Anybody try the Bone Conduction Headphone - Alljoy AG110

[omendelovitz]

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy

It's scientifically known as the Boner Effect.

ROTFLOL! I think this is the first head-fi post to do that to me!

[ericj]

Originally Posted by fraseyboy

"Bone conduction products have following advantages over traditional headphones:

* Ears-free, thus providing extended use comfort and safety
* No electromagnetic waves (EMW), eliminating the potential effect of EMW on cerebrum (if any)
* High sound clarity in very noisy environment
* Protecting hearing from loss due to extended use of conventional headsets and earpieces.

No electromagnetic waves? That's an awfully broad presumption for a whole range of products.

I'd been under the impression that the majority of bone-conduction products were just as dependent on voice coils as their dynamic brothers, since it doesn't seem likely that you could get piezoelectrics to bang against your head that hard, at least with that small of a surface area.

Edit: The importer lists the impedance as 8 ohms, so they are certainly electromagnetic in nature - nonmagnetic drivers are typically capacitative loads with extremely high impedance.

http://goodsei.en.ecplaza.net/offerd...fferID=4283903

[Bizzel]

Surely they'd just vibrate your head a lot? Wouldn't you feel that almost tickling your skin?

[MrFaust]

"bone phones" have been around for a long time. At least since the mid-70's. I had, in recent years, tried to find a pair that traditionally laid on you collar bone if memory serves. But they have become extremely hard to find. The one nice thing about them, you can listen to you music at whatever volume you want and nobody else can hear it.

[Psiga]

This topic gets tough because there are a few different methods of doing bone conduction audio. The wiki article speaks generally. Too generally to do us any favors. The wiki reference to mono audio appears to be misleadingly talking about hearing aid implementations rather than modern headphones.

So far, no big name audio company has jumped on the bone conduction bandwagon. You see no-name Asian companies looking to diversify their offerings in overpacked markets. Hence company names such as "Alljoy" and "Goldendance."

Here is a non-audiophile review of a stereo kit from Goldendance: http://www.wibbly.net/2007/07/04/gol...mgd-01-review/

Street prices in Japan for them are $100 ~ $225 from cursory googling. Apparently not worth the cashmoneys.

I have no idea how the Goldendance kit compares to the Alljoy kit. Or how any of them work, frankly. Second and third hand information only. I can only say some things, such as:

Most of the consumer-level bone conduction technologies leak sound out while doing their duty. The bone conduction DOES WORK, but it's not silent to people around you.

Sound is attenuated as it goes through the head. I'm not sure if there is a way to digitally correct for that (as there are some speakers which correct for the attenuation of sound through water, making for high fidelity underwater speakers).

Build quality is almost universally trash compared to what our kin are accustomed to.

I'd love to test these things out with some frequency sweeps. So they make "muddy sound." Okay. But how's the bass? Could Team Ortho make a gloriously open can and crossover the bass frequencies to a bone conductor?

[ericj]

Originally Posted by Psiga

So far, no big name audio company has jumped on the bone conduction bandwagon. You see no-name Asian companies looking to diversify their offerings in overpacked markets. Hence company names such as "Alljoy" and "Goldendance."

Teac Filltune Bone-Conduction Headphones - as i understand it, near $500.

Not exactly Beyerdynamic jumping into the ring, but at least it's a respected manufacturer.

It's been discussed here a couple times, but nobody wants to spend the money.

I'd love to test these things out with some frequency sweeps. So they make "muddy sound." Okay. But how's the bass? Could Team Ortho make a gloriously open can and crossover the bass frequencies to a bone conductor?

iirc the K1000 folks once considered the concept of a headwoofer, didn't they? there have been some behind-the-neck headphones with a vibrating dingus on the back, but i don't believe anyone ever took them seriously.

[grndslm]

PLEASE, DEAR GOD, WOULD ONE OF YOU FOLKS PLEASE COMPARE THESE BONERIFIC HEADPHONES?!?

