Intel wants USB-C to replace the headphone jack

[patrickjp93]

3 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

I'd rather for Intel to put their priorities into making a smaller Ethernet connector, while still using the same old cables so you can make patch cables with them with new tools, instead of going after the audio jack.

It's called Infiniband, or Fiber Optic.

[SurvivorNVL]

3.5mm and the 6.3mm jack have been in active duty since 1870, I believe.  It's crazy how long, versatile, and a -jack-(HAH!) of all trades they've been over these years.  If Thunderbolt stops being rare, I can see this as an okay, albeit slow transition.  If Amps, Dacs, and future headphones end up coming with this natively - that should be fine, though adapters will likely be needed.  I'll just buy all the new stuff when I have the funds to.  Then again my new headphone set-up should last me a good few years(until the urge hits me again).  And I can't ever imagine listening to music on my phone.  But I'm odd.

[LAwLz]

6 hours ago, gFrenken97 said:

The 3.5mm jack has been around since 1964, I think it's time for a change.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The wheel has been around since 3,500 B.C, but I don't think we should replace it with triangular wheels just because they might be newer.

 

The 3.5mm headphone jack is pretty much perfect and replacing it with a digital connector makes no sense.

 

 

6 hours ago, djdwosk97 said:

Except that's not true at all. No high end home theater/stereo system uses analog audio for a reason. On a mobile device it's generally not as big a deal due to the quality of the headphones generally being used and the fact that interference isn't as big of a concern (although it still needs to be accommodated for). 

Ehmm... High end theater/stereo system do use analog audio. Audio is analog. They might not use an analog input, but that's because they got a DAC built in. For a big stereo system it makes sense, but it does not make sense for headphones and earphones because of the limited space, weight, power and cost factors.

 

 

The only time this would make any sense would be if:

1) USB-C sent an analog signal. Having it be digital is extremely wasteful because it means you will need at 2 DACs. One in your phone (for the speakers) and one in the headphones. So now you are all of a sudden doubling the cost if you want the same audio quality.

2) They started adding two ports to the phones instead of one.

 

If they did both of those things then I would be fine with it. As long as either one of those things don't get fixed it will be a completely moronic idea.

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The wheel has been around since 3,500 B.C, but I don't think we should replace it with triangular wheels just because they might be newer.

 

The 3.5mm headphone jack is pretty much perfect and replacing it with a digital connector makes no sense.

 

 

Ehmm... High end theater/stereo system do use analog audio. Audio is analog. They might not use an analog input, but that's because they got a DAC built in. For a big stereo system it makes sense, but it does not make sense for headphones and earphones because of the limited space, weight, power and cost factors.

 

 

The only time this would make any sense would be if:

1) USB-C sent an analog signal. Having it be digital is extremely wasteful because it means you will need at 2 DACs. One in your phone (for the speakers) and one in the headphones. So now you are all of a sudden doubling the cost if you want the same audio quality.

2) They started adding two ports to the phones instead of one.

 

If they did both of those things then I would be fine with it. As long as either one of those things don't get fixed it will be a completely moronic idea.

That's actually a really good consideration that I totally forgot about - a lot of people are claiming "Well they'll just take the DAC out of the phone!" - no they won't. Not unless you want a phone that has literally no speakers.

 

Oh yeah, good luck making or receiving a phone call on it then...

[spartaman64]

i dont get what the point is. a phone thinner than the audio jack will start to be uncomfortable to hold and i know that the audio jack is dirt cheap. 

[spellmanuk]

im split i think that we should do it just to create a ecosystem however im worried about the lack of compatibility between apple and everything else i think it would be worth doing this as obviously usb c is going to take over as the standard USB port in the next ten years so that way it would make any usb c on any device for audio out which would save money and space on something like a raspberry pi but like i said my only two worries are the compatibility of iphones as an iphone user this is a big worry and also while it may reduce cost of the devices surly it will boost the price of headphones due to the need for them to build in dacs and such 

[BuckGup]

If apple replaced the lightning with type C then by all means replace all 3.5mm with type c but if my headphones don't work on an android because apple then it makes everything so much worse

[Ronda]

Device makers support this cause it helps them lock people into their 'ecosystems'.

Intel supports this because they've given up on trying to make better CPUs so now they wanna switch to peddling wearable gimmicks that need data and power.

I mean if everyone agrees on designing their DACs to work with a standard, free driver, maybe it could work out okay, but I guarantee you that's not what's going to happen.

 

Oh, and remember that USB device authorization standard being announced? That means device makers could blacklist headphones or phones even if they would otherwise work together ( or rather whitelist only the ones they want).

