I just recently learned that this is a thing that exists. I’ve had a couple audiology tests that use these weird headphones with firm rubber balls where normally expect to see the speakers; the rubber balls sit on your temporal bone, and there’s a metal bar the wraps around your head connecting them and giving them pressure to kinda squeeze your head.
The sound experience was pretty wild - my ears were completely open, so I could still hear ambient noises, but the sounds from the headphones were just kinda there… like it didn’t sound like they were coming from anywhere, but like beamed directly into my brain.
I was curious if these were exclusive for audiology testing or if there were commercial variants for listening to music and such… hit the ol’ search engine, and lo and behold: there are actually quite a few commercial variants!
- TLDR -
Anywho, I’m intrigued as hell, and am curious if anyone here has experience with bone conduction headphones. Lots of questions:
Which brand/model are you using?
How’s the sound quality?
How’s the sound leak?
What kind of music do you use it to listen to? (my poison of choice is symphonic metal, with emphasis on the symphonic bits – looking for that full range hit everything from the flutes to the howler monkeys :P)
Are they comfortable to wear? For how long?
Do you get any skin irritation or even breakdown where it contacts your temple?
Does the hook part wrap around your ears without any pressure points?
Does the behind-the-head band bounce around when you’re walking or running?
How much space is between the band and the back of your head/neck? (I think my noggin is a bit on the smaller side, and I have basically no hair… one of the manufacturers makes one with a smaller sized band, which might be a good selling point for me)
How’s the battery life?
How long have you had it?
When do you use it? (working out, at work, etc)
Do they stay put, or do you need to reposition them frequently?
Anything else to comment on?
Completely agree with everything said there and will add a couple of cents.
They are not audiophile headphones but now form an irreplaceable part of my lineup because they are the opposite - an extremely handy and comfy sound devices for when I am active.
The sound quality leaves a lot to be wished for on its own… BUT I have never noticed it in the 3 years that I have used it while running, cycling, or being in the gym. Our mind focuses on other stuff when exercising and the audio for that level of attention is perfect.
The weak spots are the lows and highs - jazz is not worth it and you miss the colour on the bass (i.e. only the thump), the mids are okay, which makes most rock/indie/pop good to listen to.
Hmmm. I listen mostly to genres of “extreme” metal, and decent bass production is a must for me in my exercise headphones. I’ve killed multiple sets of Shure in-ear monitors with sweat (RIP my wallet), and use sound-isolating ear tips to eliminate extraneous noise and get better sound. I absolutely notice the loss in sound quality when I switch to different, less-isolating headphones, and it’s very distracting for me.
It sounds like these would not be a good fit for me.
What others have said here is you could try and pair it up with earplugs. That does noticeably improve the sound quality and bass, while it’s no shame to ruin earplugs with sweat.
Shure has a break-away connection between the in-ear pieces and the cord that’s usually the culprit for corrosion, rather than the elecronic bits inside the ear pieces themselves.
Regardless - I’ll look into them. If I’m going to be in the gym for several hours each day, I might as well have headphones that I like.