statement is an utter fallacy when comparing quality in sound and build; same style as on-ear sealed.
The competition at the time of release for the Solo2s was the literal exact same price, and they bested their competition. 2 years forward now, you can get a wireless pair of them for 20 dollars less than the original wired price - a 120 dollar savings from then til now. Whereas the wired version has only fallen 50 bucks.
The Sennheiser HD 25-1 is 329 dollars, the miniaturized HD 25 is 199. The Urbanite is 199. The V-Moda XS is 209. The Solo2 at release was 199. Not to mention, these other cans are ugly as sin.
For $180 the Solo2 are underwhelming, comfortable (if you don't have big ears) with over-hyped marketing but an obvious lack of clarity in the mids- inferior to Senn. Momentums or Urbanite. The Solo2 are bass-heavy, ergonomic and portable but lack dynamic range compared with the cheaper philipps M1MKII which have better clarity and punchier bass for a cheaper price.
Basically compared to Sony, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, or any respectable headphone company you'll find a cheaper or similarly priced superior alternative to Beats.
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The hints that something is going on between Apple and Bragi become clearer...Bragi posted on their FB page and twitter:
"BRAGI loves completely wireless headphones. Will smartphones lose the headphone jack? What do you think? Share if you like the freedom movement!"
And as of today they're following Apple's reactivated twitter.
I'm telling ya, something IS up. Not sure about what...while I love the concept of the Dash, there have been connectivity issues that have not yet been resolved...
Also still not sure why they'd make an announcement ahead of Apple....
"BRAGI loves completely wireless headphones. Will smartphones lose the headphone jack? What do you think? Share if you like the freedom movement!"
And as of today they're following Apple's reactivated twitter.
I'm telling ya, something IS up. Not sure about what...while I love the concept of the Dash, there have been connectivity issues that have not yet been resolved...
Also still not sure why they'd make an announcement ahead of Apple....
If these products are so amazing, I wonder why people need to be forced to buy them by removing the headphone jack? After all, they already work on the existing phones, don't they.
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It uses standard Bluetooth nonetheless. Your claim that Bluetooth was "unreliable" because it was designed to work with many devices is just complete nonsense. As always, the reliability depends on the quality of the individual product.
What are you talking about? Bluetooth LE mode is not suitable for audio transmission, and BT 5 will not change that.
The Bluetooth standards, if properly implemented, already remove any "guesswork". We need less proprietary crap, not more.
There was little to no indication that they would actually launch in March, and before WWDC there were people saying that it would likely not be then due to the rumours about which quarter Apple would launch them in. I'm considering getting a new computer myself so I don't think the assumptions that I just don't care about Macs is warranted.
What you're stating runs counter to every review available on the planet, both the human side and the measured digital side -- which cites the midrange as its standout; being smooth and coherent, the most natural with the best vocal output -- notably compared against the Momentum. Momentum given a nod for resolving treble better, but too loose on the bass. None of these being noted as perfect, but the Solo2 joining them as reference cans at the 200 dollar mark. Yes, they have a bass tilt, but it's nowhere near what the original Solo's were and approaching neutral.
Not really. Nowadays you can find excellent sounding high end cans with low impedance optimised for mobile devices amplifiers. No major compromises needed. Especially in the scope of mostly compressed music data on a phone.
External compact amplifiers haven been available for years for the enthusiasts who care for it. For the average listener or the the ones who carefully select their headphones with a low impedance level an external amplifier is absolutely not necessary and only adds relative bulk. And if the powerful amps could be developed into smaller formfactors then we could install it in a phone in the first place.
I don't see any advantages by removing the jack. And stuff by Phaz Music is already available today. Connect it now to your existing phone and enjoy it now.
What is the advantage for the average consumer? Does the market has to be manipulated that way because the consumers have in fact made their choice by using a universal, simple, reliable and not in any way restricted solution audio quality wise and not opted for headphones connected via a proprietary socket?
I just looked at the first 3 reviews found on google for the Solo 2. They are pretty much agree, they are much improved over the Solo, but they still have an unnatural bass heavy sound.
http://www.cnet.com/products/beats-solo-2/
http://www.trustedreviews.com/beats-solo-2-review
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2460252,00.asp
They are all pretty much in agreement. If you like bass heavy unbalanced sound you will love them. If you prefer a balanced sound you will hate them. By its very nature people are going to have a love hate relationship with them.
The same is often true with speakers. Many manufactures tune their speakers for an unbalanced house sound, others tune them very flat. In fact many home audio receivers allow you to calibrate to a "house" sound or to a flat frequency response because they know different people have different expectations.
Apple can either keep the beats product line as it is for what it is known for, balance the sound out in future releases and risk alienating those that like the unbalanced sound, or create new Apple branded products that have a more balanced sound.
My preference would be for the new products to contain a DSP built into circuitry of the headphones or iPhone to allow the end user to tune the sound as they see fit. This is similar to what Audeze has done in their cipher cables. If it was built into the iPhone 7 even better.
Unfortunately the headphones optimized for low impedance mobile device amps will not sound the same on other equipment with standard headphone specs. So the same set of headphones are going to sound different on every analogue device you plug it into.
Add to the fact that the mobile headphone jack is a compromise between Line Level Output and Headphone Level output, and doesn't do either particularly well. And that is variable from device to device.
So what you're suggesting for anyone who desires optimal audio quality, is that they will have to carry around multiple sets of headphones for whatever devices they intend to use. But even that doesn't change the line level output problem. That's still sub optimal, and will have different results from device to device.
