Author Topic: Bone conductive headphones  (Read 3513 times)

Bone conductive headphones
« on: 04 February, 2014, 10:54:40 pm »
Does anyone have any experience of using these at all? I'm interested in getting some for the commute (let's not debate that bit) but am a bit reluctant to buy blind.
Ta
Steve

Kim

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Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #1 on: 05 February, 2014, 01:00:31 am »
I've kept my eyes open for such things, as barakta has a severe conductive hearing loss that is effectively bypassed by bone conduction, and headphones are likely to be cheaper and more rugged than her BAHAs.

There's very little out there, and what there is tends to sit in front of the ear, supported by the pinna, so isn't suitable for her.

With bone conduction there's always going to be a severe trade-off of transducer head-clamping-force[1] against frequency response, and as the skull is a single bone, stereo channel separation is poor.  Fine for speech, but hardly hi-fi.  The main advantage is that they don't obstruct your normal hearing (or require a functional middle ear).  The sound from the transducers is likely to be audible to those nearby, in line with that from conventional open-back earphones.


[1] If you wear one for enough hours a day, having a hole drilled in your skull starts to be an attractive option.

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #2 on: 05 February, 2014, 01:12:19 am »
I've got a set, but didn't get to use them for very long before the MP3 player decided to blow up, and I still haven't got round to replacing it.
They work, your hearing of traffic is uninterrupted, they require more volume than earbuds, wind noise is reduced but not absent, looking behind affects the pressure and hence volume. I wouldn't call the sound quality wonderful.

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #3 on: 05 March, 2018, 09:32:53 am »
Have these got any better? I am turboing a lot and cos I sweat more than the Niagara Falls my hearing aids are removed. Wondering if listening through these type of headphone would relieve the tedium a bit more.

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #4 on: 05 March, 2018, 11:00:58 pm »
I have a pair of aftershokz and whilst they do work as advertised I find they their dynamic range more suited to listening to spoken word than music.  For commuting and riding alone I favour a handlebar mounted Bluetooth speaker. I know it's a contentious choice but in terms of sound pollution I've found that pedestrians and other cyclists don't even register the sound. 
Most of the stuff I say is true because I saw it in a dream and I don't have the presence of mind to make up lies when I'm asleep.   Bryan Andreas

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #5 on: 06 March, 2018, 11:08:10 am »
Aftershokz Trekz Ti. Bought a set for the wife at Christmas as normal in-ear phones give her issues when she is running. She really rates them and uses them at home and outside. Simple to set up. Got them for under £70 from ProBikeKit when there was a deal on. prob ok for a bike as you can still hear the traffic (but still a distraction imo)

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #6 on: 08 March, 2018, 05:40:52 am »
I wouldn’t use them outside and I find TV not a great distraction from the pain I experience! So I’ll get Aftershokz ones then. Is there any places in London that lets you try them before buying?

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #7 on: 08 March, 2018, 04:27:19 pm »
Runners Need were willing to let me try a few sets out when I was last in there but I didn't have my prescription sunglasses with me and I wanted to make sure they worked well with both my normal glasses and prescription sunglasses. (No, I can't do contact lenses.)
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #8 on: 09 March, 2018, 11:07:04 am »
Runners Need were willing to let me try a few sets out when I was last in there but I didn't have my prescription sunglasses with me and I wanted to make sure they worked well with both my normal glasses and prescription sunglasses. (No, I can't do contact lenses.)

Thanks! i can't do contact lenses but I am indoors so glasses won't be an issue :) Gonna see if i can find my nearest shop! Super helpful.

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #9 on: 09 March, 2018, 01:31:24 pm »
Tried it and no good. Not enough vibration coming from it.

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #10 on: 07 March, 2019, 06:30:44 pm »
Thread resurrection
Runners Need were willing to let me try a few sets out when I was last in there but I didn't have my prescription sunglasses with me and I wanted to make sure they worked well with both my normal glasses and prescription sunglasses. (No, I can't do contact lenses.)
How do you get on with glasses and the headphones, assuming you're still using them?
Yesterday I got some hearing aids. I almost always run with a podcast going so I need something else other than iThing earbuds. I also wear glasses all the time.

"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #11 on: 07 March, 2019, 06:37:42 pm »
Never actually bought any as I never got around to going back with my prescription sunglasses to try them.

Might have another look on Saturday as I'm going to a few shops near there. I'll probably just forget my prescription sunglasses again though.

