Let's talk about the headphone jack for a minute

[themctipers]

22 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

 

yes, seen it before

[Skanky Sylveon]

I'm a dongle girl. ♫

In a dongle world. ♫

My phone is so shit. ♫

It's perfect. ♫ 

 

Everyone, repeat after me.  BIG DONGLES!

[Nup]

Getting rid of the jack was an abysmal decision.

Does anyone know if a device which is Bluetooth-3.5mm female? That was you could plug in any headphone and use them with any Bluetooth device. It’s a bigger device, but nicer to have one then the mess of cable adaptors you now have to carry (like linus). 

[Zodiark1593]

6 hours ago, Sauron said:

I agree, and right now there is absolutely no reason to get rid of the jack. Headphones are inherently analog in nature, so a DAC is required somewhere regardless (besides, phones need one for their built in speakers anyway). Yes, the cable may not be quite as reliable as a digital one, but since 99% of headphones come with a jack and not with usb-c you'll just end up using a dongle and increasing the points of failure instead of decreasing them. The change must start with the headphone industry - all it takes is starting to make headphones with detachable cables that can use both usb-c and the jack. Eventually people are going to start using usb more and THEN removing the jack from phones will make sense. Right now they're only doing it because it's "hip".

The only devices that are really ready to be rid of the headphone jack are Apple devices, if only because there is an actual functional standard in place. The Android segment is nowhere near ready, at best, it is in the (in)voluntary Beta phase.

[Sauron]

14 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

The only devices that are really ready to be rid of the headphone jack are Apple devices, if only because there is an actual functional standard in place. The Android segment is nowhere near ready, at best, it is in the (in)voluntary Beta phase.

Except that "standard" is only used by select apple products, and there is no guarantee they won't ditch it in a couple of years (wouldn't be the first time).

[Zodiark1593]

4 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Except that "standard" is only used by select apple products, and there is no guarantee they won't ditch it in a couple of years (wouldn't be the first time).

As of now, any adaptor with a lightning connector will more than likely work flawlessly in any iPhone. Some Android phones tend to be a bit more picky, as some USB-C adaptors that work in one phone, may not function in another, even if the port is identical.

 

Kind of semi-unrelated, but I am extremely curious if Dac/AMP combos like the Schiit Fulla 2 will work with USB-C devices universally. I am tempted to buy one myself, though I'm not in the position to blow away random $100 bills whenever the urge hits.

[Sauron]

22 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

As of now, any adaptor with a lightning connector will more than likely work flawlessly in any iPhone. Some Android phones tend to be a bit more picky, as some USB-C adaptors that work in one phone, may not function in another, even if the port is identical.

 

Kind of semi-unrelated, but I am extremely curious if Dac/AMP combos like the Schiit Fulla 2 will work with USB-C devices universally. I am tempted to buy one myself, though I'm not in the position to blow away random $100 bills whenever the urge hits.

If you're using an adapter it defeats the purpose... headphones with a lightning cable are exclusive to some iphones.

[kting15]

Honestly, I'm one of those people that dont really care all that much about the headphone jack on my phone. When I had my 6S Plus, I rarely used the headphone jack on it. The only times I ever really listen to music was while I was listening to music on my laptop in my dorm which I mostly used bluetooth to stream to speakers or on headphones when I'm studying on campus or at work. For the most part it hasn't affected me except for the rare instances where I feel the need to listen to music, but for those extremely rare instances, I'll use the adapter which is always in my bag with my earbuds just in case, which is almost never.

 

Also, frankly, I'm not surprised that other companies are now doing it despite them making fun of Apple for doing it a year ago. The idea of talking away the connector has some inherent benefits with the phone in terms of more space for packaging, less considerations needed for water resistance ratings, etc. though whether or not those companies actually use that space effectively is a totally different issue.

 

In the end though, it really is based off of your specific use case. Yeah, it can be inconvenient and annoying, and I was in that camp of annoyed people when Apple did it, but it has never bothered me to the extent that it would drive me to never buy another phone without a headphone jack again.

 

On the point of differing proprietary USB audio standards though, that's complete crap and honestly, whats the point of being so anti-consumer for different companies to use their own proprietary standards for something so basic? Just like OP said, at least Apple, as much people hate them for this exact thing, has strict standard regarding the lightning connector to the point that pretty much every lightning connector from third party manufacturers will work as advertised.

 

TL;DR: I personally don't really find the lack of a headphone jack inconvenient. I'm not surprised that other companies are following suit. Whether you're bothered by it depends specifically on your use case. Companies using proprietary audio solutions with USB-C is idiotic and anti consumer.

[TheLaserCucumber]

2 hours ago, kting15 said:

Honestly, I'm one of those people that dont really care all that much about the headphone jack on my phone. When I had my 6S Plus, I rarely used the headphone jack on it. 

And that’s where you differ from many people. Most of my friends and I use the headphone jack every day. It would really suck if you suddenly would have to buy Bluetooth headphones or to carry an adapter with you. 

The headphone jack is one of the reasons, why i‘m not switching to any iPhone newer than my 6s, the last one to have an headphone jack.

[D13H4RD]

7 hours ago, themctipers said:

yeah, an app

 

or.. maybe use.. GPS?

the internet?

fun to see, not worth removing the headphone jack for. completely useless other than a fun little number to glance at once a year 

It’s possible to have a barometer alongside a headphone jack.

 

Apple just didn’t want to commit to having both.

[themctipers]

5 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

It’s possible to have a barometer alongside a headphone jack.

 

Apple just didn’t want to commit to having both.

c h a n g e 

 

barometer >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> headphone jack, remove an unnecessary feature and add a new useful feature!! 

