Wearing headphones when out and about

[Frank Dernie]

A member mentioned in a post about looking odd walking around wearing large headphones.
Personally my hearing is a very important for sensing my environment when out and about and I certainly would feel very vulnerable walking on a street wearing headphones yet I see lots of people in towns doing so.
I think it is stark raving bonkers, and even worse if riding a bike, which I have also seen. I believe wearing headphones whilst driving a car is considered dangerous driving and likely to prosecution, quite rightly IMO.
What do others do/think?

 

[ernestcarl]

The isolation of headphones is not the same for all models at all frequencies, and it's a good thing that we can now find graphs of these on the web nowadays. I would not use noise cancelling phones while walking busy streets -- done that before and was nearly run over by a car many, many years ago. hah! Definitely learned a valuable lesson there...

I've used several open back headphones in public as well, and you can literally hear everything which makes them no good in a train or bus full of people -- they're perfectly fine for walking around the park, mall, museum etc. (though not in a quiet library). There are also some headphones with more advanced electronics that allows you to amplify ambient noise when necessary. I also own some extreme isolation cans which I only ever wear when there's a noisy party in the house and need to sleep or read. Or when using dremel tools and the like for an extended period. Also, I thought it was already illegal to use headphones while driving (?)

 

[GrimSurfer]

A member mentioned in a post about looking odd walking around wearing large headphones.
Personally my hearing is a very important for sensing my environment when out and about and I certainly would feel very vulnerable walking on a street wearing headphones yet I see lots of people in towns doing so.
I think it is stark raving bonkers, and even worse if riding a bike, which I have also seen. I believe wearing headphones whilst driving a car is considered dangerous driving and likely to prosecution, quite rightly IMO.
What do others do/think?

I agree, @Frank Dernie. Bonkers. Though if one is going to do it, they should focus on their smart phone screens at the same time so as to help address the planet's population problem in some small way.

The use of IEMs or open backed headphones on a plane is a bit strange too. Their lack of background noise attentiation is offset by high volume levels, which destroys hearing. Noise cancelling IEMs or open backed headphones obviously operate differently, but really good ones are rare.

So, cans for planes and trains. Head up and shoulders back as a pedestrian.

 

[Patrick1958]

I use open headphones for cycling so i can keep contact with traffic :
- Sennheiser PX 100II (warm spring/summer/autumn days)
- Hifiman Edition S or Teufel Aureol Real Z (mostly in winter) to keep my ears warm

 

[SIY]

I wear headphones when walking or hiking. I'd be hesitant to have them on when driving or biking, because there's much more interaction with traffic- if I bump into something or someone on the sidewalk, it's embarrassing. If I hit someone going 130 kph (or they hit me), it's fatal.

Yeah, it makes me look like a (bigger) dork. Nope, I don't care.

 

[Jim777]

I would not use noise cancelling phones while walking busy streets -- done that before and was nearly run over by a car many, many years ago. hah! Definitely learned a valuable lesson there...

The Sony has an ambient mode (here)

 

[Berwhale]

A member mentioned in a post about looking odd walking around wearing large headphones.
Personally my hearing is a very important for sensing my environment when out and about and I certainly would feel very vulnerable walking on a street wearing headphones yet I see lots of people in towns doing so.
I think it is stark raving bonkers, and even worse if riding a bike, which I have also seen. I believe wearing headphones whilst driving a car is considered dangerous driving and likely to prosecution, quite rightly IMO.
What do others do/think?

So the deaf should be banned from going outside?

 

[Robin L]

I've got the Sennheiser HD 579 & 599 over-ear headphones. They are open-backed. I was in a work environment where the use of headphones was encouraged. I also needed to hear what was going on around me. I'd play Jazz & Classical music at a relatively low volume, and easily shift to answering questions from the folk I worked with. Both headphones are super-comfortable and easy to slip off without any fuss. I usually use them if want to listen to music while taking a walk. My music source is a DAP, if I want to continue play in the car I can hook it up to the car's system.

 

[SIY]

So the deaf should be banned from going outside?

Speak up, I can't hear you.

In all seriousness, yes, being deaf presents a greater hazard since one of the senses commonly used to avoid accidents is missing or impaired. OTOH, people who are either lifetime deaf or have been deaf a very long time have learned to cope with it and use other senses in ways we people with good hearing haven't developed. Ditto the blind- I have a couple of blind friends who are amazing at navigating around and sensing obstacles, where if you blindfolded me and put me in the same situations, I'd be a disaster.

 

[Deleted member 4987]

I use noise cancelling headphones regularly in the street. If you live in a big city you get used to checking 6 times before you cross the street anyway. I'd never cycle or drive with them, that's just crazy.

Anyway most jazz sounds better outside. On the corner is really something else when you're there.

I used to drive with music at full volume, but as I've grown older prefer silence in cars, maybe the reactions are slowing or needing to be directed.

 

[Frank Dernie]

So the deaf should be banned from going outside?

Don't be daft. As a person with deaf members in the family I am aware how vulnerable deaf people feel in traffic and am surprised people with normal hearing choose to disadvantage themselves in the same way.
I admit also I don't like background music, so don't see why anybody would listen when doing something else important.