 

[cryon1cang3l]

Thats simply stupid. Anyone who knows something about audio, is biting his keyboard, table or something else right now.

First: phones will still have a DAC and ADC on board for speakers and the microphone. 

Second: the audio portion of the power usage is not that high, put a bigger battery inside and enjoy a nice, long lasting smartphone that will not snap in half when you look at it. Where are we now, 6mm? In 3-5 years a baby would snap the phone if it can grab it. 

 

Some people forget that audio is pure analog and a DAC is in every piece of electronic gear that is able to make sounds. The only things that dont have a DAC are pure analog devices like a turntable (!).

The third point is: by moving the DAC, Amp and power source to the headphones, it will add weight and take up space that is usually needed for a big driver (40-53mm for on/over-ears) and the additional room is there so air can move and you get the bass/low end how you want it (this is why headphones have a bass port, like Beyerdynamic Custom series - it does nothing special, just limits the amount of air that can move). So all of you guys will soon carry a DAC in your headphones with a power source, be it a built in battery or removable stuff. Enjoy the extra weight and less space + controls on the headphones.. Thats the dumbest part about it. While good wireless headphones exist (like Sennheiser Momentum Wireless), they are a) more expensive b) still not 100% there with the audio quality and c) battery dies fast. Like really fast. 

 

The jack is here to stay. And some people forget that we have a 2,5mm jack, that is just smaller. Why not use this if you want that extra 1mm? *facepalm*

 

I will not buy a smartphone without a 3,5mm jack and everybody who will ask me "what should i get" will recieve the same answer: not that crap where you cant plug in stuff properly. 

 

[cryon1cang3l]

2 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

How am I gonna listen to music with an OTG device/charger/computer hooked up now?

 

Stupid idea.

2 ways. Wireless headphones or speaker or an adapter that can split the signals or will act as a hub. 

Both are dumb, but with enough force we will see that out there pretty soon. 

We can only buy what is out there. Some people will ignore that, but if there is ONLY that, you will end up getting it and get used to it.

[79wjd]

5 hours ago, bobhays said:

What do you mean? The receiver acts a a giant DAC, sending analog signals to the speakers. Normally the DAC is built into the computer or inside the phone, the only reason it isn't on a theater is because you have so much space and the receiver's whole purpose is to act as a switch and splitter (part of that includes being a DAC).

 

What do you want from bluetooth that isn't already there? I'm genuinely curious what it's lacking since I don't use it often.

 

USB-C can handle future functionality, but why remove the 3.5mm jack while we're at it. Yea it takes up space, but that space is completely worth it for the functionality it provides. Otherwise we'd use the space for another usb-c jack to charge and play music at the same time OR we'd need to have adapters and splitters which is probably even worse.

I should have been more clear. Audio, naturally, needs to be analog at some point, but in a theater/stereo that generally doesn't happen until the processor as it doesn't make sense for their to be professional grade audio circuitry in the average blu ray player, so it's more effective to just let the processor handle everything that way you can get as high or low quality unit as you want. By allowing digital out from a phone you now have more control and less time for interference to become an issue. 

 

Bluetooth th audio still doesn't quite sound the same, connectivity can occasionally be temperamental, and there is a lack of higher end headphones/IEMs.

[cryon1cang3l]

1 minute ago, huilun02 said:

Then i'll actively lambast this stupid idea, and stick to phones with the audio jack.

 

Ffs they want to take away a component on the phone, force people to buy more expensive earphones with questionable Dacs, and charge us more for the phone as a feature?

 

What kind of backwards logic are they thinking? The people coming up with ideas of paper thin bendgate phones with pathetic endurance, have brain cancer or what? 

Well thats not new. Apple did a lot of that stuff, removing essential parts (at least they were essential back then like removeable battery, SDcard slots blah). 

And as you can see, people "love" it. There is a minor shitstorm every time, but once the device is out, the shitstorm goes out the window and people throw money at it. 

[Doobeedoo]

11 hours ago, Sauron said:

I have no problem with using a different connector than the jack. what I have a problem with is sharing the same port with everything else.

Yeah I just thought adding two connectors then

[themctipers]

Shit -- So I need to get another adapter for something I use everyday?

I mean like, my old speakers use RCA so I need an adapter for RCA -> 3.5mm now I need 3.5mm -> USB-C? 

And then I need one for my computer in the future.. 

 

$49.99!

[TriviaBeast]

The interesting thing about removing the 3.5mm jack to go with only 1 USB type C is that the future is headed away from things like type C for phones (bear with me).  At this point it is easy to see that wireless is the future.  It won't be long before everyone's file transfers are wireless and the only thing we need a port for is charging, well that is until wireless charging gains a solid foothold in the market.  I almost never plug my phone into anything except a charger.

