Bluetooth Safety and Headphone Maintenance

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So a couple of months ago, we asked our listeners for their questions about headphones specifically. We were overwhelmed by the response. a really good In a great way. L we are never complaining. I mean, I get it. headphones are an everyday item for most people, whether for work or commuting or just tuning in at home. And of course, I mean, a lot of people are probably listening in on their headphones right now. Hello. And also, there are so many options. It really can be overwhelming Where do you start? Yeah, I don't know. That's why we're bringing on a perfect expert to talk about all of the solutions. Her name is Lauren Dragon. She's a senior staff writer on our audio team. and in her many years at Wirecutter, she's tested over two thousand different pairs of headphones. Do you realize how many headphones that is, Rosie? It's a lot.. So she knows her craft. She's been on the show before talking about noise and hearing protection. That was a great episode... And we're so happy to have her back. She is a wealth of knowledge We had so many questions come in that obviously we couldn't cover them all. So we had Lauren tackle a few extra questions and we'll throw those in the show notes for this episode. You can check those out if you have a question and you don't hear us answer it in this episode Okay, diving into your questions all about headphones after the break Funny thing about your mortgage, it kind of runs on autopilot. Same payment, same rate month after month, but SopFi can help make it work harder for you. Explore refinancing options like lowering your monthly payment or tapping into your home equity for cash so your mortgage is a better fit for your lifestyle. Take your mortgage off autopilot today. Visit SopFI dot com slash powerower moveove Mortgages originated by SopFi Bank in a member FDIC N MLS six nine six eight nine one. Terms and conditions apply. 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That's joincrowdhealth d. com We're back with Wirecrutter senior staff writer, Lauren Dragon. Lauren writes about headphones and over the counter hearing aids, and she's tested over two thousand pairs of headphones over the years, which is it's a lot, y'all. So Lauren, welcome to the show. Hi, thanks for having me back. Hey, Lauren Lauren, we've got dozens of emails from listeners looking for recommendations and solutions to their headphone conundrums. So all in, they fall into a couple different categories. We want to talk through all of these categories with you The categories are microphone quality, fit issues, sleep and safety. Does it sound good? Sounds good to me. Let's do it. Lightning round. I love it. Let's start with microphone quality. We heard from tons of listeners who were frustrated by bad quality built in microphones on their headphones Like Melanie, she wrote, I've had Apple AirPods for a while now, first the originals, now the pros. And whenever I take a call, the person on the other end tells me it sounds like I'm in a crowded bar, even when I'm walking down a completely quiet street. All I want is a pair of earbuds that can handle the occasional phone call without picking up a ton of background noise Why is microphone quality an issue with so many headphones, Lan? So really what it comes down to is real estate. You know theseese microphones are super duper tiny and a lot of times they have to be aimed directly at your mouth, like kind of in front of your mouth, because they're going to pick up whatever they're aimed at. So if your earbuds are kind of in a little on a funny angle or you know the microphone on your wire is turned around and it's aiming at your chest That's what it's going to pick up. So the first issue is just literally where it's pointing. So that's the main problem with a lot of these Is call quality something you test for when you're testing these two thousand plus pairs of headphones? And if so, how are you doing that? So every single pair that goes into consideration for a pick I put them through a sort of battery of tests for the microphone call quality. So I will test it first in a quiet room, then I do it in front of a fan at a set speed so that I can get wind noise and I face it and I move my head back and forth. Then I go in front of a sync and I do sync noise because that's one of those sounds that really picks up loudly in a lot of microphones because it's in the vocal range So I'll do that. Then what I do is I call into a service and call someone on the phone. so I get through the phone line. And I record myself walking around near traffic. So you know, it's every single pair goes through that. And if they fail terribly on any of those things, they are not a pick or I will very, very strongly call it out like in a workout pick. I'll be like, this is the one thing. It's not great at phone calls in the wind or something. But if it is a pick, assume that I have at least done to make sure that it is Solid four phone calls. Got it Can we get into some specifics here? What are the best headphones for somebody like