 

[Ceburaska]

So the deaf should be banned from going outside?

Well done, in a forum where we get plenty of stupid comments about Hifi, you’ve trumped them all.

 

[restorer-john]

I think it is stark raving bonkers, and even worse if riding a bike, which I have also seen. I believe wearing headphones whilst driving a car is considered dangerous driving and likely to prosecution, quite rightly IMO.
What do others do/think?

Absolutely stupid to me too. That said, I can see why people who commute daily for long periods on public transport may want to use headphones.

I admit also I don't like background music, so don't see why anybody would listen when doing something else important.

Same here.

 

[ernestcarl]

Well I suffer from tinnitus and find it unbearable to be in a space with only complete silence for extended periods. I'd rather turn on the fan or tap. I use noise generating apps like Noisli and the Alexa "Sleep Sounds" skill +(-) 8hrs just about every single day. Same in the bathroom... I have music playing, a podcast or an audiobook. In my office, I have several PC fans running left and right of my studio monitors. I can manually turn the extra fans off, but nah...

 

[BDWoody]

Well I suffer from tinnitus and find it unbearable to be in a space with only complete silence for extended periods. I'd rather turn on the fan or tap. I use noise generating apps like Noisli and the Alexa "Sleep Sounds" skill +(-) 8hrs just about every single day. Same in the bathroom... I have music playing, a podcast or an audiobook. In my office, I have several PC fans running left and right of my studio monitors. I can manually turn the extra fans off, but nah...

Feel for you on the tinnitus thing...

The quieter the ambient noise, the more that sound dominates everything. I almost always have something going to offset it.

 

[BDWoody]

Speak up, I can't hear you.

In all seriousness, yes, being deaf presents a greater hazard since one of the senses commonly used to avoid accidents is missing or impaired. OTOH, people who are either lifetime deaf or have been deaf a very long time have learned to cope with it and use other senses in ways we people with good hearing haven't developed. Ditto the blind- I have a couple of blind friends who are amazing at navigating around and sensing obstacles, where if you blindfolded me and put me in the same situations, I'd be a disaster.

I have wondered if the blind who have trained themselves to use echolocation might be interesting to enlist in hearing tests. I wonder if the fine tuning of the brain required to accomplish this remarkable feat would be reflected consistently in the types of tests we often give ourselves.

I am consistently amazed by the brain's ability to sort things out...

 

[ernestcarl]

Feel for you on the tinnitus thing...

The quieter the ambient noise, the more that sound dominates everything. I almost always have something going to offset it.

Thing is, even with all the fans ON, I can still hear ringing in my ears. I feel like it's kind of (mildly) the sound of crickets pulsating in the backround sometimes. haha

I actually got it after years of loud IEM use. I don't use IEMs now for the most part. Just speakers over ear cans (e.g. HD650) and I've calibrated them, windows, and just about every app's volume level not to exceed 78 dB continuous -- *although, I generally listen -12 dB to -18 dB when not listening to electronic music. Volume leveling for spotify and jriver as well.

Been testing out "AppAudioConfig" in windows for a few days now to adjust the volume of different app procesess en masse. Seems to work -- but sometimes it fails when a brand new browser process pops up occasionally. That kind chrome/firefox shit shenanigan just makes me go nuts!

 

[mackat]

A member mentioned in a post about looking odd walking around wearing large headphones.
Personally my hearing is a very important for sensing my environment when out and about and I certainly would feel very vulnerable walking on a street wearing headphones yet I see lots of people in towns doing so.
I think it is stark raving bonkers, and even worse if riding a bike, which I have also seen. I believe wearing headphones whilst driving a car is considered dangerous driving and likely to prosecution, quite rightly IMO.
What do others do/think?

I'd like to think I'm able to be aware enough of my surroundings that I can wear headphones while walking around. Of course, there are likely areas where this would be unwise. If you wear headphones while riding a bike, they should ideally be a model that lets you still hear ambient noises. Wearing headphones while driving is indeed dangerous and illegal in most, if not all, US states (if I'm not mistaken).

 

[Soniclife]

A member mentioned in a post about looking odd walking around wearing large headphones.
Personally my hearing is a very important for sensing my environment when out and about and I certainly would feel very vulnerable walking on a street wearing headphones yet I see lots of people in towns doing so.
I think it is stark raving bonkers, and even worse if riding a bike, which I have also seen. I believe wearing headphones whilst driving a car is considered dangerous driving and likely to prosecution, quite rightly IMO.
What do others do/think?

I wear IEMs whilst commuting, which incudes a 20 walk across the center of London. I don't feel any more at risk, but I've trained myself to check and recheck when crossing the road.

The only safe way to cross in London is by confirming that nothing can hit you, and there are no blind spots, the most dangerous things are cyclists in my experience, who you won't hear most of the time anyway.

All of my near misses recently have been when not wearing them, suggesting you can get false confidence. I'd say taking to someone else is more dangerous as your concentration to easily drifts, doing so on the phone is much worse. The mobile phone proved a long time ago that it's a rare human that can walk and talk.