Complete Guide to Bone Conduction Headphones

March 12, 2022

271

It is likely that you have seen bone conduction headphones if have seen them. They serve a different use than regular headphones however they are based using a different method.

An Overview of Headphone Drivers

The drivers of headphones are the transducer parts that convert sound into audio. If a pair of headphones were not equipped with drivers is not equipped to produce sound when they are connected to the audio device. They’d be completely non-functional.

A lot of headphones utilize dynamic drivers with moving coils, which are based on electromagnetism theories.

The models transmit their audio output (AC Volt) through a conductor connected to diaphragm. Permanent magnetic fields house the diaphragm/conductor combination.

How do Bone Conduction Headphone Drivers Work as Transducers?

As with all headphones, bone conduction headphones transform electric signals to something we can hear.

It is vital to know that the bone conduction drivers must receive audio signals in order for proper operation as other headphone and speaker drivers.

Digital audio, on contrary, are continuous alternating currents. Analog signals represent analog data.

Is a crystal a thing?

Crystals are solid materials comprised composed of extremely organized molecules, atoms and ions. They are laid out in a lattice, which extends in all directions. The most basic elemental building block, called that is the unit cell can be repeated infinitely , resulting in crystals of infinite dimension.

The unit cell of most crystals is the same as. Piezoelectric crystals have an odd arrangement of atoms that isn’t the same as symmetry.

The the electrical charges of piezo crystals can be perfectly balanced. Even though the costs are in place, a positive charge at one point is neutralized by a neighboring negative.

The DAC output makes a distinct circuit separate from the right and left headphones drivers. Audio signal left (AC Volt) is routed via the driver on left and the right audio signal goes through the right channel.

Two wires for electrical leads are connected to each driver’s piezoelectric circuit The one wire is located on one side, and the other in the opposite. The piezo crystal is able to generate the same voltage on both sides regardless of whether the headphones transmit audio at any time.

As we’ve seen in the preceding portion of this post the current (potential variation) applied to the crystal’s piezoelectric material causes it to change shape.

The crystal will shrink as the audio signal induces an electric current to flow within one direction. If the current flows to the other direction the crystal will expand.

Audio signals can be akin to the sound of 20 Hz to 20 the Hz. The crystal that is squeezed or stretched is vibrating in this range.

The vibrations travel through skull bones and into the cochlea. There, they are transformed back into electrical signals that brains are able to utilize to detect sound.

What is the best way to hear? Bone Conduction Headphones?

Regular headphones should be worn with drivers placed on inside the outer ear. The majority of hearing aids, such as headphones, are worn inside the canal of your ear.

Chinese Bone-conduction headphones can be worn in many different ways. They can be placed with the driver against the jawbone or cheek of the person listening to them.

Bluetooth technology has been a recent feature on bone conduction headphone.

A lot of headphones come with bands that run around the back that covers the back of the head. The drivers are placed behind the ears and are pressed against the jaw bone, cheekbone.

It is possible to see the typical design of a pair of bone conduction headphone in The Aftershokz Aeropex hyperlink (link to see the price on Amazon):

The cochlea plays a role in human hearing. The inner ear is comprised of an elongated, conical, hollow, fluid-filled, hollow chamber of bone known as the cochlea.

The body that is located in Corti is the most important part that makes up the cochlea. It functions as a transducer that converts mechanical energy (vibrations into electrical energy) as well as nerve signals the brain, which it interprets as sound. The cochlea’s tube is tapered. It has a partition that divides fluid chambers. This is where the Organ of Corti is situated.

Every ear has its own cochlea.

There are two principal methods of vibrating our cochleae. So, there are two primary ways we are able to detect the sounds of our surroundings (and even our headphones).

Let’s examine the diagram that explains how the human ear works, before we get deep into the specifics.

Anatomy of the Human Ear

This article will help you understand the fundamentals of the hearing system. It could require many articles to gain insight to the anatomy of our ears and brain, as well as the mechanisms that bone conduction headphones provide.

Let’s get straight to the main point.

The eardrum is the earliest method to stimulate the cochlea and, in turn our hearing senses.

The ear canal transmits sound waves and are in contact through the eardrum. The eardrum is a flexible membrane, is able to vibrate due to the variations in sound pressure across its surface.

Eardrum vibrations may be transferred from the ossicles three tiny bones that are located in the middle ear that reach the cochlea inside the inner ear.

The middle ear bones supply the sound-impedance in the eardrum (air) and the fluid in the cochlea (liquid). The muscles in the middle ear provide additional protection through an energizing reflex.

The circular window, a second membrane with a flexible design, transfers the sound waves through the middle ear to inside the ear. It facilitates the smooth flow of the ear’s fluid because of sound waves entering.

The fluid inside the inner ear vibrates, and the cochlea transmits information via an auditory nerve into the nucleus of the cochlear. The complex system functions as a transducer that converts mechanical waves into electrical energy (microphones also accomplish this).

The nerve impulses the brain detects (hears) comprise electrical energy. This is the main way that headphones can be heard. Drivers of headphones emit sound waves close to or inside our ears, that are then picked up by and processed by our brains.

Also, we hear headphones via another hearing method that turns into the primary method of bone conduction headphones.

The second method is to stimulate the cochlea in the skull instead of the ear.

The vibrations that occur between 20 Hz and the frequency of 20,000 Hz is more than simply eardrum vibrations. They also vibrate our bodies.

The vibrations traverse our hard and soft tissues. Vibrating headphones transmit sound into the inner ear via our bones.

As with the ones that travel between our inner and our outer ears, these sounds stimulate an auditory response in our brains.

This method makes use of bone conduction headphones that completely eliminate the middle and outer ear.

Bone conduction headsets vibrate our skulls. They transmit sound signals to the cochlea. The brains are then able to perceive the signal.

Pros & Cons of Bone Conduction Headphones

Knowing the pros and negatives of bone conductions will help us to appreciate this technique better. Here is an infographic which summarises the advantages and disadvantages of bone conductions.

Pros

Eardrums that are damaged and middle ears are better candidates.
The ears of the person listening to it shouldn’t be covered by it.
Easy environmental listening
Hearing loss is not as likely.
Pros Of Bone Conduction Headphones
The best option for people with damaged eardrums and ears.
Bone conduction headphones are an excellent method to increase the enjoyment of listening for those with hearing loss or damaged eardrum.
Hearing aids make use of bone conduction technology to achieve this reason.
It is not able to completely cover your ears. person who is listening.
They don’t require being placed over your ears since bone conduction headphones transmit sound throughout our skulls.
This can improve the comfort of those who do not like wearing headphones over their ears or place headphones in the ear canals.
Allows For Easy Environmental Listening
Our surroundings is heard as bone conduction headphones do not protect our ears.
There is less chance to cause damage to your hearing.

Regular headphones that have air conduction are easily made too loud and listened to excessively long. The natural acoustic amplifiers in our ears amplify our eardrums, and increase the pressure of sound. This could lead to hearing loss.