Workshop headphones

Kind-of workshop tooling, anyway!

I like to listen to the radio and/or streaming music while working in the workshop. However, with a number of tools I need ear defenders - for the dust extractor/vacuum cleaner, if not the machine itself. While browsing in a local electrical shop earlier today I saw a range of wireless headphones and I was wondering if I could find something with enough acoustic isolation to protect my hearing while listening to radio, etc, and at the same time allow enough sound through to enable me to hear the cutting operation - even with CNC cutting, the sound it makes gives a useful guide to how cutting is going.

I was wondering if anyone has gone down this path already, and if anyone has any comments to make. Needs to be wireless to avoid trailing leads, I think, and be able to plug into a standard 3.5mm jack socket. Mains power available.

Thoughts?

If you search the net for "wireless ear defenders" you will find quite a range.

I have a pair of radio ear defenders which I use at car racing, especially Le Mans, for the commentary. work well and let enough of the car noise through to not feel totally isolated. I have a bluetooth speaker in the workshop which has a DAB radio and can take an SD card or USB stick so I can choose what I want to listen to. This afternoon it was Sandy Denny and the Incredible String Band

Hi when at work, I had a pair of Peltor Headphone / ear defenders with noise cancelling microphone so I could make calls when near noisy machinery and as a bonus I could listen to music on my mobile phone as well. Provided by work.

David

Ironically, at the film studios, H&S state personal stereos are NOT encouraged in the workshops as you can't hear if machinery is running or shouted warnings from others. I should add that it is almost universally ignored.

Plus 1 for Sandy Denny. A good choice of music.

A search for Bluetooth ear defenders throws up a lot of suggestions. I wonder if they also work the other way, protecting commuters from the wearer's choice of music?

Brian

In a single-user workshop, hearing other machines is not really an issue, but I don't want to go as far as full noise-cancelling headphones because I do want to hear the machine in front of me! And the phone if my wife calls me to say that the kettle's boiled!I tried a pair of full noise-cancelling cans a few years ago - like sitting in an anechoic chamber - very weird sensation. I believe that the French officially ban headsets in motorcycle helmets, presumably so that you can hear the horns of motorists around you but I wear ear plugs on the bike (or I wouldn't be able to hear anything after a few hours) and are deaf riders banned as well? Sometimes the rules don't make a lot of sense...

One of my favourite workshop listening items is by Fairport Convention, starting with a track by Sandy Denny. Does that count?

There seems to be quite a few commercial workshop-type wireless ear defenders, but at quite a price compared with the "domestic" versions. Might be because the domestic versions don't come with specs for noise reduction, as that's not their official purpose? The reason I started this thread was to find out if anyone had experience of using the domestic versions - for example, Panasonic and Sennheiser make them with dedicated wireless base stations (as my favourite workshop radio does not do Bluetooth and adding an adaptor seems a bit more complicated).

How about using foam earplugs to attenuate the noise and a pair of wireless headphones for the music or entertainment of your choice? In the days before helmets took noise insulation seriously I found foam earplugs made motorcycling much more relaxing, the first time I used them was quite dramatic but your ears soon adjust to the sound reduction. I have found Schuberth helmets to be very good at sound reduction but on a long ride use plugs as well.

Mike

Noice cancelliing headphones should not stop all sounds, only filter specific audio frequencies and still allow you to hear some. (The use of headphones while driving a car is not allowed).

My Bose QC35s have adjustable noise cancelling levels but do not completely block out all sounds. You can still hear voices and other sounds at a reduced level. Our hardware shops in Australia (Bunnings) sell Tactix Bluetooth Earmuffs which are noise cancelling for $69. Both can be paired to devices with Bluetooth. The Tactix has built in FM radio.

I assume you are on your own so not hearing others isn't a big issue.

It depends if you are dealing with 'nuisance' noise or having to keep out potentially damaging noise.

I have some really nice ear defenders and earplugs but very little I do makes a noise enough for me to need these.

If it's just the machining noise spoils the music, then consider some old fashioned closed earpiece headphones. These are quite good at keeping out extraneous noise but not as 'rad' as your beats

I should listen to headphones more; my cheap Goodmans bluetooth ones sound remarkably good to my jaded ears. I just wish I could go to sleep wearing them

Neil

I use earplugs when angle grinding, but I'd never use headphones in the workshop. One, the music would be a distraction which could prove fatal. Two, I use the motor and cutting sounds to confirm that things are going well, or are starting to go wrong, especially on the CNC mill where I'm not watching it all the time.

Andrew

I have never found a need for headphones in the workshop. I have a Roberts DAB wireless which is permanently tuned to Classic FM but lately I have found the moronic advertising to be annoying and distracting so the "gadget" is for the most part these days switched of. I do hum a little though.

