I always go to rtings if I wanna buy something. They make such detailed reviews!
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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i like wirecutter too!
Not a terrible list. But there are much better sources out there for audio reviews and opinions.
Crinacle.com
Head-fi.org
Soundguys.com
Soundstagehifi.com
Stereophile.com
Whathifi.com
I'm sure there's a few others.
Audio gear with non-replaceable batteries bothers me so much
My old Sony xm3, while not having officially yser-replaceable battery, is somewhat easy to open and replace batteries.
Anyone found any decent wireless ones with replaceable batteries? I was interested in the Fairbuds XL but it's not well reviewed.
For a while I had a pair of Sennheiser TV headphones that took AAAs, but they required a dedicated transmitter and weren't great for music anyway.
One sort-of semi solution is to use a bluetooth dongle with wired headphones. Usually still not easily replaceable batteries, but at least when the thing dies or becomes outdated due to codecs changing, you're not wasting as much money and material as you are when you need to replace a whole headset.
There are a lot of decent dongles nowadays. When last I checked I think the Qudelix-5K was the one to beat.
I love mine, and the battery management on the qudelix is phenomenal. Built in 80% mode, doesn't pull from battery while plugged in. And it looks like it could be opened with a screwdriver though I haven't tried.
If I search for Fairbuds XL reviews most of them seem very positive and hardly point out any major flaws. What are some of the negative aspects?
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We need a new list every year because the fucking things don't have replaceable batteries :/
Maybe EU will make a legislation about headphone batteries too…
They should focus on electric cars. Replacing tiny batteries in thin phones or thinner headphones is silly to legislate compared to gigantic batteries in big cars. The rest of the car could easily have a 20 year life with no internal combustion engine, but most get scrapped after 6-8 years.
If they want to pretend that they’re saving the planet with legislation, go for the real volume.
User replaceable batteries in earbuds would make them thicker and heavier - exactly what consumers say they don’t want.
Electric Cars have replaceable batteries? No one’s throwing away that much money in precious metals. Recycling companies are spinning up to handle EV batteries as they start to fail, which they haven’t in large numbers yet.
I've been rocking my Sony WH-1000XM3's for going on 5 years now and have had absolutely zero issues with battery life (or anything else for that matter). I wear them several hours a day, every work day for Zoom calls, etc. They've traveled with me and are great for flights.
I'd buy another pair (of the newer model) in a heartbeat.
Same here- best headphones I've ever owned!
🙋🏻♂️ Sony WH-1000XM2 owner here, and I'm equally as happy. They're still going strong after years of heavy daily use.
Are they really impossible to replace, though?
Probably not.
But most wireless headphones would be destroyed in the process of taking them apart.
I imagine some of the larger models above have (skilled) user replaceable batteries.
I'll stay wired for the foreseeable future. Headphones I have to charge just seem like an extra inconvenience to me.
You should try some. I've got the Sony XM4s, the battery lasts for an eternity and I never want to faff about with wires again!
When you use them for work, not being tied to your computer is really nice.
Exactly. Wireless headphones all have an expiration date, they are all future e-waste. A good pair of weird headphones Will last a lifetime if taken care of
Sony XM series have wired mode. Although the noice cancel feature still needs battery
I use my XM4’s wired with my PC every day because I don’t like Bluetooth latency but love these headphones. The flexibility of wireless when I need it occasionally is great though! (Like today I’ll use them on a flight later)
Honestly the average user should probably go wireless. The convenience factor is huge, and most of these new headphones come with active noise cancelling.
The average pair of wireless headphones is also good enough for casual listening (depending on codec) and can come pretty close to wired solutions.
That said, I would never go for wireless on ear/over ear headphones again. The more features something has, the harder it is to fix when something breaks.
My wireless solution is a set of mmcx in ear monitors connected via Bluetooth adapter. Even without active noise cancellation, they block out sound well. For desktop my job requires critical listening, and I like neutral signatures, so I'd rather stick to desktop monitors and wired solutions.
The convenience of wireless is great but it also means you'll need new headphones right around ever 5 years.
Wired is still the best option hands down imo. I can buy headphones that last for decades not years.
See I've had the opposite problem. Every single pair of wired headphones I've ever owned, except for my current pair, has failed when the wire had flexed too much. I suspect the current pair has lasted so long because I've almost entirely switched to wireless.
Some really expensive small ones I've used can fail after single digit hours of use (luckily work pays for those... and they're willing to make that compromise for nearly invisible cables). I keep a box of a dozen new sets ready to go under my desk, they're several hundred dollars each. We don't allow the wearer to put them on or take them off - an assistant carefully does it and tapes the cable to their skin under their clothes to try to reduce the risk of failure.
Obviously there are wired headphones with thicker / stronger cables, but those come with serious comfort compromises which most people just are not willing to make. There are jobs where you need a wired pair. I work one of those jobs. For any other situation though, I think wireless is better, and I use wireless as much as I can.
@abhibeckert @ArtificialLink I've got many pairs of wired headphones, and I've had exactly one pair fail due to the wire. Most of them are still working, barring physically breaking apart.
You can just buy headphones with a replaceable wire.
Every pair of headphones I currently own has a replaceable wire. It's still a failure point.
I still don't understand how the cable fails so often especially if they are multiple hundreds of dollars. What kind of work are you doing
And here I am mourning the soon to be death of my Bose QuietComfort 35 WIRED earbuds with the insanely soft comfortable silicone ear tips with WINGS that fit super snug & comfy, never fall out.
I’ve yet to find a sub 120-150 dollar replacement for them. I’ve been using them daily for like 10+ years :(
Honestly, you're in for a treat once you find a good replacement. "Comfort" and "wired" are an oxymoron. Wireless headphones can be so much more comfortable.
Destpite how shitty apple is I fuck with the airpods pro so hard
Someone knows some <$100 over ear headphones with solid anc?
I got the Sony WH-CH720N's. They're pretty great.
I find poorly implemented anc on cheap headphones to be painful. You'd be better off looking for good sound isolation.
I got no experience with ANC in over-ears. It's weird: with in-ears, you get pretty good ANC even in the cheaper <$50 ones. But it seems like you can't get decent quality anc in cheaper over-ears...
Slightly rephrasing my question: what's the least I have to spend for over-ears decent quality and?
Probably Anker soundcore Q20
I have tried several, and been thoroughly unimpressed. My advice is to save up and spend the extra money on ANC that's actually good. Sony and Bose both make EXCELLENT cans with great battery life. QuietComfort from Bose, and the WH-1000XM series from Sony. Don't cheap out, you'll get an inferior product.
You can get them used if you want, usually for under $200. Just replace the ear pads if you're paranoid about germs. I got a used set of WH-1000XM3's from a friend and they've been amazing, for two years now.
You can find similar prices on eBay, or here: https://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/collections/headphones#/filter:vendor:Bose/filter:vendor:Sony/filter:ss_filter_type:On$2520Ear$252FOver$2520Ear
Unclaimed Baggage is a cool website, they sell stuff that people left on airplanes. Looks like there isn't much in stock at the moment, but check back periodically and you'll see a lot of good Bose deals.
You know you're getting old when even the "budget" item on a list like this seems expensive.
The idea that people are just dropping $300+ on a a headset is crazy to me.
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