With a built-in analog-to-digital converter, or DAC, these new wired headphone models make any phone ready for Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless.
It’s been over seven years since Apple found the courage to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone, forcing wireless headphones into the spotlight. Until now, listening to high-resolution music on a phone usually meant searching for a rare phone with a 3.5mm jack or accepting your new life with a dongle. Suddenly, a new breed of wired headphones has emerged that promises quality sound on any phone without the need for a dongle. Of course, there’s a marketing term that goes with it: True Lossless Earphones (TLE).
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You may not have heard of Questyle, but the company has been making hi-fi gear for years. Last November, the company tried something different with NHB12 Lightning wired headphones. The in-ear monitor (IEM)-style headphones include an analog-to-digital converter (DAC) that can handle Apple Music’s Hi-Res Lossless (192kHz/24-bit) files. Ahead of CES this month, the company released a USB-C version — the $350 NHB15 — bringing the all-in-one hi-res digital headphone to just about any other phone, tablet, or PC.
Two days after the NHB15 was announced, rival Hidizs claimed that its own ST2 Pro, with its built-in DAC, was the world’s first high-resolution digital IEM. It’s not quite a trend yet, but a small wave of similar products is expected to follow, and I’m not sure it matters who was first. More interestingly, with iPhones moving to USB-C and high-resolution plug-and-play options on the table, all the ingredients are there for a small revival of wired headphones – although I don’t think it will last, and we’ll get to that later.
It should be noted that all of these USB-C headphones have some type of DAC inside them, but they are rarely capable of high resolution and sound quality. The term “high resolution” is a broad term, but here we follow Apple’s language, which is anything above 48kHz. In recent years, a number of HiFi companies have released USB-C cables with built-in DACs that support higher resolutions. Queststyle and Hidizs simply take it to the next logical conclusion by combining everything – that’s what makes them more interesting for the listener who cares a little about audio.
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There have been plenty of standalone DACs tested over the years, and the high sound quality they provide is generally appreciated, but truth be told it’s hard to find one that’s comfortable to use on the go. There are a few that come close, like AudioQuest’s fantastic DragonFly Cobalt or THX’s slim Onyx, but they all require something called a cable between your phone and your headphones – and by then the average user would just grab their best wireless headphones and be done with it. With the NHB15, however, we might see it differently.
The experience is no more complicated than plugging in a regular pair of 3.5mm headphones. The DAC isn't invisible. At first, you might think it's on the yoke-style media control bar. Indeed, if that had buttons, it would complete the feel and add convenient functionality, but for now it's there solely to transform your music. LEDs let you know whether you're listening to lossless music (one lit) or experiencing true loss (two lit). It's a minimal but effective approach.
Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless settings.
Let's ignore the fact that the cheapest 3.5mm wired headphones you can buy on Amazon are theoretically also truly lossless, but TLE isn't a completely useless term. If it could become the equivalent of "UHD" but for USB-C headphones, with a minimum confirmed level of high-resolution audio support — anything above Apple's standard lossless (48kHz) perhaps — that's pretty useful.
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Importantly, the Questyle NHB15 does a good job with music. Listening through Qobuz, I didn’t always see two LEDs, thanks to the platform’s variety of “lossless” settings, but it was fun to listen to the audio first and then turn the DAC to see how many lights were on and whether I was right. I usually didn’t, but perhaps that’s a testament to how clear these sound. The NHB15 are fairly neutral and less bass-heavy than a typical pair of Beats, with just the right amount of brightness in the higher frequencies.
For something with its own DAC/amplifier, the maximum volume isn't as loud as you'd expect, but it's plenty loud. Even when streaming music via Spotify, which doesn't offer any lossless music at the moment, these IEMs give a sense of space that's unlikely to be found with Bluetooth headphones.
It’s harder to determine whether these are good IEMs with a nice DAC, a good DAC with good drivers attached, or something in between. Fortunately, Questyle includes a standard 3.5mm cable in the box, so you can use the NHB15s with all your devices or do the direct comparison yourself. At least to the ears of the average user and not an audiophile, Spotify tracks will sound just as good through the reliable connection. You can also use the NHB15’s DAC cable with any IEMs, as long as they have the 2-pin connector, so it’s a flexible idea, if nothing else.
It's worth noting that there are several competing efforts to bring wireless headphones on par with wired options. Qualcomm's family of codecs is the most well-known, with the latest AptX Lossless having the technical power to do a very good job, even if there aren't many phones or headphones (and you need both) that support it.
Then there’s the first release of MEMS-based headphones. These “stereo” drivers weren’t specifically designed for wireless headphones, but California-based company xMEMS is selling its technology on the promise of delivering a HiFi experience without the hassle of codecs. The first products on the market are showing some promise, but we’ll likely have to wait until next year to see MEMS-based headphones reach their full potential.
So the question remains, who would want these?
The average person paying for a regular streaming service doesn't need a high-resolution DAC. The average audiophile might be interested, but then they're competing with dedicated portable DACs and headphones they bring along, and for that audience, convenience isn't as big a selling point. The only conclusion is that they're intended for probably the average user, you and I. I don't mind cables if the trade-off is better, louder sound, and that's exactly what these wired headphones do.
Source: engadget.com
