A question came up recently on another forum.
A member wanted to know whether there was any adapter available for using the headphones supplied with his iPhone 7 on his MBP. I answered that I didn't know of any adapter that would make this possible, that I didn't believe it to be possible but he should keep an eye on Belkin, since they have a history as a good supplier of Apple cables.
The reason I don't believe it's possible goes back to the reason Apple gave for getting rid of the 3.5mm socket on the iPhone 7 in the first place. It's big, it only does one thing and it's analogue. Actually, the headphone socket on a Mac does more than one thing, as I've noted before. It doubles as an optical digital interface, but that doesn't help the person who asked the question. It's a different type of digital interface.
Anyway, the question got me thinking, and wondering whether any manufacturers might jump on the bandwagon and start producing equipment that will take advantage of Apple's new Lightning interface for headphones. There are already a few Lightning alternatives to the supplied earbuds, so why not?
Here are a few reasons why I don't think the Lightning is the way that headphones will go.
1. The hifi industry moves very slowly.
One of my amplifiers has a warranty period of 20 years. Hifi equipment does not get changed out frequently, and nearly every component has either a ¼ inch socket or a 3.5 mm version. There is plenty of room on components for these sockets and they are universal throughout the industry. There is no need to change, and no grass roots movement demanding any such change. The exception is home theatre receivers, which have been suffering from what looks suspiciously like built-in obsolescence with regard to new HDMI standards, but that is a different story, and one which is attracting a degree of hostility from equipment buyers.
2. Standard headphones and earbuds can be very expensive.
The Sennheiser HD 800 S headphones will set you back $2199. The Sennheiser IE 800 earbuds retail for $1000. The people who buy these things are fanatics. The thought of listening to compressed mp3 music on a phone makes their teeth twitch. They may never have heard of Apple. Their listening takes place in a darkened room, with softly glowing lights emanating from equipment that makes the $2200 for a pair of headphones seem reasonable. Their equipment will not have a Lightning interface, and the manufacturers have no reason to supply one.
3. Standard cables.
With the exception of Sennheiser and a couple of others, headphone cables are hardwired. Sennheiser COULD supply a Lightning cable for most of their headphones. They already supply two cables with some of their offerings; a simple stereo cable for hifi equipment, and a second for connection to a smartphone with microphone and volume controls built in. But to come back to the component manufacturers, they will simply tell Sennheiser customers to use the stereo cable. Why licence an interface from Apple when there is no need?
4. Adapters.
Audiophiles hate adapters. They spend huge sums of money on cables, and can get very irate if you dare to mention that your BestBuy interconnects do the same job as their $2000 versions. They will not plug in an adapter which they see as offering an inferior quality when there are many alternatives open to them.
So, it is my opinion that the Lightning enabled headphones and earbuds will remain a niche market, solely for users of Apple smartphones, supported in the main by Apple (through their subsidiary Beats) but offered by some headphone manufacturers who see the potential for some sales.
HOWEVER, I can see the new wireless technology being developed by Apple as a much more interesting proposition. BlueTooth is known to have low bandwidth. Radio based wireless headphones suffer from interference, sometimes to the point of being unusable. Coming back to home theatre receivers first, I can see the W1 technology being built into those quite rapidly, aimed at people who want high quality sound from their movies while the rest of the house sleeps. Sony already produce headphones capable of surround sound, and Yamaha receivers have the legend "Silent Cinema" next to the headphone input.
For hifi use, a simple transmitter, plugged into the pre outs of an amplifier, could encourage use of wireless technology amongst those who have hitherto spurned it. The larger over ear headphones could accommodate much larger batteries, giving a decent amount of listening time before recharging became necessary.
I suspect that Apple will encourage people to see the Lightning Earbuds as a stopgap device, while the main drive will be derivatives of the Air-pods, soon to be made available. The $160 that the Airpods will cost pales into insignificance when compared to the amount of money people are prepared to spend on their listening pleasure.
