Aug 18

Headphones Not to Get

When it comes to headphones I would highly recommend that you avoid any form of earbuds or canal phones.

They are by far always way more trouble than any benefit they give.

These are the ones that you place directly outside your ear, separately, with fully enveloping it.

They are what you will find at most stores now.

I have been seeing the headphones with the actual headband become less and less common.

The ones without the headband just fall out too much.  It can be highly distracting and bothersome to have to keep putting and readjusting those little ear pieces back in your ear ever couple minutes with you are running or jogging.  You want to put them in once and leave them there.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been on the treadmill at the gym or hiking up Flattop and I have had those earbuds fall out of my ear.  Its not worth it at all.  The apple earbuds and Nike earbuds were especially bad and I could never get them to stay in at all!

So what type of headphones do I look for when I am running?

Several things make any headphones you are doing physical activity with good.  I like the wrap around headphones the best.  I think that sometimes they can get a little uncomfortable but they stay on.  I like them to be a lightweight but not too lightweight because I have found that they will flop back and forth if they are.

You also want some that will cancel out the surrounding noise as much as possible.  You do not want to hear a lot of other music around you neither the sounds of all the treadmill fitness equipment at the gym.  Its distracting.

I really would not spend anymore than $20 on any pair of sport headphones.  Its not worth it.  I have bought headphones that were $40 and $50 and I either lost them, had them stolen, or broke them.

Headphones are very fragile and the life expectancy of them is low.   You can rip them, sit on them, break them, and its very easy to do all those things.  Go with a good pair and be ready to replace them every couple months.

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Aug 04

Wireless Headphones Testing

When I am running or hiking or climbing mountains I find that the majority of the headphones that are supposedly marketed for sports do not cut it.

The earplugs pop out, the cord gets tangled up with my arm, or the headband becomes really annoying.  A lot of the time I get so frustrated I just take them out and continue running without them on.

I’ve been looking for some upgrades and I think I found them.

I recently saw a friend of mine wearing some wireless headphones the other day so I got some of my own.  When I went to buy them I noticed that the major brands that make wireless headphones, Logitech, Sennheiser, Sony, and Philips, make them in two styles though these two styles can vary in price between $40 all the way to $210.  They come in the a) in the ear design with supports and b) behind the neck band.  Personally as annoying as the neck band can get when you are running a lot I like the fact that they stay in better and don’t pop out.  I got the Logitech Freepluse Wireless ones because they were about $75 (middles of the road as far as price), have a behind the neck band, and had a band that looked pretty durable so it would not snap (very important as I have broken two of the least four headphones I have bought in the last couple months).

I have been pretty pleased with it.  The device is lightweight so I don’t feel my ears being weighted down as in the past with other headphones using neckbands.  The volume adjuster is on the right headphone and is easy to use without any trouble at all.  The noise canceling was not that great as I could still hear the gym radio playing the new song by Britney Spears.  The sound quality was average but like I said I got the middle priced headphone and to get top sound quality for these things you are going to have to spend at least $100.  The range was not too bad either.  I put my blue tooth transmitter about 15 feet away on a table and I had no problems.  I have not tested it further than that so I do not really know how far it goes. It say that it delivers clear, interference-free audio with range of up to 33 feet but I doubt the sound quality is that great past twenty.  Overall I liked it.

I am thinking about taking mine back though and getting a more expensive model that is even more lightweight and more importantly cancels the surrounding noise out better.  Its can get a little bothersome hearing your music and the music being played in the gym at the same time.  Other than that I have no complaints.philipswireless

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