Listening on AirPods used to sound great. Lately, however, I’ve noticed I’m missing something. Was it the quality of the CD rip I was using, or the device?

For instance, I listened to one of my favorite songs, Frank Zappa’s “The Grand Wazoo,” via AirPods this morning and noticed immediately that the horns sounded very flat for some reason. The overall volume and timbre are fine, but it just seems to be lacking something.

It’s evident my hearing loss is starting to have an impact on my use of in-ear headphones. Unfortunately, this led me to ditch my AirPods and seek some incredible alternatives.

Why I ditched my AirPods

The sad but necessary reason I looked for alternatives to in-ear headphones

Credit: David J. Buck / How-To Geek

First, I’ll address that elephant that’s hanging around: At the expense of the obvious “guy discovers speakers sound better than earbuds” narrative, I am well aware that a good hi-fi setup, quality speakers, professional headphones, etc. will typically sound better than earbuds.

I use monitoring headphones for audio production and have a 90s-era Sony stereo system, complete with surround sound for listening to music at home.

But the reason I have used earbuds for so long is that when I’m commuting, working, or traveling, sometimes it’s more convenient to have them. And the AirPods were my favorite pair for a long time. I used Everyday Earbuds, Raycons, cheap and higher-end earbuds, and so many I’ve lost count. When I finally landed on AirPods, I was impressed with the sound quality, the extra features they have, and the fact they actually stayed in my ears without causing pain.

And then the hearing loss began. It happened slowly at first. Missing a few words here and there. Occasionally asking folks to repeat things, and silence on my left side on occasion. It turns out that years of working in film, audio production, playing live music, setting up venues, and working at concerts have led to hearing loss and some lovely, yet mild, tinnitus.

Who’d have thought (well, lots of people, but that’s not the point)?

Tascam Monitoring Headphones

The best AirPod replacement turned out to be my old studio gear

Credit: David J. Buck / How-To Geek

I love a good pair of monitoring headphones. They’re impractical for a long commute, but if you can figure out how to manage your cables effectively, they sound magnificent.

I’ve used Tascam TH-200X monitoring headphones for audio production and music for about a decade now. The pair I replaced my AirPods with is from 2017. Listening to music, concerts, and radio shows is a dream with these things. They block out noise quite well and don’t require drivers or additional software to function.

There’s also no “feature fatigue” here. They’re just headphones, which is nice. The bass is incredible (David Byrne’s acoustic never sounded so good to me), and the dynamic range is pretty good for a pair of headphones nearly a decade old. Just look at these things:

I can see using these to save my hearing for longer listening sessions and the occasional walk around the neighborhood—aside from their obvious monitoring/editing functions, of course.

Bluetooth Speaker w/headphones

Bluetooth is a slightly bulky, yet useful (at times) solution to my earbuds problem

Credit: David J. Buck / How-To Geek

Bluetooth can be hit or miss for some people. I’ve never been a big fan of Bluetooth speakers. The audio quality isn’t great, it can be muddy at times, the bass often sucks, and bandwidth can be a problem (particularly if you’re streaming audio). On the other hand, they’re portable, and some albums/podcasts do sound pretty good on them, depending on what you’re looking for.

I tried out a JBL Clip 3 Bluetooth speaker. It sounded okay. I was also able to boost the sound by changing the Bluetooth codec on my device, so that helped a bit. I tested a small Bluetooth speaker for a few of my favorite albums. They’re predominantly older records (some Weird Al, Zappa, Talking Heads, Takanaka, that sort of thing), and they all sounded decent.

Listening through the speaker with headphones is good in terms of sound quality, and it’s perfect for when I’m working in the office. I will say it’s my least favorite of the bunch, but it definitely isn’t as painful as having those earbuds in.​​​​​​​

Old Walkman Headphones

Credit: David J. Buck / How-To Geek

Nothing beats the classics. I have an old pair of old-school soft headphones leftover from my Discman days. I don’t know the brand (that information seems to have worn off over the years), other than that they were either Koss or Sony headphones. More likely the former than the latter.

During my college days, I routinely carried a Discman and a rotating catalog of 3–4 Frank Zappa CDs every day. These are the headphones I used with them. When I began experiencing hearing loss and pain from the AirPods, I dug these out to test them. They work well and are very portable.

The downside? They’re definitely not noise-cancelling. I can hear a lot of ambient and background sounds with these headphones on. However, I think what gives them a bit of an edge for my ears is how comfortable they are. I get a full stereo experience with a lovely nostalgic softness.

I watched three long-form videos: Stop Making Sense by The Talking Heads, an extended interview with Robert Fripp that featured some of his phenomenal playing, and a podcast. The music sounded good, but not as good as the monitoring or gaming headphones. The podcast had the best overall quality.

They’re compact, but the only thing I dislike about them is the length of the cord. Listening to a podcast on a commute is fine though. These will likely be my go-to headphones for that.

Turtle Beach gaming headphones

Wired headphones with adjustable volume are a surprisingly decent replacement for some types of content

Credit: David J. Buck / How-To Geek

I tried some old Turtle Beach Recon 200 gaming headphones as an alternative. I thought they’d perform a bit better due to the built-in volume control, but they were on par volume-wise with the monitoring headphones. As for tone, they sound better than the Sony/Koss headphones, but somewhat lower quality than the Tascam headphones.

The treble is quite good, but it lacks the bass of my monitoring headphones (which makes perfect sense). I do like a little more control and can see using these for game-related videos, podcasts, and my audiobooks.

The earphones are pretty comfortable and don’t cause me any pain after extended listening/use, so that puts them as #2 in my list of AirPod alternatives.

I found the best AirPods alternative for me

Credit: David J. Buck / How-To Geek

When you’re dealing with hearing loss, finding a solution that works can be tough. Fortunately, I had a decent variety of options available to me.

I favor the Tascam monitoring headphones over anything else, while the generic gaming headphones are a solid second. The old Sony headphones work well as a third and slightly more portable option, while the Bluetooth speaker is best left for at-home use.

I’ll miss my AirPods, but at least I have a few options, and if you’re in a similar situation, maybe this can help you, too!​​​​​​​