 

I am wide open to criticism on this view, but with the huge advancements in cloud based services I fail to see the point of the hyperfast type c outside of the very capable charging specs.  I do recognize it's beneficial for many types of devices, but I am not sure the phone is one of them.

 

 

[Sladerz]

With the way things are going I would not be surprised if the next phone fad after this one is to get rid of all ports and just make the phone completely wireless(wireless charging, bluetooth head phones, etc)

[That Norwegian Guy]

They can, respectfully, go fuck themselves.

 

As someone who's spent thousands on a whole collection of headphones.

 

I will never purchase a phone without a 3,5mm on it.

[Stefken89]

19 hours ago, gFrenken97 said:

or choosing to get rid of SD-card slots in exchange for bigger internal storage.

I'm sorry, LMAO! When did we get bigger internal storage because there was no SD-card slot?!

[Energycore]

Since the only problems I'm seeing with this move are those related to change in general, I'm all for it. I too want my headphone jack to double as a charger / input / interface into my PC and the worst that means for 3.5mm users is that they'll use an adapter.

 

Although adoption of this shouldn't be rushed and just like some skylake motherboards support DDR3, I'd like for companies to give consumers the option of a headphone jack for now.

[unsubscribed]

Intel is doing it right. As much as we love the 3.5mm (personally makes no difference to me), USB has advantages as:

advanced connector to allow fully digital control and proper communication between headphones and the device

custom DAC for the headphones - this way the headphones will sound as intended as opposed to rubbish when connected to unsuitable source

 

I do get why people are upset but this is the way forward. This also gives companies great control over headphones allowing all sorts of marketing nonsense and the way we are heading this is going to be shoved to us sooner than later.

[RedRound2]

Good its time we get rid of the headphone jack. But it will take Apple to jump start this change and Apple being headstrong about these kinds of things they sure as hell would do, even if it annoys their customers

 

My only problem is as many said, one port for everything but i guess it'll fix itself as soon as Bluetooth earphones starts getting popular and better. 

[dalekphalm]

8 hours ago, Stefken89 said:

I'm sorry, LMAO! When did we get bigger internal storage because there was no SD-card slot?!

Agreed - in most cases, we simply lost the SD-Card slot, and got the same size of internal storage - mostly because Apple wants to sell you iCloud subscriptions.

6 hours ago, edsdrafts said:

Intel is doing it right. As much as we love the 3.5mm (personally makes no difference to me), USB has advantages as:

advanced connector to allow fully digital control and proper communication between headphones and the device

custom DAC for the headphones - this way the headphones will sound as intended as opposed to rubbish when connected to unsuitable source

 

I do get why people are upset but this is the way forward. This also gives companies great control over headphones allowing all sorts of marketing nonsense and the way we are heading this is going to be shoved to us sooner than later.

You're increasing the cost of the headphones themselves, and the phone will not drop in cost in a comparable way. Remember, this will NOT get rid of the DAC already on the phone - unless we think phone makers will ditch the internal speakers? Yeah - not gonna happen - especially since phone makers have been making a push to make the internal speakers better and better on phones.

 

So all we're losing on the phone is a 3.5mm jack. Yet the headphones now has to have a DAC. I'm fairly sure a DAC costs more than a 3.5mm jack.

 

This will make headphones bigger, heavier, bulker, and cost more. This will also make the headphones consume more power, which will in turn affect the battery life of the phone (Remember, the phone still has it's internal DAC, so now there are 2 DAC's in the equation).

 

I for one will continue to buy phones with 3.5mm jacks on them for my foreseeable future purchases.

[Stuff_]

Adapter is the wrong way to approach the problem. If you lose it, you're SOL. 

So often I listen to music in my car. My car isn't new enough to have a Bluetooth module to support music, so I use the aux input. nearly every time I charge, and listen simultaneously (so my battery doesn't drain). I can no longer do this without some adapter? That sucks.

[79wjd]

19 minutes ago, Stuff_ said:

Adapter is the wrong way to approach the problem. If you lose it, you're SOL. 

So often I listen to music in my car. My car isn't new enough to have a Bluetooth module to support music, so I use the aux input. nearly every time I charge, and listen simultaneously (so my battery doesn't drain). I can no longer do this without some adapter? That sucks.

They sell Bluetooth receivers that can plug into an aux jack. 

[Stuff_]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

They sell Bluetooth receivers that can plug into an aux jack. 

But why do I need to buy that when it works great as I am using it?