Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology

Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by cm3 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @06:11PM (#11576150)

They cannot be serious. Replacing what works great with all kinds of cheap or expensive and easy to repair equipment with what? Another device on the Universal Serial Bus. I see the point of attaching storage devices, sound cards and anything else that is not simple and needs a controller and logic to USB, but audio output? I do sometimes use a USB headset because it has its own soundcard built-in, but I actually prefer a simple headset with a 3.5mm mic-in/head-out connection. Why? Well, it works always, it doesn't load another driver, and it doesn't rely on the USB bus. USB is nice but occasionally hiccups and resets itself, which is not something you'll see happen with your mic and headphones because they are not overcomplicated. To be totally honest, I'm also one of those who prefers keyboards attached via PS/2 because I've had USB keyboards reset when I attached another USB device to the shared bus. That PS/2 has real interrupts is an added bonus for something as crucial as keyboard input. With all that being said, as long as this happens in the phone and tablet space, I guess I can live with it, but having to carry around an adapter from USB to 3.5mm audio will be a PITA.

This is just another, let's change it to make money with adapters and sell new implementations due to bugs in the old controllers and drivers, scheme.

Next year, USB power cords, and you'll have to rewire your house.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by dpark on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @06:19PM (#11576215)

> but I actually prefer a simple headset with a 3.5mm mic-in/head-out connection. Why? Well, it works always

I can say with certainty that it does not always work. If I plug a pair of Apple earbuds into my Android device, the audio up/down do not work. This functionality isn't consistent even within the Android device world. Having a consistent headphone jack that provides consistency here would be a pretty big win. (Even bigger if Apple gets on board, which it won't.)

> I guess I can live with it, but having to carry around an adapter from USB to 3.5mm audio will be a PITA

Pretty sure the endgame here is that your headphones have a USB C connection on them instead of a 3.5mm audio jack.

> Next year, USB power cords, and you'll have to rewire your house.

You can already buy outlets with USB ports. They're increasingly common, but thankfully the transformer is in the outlet so you're not running low-voltage wire all over.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by teamfrizz on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @06:29PM (#11576289)

I think this is a false comparison for two reasons

1) adding the microphone and volume function to the headjack is a different cable than a normal TRS 3.5mm aux cable, which is the cable we all love. I would rather get rid of the 4 wired microphone enabled 3.5mm than lose the 3.52mm altogether.

2) all of the problems you mentioned that revolve around software - Apple cables not working on android, etc - are only going to get word by introducing USB into this. The idea is to remove proprietary things from analog audio, that's the whole reason the standard survived.

It also goes without saying that there is an inherit loss of utility caused by this switch, since so many of the products I already own use 3.5mm.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by dpark on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @07:57PM (#11576787)

I'm not attached sentimentally to any cables. I'd love for audio, volume, skip, and microphone functionality to work with all my devices and all my headphones. Would it be annoying to lose compatibility (or require a converter) for all my existing speakers and headphones? Of course. I'd still take that penalty if it meant the overall experience was better and eventually more consistent.

Frankly I'm not sure 3.5mm is going to survive in the mainstream anyway. Bluetooth might eventually replace it for mainstream use cases.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by click170 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @09:31PM (#11577215)

>Bluetooth might eventually replace it for mainstream use cases.

As somewho who uses Bluetooth audio I strongly disagree. I think Bluetooth audio is going to remain niche until batteries get better. Who wants to have to charge their headphones or Bluetooth (often battery powered) speakers every few days?

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by cm3 on Wednesday April 27, 2016 @09:42AM (#11580332)

I may be spoiled but whether I use bluetooth or old-school RF headsets, it's always less reliable and lower quality than wired.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by shopkins on Wednesday April 27, 2016 @10:29AM (#11580716)

I don't think I'm that "non-mainstream", but nothing annoys me more than even split-second connectivity drops with Bluetooth. When I'm listening to music, reliability and consistency in hearing an entire chunk of audio trumps all else -- and 3.5mm has that.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by dingo_bat on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @10:32PM (#11577461)

That's a problem with all things apple. Not with the 3.5 mm jack. Samsung, LG, Microsoft, Sony etc all follow the same standard for buttons. I bet if Apple implemented a USB port in iPhone it would only support accessories who have paid license fees to Apple.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by dpark on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @10:55PM (#11577550)

No they don't. That's why most Android earbuds only have play/pause and not volume. The volume is implemented inconsistently on different phones. I did research into earbuds for my Windows phone a couple years ago and learned that manufacturers were inconsistent. You could get earbuds with volume control for the Samsung Galaxy and they wouldn't work on LG devices. The same mess applied to Windows phones.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by voltagex_ on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @10:57PM (#11577562)

And then when that $1 transformer (probably off by a factor of 10) fails, you have to replace your whole outlet? No thanks.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by throwanem on Wednesday April 27, 2016 @09:59AM (#11580468)

Outlets are cheap and easy to wire. Running low-voltage cable throughout your house to supply USB ports in outlet panels isn't - especially since, at least in the US, you can't run HV and LV cable in the same conduits and still pass inspection. (Nor should you! Suddenly having 120VAC@10A on a USB port's power pins is a Bad Thing.)

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by voltagex_ on Wednesday April 27, 2016 @08:04PM (#11585652)

Yeah. I'd rather do the conversion once or twice - say, 2x high quality 5x USB ports from Anker or similar than to have it somewhere I need an electrician to modify.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by anexprogrammer on Wednesday April 27, 2016 @01:36AM (#11578039)

> You can already buy outlets with USB ports

The few I've seen examined in YT teardowns seem to rate as "horrific". Lowest quality, minimum component count stuff. More than enough to put me off buying.

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Re:Intel Proposes to Use USB Type-C Digital Audio Technology by cm3 on Wednesday April 27, 2016 @08:56AM (#11579928)

> Pretty sure the endgame here is that your headphones have a USB C connection on them instead of a 3.5mm audio jack.

Like most people, I want to keep using my audio equipment that does not use USB, so I'll need an adapter.

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