DocAndersen
If you had asked me, 60 days ago, what was the one thing you used every day from a technology perspective that was critical I would have, then told you it was my laptop? Now I suspect I would have to argue it is my headset. I have one for my home computer and one for my work computer, the reason for two is that they both connect to a USB dongle (USB device that connects to your computer). I had three, but I gave one to my poor wife, who is on a lot of calls now and needed a headset. Earbuds and wired headphones are beautiful, but there is someone about not being tethered to the phone or computer that makes a wireless headset more powerful.
My wife now has my two ears, ANC headphones that connect to the cell or computer. I have one ear headset connected to my work computer. It may just be my thing, but I do like being able to stand up, and not worry about that connected cable. I also like the concept of automatic noise-canceling capabilities for ANC. I remember when I was flying all the time, the difference between headphones and noise-canceling headphones made all the difference in the world, when you have ANC, the noise of the plane (car or sometimes now inside my own house goes away, the other thing is that earbuds, like the ones that ship with your phone, hurt my ears.
So, 50 or so days into lockdown, I still use my computer, but I use my earphones a lot more now than I did in the past. As a really quick tutorial, the types of headphones are listed below
- Wired earbuds (connected by a wire, fit inside your ear)
- Wireless earbuds (no wires, fits in your ear)
- Wired Over the ear (covers the ear, one ear or two) has a wire connecting to the device
- Wireless over the year (covers one or two ears and no wires)
The one feature that makes all the difference is ANC. Also, wireless heads often come with a pre-connected USB dongle that makes using the headset easy!
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Question of
are you doing a lot of conference or telephone calls now?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
do you prefer wired headphones?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
or do you prefer wireless head phones?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
in the ear? (earbuds)
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Yes
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No
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Question of
or over the head (headphones)_
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Yes
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No
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I’ve been using a pair of wireless earbuds for quite a while now. It’s quite convenient and subtle. With wireless, I can leave my phone and walk around within a 10-meter radius.
However, with the new norm coming, I might get into teleconferencing more often, thus I might need an over the ear headphone.
i have both in the ear and over the ear. I use the over the ear virtually every day. For me it is a balancing act sometimes I need to be able to type when on a conference call (taking notes) so wireless is the only way to go.
I do have one wired over the ear headset that i use when I go to the office!
Over the ear is more safer toward the eardrums all depending on the quality of the pads.
What is quite humorous to me is the ANC in South Africa is the most annoying political party for the local democrats. LMFAO
i realized that a few months ago and laughed then. interesting how initials matter differently in different parts of the world!
Between Trump and the ANC I am fully entertained all the time.
glad you are getting entertainment from political news!
Comedy is therapeutic so why should we go see a therapist or pay for Netflix when we live shows?
i can understand that, i don’t find a lot of fun in politics now.
The anti tech in me tried using them back when there wasn’t an earbud. Just the over the head kind, I didn’t like them, they would fall off my head, slip down. Then earbuds came out. That was horrible. I didn’t like things in my ears. I think that was back in the walkman era. My son did just pick up a pair of wired ones for my grandson though. He likes them, but you cannot get his attention unless you walk up and touch him. I wasn’t even aware they had wireless ones.
the wireless ones work really well. i use mine every day!
I don’t like headphones, but I have a wireless blue tooth device which I use to listen to music when I am doing chores around the home. I prefer this to my old wired headphones.
so do i! which wireless type do you have (earbuds or over the hear) and what brand?
Hi Doc,
I prefer using headphones at times when working at the computer and listening to music. When I listen to my mp3 I use the headphones and only plug the cord into the mp3. When working at the computer I put the cord of the headphones into the computer and listen to music other than mp3.
That is the same model my kids use! I am stuck on many conference calls during the day, so i tend to listen to music on the speaker in my office.
Thanks for stopping by!
Q: ARE YOU DOING A LOT OF CONFERENCE OR TELEPHONE CALLS NOW?
