Still have this phone but it is getting a bit ragged, really just the battery. Might upgrade to Sony Xperia 1 V or 1 VI soon. Need the headphone jack and microSD slot.
Looking at the specs of this HMD phone, I would not recommend it. The headphone jack and SD card slot are about all this phone has going for it. It’s underpowered, especially for a phone running Android 14. I guess it wouldn’t be too bad for people who just need the cheapest Android phone they can get.
…There also appears to be a hole in the screen 🙃 (i loathe camera holes and screen “notches”).
remind me, was the S10 the last Samsung phone that didn’t explode or literally fall apart in your hands?
edit: fuck all the downvoters. i have an s20fe. it literally cannot handle hot weather, and the fucking glue gives in, completely removing the back cover. how about some notches and shit? really we can’t make any mechanism for the covers, we’re just gluing things now? is this a Tesla phone?
My Xperia 1 III used to be quite disappointing at times (was too focused on RAW output for editing, even stacked HDR shot RAWs) but the 1 V is legit good and I can tell the new sensor stacking improved light capture (less noise in low light) and auto mode is much better, while I still see limitations both in auto and manual it’s not so bad. The most annoying parts have to do with focus and color balance when zooming in certain light conditions, and contrast in complex scenes in auto mode.
Well, there is no good reason for me to replace my 1 III yet, and probably for the next few years. So i might still look into sony, but it’s really hard to justify the price when there are huge compromises, even though I love a lot about xperias.
That’s exactly why I ended up going the “used Pixel 6 + adapter” route instead :-) Still don’t like scrambling for the adapter while a call is coming in though :D
the purely analogue that just connects some of the USB pins to the jack
the digital that contain a DAC
Not all phones have the internal wiring from their internal DAC to the USB port to make the analogue type of adapter work, so watch out what you buy, if you follow SomeGuy69’s advice.
Yeah I only found out when buying my own adapter after getting a used Pixel 6. Luckily saw it in time before ordering, so I thought I’d share it forward.
Love my AirPods Pro man. No wires, great sound and noise cancellation. I have never had them fall out of my ears, even when working out.
If your earbuds are falling out, clean your ears and your earbuds before you put them in. Either that, or you need tips that fit your ear better. If you have those ear canals that don’t want anything in them, we also now have great (and wireless!) headphones now too.
Wires are really just for those audiophile enthusiasts, people who can’t be bothered charging wireless things, or people who would lose their head if it wasn’t attached.
However, a lot of companies dropped headphone jacks, because they could both save a buck on them, make them even more slightly thinner to the point it starts to impact usability, and create a market for 3rd party accessories (wireless head/earphones, converters, etc.).
That’s fair. I’m not exactly testing their endurance, just use them for YouTube and podcasts, so it’s likely they’ve degraded quite a bit without me noticing.
I switched to wireless during the covid pandemic. Otherwise it was really painful to put on and off the mask each time I entered public transport. And I agree, it’s super convenient in many other situations as well.
I have both wireless and wired. The wireless ones sound fine although if I switch from one to the other the wired are a noticeable improvement. The real issue I have with them is that there’s a noticeable delay that makes watching every video like a dubbed movie. Secondary to that I have never been able to get ones that fit perfectly so I’m constantly having to poke them back in especially if I’m eating or something and my jaw is moving around and there’s just a lot of general bluetooth issues that are annoying. I have a much easier time with the wired ones just working.
It’s not like it was a mutually exclusive option. I have an S9 and I swamp between wireless and wired audio all the time depending on the setting. These newer phones have only one option. Bluetooth does not work well everywhere. Frankly forcing more things into the same radio frequency just makes it worse.
I don’t have a problem with wireless headphones when it comes to mobile devices. It sucks, and I wish I still had a headphone jack, but I’ve kinda come to peace with the fact that wireless accessories for phones are apparently the future.
However, I wish there were “mid/high-end” Bluetooth/wifi cans. All the wireless headphones are either earbuds, IEMs, or overpriced Skullcandy/beats/Bose/apple/etc. I want an AKG or Audio-Technica pair of wireless headphones that go over my ears, and I want an option between closed-back and open-back headphones. I prefer closed-back due to the sound isolation and I’m annoyed that there’s a price gap where it’s hard to find closed-back headphones in the $300~$600 range.
…or at least it was when I checked a year or two ago; everything with a closed back was either entry (<$100), low-level (<$300) or too expensive (>$600 + $100 or more for an amp, because at that price range most headphones need one).