[Sonata Arctica]

Originally Posted by grndslm

PLEASE, DEAR GOD, WOULD ONE OF YOU FOLKS PLEASE COMPARE THESE BONERIFIC HEADPHONES?!?

thats what she said last night

[RedLeader]

Originally Posted by ericj

there have been some behind-the-neck headphones with a vibrating dingus on the back, but i don't believe anyone ever took them seriously.

What are you talking about, those panasonic "shockwave" headphones were mazing!

[adamse]

This looks really cool! Maybe someone could get a pair for review?

[Psiga]

Originally Posted by grndslm

PLEASE, DEAR GOD, WOULD ONE OF YOU FOLKS PLEASE COMPARE THESE BONERIFIC HEADPHONES?!?

The only ones that would appear to be worth our time are the TEAC bastards, and they can't be returned to AudioCubes (15% restocking on headphones $250 or less; no returns on $251 or more).

The $60 Alljoy is more affordable, and returnable to Amazon if necessary, but would indeed be 'taking one for the team' since they're nigh guaranteed to sound mediocre. (Edit: As of this moment, there are only 3 third party stores selling them for $49 apiece + shipping. Because they are not Amazon, their return policies may be different or nonexistent.)

You know this overall situation is dismal when even Head-Fi people are reluctant to experiment with it.

[grndslm]

Originally Posted by Psiga

The only ones that would appear to be worth our time are the TEAC bastards, and they can't be returned to AudioCubes (15% restocking on headphones $250 or less; no returns on $251 or more).
....

You know this overall situation is dismal when even Head-Fi people are reluctant to experiment with it.

It's definitely depressing that nobody tries the TEAC headphones and destroys my belief that they're the greatest headphone ever...

[Dan Millheim]

I read this thread with great interest. In my dedicated home theater room I have some Aural "Butt Kicker" speakers I installed on my couch that pick up low fequency vibrations within the sound track of a given movie. It is very involving to FEEL sound effects and bass beyond my MK subwoofer.

Ok, what if...

Could this technology be applied to headphones? Maybe it has already, but "what if" one had two SE inputs for headphones on their amp. What if you used bone conducting cans in one input and regular cans in the other? Based on what I see, it might be possible to wear both at the same time, ha. Would one experience a similair effect as the aural speakers in that you would feel and hear music in new ways? Ok, it would be really extream but it would be fun to experiment with. Any thoughts?

[Dan Millheim]

I still doing some digging but I found this interesting article on Bone Conduction in hearing aids and other products. It appears that limited frequency issues come into play in regards to reproducing high quality audio with BC technology. I still am curious what would happen when combined with traditional cans.

http://umsis.miami.edu/~smauldin/EEN...conduction.pdf

[Psiga]

There are some off-brand headphones with Buttkicker-like rumblers built into them. I tried one once. Returned it. Who knows where my review of it is now, but here's a review of the same set from Dan's Data:

http://www.dansdata.com/rfxphones.htm

RumbleFX from Evergreen.

The gist of my opinion: Without the rumbler turned on, they were trash. Where bass is supposed to go (or at least try to go) "boom" and "thump," these miserable wastes of money and time went "barp" and "thupp."

I used to be on a techno kick back then, and it was just BARP BARP BARP BARP. Heinous and stupid. Even non-picky friends and family were making faces at the sound it was producing.

Turn on the rumble, though?

...uh...

They had three settings:
- Off
- Too Much
- Way Too Much

The rumble strength did not move in relation to the volume. If it had correlated that way, it would've been kind-of amazing. I remember being impressed by the tactile sensation...for a few moments before it wasn't bearable anymore. And yeah, I've sat in demo kiosks of the Buttkicker, so I know what you mean about what it adds.

That particular RumbleFX implementation was fully tactile, with no intention of conveying a tone to the inner ear. So you felt rumble, but didn't hear the note of it. It's cool to 'feel' 30Hz, and it's also cool to 'hear' 30Hz, you know?

To my very limited understanding, using bone-conduction transducers for low frequencies would be trying to convey the 'hearable' aspect of the frequency, and not so much the 'feelable' aspect. So it's different from a Buttkicker/RumbleFX which is designed to let the speakers cover the audible stuff while the transducers cover the tactile stuff.