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Powerbeats Pro in Ivory, Moss, and Navy Now Available for Pre-order
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Fits in a brief case, along with my laptop and/or phone, with no problem. Carry it all onto a plane, lie back with headphones in place, no problem - noise cancellation, superior sound, ear cups padded for comfort, no battery issues - and 40% cheaper per headphone than the Beats. Portable external DACs for travel aren't much larger than a dongle - and rarely needed. The DACs I occasionally use for my phone or laptops run less than $100. These headphones were, btw, $160 (two for $320). I get that some folks don't want over-the-ear headphones, preferring convenience over sound quality. That's fine, and in some cases, I'm in that boat - generally when commuting around town with my phone. For that, I have some Sennheiser earbud phones I paid around $80 for - yes, they're wired. I have no issues with wires for headphones; I have issues with devices that purposefully exclude their being used. Apple made that choice beginning with the iPhone 7, and folks like me have moved on for phones and tablets. It's becoming apparent, with all the successive AirPod/HomePod/Beats bluetooth devices marketed since losing the jack, that it was a marketing decision to enhance sales of Apple bluetooth devices. They are catering to the convenience-oriented customer and neglecting the audiophile segment. It's a shame, because iPhones and iPads with headphone jacks could accommodate both types of consumer.
Incidentally, the tiny adapter to which you refer is an inferior version of the portable DACs to which I referred - roughly the same size.
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Yes and no. Apple BT headset devices got so good I had to buy the airpods. The convenience is amazing. However, it did take a few years to get me to make that plunge. On the subject of favorite headsets: I personally find my QC 35 ii to be amazingly, excellent as they can be worn for many, many hours in utter comfort with great sound quality and excellent noise cancellation. However these are so much an individual choice as to preferences and what is great, comfortable and sounds good.
I haven't moved on, I embraced the loss of a headphone jack. But I do use my wired earpods in the gym as I don't care if they get wet from sweat.
Maybe one day I'll buy the powerbeats pro, however, staring at 5 BT headsets plus earpods, I'm set for a while.
I cannot possibly imagine a "decent" DAC that could fit in an iPhone. The on-board version is adequate for low power headphones. If you know what a DAC is and you think you need one, you should also know that it would be impossible to have a high end DAC in an ~8 mm phone that is already cramped with modems, antennae, processors, batteries, etc. It would more than double the size, shape, and weight of the device. My little portable USB-based SoundBlaster DAC would never fit in any smartphone, at least not one that ever made a major impact on the industry. I don't even think this little guy would qualify as "decent" for many audiophiles, but it sure is a quantum leap better than the Realtek crap in my work laptop...
Now that I've gone and made sweeping claims about the audio industry... do you (or anyone else) know of an ultra-compact DAC that competes with large, discrete-component DACs?
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Wait, I'm confused. Are you using a DAC after the 3.5mm output? Because that doesn't make sense, 3.5mm outputs analog already, there is no need for a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) there. I know some people use additional amps after the 3.5mm for audiophile headphones, and that is fine, but that has nothing to do with the lightning-to-3.5mm adapter.
Like I mentioned, I get it that some people find that convenience trumps other factors. That's always been the case - different strokes for different folks. My thorn of a complaint remains: Apple did not need to get rid of the phone jack to accommodate bluetooth folks. Phone jacks never stood in the way of bluetooth, nor vice versa. Bluetooth devices will work with my LG V40 just as well as with an iPhone, and also produces great sound for wired devices. These features don't have to be mutually exclusive. By removing the jack, Apple greatly enhanced its Bluetooth device market for folks still willing to buy the jackless phones (and now iPads). My 6S+, with phone jack, delivers Bluetooth just like the phones with no jack. Apple has embraced, over the last five years, two basic trends with their devices - thin and small, minimalist use of ports (inclusive of the jack). I have not been able to embrace that philosophy, and as Apple has gone exclusively thin and minimal, esp. with laptops and iOS devices, other brands have stepped up to fill the void, certainly in hardware offerings. Once my 2017 iPad Pro and my 6S+ finally die, I'll somewhat regrettably be out of the iOS fold. With great improvements in Linux and PC laptops over the same five year period, leaving Mac laptops hasn't been so painful. Still have an iMac desktop, only two years old (from which I'm now typing), so we'll see what comes after it.
BTW, the Bose bluetooth headphones have gotten good reviews - I'd choose something like that or perhaps the Sennheiser HD1's if I went the wireless route. The Senn's have pretty low impedance (18 ohms), not sure about the QC 35II. I'm guessing - maybe I'm wrong - that bluetooth devices generally have low impedance due to battery restrictions for power. With wired over-the-ear headphones, I generally keep between 50 and 100 ohms for extensive travel - that's a realistic limit for use with smart phones without using an external DAC. The Beyerdynamic headphones I mentioned above - 150 ohms - don't work well with phones. They're great with laptops with good audio software. Sorry this has been long winded.
I wear glasses and these work perfectly, just as easy to put in and take out as if I didn't wear glasses.
