Bone Conduction Headphones

(sigh) This is another product that was among my *unintelligible screaming ranting tirades* years ago. When ear buds first gained popularity, I was completely and utterly baffled as to why anyone would use them willingly. I would explain the cons, and then go on and on (and on.. and on..) about how we hear, and alternative methods of "hearing" that would provide nearly the same experience. This is one of those. I wanted to create this product, but a few people said it already existed, but would be too expensive (at that time). Ah well.

For live playing, I think any solution will come down to how much one is willing to compromise, and for what benefit. I am waiting for cybernetics and nanotech implants :D
 
I'm quite interested in this, and would like to know if the technology made enough progress to have real potential.

I had read some rather negative comments on the BCH, but they were written in 2009, and relating to one specific brand/model (Teac HP-F100). That particular review indicated they were stunningly superb at low volumes, but things got really nasty once you increased levels:

So far, so good; but what happens as the music gets louder, or if you turn up the volume? Well, quite a lot - but regrettably none of it good. Firstly, moving though the broad realm of mezzo-piano, the sound starts to fray around the edges, what my wife was later to describe as “a bit fizzy”. Thereafter, distortion increases rapidly, the sound quickly degenerating into ever-more indistinct mush, and the more complex the texture, the more mushily indistinct it is. By the time the level has gone up to anything even approaching a robust double-forte, the noise is almost unbearably harsh and confused, and the less said about Shostakovich firing on all cylinders, the better.

Matters are made worse by transient break-up, which in particular affects tympani or bass drum beats. This effect was very well illustrated on Mercury’s original monaural LP of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. In the sound sample of the cannon firing directly towards the microphone, you hear, not a mighty “boom”, but an emaciated, splintered “crack”, the result of severe sound-pressure overload.

Read more: Bone Conducting Headphones Paul Serotsky- November 2009 MusicWeb-International

Hopefully, others will chime in (with more recent experience with the technology). Certainly, I would need my headphones to have adequate performance at more than just very low volumes. I am not one to blast my ears with loud headphones music, but I need enough dynamic range to accurately represent the source material.
 
Did the tiniest bit of digging and found out they just released the bone rockers at ces 2012 (last month!) so heres hopin its come a long way. Probably gonna pick some up next month.
 
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