[MoonAudio]

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Wired vs. Wireless Headphones: How to Choose | Moon Audio​

 

[Chuck Dee]

Great vid.
There's definitely a place for both wireless and hard-wired headphones.
I personally use both protocols and both have a very distinct but acceptable user-case scenario.
I doubt very much whether a wireless protocol will emerge to truly emulate or ursurp the SQ of a hard-wired application however many claims are made claiming 'lossless'. Any signal going through software will incur some form of detrimental effect or loss and for cable-makers like myself that's quite a relief.

 

[AussieMick]

The lossless label is, sadly, sleight of hand. “Accepts 24/48” and the like is not a thing and I don’t know how it’s able to be advertised. Files that size currently can’t be sent over Bluetooth, so what exactly do they mean?

 

[bassdad8]

I spent years fawning over the latest Bluetooth headphones and codecs. Then I found this site. Now everything is wired again. Even my 7 year old Sony xb950n1s. Now sitting on the shelf gathering dust are my AirPods 2nd Gen and Beats Flex. No wire? Not listening. Well, with the exception of my B&W Px7 s2 cans. They can handle Bluetooth and still sound pretty darn good. I still wire and DAC them though. Because I can.

 

[EdgarBear]

I also tried “high fidelity” Bluetooth but it sound like crap compared to good wired setup , I tried all codecs and today won’t waste a dime on wireless, I’m using AirPods Pro for calls and that’s it

 

[bassdad8]

Apparently the parent company of MQA has developed some sort of lossless wireless or Bluetooth codec. smh

 

[Nogoodnamesleft]

IMO the wired versus wireless is becoming less of a major point. I’ll explain. I think some of the differences we have previously attributed to wired versus wireless are obviously due to bandwidth, lossiness, codecs etc some variants of BT being better or worst and some codecs and compression formats being better or worst. Genre also matters.

I think however that the more major issue is hardware. In general wireless headphones were not at the same level in terms of drivers, built in amps and built in DACs. I think this adds to some of the degradation in quality.

As I have upgraded my Bluetooth game with the acquisition of the solitaire T, Bathys and 5909, (flac files, LDAC and Aptx HD), I am finding it harder and hard to tell a major difference from wired. This comparison is easiest in the Solitaire T with the correct codec ( caveat).

In fact the convenience of BT is giving wireless the edge IMO. With added noise cancelling. I actually find that unless sitting in my listening room I am gravitating more and more to BT.

I am using my Bartok/ Sus combo less and less as I am no longer restricted to one room. Listening more in my office at work and around the house. While doing other stuff. And hence I am enjoying my music more as a result.

I know this will represent the minority opinion but is just my observation. I am looking forward to better and better wireless. Not just transmission but hardware.

Just as a consideration. For example the solitaire T is a wired headphone, wireless headphone, has a usb dac, noise cancelling headphone, etc. the features go on. I think this is a lot of ‘value’ subjectively. You can get the same and various value propositions; 5909, Bathys, etc.

Again not looking to offend hopefully I am adding to the discussion.

 

[OnlySoMany]

I use wireless while washing the dishes, walking the dogs, and cleaning the house. Other than that, kinda pointless. Wired offers something that wireless can't in terms of audio quality. At least not yet. 20 years from now? Who knows. Streaming has come a long way since the beginning.

*I have been using my Caldera off the Shanling M7 lately, and I have to say it's pretty darn good.

 

[bassdad8]

When I wire my B&W Px7 s2s they sound better. To the point where I am in the midst of assembling a balanced 4.4 pentacon to usbc so I can hear for myself if that makes them even better through my portable Dac/amps. I’m limited to AAC Bluetooth on my iPhone and I’d rather spend the $500 or so on more IEMs or a Focal Elegia set up than a fancy mp3/4 player or streamer. I have a player after all. It just needs to be wired through a Dac. I’m fine with that. I’d rather deal with the wires and dongles because of the sound quality. Since everything over Bluetooth is compressed, and unless there is a huge technological leap, will continue to be, then I’m going to keep weaving my little webs. Now that I know what Hi Res sounds like, there’s no going back. For me at least..

 

[Nogoodnamesleft]

When I wire my B&W Px7 s2s they sound better. To the point where I am in the midst of assembling a balanced 4.4 pentacon to usbc so I can hear for myself if that makes them even better through my portable Dac/amps. I’m limited to AAC Bluetooth on my iPhone and I’d rather spend the $500 or so on more IEMs or a Focal Elegia set up than a fancy mp3/4 player or streamer. I have a player after all. It just needs to be wired through a Dac. I’m fine with that. I’d rather deal with the wires and dongles because of the sound quality. Since everything over Bluetooth is compressed, and unless there is a huge technological leap, will continue to be, then I’m going to keep weaving my little webs. Now that I know what Hi Res sounds like, there’s no going back. For me at least..

I had a similar experience with my solitaire T. I was using the iPhone and found a big divide between wired and wireless. However I got a simple DAP the Shanling M1s which has LDAC and the jump in wireless was significant. I am now going to look for a more robust DAP based on this experience.

I think the problem is that the BT/ wireless experience is very hardware dependent.

 

[cliffgoldmacher]

I've certainly gone both ways but with Focal Bathys, the wireless experience is exceptional. That being said, I also enjoy using the onboard DAC on the Bathys for the wired experience. I'm hoping to, one day, have a set of wired Focals (Stellia), too but in the meantime, I'm happy.