Edit: oh yeah, and a optional balanced cable that uses a standardized connector, like miniXLR
No judgement - just from reading your comment I definitely get this vibe. I get it though. Most wireless stuff is either going to be heavily EQed consumer trash or overpriced audiophile stuff with all the latest buzzwords. There just doesn’t seem to be much of a market for reference-grade stuff in a wireless format.
Not that I could justify spending a bunch on good headphones though, so I’ve settled for a low-end pair that sound acceptable for what they are.
I actually don’t, but maybe I should because I love audio stuff, I just don’t usually have the money to blow on it. Any idea what skills audio engineers usually have?
I used to actually know a ton about this stuff but haven’t touched a musical instrument or audio device in over 12 years. Sooooo, bear with me.
All of this will depend entirely where your interests lay in terms of audio production/engineering. One of the core skills would be the ability to pick out different sounds from a soundscape. I suspect you already have a knack for that given how much you seem to think about audio quality. Tied in with that would be an understanding of how digital audio works in terms of bitrate, dynamic range, what clipping sounds (and looks) like, etc. I’m sure there’s tons of info on all that online. Analog audio has a whole other set of skills associated with it, but I doubt it’s super accessible these days for a beginner. That’s outside of cassettes, at least. I’m sure old 4-track cassette recorders are super cheap. As much as I loved analog recording, you’re probably better off just going digitally and using processing to get an approximation of the “traditional” analog sound, though, if that’s your jsn. Or if you’re going for a black metal sound or something else intentionally grungy, go to town on a cassette deck.
From there I’d say the biggest skills would be understanding basic mic technique, the general physics of sound, and how to properly set your levels (basically the ratio of preamp vs amp). Next up would be figuring out basic processing - namely the different types of EQ and compression. Effects play into that too - especially reverb and delay - but EQ and compression (plus proper micing and levels) are generally going to be the foundation of a good mix.
That being said - this all entirely depends on what you’re going for. If you don’t do anything musical yourself and aren’t inclined to record other musicians, you can have tons of fun remixing other people’s work. I’m pretty sure there are sites out there where you can download raw audio tracks to mix yourself. Another viable option if you’re into electronic forms of music is to get a sequencer and experiment that way.
I got my start when I was maybe 13 or 14 with a cracked copy of Fruity Loops (I think it’s called FL Studio now). I used that to write dumb electronic songs despite having no theoretical musical or audio knowledge (besides having previously used the built in Windows sound recording software to layer weird shit I recorded with a crappy mic). That software also came with demo tracks that I experimented with. About a year later I got a bass guitar and started a punk band, and that led to all sorts of weird experimentation with recording mediums. From there I bought a shitty reel to reel tape deck and began recording punk bands out of their jam spaces, eventually went to school for audio engineering, had a bunch of jobs related to the art (while freelancing doing recording work and live sound), and finally burned out and never touched a guitar or mic again.
None of that is necessary or even something I’d recommend. It’s a perfectly legitimate hobby if you want to keep it small-scale. You can start it with almost no money, but that’s where I’d caution you if you have anything approaching an addictive personality - the gear can get super addictive as you begin a quest for the perfect tone. For a few years there I worked at a musical instrument store and most of my paycheck went right back to my work (the staff discount sure helped though). Likewise, most of what I’d make freelancing would go back to gear as well. That’s one of the big reasons I quit cold turkey one day. I still miss it as a hobby, but I know the second I start it back up I’ll be right back to dreaming of expensive tube preamps. Your own mileage may vary if you have better self-control.
One of the core skills would be the ability to pick out different sounds from a soundscape. I suspect you already have a knack for that given how much you seem to think about audio quality. Tied in with that would be an understanding of how digital audio works in terms of bitrate, dynamic range, what clipping sounds (and looks) like, etc. I’m sure there’s tons of info on all that online. Analog audio has a whole other set of skills associated with it, but I doubt it’s super accessible these days for a beginner. That’s outside of cassettes, at least. I’m sure old 4-track cassette recorders are super cheap. As much as I loved analog recording, you’re probably better off just going digitally and using processing to get an approximation of the “traditional” analog sound, though, if that’s your jsn. Or if you’re going for a black metal sound or something else intentionally grungy, go to town on a cassette deck.
I can already do a lot of this, and while I’m a bit lacking on the analog aspect, I have an okay understanding of how electricity works, which would probably help with the analog side.
