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Comment by ApolloFortyNine | Hacker News Reader

With wired headphones, people can keep them for years, decades even. Many of the popular sets of 'serious' headphones have been around for over a decade.

So it goes hand in hand with removing the headphone jack. Remove the ability to not require a battery, and then don't allow people to replace the battery.

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> With wired headphones, people can keep them for years, decades even.

My wired headphones all broke after about ~2 years (100-150€ models from Sennheiser and Teufel, plus the ones shipped with phones). In my Beats Studio 3, the hinges broke before the battery even degraded. As an extreme example, my 1st-gen iPad still lasts hours, but hasn't seen a software update in many years.

Planned obsolescence ticks me off, but I don't feel it has gotten any worse with non-replaceable batteries. Everything you buy breaks after 2 years, that's just how the incentives work for companies.

Conversely I have had multiple pairs of Sennheiser and Audiotechnicas for over 5 years now, all with wires, and they are still work phenomenally. I have used them as daily drivers (I keep the Audiotechnicas at work, and my Senn HDs are for the commute, flights, hanging out at home, etc) and they still produce amazing sound quality and I only had to replace a cable once and buy one set of ear-cups (I like over ears not in-ears).

I find Sennheiser and Audiotechnica build quality products that last if you buy their higher end stuff. In the case of AT, the M50x's aren't even that expensive and they are as good as the day I bought them.

I can vouch for AKG myself. I've been using a pair of K530 LTD headphones daily for 11,5 years now. Sound never changed. The velvet pads and the leather band are still intact. Only the letters of the logo have come off. I reckon they aren't even of the supposedly better built made-in-Austria series.

you might want to consider Beyerdynamics 990 Pro, insane sound quality, and built like a tank (steel headband!)

770s better for everyday use as they are closed back.

Sennheiser has a cable and earpad replacement program, last I checked (which was admittedly years ago). They aren't the type of company to rely on planned obsolescence in order to make more sales.

My Teufel headphones also prided themselves on having a replaceable cable, but that doesn't help if the internal wiring breaks and one half of the headphone goes silent.

I think that was also what happened to the Sennheiser ones, but it's too long ago to say for sure. Makes me happy to see that so many of you are luckier than me :) - Sennheiser is just around the corner from where I live so I want them to be the good guys.

My Sennheiser HD25s are over 20 years old and going strong.

>With wired headphones, people can keep them for years, decades even.

With quality over-ear headphones with easy to replace parts ? Sure.

With in-ear earphones? Depends on the user. Many people I know tend to break/fray the cable or lose them atleast once a year. Most in-ear earphones were used as a semi-disposable item.

> With wired headphones, people can keep them for years, decades even.

If you buy some top end headphones with replaceable cables and replaceable ear covers you can get 10+ years out of them. The majority of pairs I've owned haven't lasted near that long. About 2 years is pretty typical before I fatally snag a cable, drop them in water, run them over, or lose them. Even barring some kind of life ending issue, cables and ear covers don't usually last much more than 2-3 years for me, even on pricier headphones. I do have a pair of AKG headphones which have lasted me about 5 years now after replacing the ear covers (which is itself a form of e-waste), but since they are so bulky I wear them a small fraction of the time I wear my AirPods so it's difficult to compare.

Well generally in the AirPod range of price, you'll run into quality headphones with those features.

I have a $25 (normally $50) pair of headphones that have a replaceable cable and aluminum housings, which have been through multiple laundry cycles and a lot of abuse that look and sound just as good as the day I got them. I'd honestly be more concerned about losing or stepping on a TWS earbud given the plastic construction and lack of attachments.

Pleather and foam earpads (which I'm assuming is what you mean by ear covers) aren't really e-waste in the same way that batteries and circuit boards are, the pleather can be recycled as well as the foam, and higher end pads are animal skin anyway.

Yes the product with the magical qualities of being cheap, serviceable, great quality, and durable. Super common in consumer electronics. I can understand why you don't mention brand name because you'd definitely want to keep such an item under wraps before it gets sold out then see price hikes as tens of millions of people who desire exactly such a thing flock to it.

Even IF such a magical product exists, I would still buy the AirPods because not having cables is exactly the reason I wanted them.

They are the Tin Audio T2, they were sold out when they launched and are pretty universally lauded in audiophile circles, especially after they fixed initial issues with the connectors.

Why would I lie about a product I own on some internet forum? Furthermore why do feel so attacked by the fact you can find good cheap tech if you do any amount of research? I'm glad you're happy with your AirPods, but $250 is a lot of money for a lot of people who would rather just take better care of their headphones.

I'm not even sure why you think these products are comparable. The Tin Audio headphones can't even make phone calls and don't even have an inline remote. They are basically dumb drivers. If that's what you are looking for then rad, you have the right thing, but that's not what Airpods are.

The big reason people like the AirPods is because they don't have cables which is a huge convenience. They also let you make phone calls, dictate text messages, and control your phone (and anything controllable by your phone via voice interaction) by voice. If none of this appeals to you and you don't mind the cables, fabulous, but don't pretend the two products are comparable.

Also the base AirPods are $139, not $250.

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