Some would say that the eyes are the window to the soul, but really, much more is revealed by the type of headphones someone chooses to adopt. It is an act commonly observed in the world of music that old-fashioned products are favoured, demonstrated through the resurgence of vinyl and CDs. However, with vinyl and CDs, the quality of the music can be maintained, whereas there is something truly insane about actively choosing to worsen the quality of your listening experience to simply appear as ‘cool’.
In recent years, wired headphones in particular have been deemed worthy of becoming the new ‘it’ accessory, as Y2K fashion also experienced a resurgence. This desire to embrace the low-waisted, skirts-over-jeans culture endorsed the revival of wired earphones from an aesthetic point of view. More recently, this has continued to ring true with the popularity of the concept of the ‘performative male’, with wired earphones a staple accessory of the archetype. Evidently, the way someone chooses to listen to their perfectly curated Spotify playlist whilst walking to the library on a Tuesday morning can say a lot about their personality.
Having grown up using wired headphones, the nostalgic appeal is apparent as I fondly recall bus journeys to school with them at the centre of friendships and conversation. This image is easily romanticised in correlation with the occasion when a friend bought a headphone splitter so three of us could connect all our headphones to the same phone as we listened to the Arctic Monkeys, believing we were the epitome of cool.
However, realistically, wired headphones fell out of fashion when they did for a reason. Primarily, they were so easily broken. For the first few months, every time I bought a new pair, they worked perfectly, and I vowed to be more careful with them. Yet, as always, they would inevitably become faulty and only work when held at a certain angle. This immediately diminishes the previously romanticised image, as there was nothing more irritating than trying to study at the same time as putting pressure on the headphone jack to ensure the sound worked.
Additionally, wired headphones lost their true charm with the changing development in smart phones meaning that the beloved 3.5 jack was no longer compatible. Today, in order to connect wired headphones to a phone it must use a lightning or micro-USB connector which really does not provide the same experience as the 3.5 jack. There is the option of a converter, however, the majority of people’s 3.5 jack wired headphones have almost certainly broken since the emergence of the lightning connector and will not even have those headphones in the first place.
Aside from aesthetics, most wired headphones do not provide an authentic immersive listening experience. It is a ridiculous suggestion that someone should favour cheap Apple wired headphones over a better pair of wireless headphones. Music is such a popular phenomenon, of course, and consequently, there are so many affordable and good headphones that are usually always wireless. But there are many people out there who own AirPods or truly immersive noise-cancelling headphones yet opt for wired headphones to match their aesthetic. This is absolutely absurd as, ultimately, music should be listened to for the music itself. The audio quality of a headphone is what should be the primary consideration when deciding what to use.
On the whole, the allure of the wired headphones is understandable as they are cool, nostalgic and cheap, but it would be a lie to say they provide the best listening experience.
“broken headphones” by p.hussey is licensed under CC BY 2.0.