From there I’d say the biggest skills would be understanding basic mic technique, the general physics of sound, and how to properly set your levels (basically the ratio of preamp vs amp). Next up would be figuring out basic processing - namely the different types of EQ and compression. Effects play into that too - especially reverb and delay - but EQ and compression (plus proper micing and levels) are generally going to be the foundation of a good mix.
Don’t have as much of an understanding here, especially when it comes to calling out specific frequencies to be EQ’d. I don’t do enough of that to be able to “play it by ear” and know what frequencies I want to adjust without some experimentation. I’m also somewhat familiar with how compressors work, but I need a UI because I tend to forget what bit does what, so I need visual feedback to show me what I’m changing. Shouldn’t be too difficult to memorize the terminology and how certain frequencies sound, but it would take some effort. I do understand how decibels work though!
That being said - this all entirely depends on what you’re going for. If you don’t do anything musical yourself and aren’t inclined to record other musicians, you can have tons of fun remixing other people’s work. I’m pretty sure there are sites out there where you can download raw audio tracks to mix yourself. Another viable option if you’re into electronic forms of music is to get a sequencer and experiment that way.
It’s something I’d probably do as a career. The career I wanted to go into has turned out to be extremely toxic and heavily exploitive, so I’m kinda looking for alternatives. That said, most creative careers tend to be very exploitive so I might be looking in the wrong place.
If you really truly are interested in it as a career don’t hold back, but know that it’s a looooooong road for very little money and absolutely no guarantees. Like anything fairly creative, only the top percentile make actual good money (or even sustainable money), and even then you usually have to freelance and build your own reputation to get there. That said, there are viable adjacent jobs that use that skillset. I worked in corporate AV for a few years, which involves running sound, lighting, and video for events. It’s far from glamorous though, and mostly involves manual labor in setups and teardowns. You’re basically a roadie who also runs the gear, but instead of mixing cool rock shows you’re mixing a few mics and a PowerPoint presentation for a pharmaceutical convention. The hours can also suuuuuuuck. My longest shift was 20 hours. I got home at 3 AM after that and then had to be back at the shop for 7. You live on free coffee and cookies that the banquet staff give you (you get to be on a first-name basis with every hotel banquet server in your city). It can be weirdly fun as a youngster but I have no idea how the older techs survived. I regularly worked 40 hour weeks when I was part time and 60-80 when full-time. I burned out by like 22.
The music store gig was really fun though. I ran the rentals desk and spent a lot of time teaching my customers how to use the pro audio gear. That’s also the most ridiculous place I’ve ever worked in terms of memorable stories.
You can also run sound in a dive bar, but that’s mostly about who you know and involves more networking than you’d expect to work in a dive bar for very little money.
As far as actually being a professional audio engineer or producer who makes a living making records - that’s the real tough part. I suppose it’s possible to land a staff job in a studio, but that’s not really how it worked in my small city. I freelanced with my own gear and home studio for years until I met a (relatively - this is Canada) big-name producer who I’d built rapport with from my job in the music store. He offered to let me work out of his proper studio for a very reasonable rate. Note that this wasn’t a job - it was an offer to pay him to use his facility. Still, it was the closest thing I had to a break and for a few glorious months I was (barely) scraping by as a full-time recording engineer. The clientele I had built up over the previous decade were almost exclusively local punk and garage rock bands, meaning none of them had money, and now they had to pay real studio fees on top of my own, so I was charging way too little. I was technically doing it though, but then I finally fully burned out - due in part to some looming personal issues - and that was that.
As to all your other comments - alllll of that can be learned through study and experimentation. I went to an overpriced school to learn the fundamentals, but a diploma like that means shit and you can learn it just as well on your own. With stuff like EQ you don’t need to be able to instantly pick out a good/bad frequency fully by ear - there are little tricks for zoning in on what you’re looking for (crank the gain on the EQ and scan the frequency range until you find the tone you’re trying to get rid of, then turn it down. Hint: it’s almost always the lower-mids making stuff sound muddy.)
This all being said, if you’re interested in this stuff I suggest dipping your toes in as a hobbyist first. If it becomes your obsession maybe consider a career, but only if you’ll be content working adjacent jobs rather than recording bands full time. Also, in case I didn’t make it quite clear, there’s a ton of networking involved. It’s easier if you actually play in a band, as I did (you don’t have to be good - just out there meeting people). I suppose it’d still be possible otherwise if you spend most of your free time at local shows and really get to know the musicians. Also, by the time I was getting in, home recording was a vibrant industry so wasn’t just competing with other engineers for jobs - I was also competing with bands just doing it themselves. I’m sure that’s only gotten tougher these days with cheap gear being so accessible.
