Well... the Bluetooth earbuds I got from China for 10 cents (I think actually 11 cents because of tax; I am being completely serious) have sound which is better than the Apple Airpods I got for free, which would make sense since the Chinese earbuds (I imagine the Airpods are also Chinese but they've got a brand attached to them) cost literally an infinite percentage more than the Airpods did. That's how percentages work when you divide by zero or whatever. But given that the MSRP of the Chinese earbuds was in the region of $5 if I recall correctly, whereas the MSRP of the Airpods, irrespective of how much they cost me, currently stands at $80, the Airpods should provide service which is 16 times better than the Chinese earbuds.
Apple is a scam.
Now, sound-wise, part of the reason why the earbuds are better is that they're in-ear earbuds, whereas the Airpods are those stupid earbuds which sit in the crease of your ear if you're lucky enough to have ears exactly the right shape, otherwise they fall out, and God forbid you get sweaty at all. So you have to buy pieces of plastic which keep the Airpods in your ears. And since they're farther away from your eardrums, plus they're not as directional, they suffer. I have no doubt that if Apple had been able to figure out how to create in-ear Airpods, they...
Hang on, I'm being told that they actually make them, but they cost substantially more. But surely the cost of two tiny pieces of silicone couldn't raise the price that much, right? RIGHT?!
Apple is a scam.
So these Chinese earbuds are louder, which is nice if one is trying to drown out the screaming, and they stay in my ears better for free rather than requiring the purchase of additional pieces of plastic to make this possible. Also, they actually talk to devices other than Apple products, so I can see information about them and use their touch features, as opposed to the Airpods which, I'm told, "just work" when paired with an iPhone but which "just barely work" in any other situation. I have yet to test the Chinese earbuds' battery life, which I suspect is where the Apple product may shine, but I very much doubt that the Airpods will shine 16 times brighter.
Apple is a scam.
Now, I should say that the bass of the Airpods may be slightly better. May. It's hard to tell. It's certainly not 16 times better. They also seem slightly more robust in design (if you don't take into account the glaring dipshittery of not making them in-ear earbuds) and will likely last some amount of time less than 1600% longer.
Also, Apple ain't the only scam. Samsung manufactures their own brand of scam, as do so many other companies, all of which, it must be said, probably get their audio drivers from the same factory in China but their quality control department probably calls that factory up and gives them a stern talking-to about testing or something.
I kid. A little.
I only bought these earbuds for 11 cents (again, I am in no way joking) because they were a prize for spending far too much time looking at AliExpress. I don't like wireless earbuds, but they are occasionally useful, and there weren't any other prizes which were worth bothering with. I would cheerfully trade the Airpods in, but as I didn't pay for them at all (they were a gift from an anonymous person who decided to leave them in the Lost and Found at work and never return for them) I'm kind of stuck with them.
This, more than anything, led to the rise of mercantilism in 14th-Century Prague.
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in reply to Trivial Einstein • • •Trivial Einstein
in reply to 💙🩷💜Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ🐡🍉🐧 • • •@brettm
I have no idea. They're not even knockoffs, they're just black and made in China, undoubtedly by enslaved Uyghurs, but I'm very poor and 11 cents is 11 cents.
In all seriousness, I genuinely don't think they have a brand. They're also not noise-canceling in any way other than fitting into my ears well enough that they block some outside sounds. Definitely not active noise cancelation.
I've heard good things about Bose, but they're so far outside my price range as to be more like mythical artifacts than technology. If you, like me, can't afford hundreds of dollars, my advice would be to get in-ear buds as cheaply as you can direct from China (no reason to pay extra for a middleman to sell you the same cheap dropshipped crap) and then put on some white noise which you can stand to sleep through. Honestly, I'd get wired ones, since the battery life on even the high end models tends to be right on the edge of 8 hours, and you can get wired earbuds for pennies if y
... show more@brettm
I have no idea. They're not even knockoffs, they're just black and made in China, undoubtedly by enslaved Uyghurs, but I'm very poor and 11 cents is 11 cents.
In all seriousness, I genuinely don't think they have a brand. They're also not noise-canceling in any way other than fitting into my ears well enough that they block some outside sounds. Definitely not active noise cancelation.
I've heard good things about Bose, but they're so far outside my price range as to be more like mythical artifacts than technology. If you, like me, can't afford hundreds of dollars, my advice would be to get in-ear buds as cheaply as you can direct from China (no reason to pay extra for a middleman to sell you the same cheap dropshipped crap) and then put on some white noise which you can stand to sleep through. Honestly, I'd get wired ones, since the battery life on even the high end models tends to be right on the edge of 8 hours, and you can get wired earbuds for pennies if you buy in bulk (I bought a pack of 30 which was intended to be used in classrooms and I think I paid 30-40 cents a pair, so when they break, I'm not particularly put out).
Fans help too. Basically, create an environment where you've got layers of protection from outside noise. You can even get earplugs, then put on over-ear headphones to play whatever, then a fan to add additional white noise.
I've also seen eye masks which go over the ears as well which have earphones built in which seem like they'd be more comfortable to sleep in than earbuds, but ymmv there. Those, too, can be had for pocket change direct from China. I hate recommending buying cheap Chinese garbage and contributing to waste, but in my experience sleeping in headphones tends to put a lot of miles on them pretty quickly, and I've never had more expensive sets last me any longer than the cheapest ones, though the sound quality was probably a bit better. You're paying for quality control, mostly, in mid-range tech. Until you get to higher end stuff than I can afford, the difference between a $20 set of earbuds and a 40 cent set is that the 40 cent set has a slightly elevated chance of simply not working at all, at least in my experience. They've both probably got nearly identical drivers in them, but the soldering on the 20 buck pair with a brand name is likely a bit better, that's all.
Sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know and/or stuff you already knew.
Unus Nemo
in reply to 💙🩷💜Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ🐡🍉🐧 • •@Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ
Noise Canceling is a mic feature that keeps background noise from being picked up and transmitted with your call. It does not apply to the speaker part of the earbuds.
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in reply to Unus Nemo • • •Unus Nemo likes this.
Unus Nemo
in reply to 💙🩷💜Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ🐡🍉🐧 • •@Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ
Never heard of it but I'll look for it. I have only ever seen them advertise noise canceling in regards to mic. Then again I do not buy extremely expensive ear buds either. I break or lose them to fast 😀
💙🩷💜Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ🐡🍉🐧 likes this.
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in reply to Unus Nemo • • •Unus Nemo likes this.
Unus Nemo
in reply to 💙🩷💜Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ🐡🍉🐧 • •@Ⓑⓡⓔⓣⓣ
Yes, I have Bose speakers in my car and love them. Though I would never get a pair of their earbuds. Way past what I will spend on them considering I would probably have them for a month at best.
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