Melanie who struggles with the mic in her airpods? Okay, so you guys have great timing because two weeks ago, I would have said, Ohh, well, you know, they're all about the same. However, I'm giving you guys like a little heads up sneak peek behind the curtain. We're gonna have a new noise canceling earbud pick And it has a fantastic noise canceling microphone, like magical. So it's called the Soundcore Liberty fiveive Pro. Here's the thing Has a little chip inside of it and I don't know how they work this wizardry, but essentially they have it so that it Trains to your voice and eliminates everything else. I did a recording of my son doing the best he could to make as much noise in the background I could not hear him. I was so impressed. so These things are fantastic. They're one hundred and seventy dollars. They'll probably go on sale on occasion too. And they're going to be our best noise canceling headphone and our best Bluetooth earbud very, very soon. So you get the inside track Oh, I love the inside scoop. And just to be clear, the mic cancels background noise for you're talking to and the airbuds cancel noise where you are. Yep, both. Okay. So they have excellent noise cancellation in the airplane range. So if you're going to go and you know you don't want to hear construction noise or train noise, takes care of that. but it also cancels things for your callars They'll hear you, but they won't hear background noise. In fact, our editor in chief was on a call with me and there were people trimming a tree in the back alley literally down below me. And I was like Hey do you hear anything? He's like, No. And I turned my camera around and faced it at the alley where they're like putting one of those trees through those choppers like And he's like, I had no idea that was there. I think I need to get these headphones learned. I think you do too And what about listeners like TH who want to prioritize call quality, but not spend too much money? What is a budget option So for that, I would say the Earfun Air Pro four, I know these names, but it's our budget pick in the noise canceling guide. That one has a really good background noise reducing mic. It's not as magical as the Soundcore Lberty five Pro, but It is quite good at getting rid of wind noise, It's good at getting rid of like Basic hums and things behind you know behind you. so and there's around seventy dollars most of the time. Not too bad. No, that's not bad at all. And just for anybody who's rushing to take notes, we will be linking every one of the products that Lauren recommends today in the show notes. so don't worry about that W won't be a quiz at the Aager N pop quiz Let's move on to our next topic. and this is a big one. It's fit and comfort issues. Let's start with something that a listener named Leah summed up pretty well. She writes Why are earbud style headphones not made for people, for example, women who have small ear canals? In my fifty plus years, I've yet to find a comfortable earbud that actually fits. So what do you recommend for folks with small ears or who find that earbuds are just uncomfortable to wear Okay, first of all, she's not crazy or alone. This is a widespread problem and the reason comes down to We are trying to pack so much technology into a small space. So you've got to have room in there for things like the battery, the Bluetooth chip, the drivers control stuff, everything has to squish into this tiny little thing. And when you have small ears All of that weight is going on the tiny little tip that's in your ear and makes it harder for it to stay in slides out. So for people that have small ears, I would recommend looking for something that has either a hook over the ear style. so something like the Power Beads Pro two, which is one of our workout picks, or look for something that has a wing that will help to stabilize it. So we have well, the new pick that we're going to have, the Sound Crolibity five Pro does have a little wing and you can choose a different size Another one is Sony's Link buds Fit Also have a very soft little wing that kind of conforms to your ear and holds them in place better That's usually the best kind of way to go. So until at the very least We get better technology they make it smaller. And what about just doing over ear headphones? I mean, you could. I mean, that's just a preference really. You know, I have actually very small nogin. So that's one of the things I actually test for is the ability to have something that will fit a wide range of heads because oftentimes with me if they run a little big they won't stay up. Yeah. So that's something that you can do, but as far as your ear size, that's not going to be as much of an isue because they're usually going around your ear. And so if you have smaller ears, no big deal. Okay, so we have another fit question from Catherine. and she writes, I wear glasses and find a lot of the premium or high quality recommended headphones that go over the ear are a non starter because they painfully press the arms of your glasses against your head Lauren, what are the best headphones if you wear glasses? So I