For headphones I just use some random in-the-ear buds from Amazon (Slimbuds or something similar). But then block out almost all outside noise (so no good for events where headphones are banned).
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #12 on: 07 March, 2019, 06:43:13 pm »
Trekz Aftershocks.

Love them.

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #13 on: 07 March, 2019, 07:07:58 pm »
The Trekz Aftershokz do look the biz, but would they fit over the glasses and hearing aids?
That seems like a lot of 'stuff' over the ears.
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #14 on: 07 March, 2019, 07:10:45 pm »
I fit glasses over the headphones. No idea about hearing aids

Kim

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Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #15 on: 07 March, 2019, 07:35:23 pm »
If you're wearing the hearing aids, can't you feed the sound into them by whatever wireless voodoo solution passes for a substitute for DAI these days?

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #16 on: 07 March, 2019, 08:48:08 pm »
I Bluetooth music directly into my new waterproof hearing aids so rather good for the copious amount of sweat I generate on a Wattbike and the transmitter can be placed up to 50m away. Costs thousands mind

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #17 on: 07 March, 2019, 09:00:50 pm »
If you're wearing the hearing aids, can't you feed the sound into them by whatever wireless voodoo solution passes for a substitute for DAI these days?
They’re NHS bog standard ones. They have the ‘T’ setting but nothing else. Bluetooth would have been nice.
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Kim

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Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #18 on: 07 March, 2019, 09:02:47 pm »
If you're wearing the hearing aids, can't you feed the sound into them by whatever wireless voodoo solution passes for a substitute for DAI these days?
They’re NHS bog standard ones. They have the ‘T’ setting but nothing else. Bluetooth would have been nice.

Neckloop, then?  At least you don't have to wear it on your head.

Ben T

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #19 on: 08 March, 2019, 11:47:35 am »
Trekz Aftershocks.

Love them.

Do you wear them for cycling, if so does the neckband not 'catch' on the back of your neck/collar?
I have some plantronics backbeat fit ones which are not bone conduction but have similar neckband, which are great but slightly annoyingly the neckband slightly 'sticks' momentarily when turning my head left and right.

Never really found any headphones which are 100% perfect. Airpods are ok but I do wish the 'tap' settings could be configured with a non-apple device. Ones which are separate are much more electronically complex than physically joined ones, something which manufacturers other than apple don't seem to have mastered anything like as well as apple have, I have tried two different pairs and neither worked that well so they went back.

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #20 on: 08 March, 2019, 01:01:47 pm »
Does anyone know if these are bike legal in France?

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #21 on: 08 March, 2019, 03:39:44 pm »
Neckloop, then?  At least you don't have to wear it on your head.
I did not know such things existed.
I have now ordered one of the cheaper ones (just to try the concept, I'm not expecting hifi sound).
I'll let you know how I get on.

Many thanks
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #22 on: 08 March, 2019, 09:09:01 pm »
Does anyone know if these are bike legal in France?

Probably not if M. (sorry M. President Macron)'s [sgovernments] administration has anything to do with it. They won't understand the complex arguements about whether or not your hearing is impaired or your attention distracted anyway. But not too worry, just wear your gilet jaune and look vicious, politically aware and likely to mount a barrage if crossed and no-one will want to take the risk of crossing you ;D ;D

If you're stoking a tandem that will make them flip!

Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #23 on: 09 March, 2019, 09:19:11 am »
The Trekz Aftershokz do look the biz, but would they fit over the glasses and hearing aids?
That seems like a lot of 'stuff' over the ears.

I have some of these (cheaper end of the range, but I can’t remember the model name). They fit round my glasses just fine, but I’ve no idea about hearing aids. Our local sports shop has some on the counter to try - I assume this is a standard thing for retailers, so maybe it’s simplest to just try?

My experience of them is that they’re way better ergonomically than anything that needs to stay in my ears while exercising, but the sound leaks a fair bit and smiling / grimacing changes how the sound conducts. In the end I don’t use them that often.

Zed43

  • prefers UK hills over Dutch mountains
Re: Bone conductive headphones
« Reply #24 on: 10 March, 2019, 08:42:44 am »
But not too worry, just wear your gilet jaune and look vicious, politically aware and likely to mount a barrage if crossed and no-one will want to take the risk of crossing you ;D ;D
I wonder if we'll make the news with this? "7000 gilets jaune from all over the world, cycling from Paris to Brest and back to support the French protests"? Maybe the ACP should issue orange hi-viz vests this year instead  ;D