Moving the DAC and amp into the equipment it's driving, and optimizing it for that equipment makes logical sense. That way, my headphones always sound the same, regardless of the equipment I'm using them on, and line level outputs can be optimized for the equipment it's connected to. Even balanced inputs/outputs from the iPhone are possible with the correct dongle. The other advantages of course are that using a digital output, power can be provided to various equipment directly from the iPhone. No more bulky battery packs on noise cancelling headphones, or running out of power mid-flight without replacement batteries on hand. Sensors can be built into the headphones that do things like automatically pause the iPhone when removed from the head. Etc.
There's no question that there are advantages to digital. The real question is why are they removing the headphone jack? I'm not going to try and explain the benefits to you because you've clearly made up your mind. And because benefits are subjective from person to person. Something of value to me, may be of no importance to you. Apple is the aggregator. And as you point out, the customer has a huge say in this. Apple may have good reason to believe that most customers won't miss the headphone jack.
http://www.macnn.com/articles/16/01...o.ask.apple.shoppers.what.they.thought.131986
But if they're wrong, customers will vote with their wallet, just as they always have done.
At $300 a pop! I want to see Tim say with a straight face: here is the iPhone 7, earbuds sold separately: at $300. Good luck there Tim.
So, I think with this picture we can actually say the missing headphone jack is pretty much CONFIRMED. (yeah yeah, I know, there really wasn't a question about that, but until now it's still been nothing but rumors...)
https://www.facebook.com/hellobragi...059357072732/1293641710681155/?type=3&theater
At first I thought they're just using a picture of some mockups or prototypes, but the hand in the background is definitely holding either a pair of Bragi Dash ... or ....Apples new AirPods (which may or may not be the same thing).
https://www.facebook.com/hellobragi...059357072732/1293641710681155/?type=3&theater
At first I thought they're just using a picture of some mockups or prototypes, but the hand in the background is definitely holding either a pair of Bragi Dash ... or ....Apples new AirPods (which may or may not be the same thing).
Both my 5K iMac and my 4K Smart TV are connected via Ethernet: far more stable than WiFi, and since neither of them move, it's two less devices fighting over the already massively crowded (in NYC) WiFi spectrum.
Personally I don't need to be plugged into an outlet every night, I don't lose my pairing with a device, I don't drop streaming signals, I don't refuse to work as my battery has died, but every pair of bluetooth headphones I have ever used, have done these things.Personally , I cannot tie a granny knot, a reef knot or indeed, a fisherman's knot. But my headphones can!
My wired headphones, have not.
Yup that is my point. I have my iMac, 2 printers, 2 access points, NAS, 2 Apple TVs, Smart TV, 2 blue ray players, and a receiver all connected via Ethernet with gigabit fiber internet connection. The only devices that use WiFi are our phones, iPad, MBA, and Airport Express(for speakers). The wired devices get a better more stable connection, and the wireless devices don't have to compete with them. Ethernet is not going anywhere, but I don't think it should be included on mobile devices. Anything that doesn't get moved around, should be connected via ethernet.
Of course I know that. But the implementation of, for example, a superior dac to the native iPhone dac within a pair of lightning headphones could be a legitimate selling point.
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By professional standards, most Beats headphones (certainly those closest to the $100 mark; that is to say the entry-level Beats stuff) will not be able to touch your Sony headphones, which, as you said, have been one of a handful of "industry standard" headphones for a while alongside, for example, the AKG K240, which is my preferred set of 'phones. That said, I am fairly certain that a large portion of consumers (maybe even the majority of consumers) would prefer much of the Beats range over your current headphones because Beats are intentionally unbalanced headphones (vs. your Sonys which are quite "flat") that tend to boost bass frequencies. Most people tend to hear bass and think bass = quality, but Beats headphones have historically been known to introduce harmonic distortion - undesirable by professionals and audiophiles, but unnoticed or preferred by average consumers.
Agreed 100%. Beats has always catered to the 'look at me I'm cool' crowd that has no idea what great, balanced audio reproduction should be.
Hmm, in a way, Apple has become that way too.
The iphone already has pretty much the highest quality DAC and amp for its size and power. There are certainly higher quality options, but they use much more power and are also typically bigger (and get hotter). If, as the rumors suggest, that Lightning headphones will draw power from the iphone itself, the DAC and amp they use will not be any better as the limiting factor (battery) remains the same.
Look at the "superior" mobile DACs and amps out there. They're all huge bricks. Not because of poor design, that is just the technical reality today. Take the v-moda vamp for example - it has a 2200mah battery and weighs 190g. So it has a bigger battery than an iphone 6s and weighs more than an iphone 6s, and that is just for 7 hours of better sound. Do you really thing it's better to carry that sort of weight and size on your head, than in your pocket?
I'll GLADLY trade my wire breaking after a year, for NOT having to charge my pair dropping, stream dropping, battery dying bluetooth headphones every day for a year.
None taken. I literally just said 'holy sh**' when I got on and saw I had all those thumbs. I wasn't even that impressed with it when I wrote it.
Edit: I also appreciate your ability to not like something and state that without going full-tilt 'this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life'. More people should learn this trait.
You're joking, but it wouldn't surprise me if they introduced interchangeable headbands and matching ear cup covers (sold separately). To be introduced by one of Jony's voiceovers.
Why do they have to show you something great?
How about you show them something great?
Bet you got nothing!