Bone conduction headphones are a strange experience for those who haven’t tried them before. In addition to being very silent, they also vibrate your skull rather than resting on or inside your ears. You may be wondering how it is possible to hear through your skull.
Sound is transmitted via your cheekbones using bone conduction headphones rather than through the air. When Beethoven lost his hearing, he composed music using the same method as marine creatures utilize underwater. All of it is just a matter of vibrations in the air.
There is a lot of interest in the technology behind bone conduction headphones. Whence originates the noise? Nobody seems to be talking. These headphones are a step in the right direction, and you’ll find out why in this article.
All Noise Is Just Vibrations
Let’s examine the physics of hearing before we get into bone conduction. Similar to how light moves in waves, sound does the same thing through the air. Yet, in contrast to light, sound is capable of penetrating opaque materials. This is why we often speak of sound waves as “pressure waves.” Even unseen items will begin to vibrate due to their effects.
Many minute sensory organs in the ear work together to process and respond to auditory stimuli. That is to say, they are excellent vibrators. The eardrum, a small flap of skin that vibrates like the head of a drum or the diaphragm of a microphone, is the real show stopper. The additional ear organs and the small ear bones are stimulated to vibrate as a result. (On a related point, I wouldn’t recommend Googling images of the eardrum. That stinks to high heaven.)
Your cochlea takes a glance around and makes a mental note of what’s happening whenever the ground begins to shake. The information is subsequently sent to the brain, where it is interpreted as the sounds you are hearing. The technique of hearing seems to be rather straightforward. Moreover, did you know that… The same simplicity applies to bone conduction.
In terms of bone conduction, your eardrums are bypassed.
Well, so the eardrum’s job in normal hearing is to vibrate the myriad of tiny bones and organs deep inside your ear. Although the eardrum isn’t strictly required for hearing, without it the inner ear’s bones and organs would be inert.
Can you predict the outcome? Bone conduction transmits sound waves directly to the inner ear without going via the eardrum. Your cochlea doesn’t recognize the difference until all the tiny bones and organs of your inner ear begin to move. Vibrations are recorded, sent to the brain, and interpreted as the sound of music, podcasts, or those annoying videos that load on news websites without the user’s permission.
This, however, does not imply that bone conduction headphones produce zero audible noise. They are still audible (albeit much less so than earbuds), but they are engineered to drive sound waves directly into the skull.
Why Go for Bone Conduction Earphones?
Because they don’t need to travel through the air to reach the eardrum, bone conduction headphones have a number of useful applications. One advantage is that you can wear them while working out, conversing with others, or monitoring traffic without having to constantly hold your ears against your head. It’s also a great way to shield your ears from regular headphones’ potentially dangerous volume levels. As their name implies, they don’t block out ambient noise.
Bone conduction headphones are an intriguing option for people with hearing impairments, especially those with conductive hearing loss. Bone conduction is so effective, it’s used in some hearing aids. The legend goes that when Beethoven was composing music while deaf, he would hold a rod firmly between his teeth and the piano.
When transmitting vibrations to the inner ear, bone conduction headphones bypass the middle ear, which is where conductive hearing loss typically occurs. Naturally, the effectiveness of bone conduction headphones will be affected by the severity of your hearing loss. Bone conduction headphones will not work as well if the listener has inner ear problems (especially nervous or cochlear issues).
Should I Buy Bone Conduction Headphones?
Think about what you’ll be using the headphones for before going out to acquire a new set of bone conduction headphones. The finest bone conduction headphones you can buy are a must if you want to listen to music while still hearing your surroundings or if you have any kind of hearing loss. (We are not making light of the fact that many brands of bone conduction headphones are subpar. Spend your money wisely to avoid being let down.
If you’re merely concerned about high standards, I suggest you stay with what you know. Bone conduction headphones, no matter how well made, can never “sound” as well as a quality set of headphones. Although bone conduction may solve a number of issues, it does so at the sacrifice of audio quality.
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FAQ: The Science Behind Bone Conduction Headphones
While not in use, how do you ensure that bone conduction headphones remain securely in place?
Conductivity via bone The earphones will not pick up much of your body. They use gadgets that convert sound into vibrations, which are then sent directly to the cochlea. Transducers are devices that have a band that wraps around a person’s head and presses them on a bone.
How secure are bone conduction headphones?
Bone conduction headphones, it has been argued, pose no threat to hearing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The true risk of hearing loss, according to the CDC, comes from possible injury to the cochlea in the inner ear. The hairs and nerves of the cochlea are vulnerable to injury from prolonged exposure to loud noises.
In what ways do bone conduction headphones excel above conventional headphones?
The user’s skull bones will vibrate in response to the device’s music, amplifying the sound while enabling the user to retain both ears free. Those who have trouble hearing or who rely on their ears for situational awareness can benefit from this.
Is there any risk to the brain from using bone conduction headphones?
Instead, excessive use of any earphone poses a danger of permanent harm to the listener’s cochlea. Since bone-conduction sound is transduced by the cochlea in the same way that air-conducted sound is, the fact that these earphones employ bone-conduction transducers does not automatically make them safer than any other headphone.
Conclusion
Bone conduction headphones are a one-of-a-kind form of headphones that send sound vibrations to the inner ear by way of the bones of the skull using transducers. Those who have hearing loss may experience a variety of advantages from wearing them, including enhanced awareness of their surroundings, a more comfortable fit, and higher quality sound. If you’re in the market for headphones and want a listening experience that’s a little bit different, best bone conduction headphones could be something you want to check into