So currently I have some decent analog headphones from sennheiser that I use when I spend all day staring at the computer for my email job. Unfortunately I recently moved right near a big ass radio tower and it blasts some talk news show into my apartment so now there is NPR voice muttering in my ear whenever I put my headphones on. This is obviously a ploy by the deep state to instill the understanding that Venezuela must be bombed for world peace. I refuse to go that easily so I need to figure out a solution. Analog is out since I don’t think any amount of RF shielding will work and I don’t want to spend my time chasing down leaks. Who knew those zillion dollar audiophile shielded cable people had real concerns.
I guess the options are either bluetooth or USB/digital headphones? Bluetooth is ehhhhh since I’m on Linux. I would also like “open ear” headphones if possible, since I don’t like to be shut off from the world & general happenings in the apartment. Open ear also lets me hear my own voice so I can speak a lot more naturally during video calls. So something like that, max cost maybe $250 new and ideally something I could get used off ebay for around $100. Also something that does not look dorky as hell so I can reasonably be seen wearing it on work calls. Any recs?
I’m not an expert here but I’m pretty sure whoever owns that tower (or the station broadcasting on it anyways) has a responsibility to send a radio engineer if you complain about this kind of interference and try and offer you some sort of solution like ferrite chokes on your headphone cable or more drastic measures. They might at the end shrug and say there’s nothing they can do but I believe they’re required to investigate and attempt to remediate it.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this and I’m even more sorry to laugh at your problem here, but the way you’ve described this is so fucking funny.
One thing I can add is that a lot of usb headphones just have a USB DAC and then are right back to analog along the wire to the headphones (read: antenna). Especially since you’re considering eBay where you may not be able to return them, that will probably be worth thinking about for any wired set.
Wireless “gaming” (ie usb dongle wireless for low latency rather than Bluetooth) is probably what I’d look for in your situation, although finding open ear wireless “gaming” headphones might be a really small niche to be shopping in.
If you want a much more fun but admittedly janky tinfoil hat solution, you could try finding wire mesh netting to wrap around the cable and faraday cage it. Even if the station is FM and you do a perfect job of wrapping it there’s still gonna be signal getting through on the ends of the cable (unwrapped by necessity), but especially if you ground the mesh somehow it might block enough of the signal that you wouldn’t notice the rest.
Either way, good luck with this lol
That is good to know about the USB DAC, thanks!
I was very surprised yo find out how good Bluetooth in Linux, especially compared to Windows. I could connect the phone to my computer and use it as an additional screen yo watch podcasts. This was way back in 2017. It has gotten better since then as well
I’m sorry, what? I didn’t know it had this feature! What’s the app or whatever?
Just as an anecdote, both new and old Samsung earbuds have had very poor Bluetooth connection with Fedora and my laptop.
have you considered simply embracing the liberalism?
I post here, I’ve already embraced the liberalism
Or hack NPR & just play whatever you want to listen to.
So, I’m rusty on RF stuff, but the length of your cord should determine the frequency it’s tuned in to. Simple solution is to plug in a cord extension and see if that helps. Or get technical and cut your cord a little shorter.
FM radio is very permissive when it comes to antenna length. I’ve listened to it on a screwdriver, a table, a Leatherman, and other bits and bobs. λ for a 100MHz wave is 3m, meaning that an ideal λ/4 antenna would be 75cm, despite much smaller receivers working. You can degrade the signal by making it smaller, but you’ll still hear degraded/garbled NPR.
Shielding it is then!
I am indeed using quite a long cord, do you think the orientation matters as well?
Not if you’re that close. But like another hexbear said, FM gets into everything. So you’re going to want to use a filter, shielding, or switch to bluetooth. Your cord itself is the problem.
Have you tried getting some ferrite beads for your headphones? You can pick them up dirt cheap and if they work then all the better, if they don’t nothing really lost.
You can also buy heat shrink emi shielding that’s pretty easy to apply which could help somewhat - but thats more expensive and perhaps less reliable.
Create and wear a faraday Burqa
Over your headphones!
i’m sure there will be better recommendations in this thread, but i’m using JBL Tune 770NC (bluetooth, works fine on linux), which is noise-cancelling but has a button that toggles an artificial open ear mode that uses small internal microphones to play back surrounding noise.
it was like 70 bucks new but it sounded a lot better than some of the more expensive options when i was trying 'em out in the store ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anker Soundcore would also fall in this same category.
Soundcore Q30s have great aftermarket too, and a bunch of components exist as 3d models online so you can replace them should they break (JLC3DP does steel 3D printing at VERY cheap rates fyi)
If it makes you feel any better I once woke up to trucker comms being projected over my pc speakers
I haven’t had any problems with bluetooth on linux in the last few years tbh.
Ditto, the recent Bluetooth drivers have improved massively. likely thanks and parts too the steam deck and other big players nowadays.
I don’t know much about radio interference but my main headphones are the Sennheiser RS 175 RF. I see them for $250 at Best Buy. I hate bluetooth and I will say right here, DO NOT get a bluetooth headset with a built in mic- if you need a mic always go with separate input and output devices. Bluetooth cannot handle two full quality audio streams. Ever. It’s not enough bandwidth.
Hopefully if you get RF headphones its a COMPLEEETELY different RF band or its gonna be even worse I assume
Ferrite beads are the right solution.
Buying a pair of corded headphones with shielding (when you whip out your multi tool and snip the display models cord in half the cross section will have a metal central core with plastic around it then metal in a donut around that) is the next step up. No, you cannot trust a manufacturer to honestly describe shielding, a professional reviewer in a magazine to correctly test this property or a website review to identify it. The ancient technique of opening something up and looking to see if it has some function was lost years ago.
Rf wireless headphones are probably a non-solution because you’re trying to block radio frequencies, not let more of them in!
Digital wireless headphones are an expensive solution that will fix the problem but you’ll feel empty inside.
I did order some ferrite beads, we will see whether they solve the problem!
If you start to get too crazy you can always bend a steel or iron nail around the wire.
Accidentally “trip” and knock over the radio. And then slam it on the ground a couple times when no ones looking to make sure it breaks
It’s a radio tower lol
Op:
