- Sonos' new Ace headphones compete with Apple's AirPods Max.
- From a price/performance perspective, wired headphones still have an advantage in sound quality.
- Bluetooth headsets have more features and are more error-prone.
Sonos' new Ace headphones look — and reportedly sound — amazing. But for ultimate sound quality, maybe you don’t want to use wireless headphones at all.
The Sonos Ace headphones are clearly designed to compete head-on with Apple's AirPods Max over-ear headphones, and in terms of styling, we're sure it's a coincidence that they're so similar to Apple's headphones. I'm looking forward to some kind of Wi-Fi connection with built-in apps so you can use them for streaming at home without needing any other devices and just streaming music directly from the internet. But no, they're just another pair of fancy Bluetooth headphones, which makes us wonder: wouldn't wired be better at this price? That depends.
"In terms of sound quality, wireless headphones can indeed match or even surpass wired headphones, but they tend to be more expensive due to the increased cost of wireless technology, batteries, and additional features such as noise reduction and built-in smart assistants. For example, Sony WH-1000XM5 or Bose High-end models like the Noise Canceling Headphones 700 are well-received for their sound quality, which is often comparable to wired headphones," Daisy co-founder and CEO Hagan Kappler told Lifewire via email.
To transmit digital audio over a relatively low-bandwidth Bluetooth connection, you have to compress the data before sending it and then decompress it on the other end. This takes time, which is why Bluetooth headphones can never provide a lag-free (lag-free) connection, making them a poor choice for gamers or musicians making music.
Decompression (CODEC) also reduces audio quality, similar to MP3 or JPG not as good as uncompressed songs or pictures. In fact, you'll never notice it. Bluetooth audio quality has gotten so good that if you're listening outside, the background noise will prevent you from hearing the difference.
But if you're indoors and just sitting and listening to music, maybe you want the ultimate in audio quality. In this case, there is an additional disadvantage. Let's say you spend $500 on a pair of headphones. That money goes not only to the audio drivers (the speakers inside the headphones) and other audio components, but also to batteries, Bluetooth radios, and all the other necessary computing parts, such as charging circuitry, microphones for calls and noise cancellation, and soon .
"The price of wireless headphones includes the cost of batteries, Bluetooth chips, and other electronic components, which can mean less budget available for actual audio drivers compared to wired headphones. So while wireless headphones can be pretty good, go for the absolute best Audiophiles of sound quality may still prefer wired options,” Jesus Cruz, founder of security and sound system installation company CSS Tech, told Lifewire via email.
On the other hand, a high-end pair of wired audiophile headphones are completely passive. There is no battery, no power supply function of any kind. Just a single wire is needed to take the analog audio signal and send it to the driver via passive analog circuitry. In short, all the money is spent on making them sound as good as possible.
Now, Apple's AirPods Max may still sound better than cheaper wired headphones, but if you want ultimate sound quality, wired is still the way to go.
Of course, we use headphones for more than just listening in and out. Modern wireless headphones come with a bunch of great features, like noise cancellation, 3D or spatial audio, and the ability to not tangle you with cables. With AirPods, some Sony models, and others, you can even use your phone's camera to scan your ears to create a profile that tailors 3D sound to your ears. The AirPods version—the only one I’ve tried—is surprisingly good.
The Sonos Ace does all of this, including head-tracking spatial audio, transparency mode, and lossless audio, although lossless audio is only available on some Android phones, not the iPhone.
So why should you buy them instead of AirPods Max? Apple users probably shouldn't do this. While the Sonos Ace is compatible with most of Apple's tech, they fall short in a few key areas. One of them is Transparency Mode, which The Verge's Chris Welch generously described as "second only to Apple."
However, if you're not an Apple user, or you're all about Sonos, there's a trick that might appeal to you. That's Audio Swap, a one-click way to switch any sound from your Sonos Arc soundbar to your headphones. It's a neat trick, but people want to know how often you actually use it. That's also quite problematic, Welch said.
So, what is the ideal setup? Convenience or quality? The best option is probably a little bit of both, but with different hardware. There are in-ear AirPods Pro with noise cancellation, which are great for listening to podcasts outdoors or while vacuuming, and there are some nice wired headphones for when you want to do some serious listening. Bonus: While your disposable AirPods will become unusable electronic junk in a few years, these wired headphones will still be usable decades later once the battery dies.