Rik

I have Phonak in-ear speaker hearing aids for both ears which boost my top end spectrum. I was issued with a neck loop inductive coupler for these which is Bluetooth connected to a base transmitter. The base was connected to the TV line audio output set to my comfort level. This reduced domestic strife when the audio from the TV speakers was incompatible with our joint enjoyment levels.

I was impressed by the performance of the in ear devices as these are not isolated to the ambient sounds and I could hold a conversation while listening to the TV audio. There was also a large mute button on the neck loop receiver to completely kill the incoming audio feed (the 'Mcintyre Mute'. The range of the Bluetooth is sufficient to allow for bathroom runs mid program while still keeping up with the program audio.

I was sufficiently impressed that I bought a second base unit and neck loop for the workshop. In the workshop I have an audio source switching box that allows either TV, radio (FM and DAB) or IPOD audio to be routed to the base unit. I can go about normal workshop activity without losing audio from the base and without losing hearing of ambient sounds. If I have a very noisy activity, my normal industrial ear defenders slip over the top of the in ear devices. And yes I wear the neck loop inside my shirt and my overall against my skin with my safety boots, wearing safety glasses, hi viz jacket, wash my hands before eating biscuits and drinking tea etc etc.

That aside and prior to the above being necessary, I used the same audio source switching box feeding a Band II low power modulator to give local radio coverage in the workshop. The signal was received on a freebee low sensitivity single channel Band II receiver with foam ear buds obtained at a golf tournament for on course commentary. This allowed simultaneous ambient and program listening. And yes I wore this inside my shirt and my overall etc etc etc.

Unless you happen to be of the fairer sex you will no doubt have been forcefully, at some point or other, made aware that as a male we are incapable of multi-tasking. Given the source of this revelation it must be true so it is perhaps pointless to listen to something while doing something else that demands thoughtful attention (including the source of the revelation ...). If however you are trying to stave off dementia by undertaking learning something such as a foreign language it is surprising how much you absorb as background audio tuition while destroying metal (while wearing your overalls, safety boots, safety glasses etc etc).

Alan

My hearing aids are Bluetooth - Its a bit late for ear defenders now !!!

I sometimes use my Bose Quitecomfort 35 (series II) wireless noisecancelling headphones in the workshop. They are amazing and give great sound whilst dulling (but not eliminating) the noise of machinery etc. Maybe worth a look?

I agree with comments above though, generally I prefer unencumbered hearing in the shop....

Clearly, a wide range of personal views - who would have expected that from this forum!

There is a broad division between "no distractions" and "background music or speech radio as accompaniment". I'm in the latter group - I find that quietly singing along to familiar music, for example, is sometimes an aid to concentration while watching a machine as it stops my mind wandering on to other things, and I can just stop listening when required.

The other broad division comes down to need for ear protection. For me, lathe work or hand work at the bench is relatively quiet - no ear protection needed, background radio adequate. Milling machine - noisier, ear protection not needed, but too loud to hear radio. CNC router - similar to milling machine, quite often, until I turn on vacuum cleaner/dust extractor when hearing protection needed. Given that a run on this machine could be 30-60 mins, that's the situation I had in mind - standing there machine-minding while the electronics does its thing is rather tedious, does not need high levels of concentration especially with repetitive use of a tested tool path, and radio or whatever helps entertain.

Thanks for all comments, and some useful pointers to go and explore.

Re: "Unless you happen to be of the fairer sex you will no doubt have been forcefully, at some point or other, made aware that as a male we are incapable of multi-tasking. Given the source of this revelation it must be true"

To that hypothesis*, I encountered this riposte on the web t'other day:-

"Women are always bragging about being able to multi-task... it's really just a side effect of their complete inability to make up their mind".

(Not yet enlightened SWMBO with it however).

* defn:-"a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation."

Me too. I have to be careful what I listen to though. Music (which I don't particularly care for), helps me concentrate. Pop is best. Jazz irritates me, Rap annoys, and quite a lot of Classical music distracts by being boring. Music that causes an emotional response is best avoided, driving a lathe in tune to 'Ace of Spades' isn't smart. Speech radio is very distracting apart from Sport - because I'm not interested, it's just background waffle. Anything else and I concentrate on the radio rather than the job.

This might boil down to 'don't listen to anything you care about'.

One thing we probably all agree, whatever your preference in the matter, is that all news and discussion about Brexit is infuriating. If you think Brexit is a good thing you have to hear that delivery is a buggers muddle. If you think Brexit is a bad idea you have to hear there is no alternative. Being worried, frustrated and annoyed causes mistakes. Keep Brexit out of the workshop!

The main reason I don't wear headphones in the workshop is they stop me hearing the doorbell. Missed a few deliveries that way, Grrr.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 04/01/2019 13:46:58