Intel says USB-C advantages could make dropping the headphone jack worthwhile

[Musician]

See above. A quick search on Amazon came up with a USB type C to 3.5mm adapter for less than $2. I can barely get anything for that cheap, and it's not even a widely needed product yet. So... Yes. Vote with your $2.

Devices and gadget exist to make life simple, not a chore. The last thing I need is to dig into my bag for the $2 adaptor just to listen to some songs. Voting with my money, my next phone will just be something that has a 3.5mm jack. Not the adaptor.

 

[Invizibleyez]

Devices and gadget exist to make life simple, not a chore. The last thing I need is to dig into my bag for the $2 adaptor just to listen to some songs. Voting with my money, my next phone will just be something that has a 3.5mm jack. Not the adaptor.

Or, and this may just be crazy enough to work, just leave the adapter attached to the headphones. Boom. No digging, no problem.

 

[Musician]

Devices and gadget exist to make life simple, not a chore. The last thing I need is to dig into my bag for the $2 adaptor just to listen to some songs. Voting with my money, my next phone will just be something that has a 3.5mm jack. Not the adaptor.

Or, and this may just be crazy enough to work, just leave the adapter attached to the headphones. Boom. No digging, no problem.

I will need a Type-C to 3.5mm on my Android phone and the Lightning to 3.5mm when I use my iPhone. Granted, not everyone have more than one phone, but the impact of removing 3.5mm is not just restricted to the Type C. The idea is to keep things simple (at least for portables), not having to switch between different adapters for music.

On audio improvement (the Intel slides above), most people move to a variety of external DAC amp combinations based on their listening preferences, apart from what their device has to offer. So I'd say, keep the 3.5mm for the folks contented with fuss free connectivity AND put Type C or whatever connectors for other benefits they touted for their respective technologies.

Slimmer phones by removing the 3.5mm jack? I can live with that extra 1-2mm. Our phones won't be the size of a pip-boy by keeping the 3.5mm jack.

 

[Burty117]

I will need a Type-C to 3.5mm on my Android phone and the Lightning to 3.5mm when I use my iPhone.

Apple are being forced to use USB-C by 2018 I think the time scale was. Assuming the rumours are correct and Apple has removed the 3.5mm jack in the next iPhone they would be crazy not to implement USB-C starting now.

 

[drjekelmrhyde]

I'll be cool with it if EVERY phone had Qi (or any single standard) wireless out of the box.

 

[Capaill]

It sounds like some people will want dedicated 3.5mm audio jacks on their phones and perhaps there will be specialist phones available that will support that. Or they will have to buy adapters. For the vast majority of consumers, a move to USB-C will be acceptable and welcome. Bluetooth headsets and wireles charging will gradually become more common so a small high-speed data port should be all that's needed. Again this is for the majority of consumers which is what most manufacturers really care about. It is probably also cheaper to implement.

 

[Geforcepat]

Phones are thin enough as it is.

 

[Mikael_r]

The biggest problem I have with removing the headphone jack is the part where they don't replace it with anything. What I mean by that is they aren't putting another usb-c there, they're just keeping the main one (which means listening to music and charging the phone either can't be done, or requires an adapter).

So, either whoever thinks this is a good idea is stupid for not thinking of music listeners, or they are already thinking of an accessory to "fix" that (and not for cheap).
Either way, these changes are not getting my money.

That's my concern too. I'd be happy with it, if they had more than one usb-c port. And I sit at a desk at work all day, and often have headphones plugged in while it's charging.

 

[Evernessince]

The reason not to move it externally would be because of the quality of your DAC. Would they be able to put decent DACs in earbuds? In larger headsets, that does sound more viable particularly for PCs or tablets which would have better power to drive USB connected devices.

I wouldn't imagine the DAC would be in the earbuds, but maybe at the plug or somewhere in line. Of course, as you said, there is plenty of room in headphones.

He said in larger headsets. Headsets that are designed to be on the go and accompany you with your mobile device are smaller and have to make design sacrifices in order to be portable. Requiring each and every device to have their own DAC means you are going to have a lot of low quality DACs. As if the average pair of skullcandy or turtlebeach wasn't bad enough.

 

[Evernessince]

It sounds like some people will want dedicated 3.5mm audio jacks on their phones and perhaps there will be specialist phones available that will support that. Or they will have to buy adapters. For the vast majority of consumers, a move to USB-C will be acceptable and welcome. Bluetooth headsets and wireles charging will gradually become more common so a small high-speed data port should be all that's needed. Again this is for the majority of consumers which is what most manufacturers really care about. It is probably also cheaper to implement.

Sounds like a great idea, and then when all the air waves are far too saturated to carry everyone's data people will start moving back to wired. Do you honestly think adding wireless audio and charging is going to fly in cities? These places already have enough issues. Oh, or how about the wireless data for their smartwatch, wireless dog collars, wireless car starters, ect, ect, ect. Wireless is convenient but it has it's fair share of issues. It's far more susceptible to interference, it doesn't work well in crowded areas, it isn't very secure, it's slower than wired, and it has range limits.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Sounds like a great idea, and then when all the air waves are far too saturated to carry everyone's data people will start moving back to wired. Do you honestly think adding wireless audio and charging is going to fly in cities? These places already have enough issues. Oh, or how about the wireless data for their smartwatch, wireless dog collars, wireless car starters, ect, ect, ect. Wireless is convenient but it has it's fair share of issues. It's far more susceptible to interference, it doesn't work well in crowded areas, it isn't very secure, it's slower than wired, and it has range limits.

Ever actually BEEN in a city? PLENTY of people use wireless headphones, wireless routers, wireless phones and seem to be functioning just fine... new wireless standards have really good range, quite adequate security, and while they're not as fast as wired connections, they still offer pretty damn fast speeds...

and when we're talking about audio, speed is kind of irrelevant...

More and more headphones are wireless - accept it, this is the way of the future...

 

[Mr WW]

I still don't understand why??
The iPhone will always need a DAC to drive the internal speakers and mic...

 

[cliffordcooley]

I still don't understand why??
The iPhone will always need a DAC to drive the internal speakers and mic...

Sound waves are not digital, they have to be converted to digital form, that is if you want them digital. It's not just the iPhone. Any device that processes an analog wave form digitally, will first need a DAC to convert the wave form. And then again to convert the wave form back to analog for playback, which technically is referred to as ADC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital-to-analog_converter

In electronics, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC, D/A, D–A, D2A, or D-to-A) is a system that converts a digital signal into an analog signal. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) performs the reverse function.

 

[poohbear]

Haven't used the headphone jack since buying wireless Bluetooth headphones 5 years ago. Good riddance.

 

[Musician]

I actually bought a set of Bluetooth earphones to understand the convenience of wireless audio and I quickly realized there wasn't much benefits on the go except in the gym. Now it's just gathering dust in a corner because I can do with one less device to charge.

 

[Darth Shiv]

I actually bought a set of Bluetooth earphones to understand the convenience of wireless audio and I quickly realized there wasn't much benefits on the go except in the gym. Now it's just gathering dust in a corner because I can do with one less device to charge.

Yeah the charging part is the bit that sux the most. I love the convenience when using it but remembering to charge the stupid things is a drag. Hence the hope that something like charging pads takes off so you don't need to find the right cable all the time.

 

[mbrowne5061]

So we've heard what the guys who know computer engineering think. Now how about the guys who actually know audio engineering?