What Should You Know When Wearing Headphones?

Why do my headphones always break?

It is a question which has only one answer: You.

That’s right; since most of us don’t know the correct way to wear headphones, our carelessness ends up breaking them. And while it is us who are at fault for their early demise, it is the manufacturers which end up getting all the blame.

Want a solution to this problem?

That’s where this article comes into play. By showing you the right way to wear headphones, it would prolong the shelf life of your earbuds. Consequently, you won’t have to spend money repeatedly purchasing the same pair.

The Harm For Wearing Headphones Incorrectly

Following some of the dangers you might encounter when you are wearing headphones the wrong way:

• False sense of direction when playing games – i.e. Call of Duty and Counter-Strike – and watching 3D movies.
• Poor listening experience as most music nowadays consist stereophonic sounds and sound panning which require you to wear headphones the correct way.
• Provided you haven’t worn them properly, headphones will keep falling out of your ear – especially if you are moving or exercising – hence depriving you of peace of mind.
• Pain in your ear; this factor comes into play if you’re a side sleeper who likes to go to sleep hearing music or watching movies.

The Correct Way of Wearing Headphones

Now that you’ve come to know the dangers of wearing headphones incorrectly, let’s turn our attention to the correct way of wearing various types of headphones.

How to Correctly Wear On-Ear and Over-Ear Headphones

On-ear and Over-ear headphones are those whose headband sits atop your head. Here’s how you can wear both these headphones correctly.

1. First of all, you need to connect them with your smartphone. You can do that by popping your headphone’s jack into your device’s audio input.
2. Next, check your headphones for “L” and “R” labels; which would be near the ear cups. Then, following those markings, wear the headphones in the corresponding ear.
3. Wear the headphones over your head. They should fit snugly and provide you aren’t comfortable, adjust the headphone’s band.
4. Make sure both the earcups cover your ears directly. If you are trying to wear an on-ear headphone, it will cover only your ear hole. Over-ear headphones, however, will cover the size of your ear.

Note: If you are wearing accessories like earrings or headbands, you might need to remove them to wear the headphones comfortably.

How to Correctly Wear In-Ear Headphones

Headphones which go directly into your ear – and sit atop your ear canal – are known as in-ear headphones. Here’s how you can wear them properly.

1. In-ear headphones have a squishing tip covering them; place this tip inside the hole of your left ear. Don’t push the tip in, just gently get it inside your place without placing it in.
2. Pull your earlobe down to widen your ear canal. Then, using your other hand, push the in-ear headphones’ tip into your ear canal. Then, to create a tight seal, release your earlobe.
3. Repeat the first three steps with your right ear. If you think that the fit isn’t comfortable, experiment with different tips which should have come in the package of the headphone. Always start with the smallest tip before making your way to the bigger ones.

How to Correctly Wear Earbuds

Most people assume – albeit incorrectly – that in-ear headphones are the same as earbuds. For, while in-ear headphones insert directly into your ear canal, earbuds hang from your ear-folds’ crevices.

1. First of all, check your earbuds for “L” and “R” labels. They indicate which earbud should go into which ear. However, if you don’t see a label, it means both the speakers can be put into either ear.
2. Hold the earbud from the point at which the wires enter into the plastic. Then, hook the earbud into your ear hole in such a way that your jawline and earbud’s plastic stem are aligned. That is, both of them should be in the same direction.
3. Repeat the 2nd step with your other ear hole. In both these steps, you don’t need to push the earbud into your ear canal. Instead, all you need to do is to gently hook it.
4. As is the case with in-ear headphones, earbuds also come with additional tips. You may turn to them if you think the current tip isn’t giving you a comfortable fit.

How to Correctly Wear Bluetooth Headphones

Although there are various types of Bluetooth headphones, we would focus here on the behind-the-neck ones. Here’s how you can wear them properly.

1. Start with passing the cable of the headphone over your ear and behind your neck. Remember, you don’t need to place the wire on your shoulders. The cable should, therefore, lie behind your ears.
2. Check the earbuds for “L” and “R” labels. If your headphones don’t have these labels, you can insert both of them into any ear canal.
3. Pick up the earbud, cross its cable over your ear and fit it into your ear canal. Make sure you’ve got a snug fit. However, if you don’t, experiment with different tips to get the perfect fit.
4. Provided your cable comes with a tightening mechanism, tighten it to get a better fit.

Mistakes to Avoid While Using Headphones

Below mentioned are the common mistakes which people make while using headphones, and how you can avoid them.

Wadding Up Wires

Want to know the best way to destroy your headphones? Mistreat its cable. Even when the drivers inside the headphone are working fine, the damage to cable acts as a death sentence. Consequently, you’ve no choice but to buy another pair.

Don’t want your headphones to meet the same fate? You have two options.

First, and if you want to avoid spending more money on headphones, make sure yours come with a removable/unpluggable cable. Granted, these headphones will cost more upfront. But they will save more in the long run.

