Wireless vs wired

Ergroilnin · February 26, 2020

Hello,

I am by no means an audiophile (my hearing isn't the best at all, I cannot even tell half of time, if someone is off a note etc.) but I very much do enjoy music a lot (while I do notice difference in lows and highs, overall I mostly notice and enjoy music with a lot of bass (I am not talking about hardbass etc. just "naturally" bass heavier music like harder rock etc.)) and right now (and for the foreseeable future will be) living in a flat with not so understanding neighbourhoods so it is very rare for me to turn up music decently high, because I like to avoid unnecesarry conflicts if I can help it (If it helps to present a better picture, I have Logitech G560 speakers and I usually got them at +-10 windows %, when I had them at like 36-40, the neighbourhoods rushed knocking at my doors even before one song was halfway over (and no, this was not early or late, just a normal daytime)).

So lately I have been enjoying my music loud with my headphones, which to be honest I am not even sure what they are, all I know is that they are wireless Sony ones I bought like 6 years ago for around 100 euros give or take. And to me they still sound nice enough, but mechanically they are slowly giving up and I do not know how much life out of them I can expect, so I want to learn beforehand some guidelines or have some tips for when I will eventually have to buy a new pair.

I do understand that wired will (given a pricepoint) be pretty much always be better than wireless, especially with DAC, but is it really that big of a difference for someone like me? I really enjoy wireless so I can walk around the flat (heck, I can even go for a smoke like 10 meters diagonally and 10 meters horizontally with a lots of walls inbetween and still enjoy the music decently enough with my headset right now) but if the difference is big enough, I would not be against getting both wireless and wired ones for different usecases. Though I am by no means rich so we are not talking about high end stuff.

I also do not care personally for close or open back as in I am living alone so if open back sounds pretty much universally better, then I'd go that way. Also I do not care for active sound cancelling, even if the headset had that, I would not use it, I just personally need to potentially know if there is some noise going around me.

So what would you probably recommend me to get?

food158 · February 26, 2020

2 hours ago, Ergroilnin said:

Hello,

I am by no means an audiophile (my hearing isn't the best at all, I cannot even tell half of time, if someone is off a note etc.) but I very much do enjoy music a lot (while I do notice difference in lows and highs, overall I mostly notice and enjoy music with a lot of bass (I am not talking about hardbass etc. just "naturally" bass heavier music like harder rock etc.)) and right now (and for the foreseeable future will be) living in a flat with not so understanding neighbourhoods so it is very rare for me to turn up music decently high, because I like to avoid unnecesarry conflicts if I can help it (If it helps to present a better picture, I have Logitech G560 speakers and I usually got them at +-10 windows %, when I had them at like 36-40, the neighbourhoods rushed knocking at my doors even before one song was halfway over (and no, this was not early or late, just a normal daytime)).

So lately I have been enjoying my music loud with my headphones, which to be honest I am not even sure what they are, all I know is that they are wireless Sony ones I bought like 6 years ago for around 100 euros give or take. And to me they still sound nice enough, but mechanically they are slowly giving up and I do not know how much life out of them I can expect, so I want to learn beforehand some guidelines or have some tips for when I will eventually have to buy a new pair.

I do understand that wired will (given a pricepoint) be pretty much always be better than wireless, especially with DAC, but is it really that big of a difference for someone like me? I really enjoy wireless so I can walk around the flat (heck, I can even go for a smoke like 10 meters diagonally and 10 meters horizontally with a lots of walls inbetween and still enjoy the music decently enough with my headset right now) but if the difference is big enough, I would not be against getting both wireless and wired ones for different usecases. Though I am by no means rich so we are not talking about high end stuff.

I also do not care personally for close or open back as in I am living alone so if open back sounds pretty much universally better, then I'd go that way. Also I do not care for active sound cancelling, even if the headset had that, I would not use it, I just personally need to potentially know if there is some noise going around me.

So what would you probably recommend me to get?

Wireless is convenient, and you seem to enjoy that factor. The fact that you have to question whether or not wired would benefit you makes me doubt that it actually would. Controlling all other factors, wired has virtually no benefits to the average person, with the exception of having to manage a battery.

Now, if you care about getting a good sound for a smaller budget, than yes you would more likely have to consider wired. Think about what your priorities are at this point, they seem to just be getting something that has decent sound, convenience, and durability.