Comment by rob74
4 years ago
Of course USB-C makes this worse, but the problem already started earlier: a few years ago I connected my phone to my computer with a USB-A to micro USB cable and was scratching my head why it didn't work. Then I remembered that the cable had come with some Bluetooth headphones and was only a charging cable without data lines...
Desktop speakers do this still. Instead of simply being a USB speaker set, they use the line out jack for audio and a USB plug for power.
There's actually a reason for that. Standard USB can (obviously) only transfer digital audio, and most speakers are "dumb" devices designed to just amplify an analog signal. In order to convert digital to analog, you need a DAC (Digital-to-Analog-Converter), and good DACs are still a nontrivial cost to a manufacturer, so whatever DAC you already have in your computer is probably better than the crappy one that would come with cheap consumer speakers.
Funny enough, USB-C can transport analogue audio over USB cable though :)
Tends to be too expensive for the cheapest of products.