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Today I learned that for most people, even on HN, headphones means earbuds. All wireless earbuds I have ever used, including Apple Airpods Pro, sucked. Fit, ch

by zwaps 5y ago

Today I learned that for most people, even on HN, headphones means earbuds. All wireless earbuds I have ever used, including Apple Airpods Pro, sucked. Fit, charging stability, not randomly breaking, sound, you name it. By contrast, I have wireless Sennheiser (over-ear) headphones which sound great (compared to my old wired HD25, say), last for 20 hours or so, and plug into USB, Headphone jack and, well, Bluetooth. Run out of battery? Just plug it in. I really only use earbuds for sport. In my opinion, that's what they are for.

ImaCake 5y ago
I can give pretty much the same anecdotes as you. The bulkier over-ear headphones seem to have no trouble with connectivity, brilliant battery life, and great sound. While every pair of in-ear headphones has had troubles. A lot of people I know have the fancy sony over-ear headphones and the issues they have had are very rare.
- roveo 5y ago
  Yes, in addition to the ridiculously long life (30h seems to be the standard), they also have somewhat-easily replaceable standard cell batteries. (judging by iFixit guides) My friend has an older model that he uses every day for like 4 years, the battery is still reasonably good. And after that, you can still replace the battery and they'll be good as new. So I opted for over-ear Sony and never looked back. The considerable investment (about 130% of top AirPod model in my country) is totally worth it in my opinion. My wife's AirPods became unusable for a single 1-hour call after about a year.
globular-toast 5y ago
> Today I learned that for most people, even on HN, headphones means earbuds. Yeah, I found that odd. I thought "headphones" very specifically referred to the type you wear on your head (hence the name?). I thought this was going to be about audio quality of headphones versus earbuds (wired or wireless). Instead it's just fashion works in cycles, what's old is new again, we're back to 2005 again etc.
timeon 5y ago
I have Sennheiser wireless earbuds and they do not suck (yet).
zwirbl 5y ago
I wondered the same. I grew up in the heights of the Discman era and everyone used In-Ear buds. After i got my first pair of over ear AKG, I just couldn't go back. And I am very happy with my Sony WH-1000XM4 for work/commute/just leave me be usage
nullwarp 5y ago
Yeah i never get the love for air pods, maybe i just have weird ears but no earbud has ever fit my ear in anyway that I would be acceptable. I have a pair of jabra active elite's that i use for working out/biking/doing crap outdoors and they are fantastic. Can't really think of a single complaint with them.
bradlys 5y ago
> I really only use earbuds for sport. In my opinion, that's what they are for. People have different ears. People have different needs. Maybe if you talked to more people about why they used earbuds instead of headphones - you’d know that earbuds can be for anything. Simple reasons like not wanting headphone hair are reason enough to not use headphones. Same for other aesthetic reasons. Personally, I am not a bigger user of earbuds either because I have small ear canals that don’t play nicely with most in-ears but I 100% understand why people would use them for more situations than headphones. I frequently wish I could use in-ears because I also wear glasses and overear headphones do not play nicely with my glasses. Again, so simple to think about as to why use earbuds over headphones…
sebazzz 5y ago
I probably have that same Sennheiser Urbanite XL and I love it. It has micro-USB for charging and listenening, using the built-in DAC. It has 2.5mm audio jack with included headphone cable to 3.5mm. It has Bluetooth. And two big batteries inside.
JohnFen 5y ago
I'm certainly an edge case, but I use only earbuds because I really hate the sensation of having things on my head. I can't even comfortably wear hats.

by zwaps 5y ago

ImaCake 5y ago

I can give pretty much the same anecdotes as you. The bulkier over-ear headphones seem to have no trouble with connectivity, brilliant battery life, and great sound. While every pair of in-ear headphones has had troubles. A lot of people I know have the fancy sony over-ear headphones and the issues they have had are very rare.

roveo 5y ago
Yes, in addition to the ridiculously long life (30h seems to be the standard), they also have somewhat-easily replaceable standard cell batteries. (judging by iFixit guides) My friend has an older model that he uses every day for like 4 years, the battery is still reasonably good. And after that, you can still replace the battery and they'll be good as new. So I opted for over-ear Sony and never looked back. The considerable investment (about 130% of top AirPod model in my country) is totally worth it in my opinion. My wife's AirPods became unusable for a single 1-hour call after about a year.

globular-toast 5y ago

> Today I learned that for most people, even on HN, headphones means earbuds. Yeah, I found that odd. I thought "headphones" very specifically referred to the type you wear on your head (hence the name?). I thought this was going to be about audio quality of headphones versus earbuds (wired or wireless). Instead it's just fashion works in cycles, what's old is new again, we're back to 2005 again etc.

timeon 5y ago

I have Sennheiser wireless earbuds and they do not suck (yet).

zwirbl 5y ago

I wondered the same. I grew up in the heights of the Discman era and everyone used In-Ear buds. After i got my first pair of over ear AKG, I just couldn't go back. And I am very happy with my Sony WH-1000XM4 for work/commute/just leave me be usage

nullwarp 5y ago

Yeah i never get the love for air pods, maybe i just have weird ears but no earbud has ever fit my ear in anyway that I would be acceptable. I have a pair of jabra active elite's that i use for working out/biking/doing crap outdoors and they are fantastic. Can't really think of a single complaint with them.

bradlys 5y ago

> I really only use earbuds for sport. In my opinion, that's what they are for. People have different ears. People have different needs. Maybe if you talked to more people about why they used earbuds instead of headphones - you’d know that earbuds can be for anything. Simple reasons like not wanting headphone hair are reason enough to not use headphones. Same for other aesthetic reasons. Personally, I am not a bigger user of earbuds either because I have small ear canals that don’t play nicely with most in-ears but I 100% understand why people would use them for more situations than headphones. I frequently wish I could use in-ears because I also wear glasses and overear headphones do not play nicely with my glasses. Again, so simple to think about as to why use earbuds over headphones…

sebazzz 5y ago

I probably have that same Sennheiser Urbanite XL and I love it. It has micro-USB for charging and listenening, using the built-in DAC. It has 2.5mm audio jack with included headphone cable to 3.5mm. It has Bluetooth. And two big batteries inside.

JohnFen 5y ago

I'm certainly an edge case, but I use only earbuds because I really hate the sensation of having things on my head. I can't even comfortably wear hats.