Bone conduction headphones

How do humans perceive sound? Simply said, sound travels through the ear canal and vibrations the eardrum, causing the sensation of hearing to be activated. There is also a bone conduction approach, which sends sound through the skull to the auditory nerve, bypassing the ear canal and allowing the auditory nerve to receive sound. When it comes to the headphone industry, there are the standard headphones we all know and love, as well as several firms that have released bone-conduction headphones.

Although bone-conduction headphones are still considered a niche product in terms of contemporary applications, they have a lengthy history. In 1935, the first bone conduction headphones were utilized in the medical field to assist patients with hearing loss in hearing information from their environment.

Many manufacturers began to launch bone-conduction headphones for consumer electronics goods in the early twenty-first century, with the primary role being to provide customers with an open listening experience. While listening to music at the same time, you can still readily understand the surrounding sound, which is popular among many athletes and has steadily evolved into a huge category of sports Bluetooth headphones.

What are bone-conduction headphones?

To transmit sound waves, bone conduction headphones use bone conduction technology, which converts sound into different frequencies of mechanical vibration and transmits them through the human skull, bone vagus, inner ear lymphatic fluid, spiral, and hearing center. When compared to typical headphones, the involvement of the ear canal and eardrum in the listening process is reduced, creating a more open listening experience and allowing some people with damaged eardrums to utilize them.

The sound emitting device - the bone conduction oscillator - is the basic technology of bone conduction headphones, and its superiority directly impacts the wearing comfort, sound quality, range, and other aspects of the actual user experience. On the other hand, due to the unique pronunciation of bone conduction headphones, the application level of bone conduction headphones, primarily located in the sports Bluetooth headset market, can provide a more comfortable and safe listening music experience for sports users.

At the same time, for people who do not like the traditional earbud stethoscope effect, a small ear canal for a long time to wear ear distension, hearing impairment, etc. also has a strong appeal.

The difference between bone-conduction headphones and conventional headphones

1. Wearing style

First of all, the wear mode is different, in the current headset market, the traditional headset from the wear mode up to points mainly include wired headphones, neck-mounted headphones, and TWS headphones earbud type wear, the other is the headset package earwear.

Both ways of wearing closed ears, so will produce ear plugs and ear canal size does not correspond to a long time wearing ear canal swelling pain, summer wears hot, air circulation inside the ear canal leading to rapid bacterial growth, proximity long time high volume stimulation so hearing damage and other problems.

Bone conduction headset wearing method, the current market products are mainly hanging ear wear, memory type neckline is located at the back of the head, bone conduction oscillator is located in front of the ear canal.

But with the development of the market, the product form is also changing, such as the emergence of Yiyou's ear clip bone conduction headphones, and true wireless ear clip bone conduction headphones, by fixing on the ear cartilage, to achieve bone conduction mode of sound transmission.

Both forms in the use of the process are open wearing mode, in the use of wearing without blocking the ear canal, thus avoiding the problems that may arise when wearing traditional headphones.

2. Music experience

In listening to music, bone-conduction Bluetooth headphones compared to traditional headphones provide a new listening experience. The open-wearing method liberates both ears, enabling users to easily access the surrounding information while listening to music, and the long-wearing experience is more comfortable, while also avoiding the risk of damage to the eardrum.

Sound quality performance, traditional headphones earbud type and ear wrap type of wearing, for listening to music provide a relatively independent space, which can effectively reduce the interference of the external environment, to achieve a clearer listening effect. And with the addition of an active noise cancellation function, with a more immersive music experience.

Bone conduction headphones' sound quality performance can also meet the needs of everyday use, but the overall listening experience compared to traditional headphones' three-frequency performance will be slightly inadequate, the most obvious low-frequency performance, the lack of traditional headphones shock. And for some drums with very strong music, there will be obvious vibration skin discomfort.

The loudness due to the open ear canal will have an impact, the same listening sensation bone conduction headphones need to be louder, which also leads to another problem - leakage. Although at present, with the development of technology, sound leakage has been greatly improved compared to traditional headphones are still has obvious performance.

3. Using scenario

At present, the traditional headset product form includes wired headphones, TWS headphones, neck-mounted Bluetooth headphones, head-mounted Bluetooth headphones, and sports ear-mounted headphones, covering the daily commute, sports and fitness, entertainment, and other aspects.

Bone conduction headphones are relatively more specialized, and consumer-grade products are now mainly positioned in the sports headset market. The open ear canal wearing method makes jogging, cycling, hiking, and other sports always informed of the surrounding environment sound, have a higher sense of wearing security, bone conduction of sound transmission can also better cope with wind noise.

Overall, bone conduction headphones have a distinct benefit in terms of comfort, but they also lack musical experience. The open-wearing experience liberates the ear canal but comes with a relative lack of sound quality performance, sound leaking, and other issues. The deficit in the audio experience is exacerbated by the use of an active noise cancellation function on standard headphones.

However, because it concentrates on the sports headphone market, bone conduction headphones have the advantages of traditional headphones that cannot be touched, providing sports enthusiasts with a more comfortable and safe listening experience.