[raffraffraff]

I bought a tiny lapel clip Bluetooth receiver that has buttons and a headphone socket. Charge over USB, pair with phone, turn any headphones into Bluetooth. If the battery runs out, plug the headphones straight into the phone.

However, the noise cancelling gap is real. I'd kill for wired IEMs with an inline battery + buttons, and noise cancelling mic & circuit in the earpieces.

Closest is the Sony cans, which have wired mode (ie: they have a tiny jack, so you can use them passively) but I don't think they cancel noise when using them that way

[chrismorgan]

I have some Sony headphones from a decade ago with a detachable cable. Noise cancellation works just fine when wired, and you get better battery life since the Bluetooth part isn’t active. The only time you can’t use noise cancellation is when it’s charging (Micro-USB, doesn’t do audio over USB in case you were wondering).

[temp0826]

Re: noise canceling... recently got a pair of IEMs (Etymotic ER2XR) with good foam tips and their isolation blows away any ANC I've ever tried. The only thing is noise from touching the cable but that was solved with some ear hooks to put the cables behind my ears.

[avidiax]

Yeah, Etymotic headphones were my go-to for probably a decade. Passive noise suppression was wonderful for public transport.

The utility has dropped tremendously though, now that headphone jacks have disappeared.

Would love to have a pair of "direct-USB-C" Etymotics.

[temp0826]

Maybe a bit clunky but there exist some very good and tiny DACs/dongles now (and have seen a couple creative cases/riggings that present the jack in a good/manageable way)

[fgonzag]

Qudelix 5k (portable dac/amp) has weak anc / passthrough mode, only in Bluetooth mode.