love that you're asking me this question when I'm wearing glasses and headphones. So if you can wear earbuds, they're obviously the best because they are staying out of the way. They're in your ears, they're not over your ears where your glasses are going to sit If you can't wear your buds or that's something that's not comfortable for you, the other option, I would recommend of all of our picks the Sony's WH one thousand XM six, which is currently our noise canceling headphone pick Here's why I love them. They're very lightweight They have really supple memory foam on the earpads. So they don't have a ton of squeeze on your head and the foam conforms around the glasses. Now granted, your mileage may vary if you have very thick glasses. always test all of our headphones with glasses. So Know that if there is something, if you're reading a guide and I don't say anything like these are terrible for glasses wears or they might be uncomfortable for glasses wears, know that they will be something that you can wear with glasses because I always testasses. Id love to hear that. Well, how much do those Sony headphones cost? Beacause I feel like over your headphones tend to be more expensive than in ear. They are on the pricier side Those are at the moment, I believe four hundred and fifty. Wha. However. You can also get the older version. Okay, which is the XM five that are still available right now, but honestly they're just as good in terms of the actual wearability. And you can get those sometimes now on sale for closer to like two hundred fifty, three hundred. Okay, reasonable So we had a listener, Sue who wrote in and said, for years, I used various iterations of Boses soundsport earbuds. They don't have a wire to the device, two earbuds are tethered to each other. When they were discontinued, I was devastated. Do you know why the tethered earbuds are being discontinued? For me, the tether is critical. So what do you say to Sue? Do you recommend any tethered models So here's the problem. I can't recommend what people aren't making. And unfortunately, they just sort of fell out of favor And if enough people aren't buying something, the you, companies pivot to what people are buying. Here's what I would say though. If you have an earbud that has a STEM. So let's say that you have the AirPods Pro, You can actually go on Amazon and there's some third party tethers that you can just hook onto there That would be my kind of like life hack for you is go look for something like that. And we can probably link it in the show notes. I'll show you kind of an example of what I'm talking about, but there's a bunch of companies Lauren, I want to ask you about a kind of headphone that's growing in popularity, and we know this because we got a ton of questions about them bone conducting headphones. How do they work? What are they? exxplain those. All right, let's get a little nerdy So we know that sound is basically vibration, right? It's just air molecules vibrating at a certain kind of oscillation back and forth, and your brain interprets that as a sound, which is kind of magical Usually sound goes through air, right Bone conducting headphones are actually using the bones in your head to carry that vibration from the outside of your head to your inner ear What does that feel like? A little buzz, Maybe nothing It sounds dramatic, but it's not But sound just needs a medium to go through. so it doesn't have to be air, it could be something else That is what bone conduction does. is it essentially just uses you as the speaker rather than the device and air. Do they look like normal earbuds So they kind of usually sit in front of your ears. So oftentimes they'll hook over your ears to hold them in place. and then you'll have like a little module Usually about the size of like a postage stamp that will sit on your temples and it will just kind of rest there and it vibrates right there. Does that mean if you're wearing them, you can hear other things? Yes. So essentially they leave your ears open, which is a major plus for a lot of people The only downside to that is that you're going to get less base response because The waveforms for bass notes are bigger And in order to create those, there needs to be more vibration. And that greater vibration can be a little annoying with a bone conduction if you have something just goingz on the side of your head. So you're going to get a little less of that type of clarity. However It's great for hearing your surroundings They work well underwater. So that's kind of what they're for. So we have a listener, Claire, who's interested in these kinds of headphones, but she does have a concern. She writes, For running, I'm very skeptical about being able to rely on bone conducting headphones to not have noise bleed I don't want people on my run to hear that I'm listening to the Lay Mz soundtrack, even if it's just for the second I'm running past. Can I actually rely on any pairs of these to be for my ears only? What do you think, Lauren? Well first embrace the limits, but also the answer is Probably not. You could potentially in a very quiet room and you