Anybody have any novel ideas for how to discreetly listen to music in a large open plan office environment.

A change in department at work has meant that I have been had to give up my comfy solo office in one building, to move to an open plan office with 40 people in close proximity.

This means I can no longer have my radio on my desk playing whatever music suits my mood.

In order to still hear what’s gong on around me, I am now forced to listen to music through one half of the set of wired headphones which came with my phone with the other earbud dangling uselessly and generally getting in the way whilst I work. My phone seems to lack the option for mono output so I only get the left side of whatever’s playing.

Is there a more elegant solution to this that I’m missing? Some sort of wireless Bluetooth mono earpiece?

Heh, we sell a Bluetooth single earpiece. It’s not terribly comfortable though.

Noise cancelling earphones – volume low – you can still hear when people sneak up/call you.

Also, can cut out inane chatter in the background.

Radios all used to be mono and you’d listen through a single mono earpiece. Surely you can still get them?

The mono was based on the 3.5 RCA jack. You may be able to get a stereo to mono RCA convertor so it splices L + R into one channel and sends the spliced signal to both L+R. But this is the 21st century so I’m sure there’s some Bluetooth equivalent you can get.

Stick both earpieces in, it also cuts down on the random interruptions with stupid questions, but you will need to balance it with periods of no music so people know you’re available.

Bone conducting headphones? I haven’t tried them but GCN were recommending them for riding in because you can still hear what’s going on around you.

I am now forced to listen to music through one half of the set of wired headphones

Thats a look that only really works if you are listening to Break Beats.

You need one of these executive desk toys for the full package

You can get a single in ear Bluetooth earbud on Amazon.

It’s possible that you’ll need a licence for this!

The atmosphere in Perchy’s office has nosedived since open-plan working was introduced.

Having to listen to people in the office, sounds like a nightmare!

*seosamh sits with both earphones in, oblivious to his surroundings!** 😆

I got a single earbud that plays both channels to one ear for cycling on the road, seem to be a few on amazon.

I thought you only needed a license if others could hear it

Esme –
It’s possible that you’ll need a licence for this!

For listening with earphone(s)? Don’t think so. Pretty hard to police that!

The atmosphere in Perchy’s office has nosedived since open-plan working was introduced

That’s the understatement of the century. It’s bloody torture.
How can 40 people in the same room make so little sound?
Any conversation is whispered and perfunctory.
It’s creepy and depressing. I need to escape.
I’m considering buying a huge pack of coloured Sharpies and a season ticket to Greggs and going full Binners.

How about one for music, one for work phone 😀

I use a single bluetooth earbud cycling to work cost about £7 on ebay.

I also used some bluetooth bone conduction headphones from amazon which were decent but one side died after a torrential rainstorm. They leak a fair bit of sound though so probably not great for the office.

This is what I’ve got, battery only lasts 2.5-3hours though so you might want something better, or a wired mono headphone.

I couldn’t function in my open plan office without a huge set of headphones to help me concentrate.

Headphones are better that earbuds because people can see them, so they’re less likely to talk across the room at you and wonder why they’re not getting a response.

If you really want a single sided earbud these are supposed to be alright.

Imagine tunes in your head. Remember not to sing along.

https://aftershokz.co.uk/ if you really want to listen to music and environment at the same time.

I (and many others) just wear headphones normally and we know to draw attention to ourselves (knock on the desk) or whatever if we need to talk to someone.

You could also put a rear view mirror on your monitor.

How can 40 people in the same room make so little sound?
Any conversation is whispered and perfunctory.

See that’s just weird. We have large open plan offices but we just talk normally. You probably need to get new colleagues.

Plenty of single-eared headsets for computer-based telephony, many of which will do bluetooth also.

eg. Plantronics Blackwire 710, Jabra Evolve 65 Mono

How can 40 people in the same room make so little sound?
Any conversation is whispered and perfunctory.

It was fine till the new bloke moved in…

It was fine till the new bloke moved in…

Silenced them with my awesomeness? I get that a lot 🙂

Silenced them with my awesomeness? I get that a lot

Imagine tunes in your head.

Whenever I’ve tried this in an office environment it always ends up being the theme from Brazil

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW1pMI4qDzc[/video]

Sing?

So I had a similar issue – wanted to listen but still have people be able to get my attention etc:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/recommend-me-some-headphones-2

that was my thread, still happy with the AKGs

I’m considering buying a huge pack of coloured Sharpies and a season ticket to Greggs and going full Binners.

You know that once you join the sect of the crayon-wielders you are only ever allowed to listen to 6 Music for the rest of time. Hey… I don’t make the rules, but dems da rules. Listened to through something like this….

You know that once you join the sect of the crayon-wielders you are only allowed to listen to 6 Music.

That’s that plan humped then.

My complete lack of artistic talent wasn’t about to stop me but 6 Music?
You need to draw the line somewhere.

Drawing lines is all I do all day 😀

Apart from when I nip out every lunchtime to drink cider and shout at buses

Don’t get this:

VicTsing Smallest Mini Bluetooth 4.0 In Ear Headset Earbud Earphone Earpiece Headphones Handsfree with Mic, Noise Cancellation For iPhone 7, SE, 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 5, 5S, 5C, iPad, iPod, Smart phones – Black
(Off Amazon – can’t link as the ampersand symobl in the link breaks the whole post!)

It’s utterly useless for music – bluetooth couldn’t keep a connection from pocket on one side of my body to the opposite side ear. The sound was awful quality (and I have quite low standards!) and the max volume was completely drowned out walking alongside a 30mph road that wasn’t massively busy 😯

You need to draw the line somewhere.

Mind you don’t go over it when you’re colouring in