ASMR has been part of my life for a long time, even if I didn’t quite know what it was
until the past few years.
What was, for a long time, nothing more than a weird sensation during specific, seemingly-random
situations, is now a full-on phenomena with some creators already making full living incomes
from YouTube channels whispering and tapping onto microphones for “tingleheads” worldwide.
If you’re into it, the listening experience is great.
But what kind of headphones provide the best listening experience?
Are there good ear buds that you can use to fall asleep with?
Let’s take a look.
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I’m EposVox, here to make tech easier and more fun - and before we get started, I wanted
to note something.
ASMR is a very personal and subjective experience.
Everyone is triggered by different things and in different ways, and prefer different
means of listening.
This video is not intended to force you to experience it in a different way, but to give
some suggestions based on how the technology of headphones work and my experiences and
research of it.
Let’s talk about the best headphones for listening to ASMR.
ASMR content is more than just whispering and tapping on a microphone.
Some of the best content in the scene is created using a “binaural microphone”.
This is actually two, or more, microphones in one device with ears on it designed to
capture “3D audio” the way your human ears do.
An example of this is the 3Dio Free Space microphone, linked in the video description.
This not only creates a much more realistic sound, but also perfectly captures movement
and directional positioning of the audio.
This is what causes much of my ASMR tingles for me.
It’s not true “surround sound” - but it’s the closest you can get within a stereo
listening experience.
But not all headphones can convey this kind of listening experience equally.
Some headphones can provide a much better, or much worse ASMR experience.
First, let’s talk about what you should avoid.
For quality ASMR listening experiences, I very much recommend avoiding earbuds - in
ear or otherwise.
This may not be possible if you intend to fall asleep to the content - and I still use
earbuds sometimes for that - but otherwise these are the worst.
Some wireless earbuds might be okay (though any battery indication or pairing beeps could
kill the experience), but wired ones are downright awful for this.
First of all, any movement or touching of the headphone wire translates to obnoxious
sounds in your ears that can break immersion or ruin the experience.
How severe this is depends on the material used in the cable and how much you move, of
course, but this is an immediate deal-breaker for me.
And if you use snug, in-ear earbuds - you even tend to amplify sounds of your breathing,
mouth movements, etc.
Earbuds also just don’t have a wide enough sound stage to provide the right experience
for binaural audio movement.
“Sound stage” when describing headphones actually works similarly to a physical soundstage
- it describes the perceived width and depth of sound heard from the headphones.
Earbuds and closed-back headphones have a very tight sound stage, keeping the sound
feeling like it’s coming from right ontop of, or from within, your ears.
This leads to more punchy bass and heavier low-end.
Open-back headphones, on the other hand, specialize in providing a very wide sound stage with
distinct channel separation for directional audio.
These make them the best choice for ASMR or video gameplay where directional audio is
key.
The usual trade-off between the two usually has to do with audio leakage.
With closed-back cans, very little sound from the outside world leaks in, and not much sound
from the headphones is audible outside of your ears.
Whereas with open-back, you can still hear moderately-loud sounds from the outside world,
and if you crank the volume, the world can hear what’s in your headphones.
But with ASMR, you’re going to be listening at lower volumes than the kid on the bus blasting
dubstep, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Comfortable, wide open-back headphones are the best possible solution for ASMR.
My personal favorites are my AKG K7xx Massdrop Editions - similar to the AKG K702 and other
K7[blank] line.
They’re HUGE, but provide some of the best ASMR experiences I’ve had, with perfect
directional audio.
Not all open-back headphones are made equal, though - so I’d check for reviews and compare
specific descriptions of the sound stage.
For example, my Beyerdynamic DT990s are great headphones, but don’t give anywhere near
as wide open of a sound stage as my AKG headphones.
I’d also recommend trying out headphones in person in a store whenever possible.
“Sound stage” might not make a lot of sense until you start to hear difference between
different sets yourself.
I’d also recommend turning off any sort of bass-boosting equalizers or effects going
to your headphones.
This can muddy-up or distort ASMR audio.
Also, try to avoid virtual surround sound whenever possible.
Gaming headsets and fancy sound cards often come with this enabled by default, but it
is something you can turn off for ASMR.
You might think that virtual surround sound would be a good thing here - and it can potentially
improve the experience on bad headphones, so experiment if you’re stuck with what
you have - but it screws things up in my experience.
In my usage with ASMR, it starts to mix the channels together, so when the host moves
over and talks in the left ear, I start hearing it back on the right side and it kind of breaks
the experience.
Ultimately, experiment with what you can and see what works for you.
Also remember that being comfortable is very important too, arguably moreso than the listening
experience for ASMR.
So prioritize that first when picking headphones.
I hope this video has helped you get closer to the perfect ASMR listening experience.
If you enjoyed it, click that like button, consider subscribing for more awesome tech
videos, and I’ll see you in the next one.
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