jack the volume up really loud, but you also probably wouldn't be comfortable with that level of volume. So if you're outside, people aren't gonna hear it. It's not like a speaker. So don't think of it as being the person that has that Bluetooth speaker in the backpack walking through the trails and annoying everybody They will not hear that They might if they lean very close to you hear a little that you are listening to something, unless you have a habit of like running up to people and leaning very close to them, you probably are going to be fine. Bone conducting better for you are on our podcast a while ago now about Hearing and protecting your hearing. Does bone conducting mean that you're not damaging your ears at all? No, you can still if you're blasting it loudly, you can still do some potential damage. And so That is one thing that I was going to say as a caveat to people, if you are going to be wearing something like this and you find that you're in a loud space. Instead of competing with the sound around you, you can actually put in earplugs and you'll hear it better because you're kind of getting rid of some of that external sound. That's the other option you can do, but don't be trying to compete with everything around you by blasting it because it still it's just potentially something could do some damage to you. We had a listener who wrote in Selli asking if there are headphones, she can wear while swimming laps. obbviously, these bone conndecting headphones are an option here. So what brand should she consider So there's a couple of different things that you could do If you want to swim with bone conduction headphones specifically There's a model called the H two O Audio T two And Essentially it is a MP three player and a bone conduction headphone in one Why is that important? Because Bluetooth does not go through water That is the one caveat that I have is that in order for you to be able to hear something streaming, it has to be basically strapped to your head, which is annoying. I mean, no one wants to wom with an iPhone on her head or it has to be pre downloaded onto a device If that's an issue, the other option is there's a device called the Mighty Wave, which is basically a little It looks like remember those old iPod like shles It's about that size. And it works with Spotify and with Amazon music and you can sync it with your streaming. And that can be your music player if you're someone who uses streaming services. It is kind of life changing because lapliming can be really boring. I'm. and it does help to have something to listen to. And then once you get that groove, it's actually earer. So what you're saying is like the mighty wave, for example, is kind of like the size of an MP three that you're strapping to yourself in the water Yeah, usually you just put it on your goggle strap. Okay. Lauren, can you just quickly explain how Bluetooth can't transmit through water? Yeah, I had no idea that was the thing So what a Bluetooth headphone is is essentially like a little radio transmitter and a little radio receiver. So imagine that your phone is broadcasting the tiniest little radio station to the tiniest most specific little radio in your head. And essentially, that's all they're doing is going back and forth So because these things are made to be in a way that won't interfere with other devices. So the FCC has all these things where you can't interfere. Obviously you don't want it to like air traffic control or medical radios back and forth. It has to be small. As a result, these types of waves do not travel through different types of surface as well. and water is one of them So we do have one last question in our fit section, and this one comes from Heather. She says, I'm writing to ask you for a recommendation for somebody near to my heart. My twelve year old son has cerebral palsy, autism, and a lot of the sensory concerns that come along with that. He's sensitive to noise, but a lot of headphones marketed for noise reduction are super tight fits, and it's not long before the discomfort of them outweighs his discomfort from the noise Earbuds are too finicky and they always seem to be falling on the floor. I've tried a few noise canceling headphones with soft earpieces, but noise canceling quote unquote, is sometimes a generous description and battery life is a concern So Lauren, what are your tips for finding headphones that work if you have sensory issues? Anything you recommend for Heather and her son Yes, I love this question. Okay, so I'm assuming what she's talking about when she says the headphones for noise reduction, she's meaning like those ear muff type things that you're using, Th things are really designed for safety. So that's why they clamp so hard. I'm assuming it's just you want a little bit of reduction to kind of bring down the intensity. So for that, actually, what I would recommend is If you go on Amazon and look for and there's a bunch of different brands, they have these soft headband earmuffs for sleeping. If you put those terms in and search for them. you'll basically find this thing that looks like almost like a