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There is not a perfect set of headphones.
# Headphones I use
These are a few notes about the headphones I use, with pros/cons.
## Shokz OpenComm
These are my favorite headphones for remote work, meaning calls.
Shokz are bone conduction, meaning they do not go over your ear, or inside your ear, but rather sit on your temples.
They vibrate on near the bones in your ear.
This produces a strange sensation, but has many advantages (and disadvantages).
* These are the most comfortable headphones I have ever tested.
I can literally wear them for several hours and I do not notice I have them on.
They do not warm your ears, or exert pressure, or anything.
It's more similar to wearing glasses (and they do not interfere with wearing glasses).
The only issue with comfort is using them in bed, or when your head is resting on something.
* The sound quality is good for calls, but probably the quality for music can be criticized.
* They provide **NO** sound isolation whatsoever.
This is good, because you do not have to take them off to interact with people physically.
But this is bad, because you will hear any noise around you.
* However, they have a boom mic, meaning they avoid most background noise.
* The controls are minimal, a volume rocker and a call/hang up button.
Muting requires pressing volume up and down at the same time, which is not convenient, so normally I use software mute.
* They look very strange, and I don't feel comfortable wearing them on the street, etc.
* When I'm not using them, I charge them.
I have never run out of battery.
I use them with the Avantree DG80 adapter (see below) with my laptops, which avoids most Bluetooth issues, but still some issues remain.
## Mpow Air 2.4G
This is a cheap clone of the HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headset.
Those are over ear wireless headphones with a wireless USB adapter.
* Using USB does avoid **ALL** problems with USB.
They **always** work flawlessly with a computer, and sound quality is great.
However, they are impractical to use with a smartphone.
* They have great sound isolation, so they filter most noise.
However, you need to take them off to hear your surroundings, which is sometimes inconvenient.
* The microphone is very good.
However, some other gaming headsets mute the mic automatically when you move it "pointing up".
This has a dedicated microphone mute button, and a volume wheel.
* I find them uncomfortable, and I don't like wearing them for more than 30 minutes or so.
They are also bad for use in bed, etc.
* When I'm not using them, I charge them.
I have never run out of battery.
These headphones are great when I need to focus or when my environment is very noisy.
I use them mostly for work, esp. when I need to record my voice.
## Jabra Elite 85t
Those are true wireless earbuds.
* Music quality is very good.
* Microphone is bad.
It picks up a lot of wind and noise.
* They are quite comfortable.
Less than the Aftershokz, but I can wear them for long stretches, and I can use them in bed.
* The controls are a bit difficult to use, although they are physical buttons.
* They have some sound isolation and passthrough mode.
* They can play background noise.
* The battery is decent, but you will have to be more careful with running out of battery.
However, they have wireless charging, which is nice.
I'm somewhat concerned about battery degradation too.
I like using these to listen to music, or to watch TV.
## Cheap wired earbuds with microphone
I have two pairs I bought in a supermarket.
They have decent quality, they never run out of battery, and they have no connection issues or require no dongle.
They are nice backup, and they are good for calls.
I use them on the go, although one of my phones and my ChromeOS tablet require a USB adapter :(
I also use them plugged into my computer monitor, with an extension cable so I can plug/unplug them easily.
# Notes
## On form factors
I don't think it's possible for one headset to be good at everything:
* Calls
* Music
* Noise isolation vs environment awareness.
Headphones isolate or not.
Some isolating headphones have passthrough modes, but very few headphones can activate this immediately.
* Comfort
* Battery life
* Connection
* Easy and varied controls (mute, volume, etc.)
Some of those areas are at odds with others.
I use different headphones for different purposes.
## On microphones
The closest a microphone is to your mouth, the less noise it will pick up.
I do not have any indication that there are headphones whose microphone sits near your ears that do not pick up a lot of noise.
(My Jabra Elite 85t and the previous 65t pick up a lot of noise and wind.)
Headsets with a boom mic are much better if you need to speak in noisy environments.
## On Bluetooth and computers
I have heard many issues with Bluetooth and computers, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
I use an Avantree DG80 Bluetooth *sound* adapter.
This is not a regular generic adapter to add Bluetooth to computers that do not have Bluetooth.
This is a Bluetooth audio device that connects to headphones or other Bluetooth devices and appears in your computer as a USB audio device.
Therefore, the Bluetooth implementation in your computer is ignored.
The device provides its own codecs.
With this, you avoid most of the issues of Bluetooth on computers, which generally works worse than on smartphones.
Also, if you pair a Bluetooth headset with the adapter, you can plug the adapter to multiple devices and the headsets will "follow" the adapter, without requiring pairing.
This headset does not avoid all problems.
Notably, using the microphone requires the adapter to detect that your computer requests microphone use, and switching the Bluetooth mode.
This requires a few seconds.
However, the adapter has all the "good codecs", so most sound quality issues are avoided, even on Linux.
## On mute
Unfortunately, few combinations of headphones and software have integrated mute capabilities.
I don't like having separate mute controls:
* On the headset
* On the operating system
* On the "software" (like Google Meet, Teams, etc.)
It is inconvenient, because with so many controls it's easier to make mistakes and you are slower.
Software mute is good, because other people will see you are muted.
This means, for example, that when you unmute, people might notice that you want to speak, etc.
However, software mute requires interacting with the application, so it's not good for multitasking.
Some headset mutes have a LED light that indicates you are muted, but it's not great.
## On gaming controllers
The XBox controllers **with their USB adapter** and the Playstation controllers **when plugged into a Playstation console** allow you to plug a wired headset.
This is very nice, because they work very reliably and you avoid much of the wireless problems (connection, battery, etc.).
If you play a lot, it's nice to have controllers with this feature.
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