Do you still use wired headphones?

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Picture this:

It's 1994 and my dad had just bought a Walkman, something he had been wanting to get for a really long time.

And what's the first thing he does upon getting it out of the box? He shoves the headphones right on top of my head (barely big enough to hold them) while he puts on a tape to play -- I'm so mesmerized by the whole thing that he even takes a picture of my awestruck face... one of my earlier surviving photographs.

Years later, I'd get to own that devise myself as my dad's interest moved onto bigger and shiner things on his endless pursuit to be on the forefront of the never-ending tech race of the nineties and early aughts.

But that awesome gift did little more than revealing something I had been blissfully unaware of the entire time:

WIRED HEADPHONES SUCKED!

I'll admit that I had noticed how my dad had gone through several sets during my childhood, but I had largely shrugged it off as an stylistic choice (he always bought the most whimsical pairs he could get his hands on), but the ones I have gotten with my machine wasted no time committing all "sins" at once: buzzed with interference, got cutoff whenever I moved even a little bit, and eventually just ended up working on only one side.

This has happened a lot in the years since and it's effectively what got me to embrace wireless headphones, even though they have their own sets of problems AND that I love the look and feel of an old pair of wired ones.

What about you? Do you still use wired headphones or moved on from them the second we got an alternative?

 

[Segadude113]

i'm using them right now because if i play anything without them, my neighbors beat the walls.

 

[Rorisu]

Wired headphones are the way, wireless means battery, battery means weight, weight on headphones means you use them less, and when you wanna use them too much you have to charge them, definitely wired for the use i do, i would probably use wireless ones only outside, but when at home definitely wired all the way

 

[Graw]

I would use them more still but my phone doesn't have a headphone jack and the USB adapters suck. I still use wired headphones for making music. Bluetooth has too much delay for anything other than passive listening. The sound quality from a good set of wired headphones with a good wire and high quality connectors will beat wireless any day.

 

[Scotty]

I use them all the time. WireLESS headphones are trash.

 

[rollobobo]

I 100% prefer WIRED headphones. No delay, no charging, no connectivity issues. Truly hoping they make a comeback because earbuds, good ones at that, are too expensive

But of course, as another poster above mentioned....a majority of phones don't have them anymore....I do like that some companies, MOTO phones specifically, seem to keep them because there is definitely a market for them.

 

[fake-kun]

No, but I exclusively use wired earbuds after getting sick of wireless earbuds' nonsense.

 

[LostKing]

For music, wireless pods, I love them. For gaming though, wired.

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

Yes.
I use a wired 3.5m jack headset with my gaming laptop to avoid unnecessarily taking up a USB Port
I also unironically rock a Minidisc player when I'm out running.
Only wireless headphones I use are for my phone as it lacks a headphone Jack.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Wireless anything is trash, and i know i will forget to recharge them.

So, wired headphones all the way.

 

[sneakyguts]

yes

 

[Tortuga]

Yes, wired is superiors

 

[diet_orange]

Less on wired Headphones, more on wired buds. Have very sensitive ears and mind tend to get hot easy if I wear headphones

 

[Spike's iconSpike]

I've had both and went back to wired. Bluetooth isn't as reliable as a physical connection in my experience, plus not having to worry about battery level is great. The ultimate setup would be an audiophile quality headphones + a dedicated DAC like:

iBasso Macaron CS43131*2 Flagship DAC ear amplifier adapter

The iBasso Jr. Macaron is a compact, high-performance DAC designed to deliver high-quality audio across various platforms, including Win, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. It offers professional-grade sound with its flagship dual Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC chips, advanced circuitry, and a sleek...

thehificat.com

 

[Nelson2001 Nelson2001]

I still use the wired headphones of a lifetime and it is because it is easy and simple to put on and take off obviously and also because the sound quality of the headphones can support up to 48 KHz or more that is to say that it is similar to a CD type audio quality and it is also direct synchronization and without any delay and also that several come with a little button that serves as a kind of Play/Pause button and also serves as an antenna on the FM Radio on your phone so it is required but until now I continue to use wired headphones for the same reason.