[D13H4RD]

6 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Kind of semi-unrelated, but I am extremely curious if Dac/AMP combos like the Schiit Fulla 2 will work with USB-C devices universally. I am tempted to buy one myself, though I'm not in the position to blow away random $100 bills whenever the urge hits.

Not always.

 

The original Google Pixel, for instance, doesn’t properly work with the FiiO K1

[Zodiark1593]

7 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Not always.

 

The original Google Pixel, for instance, doesn’t properly work with the FiiO K1

I would assume that using an amp in such a way is just simply USB OtG? Not sure why that would be an issue.

[D13H4RD]

13 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

I would assume that using an amp in such a way is just simply USB OtG? Not sure why that would be an issue.

It’s a bit more complicated than that.

 

Not all Android devices work properly with all USB OTG stuff, much less so for USB-C.

[kting15]

2 hours ago, TheLaserCucumber said:

And that’s where you differ from many people. Most of my friends and I use the headphone jack every day. It would really suck if you suddenly would have to buy Bluetooth headphones or to carry an adapter with you. 

The headphone jack is one of the reasons, why i‘m not switching to any iPhone newer than my 6s, the last one to have an headphone jack.

Yeah no I completely understand, a lot of my friends do too. It's a pain in the ass. They walk around campus and listen to music and podcasts and it can be an issue But for a bunch of them, the adapters also just live on their earbuds for most of the time too so there's that. Now I know that I don't completely understand your point of view, but I feel like this is also a little blown out of proportion on the practicality side of things. In practice, at least for my friends, its pretty transparent and it didn't bother them after a week. As far as i know, they also haven't lost their adapters yet, so take that for what you will. They're much more organized than I am that's for sure . Also a personal anecdote, though I don't use my phone to listen to music much, I carry it around in my bag next to my earbuds all the time and it hasn't been an inconvenience at all. Then again I'm also one of those people that keep their earpods in the case when I'm not using them. lol

[D13H4RD]

2 minutes ago, kting15 said:

Yeah no I completely understand, a lot of my friends do too. It's a pain in the ass. They walk around campus and listen to music and podcasts and it can be an issue But for a bunch of them, the adapters also just live on their earbuds for most of the time too so there's that. Now I know that I don't completely understand your point of view, but I feel like this is also a little blown out of proportion on the practicality side of things. In practice, at least for my friends, its pretty transparent and it didn't bother them after a week. As far as i know, they also haven't lost their adapters yet, so take that for what you will. They're much more organized than I am that's for sure . Also a personal anecdote, though I don't use my phone to listen to music much, I carry it around in my bag next to my earbuds all the time and it hasn't been an inconvenience at all. Then again I'm also one of those people that keep their earpods in the case when I'm not using them. lol

I wouldn’t mind carrying a dongle if we actually get a significant benefit.

 

Right now, there isn’t, made much worse by the proprietary shit that I explained earlier.

 

Ideally, we would have 2 USB-C ports, but until logic boards shrink even further, that ain’t gonna happen.

[Zodiark1593]

2 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

It’s a bit more complicated than that.

 

Not all Android devices work properly with all USB OTG stuff, much less so for USB-C.

Yeah, that's what I feared might be the case. Losing the headphone jack wouldn't be a big problem if any adapter or amp/dac combo just worked correctly.

 

Whenever a new device is plugged into a Windows machine, it typically installs a driver. Is that the case for Android?

[D13H4RD]

2 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Yeah, that's what I feared might be the case. Losing the headphone jack wouldn't be a big problem if any adapter or amp/dac combo just worked correctly.

 

Whenever a new device is plugged into a Windows machine, it typically installs a driver. Is that the case for Android?

Nope. It uses what Android already has.

 

USB DACs on Android are usually truncated to 16-bit FLAC max due to driver limitations. You will need to buy a media player app which includes its own set of drivers to make them work properly.

[ashypanda]

13 hours ago, themctipers said:

yeah, an app

 

or.. maybe use.. GPS?

the internet?

fun to see, not worth removing the headphone jack for. completely useless other than a fun little number to glance at once a year 

the barometer, is used for weather applications, as low pressure is usually indicative of wet,and windy weather, while high pressure is indicative of sunny days and clear skies, and it gives a more accurate prediction instead of using a weather station which could be 10+ miles away.

[ashypanda]

10 hours ago, Nup said:

Getting rid of the jack was an abysmal decision.

Does anyone know if a device which is Bluetooth-3.5mm female? That was you could plug in any headphone and use them with any Bluetooth device. It’s a bigger device, but nicer to have one then the mess of cable adaptors you now have to carry (like linus). 

Fiio BTR1, it's a bluetooth receiver plus a okayish DAC/AMP.

[seduce_me]

Apple got rid of the headphone jack because they didn't want to cannibalize the sales of their beats wireless headphones, nothing more to it. Vote with your money, don't buy an iPhone if you don't support them.

[D13H4RD]

1 minute ago, seduce_me said:

Apple got rid of the headphone jack because they didn't want to cannibalize the sales of their beats wireless headphones, nothing more to it. Vote with your money, don't buy an iPhone if you don't support them.

Easier said than done as more and more top-end devices do away with the jack.

 

Samsung, LG and a few others have kept it, but at this point, who knows for how much longer? Google poked fun at it last year but did away with it this year.

[GoodBytes]

1 hour ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Easier said than done as more and more top-end devices do away with the jack.

 

Samsung, LG and a few others have kept it, but at this point, who knows for how much longer? Google poked fun at it last year but did away with it this year.

Google also got rid of a working display, fast charging and even OS. Doesn't mean it is the future.

[D13H4RD]

Just now, GoodBytes said:

Google also got rid of a working display, and OS.

Next thing you know, they got rid of the speakers 

[GoodBytes]

Just now, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Next thing you know, they got rid of the speakers 

Maybe next batch... lol!