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Bluetooth vs cable

post #1 of 7
8/21/12 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 

Hey there! This is my first post so be gentle with me haha!

I am wondering to buy a new pair of headphones to use with my mobile phone, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S. After a long time looking for the perfect headphones and at same time learning about sound science, I decided to choose the Sennheiser PXC 360bt, which looked cool, seamed to have a great noise cancellation system, great sound quality, and what at first look seemed good, they had Bluetooth, so I could listen them without cables and with a supercool quality with the aptX codec (obviously, all this is reflected in its price, €160 in the cheapest website).

First deception, the aptX codec was not supported by my mobile phone, the Sennheiser support said me that I could listen them with "standard bluetooth quality"; it's ok, I like "standard" things, haha. But after googleing, I've noticed that the BT quality is not the same as the quaility given by a 3.5mm cable or an USB (obvious? well, i'm quite stupid), as the BT just gives a max bitrate of (correct me if I'm wrong) 320kbps; and here's my first question, does that mean that if I'm listening to music via BT I will never be able to listen at lossless (.flac) qualities, like 1000kbps or more? If so, BT is a joke.

Luckily, the headphones come with a 3.5mm cable to connect them to the device, that's a good thing, so I could listen to my favorite songs with lossless quaility via cable connection, and if sometimes I need to use BT, I'll have it. Another question I have is about 3.5mm cable and USB; I heard that USB gives a higher bitrate than 3.5mm, is that true? If so, is there any adapter for 3.5mm to micro-USB (you know, that one that you use to connect your phone to the computer...), and would it really help to increase the sound quality?

In summary, is it worthwhile to buy a pair of headphones with BT technology, which I don't really need, even if they bring the 3.5mm connector? Because maybe for same price I can get a one with cable connection and with better sound quality. What do you think? Also, and I know that it's not the place to talk about it, I would like you to recommend me some full-size (not on-ear) headphones which cost over €150-€200 with great sound quality and noise cancellation, and also good-looking ones (there are some really really ugly haha...).

Thanks for your time :)

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post #2 of 7
8/21/12 at 10:04am
It's doubtful that you would be able to hear any difference, but the simple solution is to buy them from somewhere that will allow you to return them and test them using your own music. If it doesn't sound good, send em back.

I wouldn't get hung up on specs and numbers. Sound is what counts.

As for the cable, USB is for connecting DACs, not headphones. Wires are wires. Don't worry about it.
Edited by bigshot - 8/21/12 at 10:08am
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post #3 of 7
8/21/12 at 11:45am

Even aptx compresses the sound. It's just better compression. There is an aptx spec that is losslessly compressed, but I don't know of a phone from the 'majors' that does actually implement this.

 

 

I've found a lot of BT headphones and headset remotes perfectly acceptable for listening on the go - it's practically impossible to hear the difference between SBC at 320K and FLAC (or MP3. AAC, etc) while actually using a headphone portably. And I mean even custom fits. 

 

 

What I'd recommend is that you get a decent head/earphone and give yourself an option to go semi-wireless when needs be by going with a jacked headset like the Samsung BHS3000 (which will, with the right handset, do aptx lossy), the Jabra Clipper or Nokia BH-111.

 

 

But I do fully agree that it *feels* like a waste in the back of my mind when I e.g. plug in my JH13's into the jacked headset and use it in 'standard' BT mode.

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post #4 of 7
8/21/12 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:

But I do fully agree that it *feels* like a waste in the back of my mind when I e.g. plug in my JH13's into the jacked headset and use it in 'standard' BT mode.

 

Well, anyway you still have it and if someday you decide to buy a new device which support aptX, then, there will be your headphones haha. Bad luck that aptX is not being really popular, it's surprising for me that Apple has not yet implemented it in the iPods...

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post #5 of 7
8/21/12 at 3:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcasado94 View Post

 

Well, anyway you still have it and if someday you decide to buy a new device which support aptX, then, there will be your headphones haha. Bad luck that aptX is not being really popular, it's surprising for me that Apple has not yet implemented it in the iPods...

 

They have. The devices have aptx (lossy I believe) capability.

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post #6 of 7
8/26/12 at 5:43am

There is no apt-x support in iOS; However, it's in OS X from Snow Leopard onwards.

 

http://www.jessebandersen.com/2012/05/list-of-apt-x-compatible-devices.html - (Out of date) list of compatible hardware


Edited by Lourdes - 8/26/12 at 5:44am
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post #7 of 7
8/26/12 at 4:17pm

If you don't need BT then why even pay for it?  Skip the battery charging, the battery going bad, dealing with whatever random DAC happens to be in the phones, the extra expense, etc etc and get regular headphones.
 

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