sleep mask headband thing, but it has like a thicker fabric padding that slides over to your ears and it helps to reduce some of the sensory input other thing that I can recommend, which I love, I have one of these There's a company called Quiet Sense that has these sensory friendly sweatshirts and vests and things And this thing has a hood that pops up over your head. It has thicker fabric on the side to help reduce some of the noise. On the hood, it has a little visor that you can pull down if you're getting a little overstimulated with the light and the brightness. It has magnets for the clasps instead of Velcro or a zipper. I frigin love these things So I would say that's another thing to look into if it's just about reducing the stimulus and not necessarily having something that is making silence We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Lauren, we're going to talk about sleeping with headphones, something I do and other safety concerns. Stick around Mortgage refinancing might sound. SopFi makes it easier. With refinancing options designed to fit your goals, you can explore lowering your mortgage rate, accessing cash from your home's equity with your cash out refi, or shortening your lo term. Whatever your next move, SopFI can help you find the right fit. Ready to explore a refi? Visit SopFi. com slash powerower moveve. Mortgages originated by SFI Bank in a member FDIC, NMLS six niney six eight nine one terms and conditions apply. equal housing lender. 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Now, we're here to help you keep going further. Capeella University. What can't you do? Visit Capeella.edu to learn more Answering your questions about headphones with wirecutters, senior staff writer and headphone expert, Lauren Dragon. Lauren, a lot of listeners had questions for you about sleeping with headphones. It is my favorite thing to do. I pop my airPods in You sleep with airPods? I do. yeah. I suspect in about thirty to sixty seconds Lauren is gonna to tell me not to do this. but yeah, put my audioobook on. I time it for like fifteen minutes and I am out Like, alike. So I want to jump into this category First, is it safe? You can tell me Actually, it is with a few Little caveats, okay? There are three things I'm gonna tell you that you need to do if you want to sleep safely with earbuds First thing is keep them clean You want to wipe them down. Obviously, if you aren't keeping stuff clean and you're putting them in your ear day after day, bacteria can build up, that's when you can have some sort of issue Second thing, keep your volume as low as possible. So you don't want to be blasting something And ideally, you know, once you've fallen asleep, if you can have the sound taper off or stop, that's another ideal thing to do because then you're giving your ears a bit of a break. I know that's not something everybody can do if you're prone to interruptions, but ideal conditions. And then the third caveat is if you don't have a health condition that can make it counter indicated for you. So for example ear infection Are you someone who produces excessive wax? Do you have an allergy to potentially any of the materials that the earbuds have You must sleep on your back, though, 'cause I can't imagine those things are comfortable on your side. No, it's not so I don't know what I'm doing. I have manipulated my body in such a way that I stay comfortable However, in the morning, usually one is under my thigh and then the other one is behind a pillow. I'm surrised you have a lost one forever. just I have. Oh, you have. Yes. I mean, obviously. Moving on Lauren, I know you have a whole guide about the best sleep headphones because not everybody wants to sleep with an airPod in like Rosie. So to all our listeners with questions about this, please go check out Lauren's work. But Luren, most of the questions we got about sleep addressed two things, battery life and comfort. So tell us about your best picks with those two things in mind All right, I got you. So Sound Course Lleep A twenty is the earbud pick that I have. They're flat so they won't be pressing into your ears when you lay in your side and the little winglets to hold them in place so they won't run down in your thigh when you're clampering And they have a fourteen hour battery life when they're fully charged, plus there's another eighty hours in their case. so they sit in a charging case They're hundred and thirty dollars and they're fantastic. They have a lot of little bonus features. The second thing is the sleep phones by accoustic Sheep. They're like a headband style. You can choose different ones They are at this point twenty four hours of playback on a full charge. So you're going only need to charge every couple nights, depending on how long you listen and that sort of thing. But they should last you well through a night and that's one of the things that I test for. I make sure none of our picks are going to cut out on you if you decide to sleep in. That's actually great. Sleeping with a headband on also seems just kind of cozy and if it also provides the Listening thing that I need, but