It's time to level up headphone tech
chrismaury.com
It's time to level up headphone tech
1–10 of 49 posts
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#2While I agree with the general sentiment expressed (people buy poor quality headphones that leak music and proceed to seemingly obliviously blast their music for all to hear), please consider investigating higher quality headphones & their tech.
From a well known audiophile guide to headphones:
"In general it's best to avoid products made by Skullcandy, Bose, Beats, or Monster unless otherwise specified...These companies spend a lot of money on advertising and looks rather than quality. That isn't to say these companies haven't put out headphones worth buying, the Monster Turbine Coppers are actually fantastic IEMs, it's just that a lot of the time you're paying a premium for the name."
The same guide recommends the following in the $300-500 budget range: IEMs: Westone UM3X, Sennheiser IE8, Shure SE535, Audio Technica CK100
Open: Sennheiser HD600, Sony MDR-SA5000, AKG K601, Sennheiser HD650
Closed: Audio Technica ATH-ES10, Denon D5000, Ultrasone Pro 900
Box stores like Best Buy are consumer goods stores. If you want to buy a mid or high end DSLR, you won't find it inside a Best Buy location. If you want to buy mid or high end headphones, you won't find them inside a Best Buy location. If you want to buy a mid to high end computer monitor, you won't find it inside a Best Buy location. I suspect this is true for many, many niches.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#3The "beats phenomenon" is a fashion thing, not an audio tech thing. People pay $400 for beats because it makes them look cool and shows they are not poor. Much like a Rolex is not about telling time.
I think there is a market for headphone tech, but I would look to the market for Bose noise-canceling headphones as a proxy, not beats.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#4I'm not sure headphone tech is in need of levelling up, or what the auther thinks is: "Existing hearing aides have directional microphones, can distinguish between talking and background noise, and connect pretty seamlessly with other devices."
What good is a directional microphone and why (and lacking a microphone, how?) would a headphone distinguish between voices and background noise? My headphone already connects seamlessly using an ubiquitous connector. It's wired, yes, but bluetooth options do exist and I'm quite happy not having another battery to worry about.
As far as I know, there is already some crossover between in-ear headphone and hearing aid technology. Excellent in-ear phones are available for less than 100 USD. Some people don't know of them, some people don't want to spend more than 20 bucks, some people prefer over/on-the-ears.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#5I have a pair of Shure SE535 earphones and they are fantastic. Perhaps the ergonomics could be improved, but I cannot imagine how the audio quality could be better.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#6Yes! Thanks for the post.
I really enjoy scifi books that focus on how technology can integrate and augment the human body. Though these books often talk of brain implants and genetic modification, the path to that destination (if we do achieve it) will almost certainly start with non-invasive versions.
I think that smartphones with ubiquitous internet and gps were the first big step in this direction. Some of the next steps will be discrete/invisible headphones that we can always be wearing, glasses/contact lenses with a display, and (hopefully) some sort of easy input method that doesn't require talking out loud or looking at a screen. Combine this with the ability to record and search our entire lives (if we so choose) in addition to the internet and we're 90% there with easily foreseeable technology.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#7Yes! Thanks for the post. I really enjoy scifi books that focus on how technology can integrate and augment the human body. Though these books often talk of brain implants and genetic modification, the path to that destination (if we do achieve it) will almost certainly start with non-invasive versions. I think that smartphones with ubiquitous internet and gps were the first big step in this direction. Some of the ne…
Thank you! This is the point I was trying to make in the article. I don't think I articulated it all that well. The technology exists, it's just branded incorrectly.
I regret that I only have one upvote to give.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#8not to mention that if I can get "hearing aids" made for music but still looking like hearing aids I can look confused and yell "HUH!?" every time someone I don't want to talk to says something to me.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#9I have a pair of Shure SE535 earphones and they are fantastic. Perhaps the ergonomics could be improved, but I cannot imagine how the audio quality could be better.
I don't think the point is audio quality. Hearing aids do more than just have good audio quality; they serve multiple purposes, like connecting to phones or TVs. Presumably, one could build vastly better headphones by making them easily connect to whatever device you want, wirelessly.
For example, many gyms have TVs playing, and have a small FM radio station so you can tune into the audio with your MP3 player. Perhaps wireless headphones could support this seamlessly. Or your headphones could pick up an audio track played at a national park or tourist attraction, giving an audio tour.
We can do all these things currently, but they require hacks. Perhaps headphones could support them natively instead.
Re: It's time to level up headphone tech
#10Yes! Thanks for the post. I really enjoy scifi books that focus on how technology can integrate and augment the human body. Though these books often talk of brain implants and genetic modification, the path to that destination (if we do achieve it) will almost certainly start with non-invasive versions. I think that smartphones with ubiquitous internet and gps were the first big step in this direction. Some of the ne…
There's one big problem with continuing to make headphones smaller- until we can connect directly to the nervous system, the smaller the 'phone, the harder it will be to maintain audio quality. (At least using traditional audio reproduction methods)
The only thing that crops to mind other than nerve stimulation would be mounting a driver on your eardrum. Think of how a piezoelectric transducer works, and replace the discs with your eardrum.