I hope this doesn’t come across as demoralizing. I just want to make sure you know what you’re potentially getting yourself into. If you’re hating your current industry, though, and this all sounds overwhelming, another approach is to find something tolerable but maybe not what you envisioned, and make the best of it. In creative fields work typically becomes your life as it’s a constant grind to make ends meet and something that was once pleasurable inevitably becomes tainted by association. Some people have the emotional fortitude to survive under those conditions but I suspect they’re few and far between. I’ve worked probably a dozen jobs in my life before landing in my current role. Depending on how you count it, I’ve been here about 11 years and I fully expect this will be the company I work at for the rest of my working life (in part because my family bought the business a few years ago after several of us had worked there for years). The job has nothing to do with anything I went to school for and is in an industry I have no personal interest in. But, the work itself is interesting and sometimes creative,. Most importantly, the people are good, so I’m about as happy as a person can be in a job. Keep yourself open to opportunities like that, if you can find them. Buying the business helped, but even before that I had pretty much accepted that I was a lifer because this was the first grown-up job I felt content in.
Holy shit those actually kinda sound exactly like what I want. They are pretty expensive, and I wonder what the sound quality is like, but those are basically the kinda thing I’ve been looking for.
As an audiophile, I’ve tried these at an event and they sound pretty close to audiophile grade wired headphones. They have the Focal house signature (slightly warm but not bassy or boomy)
Maybe too basic for you but the ATH-M50X bluetooth has served me well for mlre than 5 years and the only complaint I have is the faux leather comming off.
Ye, though tbh, I’ve thought about just getting a secondary pair of headphones, like a cheaper wireless pair for being out and about, and a more expensive pair for at home. If I went that route then I’d probably do something like the ath-m50x
I recently bought the samsung A15. And even though it came out this year it still has the headphone jack. If you don’t have special use cases for your phone that you need a lot of power for I can realy recomend the low end samsung phones. They work absolutely fine. I used my last low end samsung phone for 5 years before replacing
Oh sorry, it’s been a while since I last used Samsung phones. I’ve switched to OnePlus several years ago. But before that, I had absolutely no problem with LineageOS on Samsung. Has this changed over the years?
What’s wrong with OneUI? I like it more than stock Android these days. I know TouchWiz was the worst and most bloated Android skin out there when they were still using it, but ever since the switch to OneUI, stock Android has been playing catch-up implementing its features.
Appcloud. OneUI is great if you hammer it with ADB the moment you get out from setup. Extra apps like MS stuff and Google stuff are uninstallable. (mostly; Google, Chrome and Youtube may refuse to uninstall) Appcloud needs ADB and it is very annoying.
Yes yes yes. The unremovable bloatware junk flooding and suffocating samsung’s devices cpu , memory and ram, and draining its battery is the #1 reason that forced me to ditch samsung forever. Also how you hardly don’t get any much by rooting them compared to other manufacturers
Not really. I’ve switched from wired to wireless because of the number of headphones I’ve destroyed getting the cable stuck so bad it yanks my body. My ears never hurt from it; just slightly disoriented and audio only working for one bud/side now. Eventually it was too annoying and I switched to full bluetooth wireless. I won’t argue against cables being better for audio, but for me they arent.
I like wireless, I just fucking loathe earbuds. Unfortunately, they have completely replaced the wrap around on-ear headphones that were the best for wearing while running errands or exercising.
I don’t want something big and bulky while I’m walking around, but I also don’t like having shit jammed into my ears. And critically, those on ear headphones are just the right size to have a convenient button layout so I can easily pause or go back a few seconds in my audiobook whenever I need to.
But Apple decreed that wireless earbuds were the future and the market for everything else fucking died.
The problem with most USB c earphones (which are not super expensive) is that they sound like shit because they have a cheapo small DAC (digital to analog converter) in them. Our phones - most of the time - have decent enough DACs, at least had them when they had the 3.5 mm jacks
I think peak design was the on-ear, behind-the-neck style. They rested on the top of your ears, and your hair didn’t get all fucked up from the headband. I don’t know why they had such a short-lived popularity.
I’ve tried the wired Koss independent on-ears, but you lose clarity of lows without the pressure of a neckband or headband.
