“The Guardian” lets music critic spout nonsense

[skankhobag]

One of my favorite sources for independent news is The Guardian. Regardless, even this esteemed news organization can wiff one from time to time.

Case in point:
Striking a cord: the return of wired headphones is restoring friction to our convenience-addled lives by music critic, Shaad D’Souza.

Striking a cord: the return of wired headphones is restoring friction to our convenience-addled lives

From Zendaya to zoomers, listeners are forgoing the convenience of wireless headphones to plug in again. Is it just a retro affectation – or does this physical connection strengthen our relationship to music?

www.theguardian.com

This sociologist posited that people want to feel more connected to the music physically. Really? That’s it, Sherlock?

This article is so vapid, I had to write them:

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Striking a cord: the return of wired headphones… What?!
Wow! What a bunch of drivel.

This is what I’d expect from a self-absorbed music critic (Shaad D'Souza) who has nothing to really write about, but needs to file something to get a paycheck, but you guys publishing it?

Why this was way below your standards:

• The article is about the writer: after blathering on about his experiences while only tangentially referring to what others are doing, he refers to himself in the third person. Very douchey.
• He drew the idiotic conclusion that people want a greater sense of connectedness to the music after brushing off the real, logical reasons why people are using wired phones
• #1 - He glossed over this: it’s much more difficult to lose a wired earpiece than a wireless one. I can imagine that millions of single earpieces disappear from people’s lives every year. You have to be very diligent about keeping track of exactly where you put them down in public and, even cased, they’re very easy to misplace. I pity the poor PA who has to scrounge through a limo to find their boss’s lost earpiece from the previous night’s partying. Given all this, I’d use wireless at home, but never on the go.
• # 2 - Wired connections just simply sound better and have no issues with interference from outside sources or Bluetooth pairing
• #3 - You can use wired phones with anything that has a headphone jack. Wireless users are stuck with using only phones, computers and a handful of streamers.
• #4 - Wireless earphones don’t last. Their batteries give them a limited lifespan. Used often, you have 5 or 6 years (maybe) before the batteries in both the charging case and the earphones starts showing that it’s wearing down. And there’s also the scenario where one of the 3 batteries that makes up the system just dies. You can buy wired phones and they’ll give you decades of service. In essence, you really only rent wireless phones. They aren’t built for the long haul.
• #5 - What do you do with these “disposable” products when the batteries’ useful service lives are over? Throw them out? Great, more e-waste. Apple has hundreds of robots that dismantle iPhones. Who’s doing that for wireless earphones? Does even one of these manufacturers recycle this trash? My guess is no.

This article is the definition of vapid. Talk about missing the point entirely…

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The audio press already has enough journalists vomiting poorly considered opinions. The world doesn’t need another one.

 

[kyuu]

The audio press already has enough journalists vomiting poorly considered options. The world doesn’t need another one.

The author is an audio critic and sociologist. It's understandable that their opinion veers toward some admittedly silly reasoning centered on their areas of expertise (though I use the word "expertise" loosely in regards to the audio critic part). Just something to avoid clicking on for me, as the traffic stats to the article will speak much louder than a rant on ASR.

But yeah I'm using wired (via USB) headphones primarily nowadays, and the reason is sort of number 2: it doesn't really sound "better", per se, but it avoids the constant hassles of flaky Bluetooth connectivity. And, y'know, don't have to worry about keeping yet another battery charged.

 

[skankhobag]

My dismay was not of the poncey dimwit who wrote the piece (yes, agree that his thoughts only being the most superficial is no surprise), but with The Guardian for publishing it.

As to a wired connection sounding better, that’s more in absolute terms, but the data reduction/lossy compression used for Bluetooth audio is not going to sound as good as a wire. Not saying it’s terrible, just not totally there yet. Also, I doubt the tiny DACs in wireless earphones are anywhere near as good as the new breed of USB dongles now on the market that can drive headphones.

 

[Old Listener]

Old saying about journalists: "3 of anything is a trend."

 

[Subob]

The thing that's most confusing me about yet another dull Apple advert is where the author is based. Talks about London buses as if they're a part of his daily life, yet thinks pavements are called 'sidewalks'.

Most bizarre, but not unusual here, unfortunately. I bet he was 'super' excited to write that article as well

 

[HalSF]

I gave the Guardian piece a quick read. It’s a fizzy vibe style thing about looks and retro echoes and not much more. Getting super mad about this throwaway column is a million times more hinky than the columnIMO.

 

[CD2]

He consistently refers to himself in the *first* person: I, me, my.

This is a personal essay in the Guardian: that's the genre! Of course it's vapid: this is the Brit press! People will get a column out of anything.

Are you, seriously, OK?

 

[Keith_W]

I thought that BT noise cancelling IEM's were a great idea until I bought a pair and started using them. The range is supposed to be 10m, right? How come I get dropouts when my phone is in my pocket, less than a meter away? Why does it take so long to connect?

It's not as if wired IEM's are much better. The cables always get tangled, and you have to untangle them before listening.

I am starting to wonder if noise cancelling headphones would be any better. But they are huge compared to IEM's and I don't feel like lugging them around on public transport, which is why I have never owned a pair.

I would rather go without music.

 

[Steakhouse]

It is BS like most of the other stuff that The Guardian writes. It is just more apparent here.

 

[Somafunk]

Bluetooth AirPods Pro (2) are great, brilliant bits of kit that just work so well, excellent anc, excellent sound quality.

Despite having the somewhat expensive and excellent sounding wired headphones/iems in my sig I’ve probably used them less than 10hrs this year.

Will probably sell them soon, already sold my Crinear Meta and someone interested in the Xenns Tea Pro

 

[obsessive9119]

I recently switched from wireless back to wired because a) I break/lose one of the wireless earbuds about once a year and b) the Truthear GATEs sound so much better. Having one less thing to charge is also nice.

The cord is somewhat of a pain, but it’s fine. The isolation is good enough that I don’t miss noise cancelling.

About the only thing wireless are better at (and I still use them for this) is listening to podcasts/audiobooks in one ear while still being able to listen out for/interact with the kids.

 

[Kremmen]

I thought that BT noise cancelling IEM's were a great idea until I bought a pair and started using them. The range is supposed to be 10m, right? How come I get dropouts when my phone is in my pocket, less than a meter away? Why does it take so long to connect?

It's not as if wired IEM's are much better. The cables always get tangled, and you have to untangle them before listening.

I am starting to wonder if noise cancelling headphones would be any better. But they are huge compared to IEM's and I don't feel like lugging them around on public transport, which is why I have never owned a pair.

I would rather go without music.

I have a pair of Anker Liberty 4 NC noise cancelling Bluetooth earphones and they work perfectly with everything I've connected them too (Android and Windows devices mainly). The noise cancelling is also excellent and they sound great. I guess it's about shopping around as there are plenty of crap examples out there, and plenty of gems too!

 

[skankhobag]

I gave the Guardian piece a quick read. It’s a fizzy vibe style thing about looks and retro echoes and not much more. Getting super mad about this throwaway column is a million times more hinky than the columnIMO.

Not super mad, just disappointed that The Guardian runs nonsensical crap like this on their site.