Yet another headphone thread

That little $100 job looks downright decent. Headphones.com used to have one a lot like that, except it used three AA batteries to boost output on USB, instead of a second USB port. That made it portable, but it was on the large side for hauling around. The dual-USB approach seems better for many uses.

(They don't seem to have that old model anymore; they've gone way upscale. They're more interested in the kilobuck than the hectobuck crowd.)

The Fulla and Hel are both great devices if you want a very simple and easy to use but still high quality audio setup and want a mic input to go with it.

The Hel in particular is genuinely great for its given purposes.

Schiit is one of the most consistently improving companies in specialty audio.

They keep finding new ways to make their more value oriented products gain more and more value.

The Magni 3+ and Magni Heresy compete with amps that cost three times as much and often measure better on frequency response, noise floor, distortion, etc.

Okay, is there any consensus on true-wireless earphones that don't cost $100, that are reliable even if they don't suffice for audiophiles? My partner's looking and she tried some Jabra Elite 65ts (I think) and they were too big. She just ordered some TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53s so we'll see how they work out.

For a short while--maybe 18 months--I'd've checked The Wirecutter, but that's become unreliable for me.

muraii wrote:

Okay, is there any consensus on true-wireless earphones that don't cost $100, that are reliable even if they don't suffice for audiophiles? My partner's looking and she tried some Jabra Elite 65ts (I think) and they were too big. She just ordered some TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53s so we'll see how they work out.

For a short while--maybe 18 months--I'd've checked The Wirecutter, but that's become unreliable for me.

This might help

For <$100, they recommend the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Wireless Earbuds

Chairman_Mao wrote:
muraii wrote:

Okay, is there any consensus on true-wireless earphones that don't cost $100, that are reliable even if they don't suffice for audiophiles? My partner's looking and she tried some Jabra Elite 65ts (I think) and they were too big. She just ordered some TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53s so we'll see how they work out.

For a short while--maybe 18 months--I'd've checked The Wirecutter, but that's become unreliable for me.

This might help

For <$100, they recommend the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Wireless Earbuds

Many thanks!

(And what's with all the "Liberty" in headphones?)

muraii wrote:

(And what's with all the "Liberty" in headphones?)

Free from the tyranny of copper wires, I assume.

muraii wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:
muraii wrote:

Okay, is there any consensus on true-wireless earphones that don't cost $100, that are reliable even if they don't suffice for audiophiles? My partner's looking and she tried some Jabra Elite 65ts (I think) and they were too big. She just ordered some TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53s so we'll see how they work out.

For a short while--maybe 18 months--I'd've checked The Wirecutter, but that's become unreliable for me.

This might help

For <$100, they recommend the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Wireless Earbuds

Many thanks!

(And what's with all the "Liberty" in headphones?)

Freedom for your ears! From cord oppression!

I recently bought a set of Anker - Soundcore Spirit X2's. They are the style with the hooks. They're pretty decent, but the highs are a bit sharp for my tastes. Not a big deal as 90% of the time I use them for podcasts or books.

I got them off of Best Buy ahead of official launch somehow. Best Buy at the time had them for $55.

I'd held off for awhile because most of the lower priced true wireless would only allow you to use one particular side if you wanted to just go one earbud. For instance, you might only be able to use the left side solo, and you couldn't just use the right. So watch out for that.

IMHO Taotronics makes great "wireless" headphones but the true wireless stuff they make leaves much to be desired. The two I have tried are tinny and didn't block out road noise during runs. I haven't personally listened to anker true wireless stuff but I read reviews with similar impressions.

Tranya headphones sound much better, especially if you like bass, but are a little big in the ear. These were recommended by someone who posted earlier in this thread. @Mannish you can use these solo by just taking either one out of the case on it's own.

The Galaxy Buds + are great if you can find them for under a 100.

And yes I have a problem because I have more wireless buds then listed above.

I got the Sony WF-1000XM3 and I'm having bluetooth dropouts and sometimes it won't answer the phone

I wonder if it's my iphone (11 Pro) or the earbuds...

interstate78 wrote:

I got the Sony WF-1000XM3 and I'm having bluetooth dropouts and sometimes it won't answer the phone

I wonder if it's my iphone (11 Pro) or the earbuds...

Connect them to something else and see. e.g. someone else's phone, your laptop,

My partner has those, and hasn't had any issues with a Pixel 3A that she's told me of. I want to get some because the battery life and noise cancelling are so good. I have the previous model which are okay, but the battery life is rough.

I have noticed while riding mass transit through Portland that there are areas that are rough for Bluetooth headphones. The area by the Moda Center here is particularly bad.

I never like to use wireless when a wire is a realistic option. If you've got a headphone jack, it will work serenely under any conditions on the 2.4GHz spectrum, and you can get perfectly reasonable wired earbuds for $15 or so. If you lose a set, meh, big deal.

Malor wrote:

I never like to use wireless when a wire is a realistic option. If you've got a headphone jack, it will work serenely under any conditions on the 2.4GHz spectrum, and you can get perfectly reasonable wired earbuds for $15 or so. If you lose a set, meh, big deal.

