[squidman]

Well from an old head-fier, to seeing the younguns on the bus and train and plane with over the ear sony and bose etc bluetooth headphones, pretty much everywhere. Must be worse quality of course? Coming from someone who back in the day had a fiio q1 attached to mobile, and kinera buds or fullsize cans attached to those. Well I guess yes, probably worse quality (again, have oil in my ears and cotton stuffed in them due to earwax!), but wow it is so MUCH EASIER than the rigamarole of old days with portable dacs and wired iems! So I absolutely understand why the youth of today are happy with bluetooth headphones, whether apple airbuds or over-the-ear cans (about 50/50 here in Norway). Is the sound on my Bose QC v 2024 as good as my Kinera iems or various fullsize cans? No of course not. But good enough bass, and amazing noise cancellation (bought them explicitly for 30 hour flight to Sydney, didn't even listen to music, just turn NR on). So for callow youths who have never experienced really good sound anyway, barring maybe they listened to some puny KOSS headphones, can absolutely see the attraction. Gotta say, will be hard for the industry to attract this generation to hi-fi sound..anyway some thoughts since I'm stuck in the living room (bedroom pc is taking an 11 hour backup) with my ears full of sunflower oil and cotton.
Great forum! Lots to learn here and very helpful forum members! If anyone asks me anything about sound, always direct them here.

 

[HDGabe5636]

Truly a shame seeing so many young people with Airpods, Xm4/5s, and Qc outside like brainless zombies following the consumer audio trends. So many future audiophiles lost to BT convenience and the dreadful trash they call active noise cancelling.

 

[squidman]

Well gotta say noise cancelling worked a treat on 30 hour trip from Norway to Sydney. But then I didn't put on any music, just noise-cancelling. And had bose qc headphones (latest version) which aren't known for music quality. Tested out tonight and while ok for bluetooth music, not great. Ok bass though. Sony's are obviously better, but were several orders of magnitude more expensive. Still wonder at young peoples on bus/train/tram etc with over-the-ear headphones. They don't even have enough time to listen to one track! Then again I was one of them on the DC Metro going to Dupont Circle back in the day. On my cd-player walkman with TDK headphones. Those were the days!

 

[PixelSquish]

I'm 48 and I can enjoy my high end gear at home or on the go but also really appreciate the value TWS can bring to the table for on the go situations. They each have their time and place for me. It's ok to like both really.

 

[squidman]

Well back in the day before bluetooth, we got mini-dac/amp combos along with wired iems and plugged then into our mobiles. Well bluetooth was around, but not bluetooth headphones so much. Was a bit of a pain in the butt! It's much easier now, so see why younger generation go with bluetooth over ears or earbuds. Things progress. Still not sure iff bluetooth has such great music quality of course. Will always rely on wired for that. And old FiiO Q1. And old Kinera iem's. They still hold a high standard. But wow, BT and Bose cans, very much easier!

 

[squidman]

You'll have to explain what you mean by TWS mate....

 

[squidman]

Acronyms are great as long as you explain...

 

[ddlo]

Well from an old head-fier, to seeing the younguns on the bus and train and plane with over the ear sony and bose etc bluetooth headphones, pretty much everywhere. Must be worse quality of course? Coming from someone who back in the day had a fiio q1 attached to mobile, and kinera buds or fullsize cans attached to those. Well I guess yes, probably worse quality (again, have oil in my ears and cotton stuffed in them due to earwax!), but wow it is so MUCH EASIER than the rigamarole of old days with portable dacs and wired iems! So I absolutely understand why the youth of today are happy with bluetooth headphones, whether apple airbuds or over-the-ear cans (about 50/50 here in Norway). Is the sound on my Bose QC v 2024 as good as my Kinera iems or various fullsize cans? No of course not. But good enough bass, and amazing noise cancellation (bought them explicitly for 30 hour flight to Sydney, didn't even listen to music, just turn NR on). So for callow youths who have never experienced really good sound anyway, barring maybe they listened to some puny KOSS headphones, can absolutely see the attraction. Gotta say, will be hard for the industry to attract this generation to hi-fi sound..anyway some thoughts since I'm stuck in the living room (bedroom pc is taking an 11 hour backup) with my ears full of sunflower oil and cotton.
Great forum! Lots to learn here and very helpful forum members! If anyone asks me anything about sound, always direct them here.

100% agreed. The sound quality of many wireless headphones and earbuds are totally acceptable. But the convenience and the many functions like anc, spatial audio, motion tracking, etc. are not available in traditional headphones.

Even i mostly listen to wired iem/headphones, i don't find good wireless gears unsatisfactory at all. Especially for listening on the go, i could not pay the level of attention that is needed to distinguish the subtle difference in sound quality.