Yes (2 votes) – 29%
No (5 votes) – 71%
Q: DO YOU PREFER WIRED HEADPHONES?
Yes (1 votes) – 17%
No (5 votes) – 83%
Q: OR DO YOU PREFER WIRELESS HEAD PHONES?
Yes (2 votes) – 50%
No (2 votes) – 50%
Q: IN THE EAR? (EARBUDS)
Yes (2 votes) – 40%
No (3 votes) – 60%
Q: OR OVER THE HEAD (HEADPHONES)_
Yes (1 votes) – 20%
No (4 votes) – 80%
thanks to everyone that responded to the survey!
You are very welcome Doc.
thanks so much! I am always curious about how people use their computers, phones and other devices for media!
The only way to find out is to ask Doc and glad I could help out.
that is very true – it is a topic that I’ve covered in the past, but got very different responses a year ago.
Covid-19 has changed how many use computers.
I am finding Doc that there are too many using the internet during this crisis and it is harder to get into things. I will be happy when we can go out and go places and return to things so less will be tying up the internet.
internet traffic is up by more than 100% over the past 50 days! double the traffic. The busiest phone call day in the US is Mother’s day.
we’ve been operating at mother’s day phone call levels since April 1.
Here people use the internet for other reasons like if they cannot go to their lectures or learn Torah they will do it on the internet. I am not sure if they are going back to the Yeshivas or not.
that is the reality now – normally the internet is a bell curve, going down on Monday (as more people are at “work” or school. that is a reduced network footprint as there are more people in a small place sharing a set amount of total internet traffic.
now you have everyone at home, and with religious, educational and other facilities not open you have many people connecting, that in the past didn’t use the internet often at all.
Huge traffic bump!
Headphones and I don’t get on well. I have never had wireless so I can’t say anything about them.
i like wireless headphones a lot. I tear up the wired earbuds all the time.
when I was running, back in the day when there weren’t wireless headphones, I went through a pair of wired earbuds every month!
The wires can be annoying indeed but I always forget to charge things, lol.
i have a backup wired headset for situations like that!
We have a generation of people who will suffer deafness in the ears because the sound in the ear devices is far too loud. Most people who go slowly deaf can be identified by their loud speech because they can no longer hear as well
I am for something plugged in the wall that is loud enough to hear to respond to while walking or doing work.
Not only deafness a danger, but many have had but not been proven brain cancers connected to the ear, or tumours..
One should go forward on this with caution.
that is one of the reasons that I much prefer the over the ear headsets. They do not go into the ear and you have significantly reduced risk!
thanks – all good points!
Yes, even then you have to check the level of noise…
that is why ANC is so critical it reduces the volume requirement for the headset and it reduces the external noise.
(planes for example are very loud!)
I skipped the last two questions because it depends on the call! Sometimes I want to be free to roam, even if I shouldn’t. I have one friend who is so loud and makes such odd noises. I just put her on speaker and go to the next room then I can kind of understand it all better.
i have done the same thing myself
I use the phone more for “home use” (chatting with friends, calling doctors ….)
sadly so do I, just hour long conference calls!
We make video calls with the children and grandchildren almost every day. I only use headphones when I travel. That way I don’t bother others when I listen to music.
that is a good way to be my friend!
I can’t say I have ever used a wireless earphone. I have thought about buying it but changing my mind about it.
I always like to feel things the reason I prefer the wired ones. With wired headsets, I prefer using them indoors though I don’t have one for now.
that is interesting, i wear inside and outside, but I have wireless ones.
I will try the wireless sometime when things get better.
there are so many brands out there now, the cost has continued to fall!!! i like the Jabra, but again my focus is more on conference calls so I need to have ANC.
I have done several video calls lately. But I don’t use a headset.
lots of people do not i think my ears would fall off if I held the phone to my ear for 8 hours a day
I do not envy you with that many phone calls.
it is frustrating at times, I am listening to one right now