A report in to-days said teanager was knocked down and killed by a tram , she didn't hear it comming because she her ear speakers in listening to music. Also a man in U S A killed by a train. Has happened in U K ?

I didnt think MP3 players impaired eyesight :rolleyes:

Originally posted by peterdo
A report in to-days said teanager was knocked down and killed by a tram , she didn't hear it comming because she her ear speakers in listening to music. Also a man in U S A killed by a train. Has happened in U K ?

and walkmans haven't been around with the potential for the same for at least 30 years, oh right, they have.

Am sure have heard about this happening in the UK too. And with the manufacturers having been sued, there's warnings in all the instruction manuals these days. Obviously a tragic event, but no one's fault other than the girl's.

I'd have them banned in the streets if it was up to me.

I nearly knocked a zombiefied young girl down the other day who was totally oblivious to me due to her listening habit.

guess we should be thankful most people don't apprechiate their music enough to buy canal phones, you literally CAN'T hear most external noises with those in, with normal ear phones you can still hear external noises unless you've got it so loud its gonna blow your ear drums... which is pointless :?

I use in ear canal phones and they are great for listening to music without interference from surrounding noise when on trains, buses etc. When I was in hospital recently they were great for blocking out the hubbub of a busy hospital. Other advantages of them are that the sound is usually very pure and you don't have to have the volume up loud to hear your music.

The disadvantage, as has often been pointed out, is that they are not suitable for walking around near traffic or anywhere near machinery. . Ths danger is usually pointed out in the manuals, but of course not everyone takes heed - perhaps because they are slightly more difficult to manouvre in and out of one's ears than ordinary cans.

I remember when I first got my canal phones. I was travelling down to London listening to classical music and thought how wonderfully quiet everything was. Then I took them out and I could hear loud conversations and the roar of the train.

The price of good in ear phones can put people off though. Some of the very best can cost several hundred pounds. The ones which are often recommended as being really good as the Etymotic E4s (about £150 off Ebay) and the Shure eC2s (about £60) - although Shure also do much more expensive types for the purists.

I can recommend canal phones, based on personal expereince of using them on a regular basis - but they definitely need to come with (and indeed do come with) warnings regarding safe usage.

I got some sony EX-71's, they're like on the cheaper end of canal phones, but I think the quality over all the normal buds I've tried are great... if I was slightly richer I'd get some of the shure canal phones... but I'm a skint student ;)

but seriously, why listen to music when your walking around busy streets? not only is it dangerous in the concept of traffic... but it also makes you a much easier target for a mugger because you won't hear them coming from behind you and it also interferes with your other senses if you have your music on loud.

Originally posted by 1Man&hisBMW
I didnt think MP3 players impaired eyesight :rolleyes:

Does when you close your eyes singing to the music :suspect: Not that I do that at all when driving ;)

lol.

what do these canal headphones look like. I saw some panasonics recently that looked like they went deeper into the ear than normal. Is that comfortable?

I ended up buying some cheaper ones, but with noise cancellation. Just as dangerous for traffic I expect as they take a lot of volume of any external noise when you activate the cancellation feature.

To be honest I don't think this has anything to with with not hearing it. It has a lot more to do with the inability of most people to listen to something and walk at the same time. If the earphones were the type that allow background noise in then there is still the zombification factor.

Walk around town one day and count how many times someone on a mobile phone walks blindly into a very dangerous situation (path of a bus, past barriers on work sites, etc). If you're counting on your fingers I'd take a few spare hands!

They normally come with foam or plastic buds which you insert into your ear canal. You usually get three sizes, i.e. small, medium and large, to cater for different ear sizes. At the top end of the range, you can even get buds which are specially shaped for your own ear canals. A downside of the foam buds is that they tend to get dirty very easily and therefore you need to wash or replace them on a regular basis.

Canal phones may take some getting used to and some people never do. They feel strange at first, but most people probably cope OK with them. They are usually quite small and therefore are less noticeable than standard cans.