One of the newest ways to listen to your music or audiobook is by using Bone Conduction Headphones. These headphones are different from conventional headphones you are used to primarily because you don’t wear them in your ears. So, where do you place bone conduction headphones?
When wearing Bone Conduction Headphones or Glasses, you have to make sure that they are rested on your cheekbones. Ensure that the transducer pads are in front of your ears. Fit snugly, depending on the model but not on or in your ear. This guarantees that they send the correct signal vibrations to the bones in your ears.
Bone Conduction Headphones do indeed work differently compared to your regular headphones. And we are not just talking about how you wear them, but we are also talking about how they work. If you want to know more about how bone conduction headphones work and how to use them, read on to find out.
How Do Bone Conduction Headphones Work?
In all of the articles, we have written about Bone Conduction Headphone benefits. It is essential to give some background on how bone conduction headphones work and how you place bone conduction headphones? After all, you will not understand where they have to be worn if you don’t know how they work.
In one scenario, sounds travel to our ears via the air around us. This is when you are using traditional headphones, earbuds, or when you are listening to external speakers. The different parts in the headphones and speakers move around, producing the sounds transmitted to them by your audio player. The sound they make uses the air to travel to your ear.
Headphones and earbuds are placed directly on or in your ears so that you immediately hear the sounds they produce. It is as close as you can get the electronic sound produced to your inner ear.
Bone Conduction Works Differently Than Traditional Sound
Meanwhile, bone conduction headphones work differently but still use the same basic principle of using vibrations to produce sounds. But instead of using the air to allow the sound coming from the vibrations to travel to your ears. Bone Conduction Headphones vibrate and allow the vibrations to travel through the bones in your body to transmit sound directly to your ear and brain.
We have discussed in our articles “Bone Conduction Technology Leading to Headphones In the Early 1800s Through the 20th Century.” We also talked about this technology in another article, the “History of Bone Conduction Headphone Technology and the Military.” Military or Police Special Ops Teams in the field use these headphones to hear what is happening around them while communicating with each other. It has only been recently in time that BC Headphones were commercialized.
Bone Conduction Headphone Safety
As weird as bone conduction headphones may sound because they vibrate the sound through your bones, they are safe because they leave your ears open to external sounds. Some with hearing loss and hearing problems can use bone conduction headphones because they don’t use the conventional listening method.
One of BC Headphone’s best features is that you can retain your awareness of the environment around you. That’s why those who love running or jogging may prefer Bone Conduction Headphones as they can exercise while listening to their favorite tunes. They don’t lose their awareness of the things around them, thereby decreasing the risks of getting into accidents.
It is always better to be aware of your surroundings in today’s busy world with so much ambient noise around us.
Where Should Bone Conduction Headphones Sit?
When you are wearing your traditional headphones, you are wearing them over your ear or in your ear. This is so the sounds they produce travel directly through your ears and to your eardrums. This is how hearing traditionally works, as sound travels right through your ear canal for you to hear them.
BC Headphones work differently, they vibrate through your bones to allow sound to transmit directly to your ears interior. In a more specific sense, the sound they produce is conducted through the skull right to the cochlea (the part of the ear that receives sound vibrations and transmits them to the brain).
Where should bone conduction headphones sit? There is no more reason for you to wear bone conduction headphones over your ears as they do not let the sounds travel through your ears in the conventional sense. Instead, you should be wearing them in front of your ears.
Bone Conduction Headphones Location and Placement?
So, let’s talk more about how this works. Even though we call them headphones, bone conduction headphones do not have speakers, unlike traditional headphones, which use the speakers to release the sound into your ears. Instead, bone conduction headphones use what we call transducers.
Transducers are part of the bone conduction headphones like speakers and sit next to your cheekbones. The transducers generate small vibrations that may be too soft to notice but use the bones right above your jaw or cheek as conductors. It is best if you place the bone conductor headphones in the right place. If you don’t, they won’t be able to send the vibrations to your ears.
There are many types of Bone Conduction Headphones. Depending on the manufacturer and model, you should be wearing the bone conduction headphones right in front of your ears. This is made easy by using the headband on the bone conduction headphones the right way. Instead of wearing them on top of your head, the headband should be worn at the back of your head. Just right above your neck so that the transducers are sitting nicely and comfortably in front of your ears.
Yes, You Can Wear Bone Conduction Headphones With Glasses?
If you are wearing glasses, you might be wondering if you can still wear bone conduction headphones. You may be considering that your glasses might end up blocking the location where the transducers (speakers) should be placed near your ears. However, you shouldn’t worry about this because bone conduction headphones are designed for you to use right under the frame of your glasses.
“Where Do You Place Bone Conduction Headphones” comes into play If you look at the recommendations of AfterShokz. AfterShokz is the brand that leads the market in bone conduction headphones. They tell us that:
“For the best fit, we recommend putting your AfterShokz on first, and slipping your glasses or sunglasses into place.”
AfterShokz – General Faqs – Is It Possible To Wear AfterShokz With Glasses And Sunglasses?
The reason is that the glasses sitting over the headphones will allow the BC Headphones to have a snug and tighter fit. This will end up pressing the headband of the headphones closer to your head.
When that happens, the transducers will also be pressed onto your head tighter. What happens is that the bone conduction headphones will end up transmitting the vibrations into your head in a much more efficient way. As such, the sound quality improves.
Bone Conduction Glasses
As discussed, the bone conduction headphones we have on the market today are designed to be worn with eyepieces. They are designed this way because outdoor athletes such as runners, cyclists, and swimmers often use bone conduction headphones while wearing eye protection equipment like sunglasses or goggles.
This makes it easier for us to understand why bone conduction headphones can be worn together with glasses. But now there are also Bone Conduction Glasses. Many manufacturers are building Bone Conduction directly into Eye Glasses as the next step in the evolution of Bone Conduction audio uses and Smart Glasses.
The natural evolution of headphones and Bone Conduction products no longer requires putting a sound device in your ear. It is a safer alternative to have your ears open while listening to your audio selection in select situations. For people out for a casual walk or extreme athletes exercising, it is a benefit to hear their surroundings. This of course is while listening to their favorite audio selections.
References:
“Do Bone Conduction Headphones Work With Earplugs?”
https://www.coachmag.co.uk/sports-headphones/8254/how-do-bone-conduction-headphones-work
https://www.tripsavvy.com/best-sunglasses-4138366
http://www.cs.wm.edu/~liqun/paper/infocom16_glass.pdf