Second, if your headphone doesn’t have a removable cable, you can prolong its shelf life by treating the cable the right way. That includes storing the cable in loops using a Velcro cable or twist-tie. Also, don’t store it in your jean’s back pocket because there is always a chance you might sit on it.

Confusing IP Ratings

An abbreviation for Ingress Protection, IP Ratings classifies the headphones on the basis of protection they provide against solid (dust) and liquid (water) particles. It consists of the letters IP followed by two numbers. The first digit indicates the level of protection your headphone will provide against solid particles. The second, meanwhile, denotes protection level against liquids.

What confuses people about IP Ratings are the terms “waterproof” and “water-resistant”. While most people think both these terms are the same, a careful glance over them enshrines their differences. A “waterproof” headphone is one you can take swimming. A “water-resistant’’, on the other hand, can only take short bursts of water without malfunctioning.

Not Using a Case

Regardless of whether you’re using wired or wireless headphones, you should always store them in a case. For, as far as wired headphones are concerned, their cables need to be stored in a properly looped form, one which only their case could provide.

As for wireless headphones, storing them in a cable is a sure-shot way to prevent them from breaking under your weight when you inadvertently sit on these headphones as they are “stored” in your back pocket.

To solve both the abovementioned problems, most headphones nowadays come in a case. However, if the package of your headphone didn’t include a case, buy it separately. Believe me, it will save you a good amount of money in the long run.

The Benefits For Wearing Headphones Correctly

At the start of this article, we told you the harms of wearing headphones incorrectly. Now, and after you’ve seen all the right ways to wear headphones, it’s time to show you why they are important.

• Wearing headphones the correct way provides a great stereo sound --which means you get better sound quality while watching movies
• Once you’ve worn them correctly, headphones would stay in place for a long time. Thus, since you don't  have to re-adjust them incessantly, you can focus better on other tasks.
• While playing games, wearing headphones the correct way will give you a better directional sense. It is especially true when you’re playing RPGs like CS or Call of Duty.
• Provided you’re into exercising, you’ve no choice but to wear headphones the right way if you don’t want to repeatedly adjust them.
• If you’re a side sleeper who likes to go to sleep while hearing music, a correctly positioned headphone won’t cause your ears to pain the next morning.

How to Wear Earphones With Glasses That Don’t Hurt?

As one might guess, there’s no novel way of wearing earphones for those of you who wear glasses. Instead, the abovementioned ways are all applicable in this scenario as well. Still, even after you’ve worn them the right way, headphones and glasses aren’t a perfect couple. That means wearing both of them at the same time might be uncomfortable.

Enter this section; which teaches you how to reduce the discomfort while wearing glasses and headphones together.

Go For Thinner Frames

It is a no-brainer that thinner-frames glasses obstruct headphones less than their thicker-frames counterparts. That is, because, the surface area of the frames – which presses against your scalp – will be much less in thinner frames glasses.

That, in turn, would reduce the pressure experienced on your ear cartilage and temporal bone. Therefore, if you already have glasses with thick frames, make sure your next pair has a thin frame. Otherwise, get ready for that excruciating pain on your scalp.

Stretch Your Headphones

Every headphone comes with a clamping force – the force which allows it to maintain its shape while forming a loop around your head. While this force is needed, too much of it can make you uncomfortable.

Therefore, one way to reduce the clamping force of your headphones is to stretch them. You can do the same by pressing together some books and then stretching the headphones over them. In this way, the clamping force would be loosened.

Beware, however, that you need to proceed with caution in this method; lest you end up breaking your headphones due to overstretching.

Go for Ear Paddings

When it comes to padded headphones, there’s a universal rule; the thicker the padding, the more comfortable the headphone. For, due to thick ear cushions, there will always be a buffer between the clamping force’s pressure and your ear.

However, since paddings come in all forms, we prefer ones which are made from memory foam. That is, because, memory foam has the ability to remember the shape of your ear. It means it would provide a good fit regardless of how many times you wear it.

What’s the Best Way To Wear Apple Headphones?

There are four ways to wear Apple headphones correctly. Let’s check all of them one-by-one.

1. Take the Apple headphone, hang it loosely in your ear and make sure the wires and extended pieces are facing downwards. This method would make sure you hear the surrounding noise and would reduce the number of bass your ear would have to bear with.
2. Push the headphone into your ear in such a way that while the wire and extended piece stand at a right angle to your ear, the speaker should be facing forward. In this way, you’d get maximum bass but zero awareness of the surroundings.
3. While this method is the same as number 2, the speakers will be facing backward here. In this way, you’d get no treble and the bass will be on the lower side.
4. If you want to get the best sound while sitting down, follow this method. Press the speaker against your outer ear and make sure the wires and earphones are facing up.

Conclusion

Want your headphones to deliver better sound quality? Have a desire that they last longer than the previous set you bought? Hoping to get rid of the ear pain which comes after wearing headphones for a long time? You can fulfill all these three wishes by following the instructions in this article.