A member wanted to know whether there was any adapter available for using the headphones supplied with his iPhone 7 on his MBP. I answered that I didn't know of any adapter that would make this possible, that I didn't believe it to be possible but he should keep an eye on Belkin, since they have a history as a good supplier of Apple cables.
The reason I don't believe it's possible goes back to the reason Apple gave for getting rid of the 3.5mm socket on the iPhone 7 in the first place. It's big, it only does one thing and it's analogue. Actually, the headphone socket on a Mac does more than one thing, as I've noted before. It doubles as an optical digital interface, but that doesn't help the person who asked the question. It's a different type of digital interface.
Anyway, the question got me thinking, and wondering whether any manufacturers might jump on the bandwagon and start producing equipment that will take advantage of Apple's new Lightning interface for headphones. There are already a few Lightning alternatives to the supplied earbuds, so why not?
Here are a few reasons why I don't think the Lightning is the way that headphones will go.
1. The hifi industry moves very slowly.
One of my amplifiers has a warranty period of 20 years. Hifi equipment does not get changed out frequently, and nearly every component has either a ¼ inch socket or a 3.5 mm version. There is plenty of room on components for these sockets and they are universal throughout the industry. There is no need to change, and no grass roots movement demanding any such change. The exception is home theatre receivers, which have been suffering from what looks suspiciously like built-in obsolescence with regard to new HDMI standards, but that is a different story, and one which is attracting a degree of hostility from equipment buyers.
2. Standard headphones and earbuds can be very expensive.
The Sennheiser HD 800 S headphones will set you back $2199. The Sennheiser IE 800 earbuds retail for $1000. The people who buy these things are fanatics. The thought of listening to compressed mp3 music on a phone makes their teeth twitch. They may never have heard of Apple. Their listening takes place in a darkened room, with softly glowing lights emanating from equipment that makes the $2200 for a pair of headphones seem reasonable. Their equipment will not have a Lightning interface, and the manufacturers have no reason to supply one.
3. Standard cables.
With the exception of Sennheiser and a couple of others, headphone cables are hardwired. Sennheiser COULD supply a Lightning cable for most of their headphones. They already supply two cables with some of their offerings; a simple stereo cable for hifi equipment, and a second for connection to a smartphone with microphone and volume controls built in. But to come back to the component manufacturers, they will simply tell Sennheiser customers to use the stereo cable. Why licence an interface from Apple when there is no need?
4. Adapters.
Audiophiles hate adapters. They spend huge sums of money on cables, and can get very irate if you dare to mention that your BestBuy interconnects do the same job as their $2000 versions. They will not plug in an adapter which they see as offering an inferior quality when there are many alternatives open to them.
So, it is my opinion that the Lightning enabled headphones and earbuds will remain a niche market, solely for users of Apple smartphones, supported in the main by Apple (through their subsidiary Beats) but offered by some headphone manufacturers who see the potential for some sales.
HOWEVER, I can see the new wireless technology being developed by Apple as a much more interesting proposition. BlueTooth is known to have low bandwidth. Radio based wireless headphones suffer from interference, sometimes to the point of being unusable. Coming back to home theatre receivers first, I can see the W1 technology being built into those quite rapidly, aimed at people who want high quality sound from their movies while the rest of the house sleeps. Sony already produce headphones capable of surround sound, and Yamaha receivers have the legend "Silent Cinema" next to the headphone input.
For hifi use, a simple transmitter, plugged into the pre outs of an amplifier, could encourage use of wireless technology amongst those who have hitherto spurned it. The larger over ear headphones could accommodate much larger batteries, giving a decent amount of listening time before recharging became necessary.
I suspect that Apple will encourage people to see the Lightning Earbuds as a stopgap device, while the main drive will be derivatives of the Air-pods, soon to be made available. The $160 that the Airpods will cost pales into insignificance when compared to the amount of money people are prepared to spend on their listening pleasure.