I've also had the first gen airpods and I find these powerbeats pro's sound way better as the fit is a lot better. Much more bass than the airpods because of the tighter fit.
Agree with all you said. They fit fine with glasses and I also own a pair of first gen airpods. The powerbeats pro sound better. I use both headphones: airpods for general use around the office and home, and powerbeats for working out. Honestly the powerbeats pro are a great set of headphones, although I agree that they are pricey.
My boo-boo. I should have mentioned that with the phones, when needed, I use a DAC/AMP device (in this case, a little Soundblaster E1). When plugged into a phone via the jack, only the amplifier is activated on the E1 - actual DAC delivery is still in the V40 phone. The E1 also has a USB port which can be hooked to a laptop, in which case the DAC is activated along with the amp. The amp part of the device is needed to power high impedance (over 100 ohms) speakers/headphones. I'm assuming that the Lightning headphone adapter has a DAC, but if it really is under $10, I'm guessing it is minimally configured. As you indicate, external DACs require digital inputs (generally via USB) with a 3.5 mm (or 6.35 mm) jack for output. I generally use a FIIO E10K Olympus 2, with only digital input, with laptops/desktops.
https://medium.com/@Xander51/sound-...eview-a-great-cheap-audio-device-27b7ad450f64
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I went in to the Apple store a few weeks ago to buy AW4 and wanted to demo these.They brought out the buds and like a geek I tried to put them in my ear.Another lady quickly followed with the package of tips and one of them was a great fit.I assume they just have many of those packs (same ones that come with the purchase) to use when people want to check the sound & fit.
I'll use @ the gym and pair with the watch for music and podcasts.The sound was good enough but obviously doesn't match my Senn overhears.
Ordered blue 10 minutes after the opening bell and got a:
Ships -- 5-7 business days
Delivers -- 9/3 - 9/5
Apple always pads my deliveries so it will probably dock b4 9/3.
I'm not sure about the E1, but the E5 does work with a USB-Lightning cable to play from an iPhone, same as you do with your laptop. Maybe the E1 does too. There are plenty of DAC/Amps that support lightning. Indeed, if you want 24bit audio, I think you have to go this route unless you have one of the specialize LG phones.
I have a few coworkers that use this DAC/Amp with their iPhone to drive high impedance headphones. https://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-DragonFly-Red-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B01DFMV4NQ It's defiantely not cheap, but I don't think you can beat the portability. Requires a lightning-to-USB-A adapter of course, but those are cheap and readily available.
The point is, iPhone was not all that audiophile-friendly before getting rid of the 3.5mm jack. You still needed an external Amp, as you do now. In that sense, nothing material changed. The 3.5mm jack is irrelevant to that.
If anything, it's better now - your DAC/Amp can access the digital data directly, instead of just amplifying a weak analog signal as was done in the past.
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The one thing I don't agree with, is Apple got rid of the headphone jack to sell more of its' own products. That's cutting off their collective noses to spite their face. That doesn't make any sense to me. Someone annoyed enough at Apple is going to buy a competitors BT headset. Apple is not alone, the supposed "biggest and badest" note 10, doesn't sport a headphone jack. How many people do you think that will annoy?
This should help......
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/set-up-powerbeats-pro-earbuds/
As well as these comparisons....
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-airpods-vs-beats-powerbeats-pro,review-6589.html
https://www.cnet.com/reviews/beats-powerbeats-pro-review-review/
I wear sun glasses with mine when running, and reading glasses when working with them on. I don't have a problem but you would need to give it a try to test your own ear buds-glasses-ear configuration.
These are great for people who exercise a lot such as myself, as they really stay in place and sound very nice.
"grayskyz said: ↑Do these work exactly like the AirPods in terms of connectivity and how it works with iOS?"
Yes they do. I have not had issues quickly pairing to any Apple device.
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Of course they did. Do you think they bought Beats and made airpods to just play at selling earphones? And Samsung make Galaxy buds. It's all about the up sell and the eco system.
It's a darn good upsell though. I would have bought the airpods even if my phone had a headphone jack. The headphone jack or lack thereof wouldn't have deterred me from using a product that is as convenient as airpods. From my buying them Apple sold 4 more pairs of airpods to my family, including one family member that has a 6s+.
So my point Apple doesn't need to remove the headphone jack to upsell it's products. Of course, that is in my very own humble opinion.
The apple dac adapters are very impressive. If you haven’t tried them, you ought to give it a try. If one is running headphones under 100 ohm, there’s little point in running an external dac, just get one of these 10$ dacs instead.
Lightning DAC
https://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/lightning-adapter-audio-quality.htm
UsbC DAC
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/
You know what he means don’t be that guy..
I agree, that only the white color option does feel limiting.
If it's selling very well then the price isn't crazy. That's how the market works.
My pair (in black) is on a Qantas plane shuttling between Melbourne and Los Angeles. Was such a long flight that I took them off and fell asleep and they are somewhere on the aircraft but couldn't find them! Had no luck finding them after contacting the airline multiple times.