This may be OT since strictly speaking it’s about hardware… I trust it is ok to post it given the spirit of the community, but have my apologies and feel free to remove it if it’s not.
I’m looking to replace my old Bose QC25, since they have recently died (after a long a fulfilling life), but it seems everything nowadays is bluetooth (which I don’t mind) and require some proprietary app to turn ANC on/off (which I do mind… are physical buttons/switches become too expensive to include in your overpriced earbuds?).
Anyway… do you know of any headphones/earbuds that meet the following?
- can be powered via wire or have batteries that last 12+hrs (long-haul flights)
- have decent noise cancelling
- don’t require me to install a apps or can be used with some open source app (possibly with full functionality and straightforward to setup)
- are not overly expensive (I have to buy 2 pairs and I’ll only use them a few times a year when I fly)
Buy good wired planar IEMs for $20-70 with Spinfit eartips ($15) (bi-flange eartips if want more sealing). $20 range has options like Truthear Hola, Tangzu Wan’er, 7Hz Zero, Moondrop Chu 2. ~$70 you have the king Tin T3+, and other options like Truthear Hexa.
Pair it with maybe a Fiio Bluetooth DAC (BTR3, BTR3K, BTR5 under $100) if you want portability, and it can power even any expensive wired headphone.
I was going to say this exact thing! I personally use Truthear Reds and a Fiio BTR3K. Best sound quality for the price, especially if your device supports LDAC bluetooth codec.
I mean, you do not even need these fancy codecs, as long as you can push 192 VBR OPUS audio to your phone. It is fully transparent. What you need is ample power and clean throughput to the audio gear you have, and the sound signature you like, tuned accurately enough (yes stop listening to audio nutjobs claiming this or that graph is good). Comfort trumps everything though, which is why I love flathead earbuds so much, and for planars, Tin T3+ is just the most comfortable IEM I think.