Canalphones and microphonic effect.

Oct 12, 2004 at 4:45 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11
Blitzula

Blitzula

Headphoneus Supremus
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I gave up on my Future Sonics EM3s despite my enjoyment of them because the sound of my pounding feet while walking and jogging ruined the sound. From what I've read, this effect (along with the related cord movement) ruins canalphones for active listening (as opposed to statically sitting at home or on an airplane and listening).

My question is this....do any of the custom ear molds alleviate this problem? So that, for example, if I bought the Ultimate Ears UE10 there would be no microphonic effect? Or is that microphonic effect inherent in canal phones, period?
 
Oct 12, 2004 at 4:50 PM Post #2 of 11
You can't get rid of that particular effect you're talking about, because it isn't microphonic... Microphonic effect refers to the problem of the cable and the wiring of the earphone moving around and transferring that disruption into your ear.

What you're experiencing is occlusion, which is the effect of your body's vibration against the canalphone, causing the "pounding" sound that you hear when take a step. Regardless of canalphone, custom or not, this will always happen. Just something you get used to and learn to live with.
 
Oct 12, 2004 at 4:59 PM Post #4 of 11
I could be wrong but I think this is just due to isolation making these sounds more noticeable. Put on a big set of ear-muff type hearing protection (like for shooting at a range) and run around, you should get a similar effect.
 
Oct 12, 2004 at 5:10 PM Post #5 of 11
I think Lindrome is right.
Owning the humble Shure E2's since a month or so made me very aware of this irritating problem.
I found it's highly dependent on the nature of the seal.
The hard sillicone pieces are far worse then the foamies, and the things you can buy at http://www.sonicshop.de/English/index.htm don't suffer this problem very much.
I never ever noticed the problem in the 2 years I used the Sony 70/71, I guess those seals are very elastic.
Appearantly, the more elastic/absorbent the sealmaterial is, the less the pounding.
I would love to hear more experiences and solutions.
 
Oct 12, 2004 at 11:16 PM Post #7 of 11
Quote:

Originally Posted by dura
I would love to hear more experiences and solutions.


1. Walk softly.

2. Wear sneakers with the foam soles.

3. Walk on the grass.

4. Consider turning up the volume just a little.

5. Concentrate on the music. If you do, your brain will sort of filter out the occlusion. At least, mine does.
 
Oct 13, 2004 at 5:50 AM Post #8 of 11
Learn to walk/run on the balls of your toes. I think the biggest culprit of hearing one's own footfalls is the slam of the heel on the ground. That movement has a direct route up the leg and into the body while using the balls of the toes spreads the impact to a wider area, and has to travel not only farther, but also make a right angle turn. Plus (this is mostly rhetoric as they're just my observations) you'll work out your calf muscles but may put more strain on your ankle and foot bones. I think I got a stress-fracture in the bones of my left foot due to this but I'm not sure since that was also a time of higher activity (I was on a Hawaii cruise and did more than a few outdoor activities during the time up until I got that injury.) However, it hasn't returned since it healed so I can't really say one way or the other.
 
Oct 13, 2004 at 10:26 AM Post #10 of 11
People really adjust their shoes and even their way off walking and where they walk to suit their headphones?
Wow, that's dedication!
etysmile.gif
 
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