Music Designed for Running

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

Running with Music: Quest for the Perfect Gear - Headphones Overview

in the category: Gear

What features make headphones good for running?

John Frenette is the Founder of Hella Sound Running Music. He’s a runner, musician, and champion of all that is right and just. Well, regarding running music, anyway.
Tweet him up at @HellaSound.

You want sounds that stimulate and motivate you. You want to your running music to be in sync with your stride, driving you forward. You want to be energized.

Good running music does that. Our songs are at the perfect BPM for running, with driving rhythms and powerful motifs designed to lift you up and keep you going.

But how do you get the magic into your ears while you’re on the move?

For the running music enthusiast, headphones are the trickiest gear to get dialed in just right. Shoes take some trial and error, but sooner or later you find a pair that work well with your physiology and form—or you may even go barefoot. Finding the perfect earphones, however, is a constant battle.

I’ve gone through tons and tons of headphones over the last 5 or 6 years. I wish, in retrospect, that I kept detailed notes on each model. I’ve noticed from purchase to purchase that models come and go very quickly, and what I liked once may not be available again as manufacturers shift around and release new products.

Instead of just telling you specific models, I believe it would be even more helpful to share what features I’ve found particularly valuable, what strengths and weaknesses are, and why they’re better.

To help whittle this down, I’m breaking things up into smaller aspects to consider:

• Form Factor Probably the single most important aspect of headphone choice is form factor, or how it is designed to fit. Headphones as a whole have all sorts of different permutations: closed over-the-ear, open over-the-ear, on-ear, in-ear and earbuds.
  Unfortunately, the best sounding headphones are not practical for running—studio-quality headphones are expensive, cumbersome and are not designed to stay put while the user moves around. In-ear monitors can deliver incredible audio quality, but are designed specifically for studio applications. And really, would you run—and sweat all over— $1,200.00 headphones?
  This limits the field to in-ear earbuds and sport on-ear models.
• Attachment For lack of a better word, Attachment describes how the headphone is affixed to the user. Options include over-the-ear, behind-the-neck, and in-ear (with no additional support).
• Details Manufacturers try all sorts of things to differentiate their products. Ignoring the frivolous (like changeable color faceplates), these add-ons range from useful to innocuous to downright detrimental details worth discussing.

Over the next couple posts I’ll look at each aspect in detail, and share what I’ve found to be the ideal traits for running headphones.

As always, I welcome your input. If you’ve found a pair you love, tell us which ones, and why you love them—share your findings in the comments below. Don’t be shy!

Related Articles

• Running with Music: Quest for the Perfect Gear
• Running Music BPM: An Open Letter to Runner’s World
• In Defense of Running Music

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