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Comment by zeta0134 | Hacker News Reader

I recently fell off of team 3.5mm-jack when I discovered USB-C headphones! These include their own DAC and that means they have the potential to be *much* less noisy than the usually cost-reduced DAC included in the handset. Plus this way I can splurge for one decent set of headphones and get the same mix on all my devices, which is good for composing.

So, the 3.5mm jack can die. I'm now on team "dual USB ports" to solve the charging-while-listening issue. Let's go team!

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> These include their own DAC

Isn't that exactly why audiophiles - in the broadest sense, not just the golden cable types - stick with jack headphones? The DACs and amps built into headphones, or even earbuds, being very likely subpar compared to the one they can pick separately.

Headphone DACs/amps have been a thing forever and they're typically the size of a pack of cigarettes.

(Disclaimer: I made peace with BT since getting the Sony WH-1000XM4 earbuds, and later WH-1000HM4 headphones. I got them originally for the noise cancelling and LDAC support, but they're good enough that I don't hear a major difference with my friend's fancy Audio Technica)

Well sure. It's also why I use an external audio interface on my desktop, since the 3.5mm jack in my desktop's motherboard is noisy and glitchy. For convenience on the go I prefer USB-C headphones (for casual listening I don't care as much) but you can just as easily swap that out for a USB-C DAC, into which you plug your analog headphones of choice.

The point is, the handset's output over USB-C is digital! You're not stuck with whatever analog components it includes (or doesn't), those can be swapped out pretty easily.

As someone who plays around in the pro audio space, it's crazy how much you can spend on an interface. Especially "back in the day" (~20 years ago), most on-board stuff was pretty much trash and PCI sound cards (from Creative Labs and the like) were very common.

But you still can't charge it while you've got your headphones in.

Are there not high quality usb c to headphone jacks, with good DACs?

I've still got a phone with a headphone jack, clinging onto life so not something I've investigated. Surely that's going to be the direction for folks who want an analogue socket?

Yep, those are the devices I was talking about:

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/categories/headphone-amplif...

They range from desktop-sized, to dongle-sized, e.g.: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/penon-os133-type-c-to-3-5mm...

(I know the head-fi forums have a certain... reputation, but I'd rather link them than one of the SEO spam lists)

I would love to see a variety of cables to support your vision.

USB-C to 0.78mm 2-pin or USB-C to MMCX

basically a DAC cable, not a huge fiio dac thing.

There are very interesting in-ear earbuds, but the whole subculture only handles 3.5mm, relying on the phone audio section.

EDIT: I like this list (just one guy):

https://crinacle.com/rankings/iems/

EDIT: I guess I should add his other list:

https://crinacle.com/rankings/headphones/

Downside of USB C headphones is simply you can't charge your phone and listen. Yes there are adapters but we're often flawed and don't work.

Any recs for a low-cost pair?

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