this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2024
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BudgetAudiophile

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Which lightweight bone conduction headphones have you tried with the best audio? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/budgetaudiophile
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I love Bluetooth bone conduction earphones and I'm ready to buy something pricier, sturdier, waterproof, and hopefully sound far superior to everything I've tried.

I've had a few budget sets, and I love the convenience, portability, and weight of all of them, but the audio is obviously dog s***.

Are there any bone conduction headphones that are not dog s*** audially that any of you can personally attest to?

Thanks

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Aftershokz or Shokz I think they now go as.

You are never going to get high fidelity audio as I think you already know just because of the way they work but shokz make the best, most durable, most comfortable sets out there.

I wear mine for 10 plus hours 5 or 6 days a week, rain or shine, commuting in downpours etc never had issues beyond purely being worn out from how much I use them.

To get the best sound you really need to wear protection of some kind, I use industrial grade ear plugs as I'm working with machines all day and they are perfect for this.

I currently use openrun pro for reference.

[–] Anticorp 4 points 4 months ago

I've tried these too with great success. As a bonus, they even work for people with CIC hearing aids, with no feedback.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Ha, my use experience is almost the same. I always have a comfortable pair of foam earphones with me that I use unless I'm hiking or somewhere really quiet, and I can wear my Bluetooth set literally all day with zero problem because they're so comfortable.

I just want whatever a step up is in audio quality.

Okay, I'll probably be making a run at any audio stores that have shokz available for trying out.

Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

As far as I'm aware the shokz are generally considered the best although the technology itself and the way it reproduces the sound is the most limiting factor I think so I'm not sure if they will be much better than what you have now.

If you do find a brand that you find exceptionally good I would be interested in an update on how you get on though!

I'll keep buying shokz for now though :D

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I have the AfterShokz Aeropex and I've found them to be decent at least as far as sound quality goes, but I've had them for 4–5 years now and my gripe with them is that the rubber-like material has gotten super sticky somehow and I really don't like wearing them anymore because they leave my skin sticky.

I mean yeah, bone conduction is not going to sound stellar compared to "traditional" headphones in the same price range, but I definitely thought they were worth it for jogging, biking etc. where I wanted unobstructed hearing

[–] EisFrei 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Use some isopropyl and a cloth to clean the rubber. You might need to do this a few times, depending on how bad it is.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Ah nice, thanks for the tip

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, I'll definitely look up those aftershocks.

I'm outside a lot, and my bone conduction earphones are the only ones that I forget I'm wearing after coming inside because they're so comfortable.

I listen to a lot of long podcasts and just walk around also, so I'd really like something just as comfortable as I have now(generic no-name Chinese brand) with better audio quality.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Looks like the company has rebranded itself to just Shokz and they're no longer making Aeropex, but they do have a bunch of different kinds of bone conduction models available. I've never actually listened to podcasts with them so I have no clue how well they'd deal with something that's mostly just speech, but I bet they're generally going to be better than generic chinesium ones at any rate

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Got it.

I have tried some $300 shokz at a mall once, and was not blown away by the audio, but that was really my only foray.

I think I have to do some deep research, read reviews and watch videos because bone conduction isn't popular enough to gather a wide anecdotal consensus.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yeah generally you're just not going to be blown away by the sound of bone conduction headphones, their advantages are elsewhere as you've probably noticed, but they can definitely sound better than your average chinesium ones – just never going to be stellar in that regard.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'm fine without stellar, just want a rung or two above.

Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I think bone conducting audio is inherently "bad", simply because of the massive variances of humans and some of them insist on having extremely dampening material on their skulls called "skin".

You can't really get a clear signal over that channel.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Definitely agree.

The audio is pretty bad, but they're so convenient and comfortable and there are so many headsets I'm hoping someone will tell me that there are some headsets they've used that are less acoustically offensive than others.

[–] breadsmasher 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

When I looked into it - this maybe anecdotal - they are only good relative to earphones where you need to always have unobstructed hearing (health and safety etc)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Yes, Bone conduction earphones don't have as high audio Fidelity as traditional headphones, they're more useful for outdoor activities.

I'm outdoor a lot, but there must be some kind of range in audio quality.

[–] turbowafflz 1 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Are there any that aren't so loud everyone around you can hear them? Because all the ones I've tried are like that and at that point why not just use a speaker

[–] mipadaitu 3 points 4 months ago

My wife and I each have a pair of Shokz OpenMove. If we're both in the same quiet room, I can hear anywhere from nothing, to extremely quiet whispering, to nearly the whole thing, depending on how loud she has them. That being said, I can often hear air pods or other in ear headphones when I'm standing next to people in public, sometimes people don't understand how loud they have things turned up.

Sometimes in a noisy environment (airplanes, busses) you need to crank them up almost all the way to hear things, but if you put in earplugs, it makes the sound louder and more clear, while also blocking out other noises. While this partially defeats the purpose of bone conducting, it also means you can have actual, real hearing protection on, and just use the same usual headphones.

There are negatives to bone conducting, but I find they are the best option for me 95% of the time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Headphones basically are tiny speakers you strap to your head.

Like any earphones or headphones, you can't really make them completely silent to other people at loud volumes because their function is to push out audio.

My specific goal is the comfort and convenience of bone conduction headsets with better quality audio rather than any headset with great audio quality, in which case I would use sound dampening over the ear corded headphones.

I can wear my bone conduction set for 6 hours on a run or hike and then get home and not even notice I'm still wearing them until I realize I have to take them off to take a shower or something.

Super comfortable and convenient.