I felt this comment in my bones. It’s too bad my over ear buds are so old now the plastic has degraded. Regular earbuds just don’t stay in and I find them uncomfortable.
Now the real winner would be looped over your ear but using that spacial localized speaker thing Valve puts into their VR. That stuff works great, has surround sound, and you don’t feel a thing. A wonder if only exists on that headset and that headset alone.
The parts are available, but I don’t know if there’s a way to send them regular stereo channel inputs without hardware hacking or writing custom software drivers from scratch.
Used to have a pair of these. Motorola S305. They were the perfect running headphones. Big chunky buttons for volume and track skipping, a plastic band that wrapped the back of your head and over your ears so it would never fall off but otherwise wireless. The only downside was really old Bluetooth tech so connection was sketchy at times. Also audio has improved a lot since then.
Modern buds don’t stay in my ears. I’m using the pixel buds pro right now. The right ear stays in pretty good but the left is completely unpredictable.
Having the pixel buds myself, I feel your pain. Do a little bit of physical activity and at least one side gets loose and slippery.
I found that I simply dont have symmetrical ear canals, I use the mid size plug on one and the smallest plug on the other ear. That way they seem to fit somewhat reliably.
I had some jaybird buds that have the wrap around wire with a clip to your shirt so you can pop one out without tugging the other, also they came with all sorts of ear mounts so they can stay in your ear, I have really found anything that work as good for use while working
Usually one bud is the primary one which connects to the phone and maintains the link. Then it pairs with the other and relays the Bluetooth session encryption key so the second bud can play it’s part of the audio
Have neckband Bluetooth headphones of various kinds too (I’ll never ever use those tiny plugs, I’d be worried about losing them and chances are they won’t fit well). Got a regular sport model, and recently got a cheap air conduction headset too.
If you need to charge and listen at the same time, they make split adapters for that too. Adding 2" of wire to your wired headphones is a very minor inconvenience.
There are also wired headphones with USB-C plugs if you don’t want to bother with adapters.
I kind of can’t believe we’re still having this conversation. It’s ridiculously cheap and easy to use wired earbuds with a modern phone if you want to. I got it back when it was just iPhones and Apple was selling lighting to 3.5 adapters for like $7k, but that’s obviously not the case anymore. If someone wants to hold on to their 5+ year old phone and run it dead, that’s great. More power to them. Doing it to avoid getting a phone with no headphone jack is a little silly at this point, though.
Here’s the problem, it’s a solution to a problem nobody had. Never once have I heard someone say “well it’s a solid phone but God I just wish it didn’t have that pesky 3.5mm headphone jack!” It’s just another feature stripped from the phone to clearly get you to buy more shit. I don’t want yet another damn thing I have to charge. I dont want to deal with keeping track of two tiny ass earbuds and if I lose one I gotta get a whole new pair. I don’t want to deal with the fact that now if I want to listen to wired I have to buy more shit like an adapter and if I lose those headphones, now I gotta buy another one of those along with new headphones. And I hate that if I do go wireless and lose them or they break, I can’t fall back on wired because it’s not even an option unless I happen to also have the adapter.
It’s just another in a long line of clear middle fingers to consumers and it’s annoying. Does it like ruin the phone and the experience of a phone? Of course not. Is it a completely pointless pain in the ass with the obvious and sole purpose of funneling consumers into buying a cycle of products they almost definitely don’t need and don’t already have? Absolutely. And for that I say they can eat a big bag of crap.
Technology has been solving problems people don’t have since… Always. No one had a problem listening to music from an 8 track tape, but that technology still died and we moved on. The truth is that an increasing majority of consumers either don’t care or even prefer wireless headphones. If you consider not having a headphone jack a deal breaker, then you’re not the market most phone manufacturers are after. Sorry to break it to you. Good news though, there are still several smartphone models that have a headphone jack. Buy one of those. Or get whatever phone you want and get a $5 adapter. Or just sit on the internet seething every time a new phone comes out without an increasingly niche feature. Up to you.
I just don’t want a dongle. I’m not willing to buy one, I’m not willing to keep track one one, and I’ll never have it when it need it. I’m not willing to charge wireless earbuds, and they’re going to get lost after 2-3 uses anyway.
Just give me a fucking 3.5mm jack and be done with it.
This is true. The only caveat I’ll add is that not all USB-C-to-3.5mm + power delivery adapters are created equal, which is annoying. I bought this one a couple years ago and it has an audible buzz when plugged into power, so it’s basically junk.
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