would it fit over like a bonnet? Yes. I check that. Basically, you're just gonna kind of slide it down to where the bonnet's elastic meets your hairline. So just slide the headband down to there and it'll be fine. It'll stay that way. So And they come in a couple different materials. There's like a fleece material, and then there's one that's more breathable, kind of lighter weight material And they come in three sizes. so you can measure the size of your nog and it make sure that it's not too snupy. Last topic Health and safety. A lot of people asked us how safe Bluetooth is. For instance, one of our listeners, Matt, wrote in and said I hear some people talk about fears of radiation from Bluetooth headphones and earbuds Do you think that is warranted? Is there any scientific evidence one way or the other So Lauren, have you come across this concern before? I'm sure you have is Bluetooth anything to be worried about Yeah. No, I get it. Bluetooth is a type of electromagnetic radiation. A lot of times when people hear that word radiation can sound kind of scary. But according to all of the research we have now, it is not a concern largely because of the type of radiation that it is and how small the energy is behind it. It's not just me saying that because I work here, the World Health Organization, the CDC, all of them have come out and said that these are not a risk to your health. They're not cancer causing or anything like that That's the short answer The long answer, I could explain to you a little bit of physics, if you want to know why. Y. Okay. So people hear, you radio waves, remember we talked about how Bluetooth is basically like a little radio. So radio waves are actually electromagnetic radiation. And there are two kinds of electromagnetic radiation. We're going to call them high energy and low energy energy, that's the stuff you have to be careful about. So we're talking UV, X rays and gamma rays. And they actually can kind of rip an electron off of your body. And that's what causes some of the cancer causing stuff is because they are essentially ionizing, which means they pull off an electron. They're the more dangerous ones Low energy are called non ionizing, which means they're not doing that. They have bigger waveforms. They're a lot more chill So you have infrared light Then you've got microwaves, and then you've got radio waves way down at the bottom So imagine you're at the furthest end of the spectrum and now you're taking it in a very low powered situation. So it's very, very tiny. You're going to get more radiation going on a plane than you are from your Bluetooth headphones. And by the way, in the middle of those two things, between the low energy and high energy visible light So a listener named Mary wants to know if it's better to use earbuds or over the ear headphones for people who have ringing of the ears. Is there a better choice here, Lauren? There really isn't specifically for tinnitus. There are masking things you can get. So there's certain apps you can find depending on where your ringing is, it can help you mask the sounds. And there are also some hearing aids and over the counter hearing aids that have specific settings that help to address that But it really just comes down to your comfort level. The only thing I would say is that If you're going to be wearing either of them, you're going to have some occlusion effect, which is going to mean that you kind of hear the inside of your head more when you're walking. So if that's gonna bother you, that might be the only caveat, I'd say for earbuds as opposed to headphones. But either way, neither one of them is really going to affect tinnitus other than you can mask sounds with it We also got some questions about hearing loss. Listener Amy, she says that she has hearing loss in one ear. She's looking for Bluetooth headphones where she could adjust each ear's volume separately Are there options for her? Yeah, actually there is. and there are a number of companies that do it too. What' you going to look for is headphones that have a hearing test based personersalized EQ Different companies have different names for it, but essentially they're all the same idea. You take a hearing test in the app that's associated with the headphones And then the Earbuds will adjust to your hearing ability. So it'll make some frequencies slouder and some softer and it is individual to each ear I know Soundcore has one. Apple does it in their AirPods Pro two and three And there's a bunch of other companies. so that's what you're going to want to look for. and yes, it will adjust to your hearing ability. 's really cool. Lauren, you mentioned this back when we were talking about sleeping with earbuds in I want to talk about cleaning your headphones and cleaning your earbuds It's important, I know for basic hygiene How do you do it and are there any other reasons why you really should do this on a regular basis So almost all manufacturers will have something about how to do it with their specific brands. but general rule of thumb, you're going to want to get a gentle detergent, something like a dish soap