The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Renate

I'm a big Bluetooth fan but I don't deny that BT is a swamp of incompatibility. Frequency accuracy is important for good connectivity. It's not easily measured. It could be though. You have GPS for an accurate frequency reference and you have counters.

Bluetooth headphones are just another thing to charge.

It's not just that Bluetooth Headphones are another thing to charge. It's also that it significantly reduces playing time on my player. Just turning on Bluetooth reduces my playing time by more than half. If I'm listening to 128kbps MP3s it drops down from 45 hours to 20 hours. I need a minimum of 16 hours to ensure that I always have all-day playing time before I have to charge it.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

The problem with dongles is that it is just one more thing that needs to be carried...and can possibly break and it is also an extra expense. Plus, from what I understand, if you use a dongle to connect a pair of wired headphones to an iPhone you can't charge it at the same time. With my Walkman I can charge it and listen to music at the same time.

Not entirely true. Wireless / Magsafe charging still functions. But otherwise yes, you cannot charge via USB cable unless you use an adapter with both USB power and AUX out.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Renate

My setup is a little $25 12V Chinese TDA-something stereo amplifier. [...] I was thinking that my bookshelf speakers were the cheapest, but I find that they are Micca MB42X which still retail at $90.

I have a similar setup but the amp is a little Lepai model. Those Micca speakers are quite good for their price and size.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by ratinox

I have a similar setup but the amp is a little Lepai model. Those Micca speakers are quite good for their price and size.

I find that I have a Muse M20 EX2 TA2020. It's probably the same as yours except mine doesn't have any tone controls.

I have it wired up with nice soldered banana plugs, but I noticed that the right channel dropped 20 dB or so. I'd wiggle all the inputs and outputs and eventually (but not directly) the right would kick back in. Maybe I was prejudiced against the volume control but it hasn't happened since I bypassed it. Still, I get a lot of vibration here.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

The problem with dongles is that it is just one more thing that needs to be carried...and can possibly break and it is also an extra expense. Plus, from what I understand, if you use a dongle to connect a pair of wired headphones to an iPhone you can't charge it at the same time. With my Walkman I can charge it and listen to music at the same time.

I have a small metal box that the dongle lives in when not in use. Also, you can wirelessly charge and listen at the same time. If need be, you can get a wireless battery backup that sits on the back of the iPhone. There are ways around the problem if you need there to be.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Not entirely true. Wireless / Magsafe charging still functions. But otherwise yes, you cannot charge via USB cable unless you use an adapter with both USB power and AUX out.

The problem is that most power in/audio out dongles are just plain lousy for the sound.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Renate

I find that I have a Muse M20 EX2 TA2020. It's probably the same as yours except mine doesn't have any tone controls.

Same TA2020 amplifier chip. Very similar amps.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Not entirely true. Wireless / Magsafe charging still functions. But otherwise yes, you cannot charge via USB cable unless you use an adapter with both USB power and AUX out.

And even then you can't unless the gadget's USB2Go port supports it. More likely but not always on USB-C and rare on mini-USB and micro-USB.

I've two similar USB-C tablets from same maker. On supports charge and host mode, the other only only charges if not in host mode. Baffling.

Also USB-C sometimes has an actual Analogue out mode.

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Quoth

And even then you can't unless the gadget's USB2Go port supports it. More likely but not always on USB-C and rare on mini-USB and micro-USB.

I've two similar USB-C tablets from same maker. On supports charge and host mode, the other only only charges if not in host mode. Baffling.

Also USB-C sometimes has an actual Analogue out mode.

The last sentence brings up an issue with USB-C: Incompatibility. There was a YouTube video where the Host had a collection of USB-C cables. The problem was: Some only work with a specific device. I thought a selling point of USB-C was: You take a USB-C cable, plug it in to a device and it works. I've had that issue recently where a device I had didn't work with the USB-C cable I had. I had to find the specific cable that came with the device.

Contrast that with the 3.5mm Headphone Jack. Plug a set of Headphones into the jack and it always works (unless the Jack or the Headphone Cable is damaged/broken). The only compatibility issue is if the device has a remote control (some Headphone Connectors have a third ring used for an in-line remote control. The reason the 3.5mm Headphone Jack (and the 1/4 Inch Headphone Jack) are still in use is because they are simple and they work. Plus, the Headphones you plug in don't have to be powered unless they are noise cancelling.

[DNSB]

Not to mention that the same connector is used for USB-C and the multiple flavours of Thunderbolt.

[Martinoptic]

And then there’s Displayport. All usb c cables are not equal.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

The last sentence brings up an issue with USB-C: Incompatibility. There was a YouTube video where the Host had a collection of USB-C cables. The problem was: Some only work with a specific device. I thought a selling point of USB-C was: You take a USB-C cable, plug it in to a device and it works. I've had that issue recently where a device I had didn't work with the USB-C cable I had. I had to find the specific cable that came with the device.

You'd think that because consumers have been lead to believe that USB-C is a single standard. It isn't. It's a collection of loosely related standards for power, low speed data, mass storage, and other capabilities. And then there's Thunderbolt which uses USB-C ports but isn't USB-C: while a Thunderbolt cable can work as a USB-C cable, a USB-C cable will *not* function as a Thunderbolt cable. And some USB-C cables are really only good for power: while they can carry data they are much slower than "proper" USB data cables due to fewer data strands.

USB 4 is supposed to make these problems disappear by unifying these standards.

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by ratinox

You'd think that because consumers have been lead to believe that USB-C is a single standard. It isn't. It's a collection of loosely related standards for power, low speed data, mass storage, and other capabilities. And then there's Thunderbolt which uses USB-C ports but isn't USB-C: while a Thunderbolt cable can work as a USB-C cable, a USB-C cable will *not* function as a Thunderbolt cable. And some USB-C cables are really only good for power: while they can carry data they are much slower than "proper" USB data cables due to fewer data strands.

USB 4 is supposed to make these problems disappear by unifying these standards.

Among the things I think what should be done is to have two kinds of cords: Power, and Data/Power. That way, if you are charging your device you use a Power cord which allows the device to be powered but there is no ability to allow the transmission of data to ensure that your device remains secure.

[DNSB]

We already have power only cords and data/power cables. The issue is that in many cases you would have to tear the cable apart to find out just which one you have since there is no standard identification.

Let us not forget those cords that were hacked to broadcast the data passing through the connection. Lovely images of the extra chips and antennae hidden in the connectors.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Let us not forget those cords that were hacked to broadcast the data passing through the connection. Lovely images of the extra chips and antennae hidden in the connectors.

Don't worry about those cables transmitting. Be more concerned about the hidden receivers in your house that are receiving those transmissions. As always, tin foil is the answer.

See: What is an E-Marker in a USB Type-C Cable and How Does It Work?