Aftershokz Trekz Titanium - Sound through brand and leg

Bone conduction is the magic word of the hour and not Bluetooth or wireless. Even though the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium do without a cable and only one correctly spelt word in the product name, this is by no means the most interesting part of the headphones. What makes the Trekz really exciting is the fact that they want to make a radically new design acceptable, namely bone conduction technology.

Your body as a loudspeaker

Have you ever heard a recording of your voice? Sounds awful, doesn't it? The reason why you sound very different to others than you do to yourself is that your voice also sounds in your head. In technical terms, the audio signal generated by your vocal chords causes parts of your head to vibrate, which internally generates a second audio signal that is passed on to your hearing.

This feature of your skull is utilised by bone conduction. A device, such as a hearing aid or headphones, causes your bone mass in the skull to vibrate, which creates so-called sound impressions. In other words, the illusion of sound where there is actually none. To put it simply, it is a kind of spoofing of the internal audio signal with remote sound injection.

The technology is used in hearing aids and in the military. But mainly in microphones that fit close to the body, because if you're in a hail of bullets, you don't necessarily want a headset wobbling around in front of your face.

It was only a matter of time before bone conduction was used in consumer electronics on a mass scale. Voilà, Aftershokz Trekz Titanium.

Headphones

Shokz Trekz Titanium

6 h, Wireless

65

Headphones

Shokz Trekz Titanium

6 h, Wireless

65

Headphones

Shokz Trekz Titanium

6 h, Wireless

65

Headphones

Shokz Trekz Titanium

6 h, Wireless

65

Until now, headphones were, to put it very simply, speakers that you either put over your ear or stuck in your ears. Of course, there's much more to it than just a shrunken box, but from a technological point of view, we're talking about comparable technology here. Aftershokz puts an end to this. The American manufacturer is launching headphones that rely on bone conduction.

The technology is set to revolutionise the headphone market, if we are to believe the manufacturer's advertising material. Especially when it comes to athletes, the Trekz Titanium are not only a new sound dimension, but can also save lives under certain circumstances.

New technology, new brand, new experience when listening to music. How can I resist a test?

The wiggle in the cheeks

Putting on the Trekz is a new experience in itself. This is because the parts that look like they're going into your ears only rest on the skin in front of your ear. "No chance of that sounding good. Or work at all," I think to myself. Sure, I understood the technology, studied the instruction manual and the manufacturer's website and spoke to my colleague Dimitri Pfluger about the device. I know that the Trekz will work, but purely out of habit, which I have gathered over two decades of listening to headphones, I don't believe it.

"Battery full," a woman mumbles into my ear from the headphones. Apart from the fact that the voice isn't particularly clear, I don't notice anything unusual. However, this should not speak against the headphones. Due to the very small internal memory of some headphones, the voice announcements are usually compressed to such an extent that sound quality is lost. This is a deliberate decision by the manufacturers, as every byte used by anything other than music or playback software can affect battery life, which is one of the most important factors in the industry, along with others.

The music begins.

Sounds like music. Definitely. In terms of sound quality, the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium are nothing special, neither loud nor quiet. They are solidly average. They are suitable as workout headphones depending on your workout. In terms of volume, however, they work well because I can easily block out the whole environment, even when my ears are completely free.

By the way, the environment hears what I'm listening to when I turn up the volume. In short, it can be said that if I am not aware of the environment, then it is listening. If I can still hear the environment, then it can't hear my music.

This is the beginning of the phase in which the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium confuse me.

This doesn't make any sense

The promotional material states that the Trekz Titanium can fill your ears with music, but still allow you to perceive the outside world. In other words, they put the outside world on standby unless something acoustically important happens. This works up to a certain volume, about 70 per cent of the maximum volume. But until then, I can still hear the outside world. Anything above that completely blocks out the outside world, no matter how loud it is out there.

Furthermore, the Trekz are comfortable and suitable for sports. I have tried them out and can confirm this, except for a few exercises. As soon as you have to lift something above your head, as clean-and-press or squats, where the weight is behind your head near the earpiece of the earphones.

With the squat, the problem is obvious, if somewhat irrational. The earpieces are not held together behind the head by a cable as with other models, but by a hard bracket. I came into contact with the weight once or twice. I don't like that at all, because I need full concentration for heavy squats and have to be able to rely on my immediate surroundings. Because if I'm carrying 140kg on my shoulders on a weeknight and then have to bend my knees, I have no room to worry about my headphones.

Of course, here too: Logically, I know that the earphones can't get tangled anywhere, because the engineers at Aftershokz have gone to great lengths to make the Trekz as snug as possible. Emotionally, however, I wasn't comfortable with it.

If you thought I was already irrational, it's about to get even worse. Because in the Clean and Press, closely related to the Clean and Jerk linked above, I don't come into contact with the headphones at all. But because all the muscles under my head and everything around my head are moving, I'm a bit worried.

I'm generally not a fan of headphones or hats or glasses, especially when I'm doing exercises where I'm pressing weights over my head.

I think back to the promotional video, where outdoor athletes in particular are supposed to benefit from the Trekz. They don't press anything over their heads either. But they should also benefit from the fact that they can still perceive their surroundings. They can, but then the music is quiet. Just like with any other headphones. I don't understand who the Trekz are made for, or even why I should necessarily switch from normal headphones to the Aftershokz now.

The sound quality is not great, the advertised features are there but not as advertised by the manufacturer and as a strongman I gain nothing from the purchase. I discuss this with Dimitri Pfluger. He agrees with me that he doesn't quite see what the new technology brings. There's no doubt that it has potential, we all admit that. We just can't see for whom Trekz offers massive advantages.

But there is one thing we can all agree on: the six hours of battery life are definitely impressive.

Music for the deaf and blind

There must be someone for whom the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium are good, right? Okay, I'm a journalist. Hence: research. Because there must be someone somewhere who can tell me why the Trekz are supposed to change the world like this.

Emily Daigle aka Twitter user @buschic knows the answer. Not only is the Canadian so visually impaired that she is legally blind, but she is also enthusiastic about the Aftershokz products.

The Aftershokz are great for the hearing impaired and a lot of blind people LOVE them. I use them all the time

Logical! When you're blind, you rely a lot more on your hearing. You don't necessarily want to have any plugs in your ear canal, even if you turn the volume down with normal headphones

For some hearing-impaired and deaf people, technology becomes important. I mentioned at the beginning that hearing aids use the same technology as the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium. The second audio signal, which is generated in the head itself, can bypass a damaged ear canal. In other words, if one ear is damaged, a bone conduction hearing aid can possibly be used to redirect the sound from the damaged side to the good side by using the bone as a sound amplifier.

Because of the many things that may or may not work together in an ear, I must mention at this point that this statement is not absolute. Whether or not music enjoyment for the hearing-impaired is better with the Trekz depends on the individual hearing apparatus.

Your ear doctor or hearing aid specialist can probably give you more information on this topic. Reviews and voices on the Internet agree, however, that bone conduction headphones are a blessing for hearing-impaired people who enjoy listening to music. However, they are by no means a substitute for a hearing aid.

In short: As an audiophile, you probably won't particularly like the Aftershokz products. As an athlete, it depends a lot on what you train for. But as a hearing-impaired person, you might be very happy with the Trekz Titanium.

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