What cheap tool/gadget do you use that greatly improves your daily life?
What cheap tool/gadget do you use that greatly improves your daily life?
Just went down the aliexpress rabbit hole again. Theres really everythinf for some of really niche things that i wouldnt ever buy, but some things really do look appealing. I wonder what do you guys use daily thats worth lets say under $20
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Boneconduction earphones. They are cheaper than you think and I use mine to listen to music while swimming. Also great for music when you need to be able to hear to things around you (it doesn't block any external sound, so don't use in noisy environments)
it doesn't block any external sound, so don't use in noisy environments
It's actually because I work in a high noise environment that I got into bone-conduction headphones. They still work when you're wearing earplugs.
Nvr thought of that but wouldnt good earbuds with active noise canceling be better for you?
No, it wouldn't. When I say I work in a high noise environment I mean that I'm surrounded by enough machine noise that I wear ear plugs to protect my hearing. Active noise cancellation isn't a substitute for actual PPE. It'd be cool if it worked that way, but sadly not.
Bone conduction works great with earplugs though. The only minor downside is that earplugs make the bass frequencies stronger, so I need to open up the EQ settings and tweak things a bit if I'm listening to music, but that's not really a big deal. I'm usually listing to podcasts or audio books at work anyway.
I don't think that they would be able to cancel the noise of an industrial environment and it would end up being a case of blasting sound into your ears to try and cover up the noise.
These with ear protection saves your ears a lot more.
ANC plays the inverse of the soundwaves. So a loud noise isn't made safe, it is just made inaudible and just as loud and harmful.
They are not safety products, only sound deadening earplugs or muffs do that.
that's ... not how science works
:(
Don't the soundwaves cancel each other out?
Anyway my bigger fear would be a short hiccup or outright malfunction and suddenly you stand unprotected within loud machines.
They do, but not in the intuitive way one would think. They work because there's a passive seal around the hearing, thus the headphones only have to cancel the smaller amount of noise that gets into your ear, not the full loud noise outside in the environment. This is why ANC need to have mics inside your ears.
The problem is actually that the louder the noise, the louder the noise canceling would have to be. And at a certain point the passive seal cannot stop much of the outside noise, and if poorly designed, if the speaker tries to cancel that noise, it would be blasting massive soundwaves into your ears. But most consumer speakers can't achieve that and don't even try. So after a certain threshold, they won't work and can't help you with the noise. And the passive noise block is not even remotely good enough as a straight up earplug. So they are not considered protective gear, at least not the consumer devices, only aviation grade ANC is considered protective gear. But you'll see that they have massive ear cover,s with huge speakers and drivers, and elastic tensors on the headband to absolutely seal your ears and some truly state of the art audio processing that would make the most snob audiophile blush in envy.
They do make some of those for ground crews, construction sites and heavy machinery, but they insists that they are only effective if paired with a sound baffle earplug.
Noise cancelling earbuds or similar do not protect your hearing.
They do not make a loud noise quiet. It does not matter if they are working or not. All they do is make noise seem quiet, you are still being exposed to the same level of noise.
Do you have sources backing your claim?
Here is one backing mine: https://hillhearbetter.com/do-noise-cancelling-headphones-protect-hearing/
From your source:
While noise-canceling technology can effectively reduce the perception of external sounds, it does not necessarily eliminate the potential for hearing damage.
In noise-canceling headphones, a microphone captures external sounds, and the internal speaker generates a counteracting sound wave that is 180 degrees out of phase. This process effectively nullifies the external sound at ear level. However, it is important to note that the sound pressure from external noise sources still exists even with active noise cancellation in place.
Yes, but you said "seem quiet". No. It actually cancels the sound waves. So if it's quiet, it's quiet. The pressure is a different problem.
My greatest purchase of the last decade I reckon. I first tried them 9 years ago and since then I am onto my 6th pair, no because they break easily but simply because I use them for between 8 and 10 hours every single day.
I do a lot of running and cycling and they allow me to be aware of idiots in cars whilst being able to listen to music or books whilst I ride / run. I use them at work with ear defense in so I can still hear what my machine is doing.
They are light, comfortable and really just the best way to listen to stuff for me.
Do you use aftershokz?
Not OP but I do use AdterShokz! I bought them during Black Friday sale last year and love them! I also do a lot of running and cycling - very nice to have the background song playing while also being aware of my surroundings! I also do a lot of late night walks listening to podcasts - I feel much more comfortable knowing I could hear someone approaching me.
I listen when to music / podcasts doing chores around the house. My wife doesn’t realize alot of the times and starts talking to me and I miss first half of what she said. I told my wife when buying them I’d be able to hear her now! Turns out I listen too loud still and can’t comprehend what she is saying when first talking while headphones are still playing. So… don’t use that as buying excuse :)
I don't know if that is volume based though as I do exactly the same and even when the volume is down low it is like my brain is tuned into listen on that level and so I miss the first sentence of what is said from an outside source. At least I can hear they are there however!
They really are great for so many applications. I used to do Acid a lot more than I do these days and they were fucking great for a trip and out walking in the woods. I could have them on a good volume to soundtrack my walk but whilst also being able to hear nature around me. Just perfect for trippy walks.
I use a generic one from aliexpress, even the voice alerts are in chinese lol
Any particular brand you recommend?
When I looked into them, a lot of people seem to speak highly of Shokz/aftershokz. I haven't used them so can't make a personal recommendation.
One thing to note is that if you want them for swimming you need to get ones with built in storage bc Bluetooth can't really penetrate water
Thanks for the excellent tip, never would have occurred to me that water would cause a problem for the Bluetooth signal!
No idea, I bought a generic one on aliexpress that is 'good enough', wouldnt recommend