 

[RustySK]

Absolutely. Maybe I'm just an idiot and keep accidentally buying garbage models, but wireless ones always seem to either break on me or my bluetooth starts giving me grief after a while.

 

[Tonberry]

I do both, but it's very situational.

Wireless earbuds for my phone when I'm outside because it's convenient and less restricting. Bought a budget pair last year (I think) for like ~$35 and they've performed excellently since then.
Wired buds at home when I'm at the computer, or plugged into the controller if not using the TV speakers when playing Xbox. I can't use headphones anymore because they make me dizzy after prolonged use. I have a pair of Marshall Major 4 I use sometimes because the bass is unbeatable on them, and on-ear seems to be slightly more tolerable than over-ear for the dizziness thing.
If I'm playing Xbox while talking to my friends on Discord I use one wireless earbud paired with my iPad running Discord, as the Discord app for Xbox is kinda bad and unreliable.

 

[MasterEn]

i use this walmart brand of headphones that come with a aux cable and can also be wireless. i don't like the feel of the little earbuds, they don't feel like they will stay in place. these headphones sit over on my ears, much more comfortable.

 

[GundamJehutyKai]

I use wireless earbuds for daily driving my iPhone and listening to music while on the go. But I use wired earbuds when I want to play on my handheld gaming devices, like my retroid pocket 5 or my switch 2. I can use my wireless ones but I find that they can never get rid of the audio delay inherent in using bluetooth.

 

[Advil Lavs]

I had wired headphones before, I barely used them and at some point they died from natural causes (I'm saying that because they always stayed in a box, there's nothing that could've damaged them). At some point, my dad gave me a pair of goofy wired earphones and I am so happy to have them. They are great, even the bass sounds good. They're also pretty big and whenever I put them on, I fiddle with them like it's some sort of sci-fi thing. I just like listening to music when I'm going back home from school and I haven't had almost any problems

 

[DanCalibur]

I'm on the middle ground, I use those Bluetooth earbuds with a wire that goes around your neck. I have to use safety gear at work so wires keep breaking up and full wireless ones keep dropping when I have to change headgear. The hybrid ones solve both problems.

 

[NeonKnights]

Yes. I would use wired for my phone as well though unfortunately it doesn't have a 3.5mm jack (I can't find the usb-c dongle) anymore so I use bluetooth. I use earbuds on my pc for gaming and for my ipod. I have about as much of an issue with wired headphones as I do with wired controllers, which is to say none. For any other issues I have a soldering iron.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I used to, recently switched to wired ear buds. They all have their issues though, including wireless stuff. There's no perfect option.

 

[Netra]

For 145 $ I can buy a studio quality wired headphones, I don't get electric notices, I don't need to stop to charge, I don't have to change the battery every year, I don't have sound delay, I don't get interference with the WiFi signal, I can continue but I think my point is clear.
I have a Sony wireless bud for my phone and is great but it cost me 180$, I bought cheaper ones but they have most of the problems I said, electric notices, interference, battery duration, delays.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

Wired are infinitely better in my experience, and I use them when I can, however I must have some kind of curse that was placed upon me when it comes to wired headphones/earphones etc. because I don't think I've gone more than a year without something going wrong with using wired headphones. Whether its the left speaker blowing out or failing (Always the left for some reason!), the headphone jack just refusing to work or the wires themselves somehow tearing on their own (???), I just can't catch a break with these things lol. The only wired headphones I've been able to keep working by some miracle, are some Audio-Technica headphones I bought 5 years ago. I don't take them out and only use them for my PC (Maybe that's why they've lasted so long?), but I hope I don't jinx them now lol.

Been using some wireless Panasonic headphones since the beginning of the year I use for listening to music when I'm out and about or going to work or something. Good audio quality and really good battery life I have to say (Only have to charge them once every 2 weeks).