 

[ubs28]

The funny thing is, these Bluetooth headphones have a better soundstage than a lot of these super expensive headphones.

If I take the HD 800 or AFC Noire for example and watch a movie, the sound don’t match the screen at all. And $4000 headphones like the Stealth are even wider than the Aeon Noire.

But that is what is great about Apple, they do something that is correct rather than chasing to go for the widest soundstage possible that is totally inaccurate.

 

[buidoimiennui]

The only reason I use bluetooth is because they don't have wires, which is convenient when going out or traveling. As for the noise canceling and crosstalk stuff, I don't care and have never used it. Even though I know that their sound quality is much inferior to that of plugging in a wire. I still have a bluetooth over ear. and 1 in ear bluetooth.

 

[squidman]

Well it's the conveniance thing though isn't it? Crazy easy to just pop on a pair of over-ear cans, switch on and listen. However, for my purposes, the Bose QC (latest version) really came into their own on a long flight to Sydney (14+ hours from Dubai). To be honest, I didn't even bother playing music, I just switched them on, with full noise cancelling, and plane noise was reduced by at least 80%. That's the real beauty in these things. Forget the music! Still only slept 3 hours, but at least I slept some! Still use it sometimes on the sofa when bedroom pc is busy backing up, to drown out hdd noise. But long planerides is when it really comes to the fore.
Should maybe have gotten the Sony's with much better sound, but was a couple of hundred bucks extra. Still pretty happy. And sound isn't total crap. So all in all pretty happy. Never going to be one of these callow youths who have over-ears on their heads all the time in the bus, tram, etc. Did that way back in the day with my discman. On the DC metro on the way to work. Listening to George Benson and Jack McDuff all the way to Farragut Square. Those were the days! Pretty sure a lot of DC workers looked at me strange back then as well, all gussied up in their raincoats etc. (? we had raincoats and raincoats, but back then people used....forget..think 80's..). Well regardless, remember being a callow youth as well. (trenchcoats!)..haha remembered.

 

[jorgeju115]

Good friends, because I think I'm one of the few around here who may hit all the sticks hehehehe. Let's see, for critical listening, I have a Fiio R9 as a desktop station in which I currently use some Edition XS and some HD560s. Then I have the iBasso DX240, this device is the one I use when I'm in bed or when I have to take a trip and I'm going to be away for several days because it's what I use to enjoy my music and the HD560s always accompanies me. And then to go on the street, subway, bus, etc. I have a Hiby M300 along with some full-size Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. Sometimes I use one and other times others depending on what I am going to do and I have to say that the sound quality is quite good, it is not for critical listening but for walking on the street or playing sports it is the best on the market. and not only for sound quality but also for its ANC, which is truly incredible, and the comfort of these headphones is spectacular. Why does this reach so many people because it has the 3 ingredients that move the masses, a pretty good sound, with incredible noise cancellation, and a comfort that you can have for several hours without suffering any type of fatigue, Each thing is for what it is, and you have to use them as they have been thought and designed, but that does not mean you have to criticize something or say that it is not worth it.

 

[squidman]

The only reason I use bluetooth is because they don't have wires, which is convenient when going out or traveling. As for the noise canceling and crosstalk stuff, I don't care and have never used it. Even though I know that their sound quality is much inferior to that of plugging in a wire. I still have a bluetooth over ear. and 1 in ear bluetooth.

That's pretty where I am at now as well. Couldn't be assed with the newest bluetooth or wireless hi-fi standards, confusing as it is. On the go, sound quality doesn't really matter that much, at home we can use stacks and hi-fi headphones to enjoy. Still curious about newest Kinera IEM's, wondering whether I should really pick up a pair of 500 usd iem's! (or not!). Wired of course. On the other hand, never listen to IEM's except for really long trips on train or plane, and now have those Boses which are a lot more comfortable. Still, a pair of kick-ass IEM's would be sweet. Maybe not 500 USD sweet though. As I see it, for those trips you either have IEM's or over-the-ear cans anyway. Advantage of IEM's is they come in such a small package! But yeah over the ear is definately more comfortable, and better noise cancellation.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Like some of the responses here. Top-notch convenience, merely adequate sound performance. The biggest problem with these wireless over-ear noise cancelling headphones in general is the overly high bass boost shelf: It extends too far into the lower midrange. That results in a muddy (relatively speaking) sound signature, and combined with the merely middling at best technical performance, leave a lot of audiophiles disappointed.

 

[squidman]

Well just pulled the plug on Arya Stealth here, but with low-fi dac and amp of course. Still think the most important thing is a good pair of cans, then maybe DACs and amps! Then again is your source! Whether hi-fi or flac etc. Happy listening all!