Conterpoint, the only time I actively prefer wired is sitting on the couch listening to music on the best audiophile headphones I have, played through the receiver.

The physical freedom of no wire is too much of a benefit to forego. The quality of the output amp on my phone is garbage, so there's no audiophile excuse if I'm playing off my phone. Streamed music a la Spotify sounds garbage, so no reason to default to wired. But putting a record on through a nice system is a joy that I can't quite replicate through wireless cans.

That said, I'm set up with decent quality wireless cans on my PC, a lovely NC set, and a pair of Galaxy buds for podcasts around the house, so I'm already over the hump in terms of converting over.

See that's why I bought this USBC dac/amp for my phone...

boogle wrote:

See that's why I bought this USBC dac/amp for my phone...

Sure, but then that's another bit of kit I've got to cart around, keep charged etc. That's just further making the case for the no-hassle aspect of wireless.

Like, I get it, that can substantially make your phone sound better, no argument. I'm just not turning to my phone when I want super-sparkly-shiny audio.

And if I am listening to music on my phone, I can sidestep the sh*tty output stage of the phone entirely with the NC wireless cans I've got, which do a good enough job with sound quality.

I recently bought a Galaxy S10e in part due to it having a headphone jack rather than the S20 (but also due to price and size). The S10e also came with a gift card so I decided to get the Galaxy Buds Plus to make it a little less wire-ly when playing PS4 remote play.

Well I didn't even realize what I was missing with premium wireless earbuds. I had charging anxiety and had originally balked at the price of my wife's Airpod's. I didn't realize the case also had a battery for charging if you were away from a charger. I actually already had a pair of $20 Aelec wireless headphones (but the kind connected together with a cable) but only used those for running on the treadmill. They were kind of bulkly and had poor battery life but it is fine for their purpose (I usually don't run more than 30 minutes).

Now I do all my work calls on buds and am looking to get a bluetooth for the Switch. So anyway, that's my story. I like the Galaxy Buds.

Jonman wrote:
boogle wrote:

See that's why I bought this USBC dac/amp for my phone...

Sure, but then that's another bit of kit I've got to cart around, keep charged etc. That's just further making the case for the no-hassle aspect of wireless.

Like, I get it, that can substantially make your phone sound better, no argument. I'm just not turning to my phone when I want super-sparkly-shiny audio.

And if I am listening to music on my phone, I can sidestep the sh*tty output stage of the phone entirely with the NC wireless cans I've got, which do a good enough job with sound quality.

It just drains off the phone (and oh does it drain).

I use it with my portapros for my laptop or my phone when travelling, but since I'm mostly listening to podcasts walking the dog and such, I have some wireless bt buds for everyday.

I don't think I posted this before, but speaking of wireless headphones for listening to voice for out walking dogs or doing other stuff near traffic when you need more situational awareness, I bought some of the Aftershokz bone conducting Air headphones when Costco had a sale a few months ago. For that use case, they're great. Don't expect amazing music clarity, but they're great for podcasts and books with an occasional music use. They're also good for doing stuff like working on cars, where I've always had trouble keeping wireless IEM's in my ears while going underneath cars and getting sweaty.

I will say wearing them with a hat or hoodie can sometimes be annoying due to the way the hoop sticks out in the back as part of the tensioning system to keep pressure on your skull bones.

https://www.amazon.com/Aftershokz-AS...

I have a few friends who love Aftershokz for cycling.

MannishBoy: your link is missing the ASIN (bit following /dp/) and therefore is invalid

boogle wrote:

MannishBoy: your link is missing the ASIN (bit following /dp/) and therefore is invalid

I click edit, copy directly what I linked to into Chrome, and it goes to the correct page. So it's something the site is doing. I also just edited and put the link in clear text and the same thing happens.

Can confirm, I just put in an amazon link and did a post preview and the GWJ site is futzing with links and breaking them.

it you put the url in as "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G3HTB1X" things work. The referral tag adder (which is another thing entirely but lame) is doing flawed url parsing since amazone urls can be of the form /title/dp/asin or /title/gp/product/asin
Also don't buy from amazon (I am a biased voice in this)

tl;dr I think this is incredibly scammy to be doing in the first place, but the fact that it breaks is egregious

It was talked about at great length when they rolled it out, and pretty much everyone thought it was okay at the time. It definitely wasn't done in any kind of underhanded way, back when it was implemented.

If you find it wrongheaded/annoying, say something in the "GWJ Bugs" thread. There's been some discussion about the Amazon linkifier already, and Amoebic might very well take it out if it's causing this much trouble.

I don't mind if it's there. Maybe a disclosure would be warranted that's more clear, but I've known it was there for years.

If it's broken then it's annoying

Probably just more personally offended because of previous professional experience.

Back on topic talk me out of these in beige

boogle wrote:

Probably just more personally offended because of previous professional experience.

Back on topic talk me out of these in beige

People love those things.

I've not tried them because on-ear is a big no-no for me personally, but if you know that isn't a problem for you I've not heard anything other than "they're amazing for the price"

Hmmm and my yaxi ear pads will fit hmmmm.