Music Designed for Running

High-intensity, cadence-based music designed specifically for running.

Running with Music: Quest for the Perfect Gear - Headphones - Form Factor

in the category: Gear

Need the perfect headphones for running to music? Read on!

John Frenette is the Founder of Hella Sound Running Music. He’s obsessed with sound, and is an avid matchmaker between running and music.
Tweet him up at @HellaSound.

So we started with a plan: Running with Music: Quest for the Perfect Gear; from there we went into an overview of headphones for running to music, and touched on The Cardinal Rule. Today we're getting to the nitty gritty, discussing headphone form factor, and how it relates to running with music.

	Full-Size Studio Headphones A mainstay in audiophile, recording and engineering circles, they accurately reproduce recorded sound. Unfortunately, they're designed for non-sweaty stationary use, and are far too cumbersome for running. Factor in the cost (which tends to be high), and full-size studio headphones are eliminated from the list of running headphones, earning them the big red "X".
	In-Ear Studio Headphones Also earning the "X" are in-ear studio headphones; while quality models sound as good as their full-sized studio cousins, they are not designed for sport applications. Would you want to sweat all over—and probably ruin—a $1,200.00 pair of headphones? I didn't think so.
	On-Ear Headphones A descendent of the original Walkman-style model are the on-ear headphones, designed specifically with sports in mind. The speaker sits over the ear, outside of the ear opening, and are held in place with clips or over-the-ear hooks. This once-ubiquitous form factor has given way in recent years to earbuds, but are still a common option.
	Earbuds Currently the most popular form factor, earbuds sit inside the ear. They may or may not have attachment options, and are frequently kept in place by pressure alone.

I personally believe the best choice for running headphones are the on-ear form factor. The reasons are several:

1. The on-ear, external speaker allows environmental sounds to come through unfiltered, conforming to the Cardinal Rule.
2. On-ear, external speaker headphones will not cause the occlusion effect. Stoppering up the ear with an earbud, particularly one that has a tight silicon fitting, will send all sorts of unwanted noise to your eardrum, and that drives me completely bonkers.
3. I believe audio is more accurately received when the headphone speaker is sounding outside the user's ear, or on-ear. This may be a contentious point. External positioning allow the ear's structure to gather and assist in articulating sounds transmitted from the headphone speaker.
4. Further, a given in-ear earbud may possibly give a better frequency response than a given on-ear in a controlled setting, but constant movement and sweat unseat earbuds easily, disrupting the "perfect fit" required to receive the ideal frequency response.
5. Another potentially contentious point: I believe the slightly larger on-ear speakers and drivers do a better job representing bass frequencies than the smaller in-ear earbud varieties, especially at lower price points. On-ear headphones have slightly more mass, which may assist in allowing the lower frequencies to be voiced. Also, lower frequencies do require some space to develop; truly low frequencies (40Hz and below) require feet—not millimeters—to cycle.
6. Tight-fitting, stoppering earbuds, as mentioned, create the occlusion effect. I hate that. Non-stoppering earbuds will do this to a lesser degree; since they're not blocking external sound, they allow environmental noise to filter through—which, as I've mentioned, is a good, safe thing. Unfortunately, some folks decide to drown out external sounds by ramping up the volume, which is a bad thing.

Earbuds can be an economical choice (every iPod comes with a set). They are also less conspicuous than the uglier on-ear external headphone, which may be important to some of us.

I have run with some earbud models and liked them quite a bit, but all things considered, the on-ear external is the way to go.

Next up for running music headphones is attachment options, or how to keep the suckers in place.

Related Articles

• Running Music BPM: An Open Letter to Runner’s World
• Music and Athletic Performance
• Stride Rate Finder: Find Your Stride Rate the Easy Way

Leave a Comment

Let's keep it polite and on topic.