Emily Dickinson once said that “progress is a comfortable disease.” When I read that, it means to me that the “progress” society makes in some areas often comes at a cost that is detrimental to what was. In this case, we’re talking about audio quality and Bluetooth earbuds. With them, the “progress” was consumers benefiting from: wireless connectivity, active noise canceling, water resistance, AI-powered smart features, and convenience.
What did we lose, though, and is yesterday’s tech worth resurrecting? To find out, I dumped the earbuds I’ve been living with most recently, Sony’s excellent WF-1000XM6, and picked up Final Audio’s recently launched $80 A2000 in-ear monitors (IEMs).
