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I like my bone conduction headphones. I put on them once I’m working in order that I can hear visitors approaching. I additionally love them for noisy environments the place I put in earplugs. Because the headphones don’t require my ear canal to be open, I can use earplugs and nonetheless be capable of hear my bone-conducted music. So what’s happening with this unusual expertise, and what are the downsides? I’ll clarify.
How bone conduction works
Usually, after we hear a sound from one thing round us, the sound waves journey by means of air till they hit our eardrum, positioned contained in the ear canal. The eardrum vibrates in time with the music—actually, the frequency of the sound—and transmits that vibration to tiny bones positioned in what’s referred to as our center ear.
(From there, vibrations are transmitted to the interior ear, together with the cochlea, the place they’re translated into indicators despatched to our mind after which additional processed into our notion of sound. All of that’s exterior the scope of this text, although. We’re simply excited about how the vibrations get from our headphones to the center ear.)
There’s one other technique to vibrate these center ear bones, although: you are able to do it straight, by sending vibrations proper by means of the top. In response to legend, Beethoven would chew his conducting wand and maintain it towards his piano, in order that he may “hear” by means of his enamel. You may do that proper now, with any previous earbuds: activate some music and maintain your earbud’s speaker towards your tooth. You’ll hear the music. Wild, huh?
We truly hear bone-conducted sounds on a regular basis. Each time you converse, you’re listening to your personal voice by means of bone (and gentle tissue) conduction and by means of the air. (That’s most likely why your recorded voice sounds so completely different from what you’re used to listening to once you speak.) Stick your fingers in your ears and converse out loud, and also you’ll hear simply the bone-conducted portion.
Bone conduction headphones benefit from this phenomenon. Like all headphones, they’ve tiny little audio system. However as a substitute of pointing these little audio system into our ear canals to vibrate the air after which our eardrums, the headphones are designed to press their little audio system towards a bone—normally the cheekbone proper in entrance of the ear. Technically they’re additionally conducting the sound by means of gentle tissues like pores and skin, muscle, and fats, however the bones do a extremely good job and are what the expertise is known as after.
Are Shokz and different “bone conduction” headphones actually conducting sound by means of bone?
Sure, they work by means of precise bone conduction, however not solely bone conduction. A number of the sound will get transmitted by means of the air as effectively.
As a result of folks don’t all the time consider this—I got here throughout some Reddit threads the place folks have been arguing over whether or not bone conduction is bullshit—listed here are two little experiments you are able to do with bone conduction headphones to grasp what’s happening.
First, put on them usually. The little audio system will likely be on the bony spot proper in entrance of your ear. Activate some music. Take pleasure in. Now pull the audio system gently away out of your head, so that they’re not making contact. Sure, you’ll nonetheless hear the music. However, it will likely be tinny and quiet, in comparison with once you have been sporting them usually.
Now, put on them usually once more, however plug your ears together with your fingers (or, in the event you like, a helpful pair of earplugs.) The sound will likely be completely different—a bit deeper, is how I might describe it, however I’m no audiophile. It nearly looks like it will get louder. The headphones positively don’t want air-based entry to your eardrums to get their sound by means of.
Is bone conduction secure to your ears?
Bone conduction is neither higher or worse to your ears than conventional headphones, as a result of in the end the identical factor occurs in every. Your cochlea (which is the a part of your ear that’s broken in the most typical kinds of listening to loss) nonetheless receives the vibrations both means. Too-loud bone conduction headphones are dangerous for you, similar to too-loud common headphones.
There’s a method that bone conduction headphones may be higher to your ears, as I hinted above. In case you’re in a loud atmosphere, you possibly can put on earplugs to guard your ears from the loud sounds round you, and you possibly can put on bone-conduction headphones to ship a little bit of music to fill the silence.
I began sporting the earplugs-and-headphones combo this summer season once I was doing a number of out of doors exercises close to a loud air conditioner, and likewise realized that the sound of dropping the bar was truly fairly darn loud as effectively (dropping the bar is a routine half of olympic weightlifting). So I received some Loop earplugs, and located that not solely may I nonetheless hear my music by means of my Aftershokz Aeropex Mini (an older model of what’s now the Shokz OpenRun Mini), I used to be in a position to flip the amount to a near-minimum and nonetheless hear it simply advantageous. Total my ears are getting lots much less noise publicity, in order that’s a win-win.
What are the downsides of bone conduction headphones?
There aren’t any well being or security downsides (as we mentioned above), however you aren’t going to get pristine sound high quality by means of bone conduction headphones.
Some are higher than others, and it is best to all the time take a look at opinions and check out headphones in individual if you wish to make a shopping for resolution based mostly on sound high quality. However typically, the upside of bone-conduction headphones can also be their draw back. Since Shokz and the like don’t block out ambient sounds, the sound that reaches your ear is a mixture of the music you’re taking part in on function, and the noises of the world round you.
After I put on my Aftershokz with earplugs, I don’t get nice sound high quality that means, both. Similar to your voice sounds completely different together with your ears plugged, the sound mixture of bone conduction plus earplugs shouldn’t be fairly the identical as what you’d hear by means of an excellent pair of high quality headphones.
Personally, I discover these minor downsides are balanced by the opposite benefits that bone conduction headphones present. I don’t want to listen to my podcasts in crystal-clear audio whereas I’m working, I simply want to have the ability to hear in whereas nonetheless with the ability to hear what’s happening round me. After I do need to hearken to music in excessive constancy, I try this at house, with a good pair of noise-canceling headphones.
