3 of the Best Solutions for Listening to Your Favorite Music

Music has an almost indescribable link to our emotions. Studies have shown that listening to our favorite songs releases dopamine, which makes us feel happy. Listening to slow classical music can slow our pulse and heart rate, which in turn lowers our blood pressure and the level of stress hormones. Listening to music is one of the most easily accessible methods that we have for quickly turning our moods around after a long and stressful day, and it’s worth investing in the right equipment to make it as rewarding an experience as possible. Here are a few things that you might want to consider to make listening to your favorite music even more enjoyable:

In the home

There’s nothing quite like coming home at the end of the day, putting on your favorite song and singing (preferably loudly and slightly out of tune!). You can get the most out of your home audio set up if you think about the ways that you like to listen to music.

If you like to sit down and engage with your music, then it’s worth considering upgrading your speakers. If you do your research this doesn’t have to cost a fortune, but choosing carefully can enhance your listening experience. Think about whether you want full-length standing speakers so that you can almost feel the music in the air around you, or whether you would be happy with smaller speakers. Also, consider whether you would like to enhance your bass sound enough to buy a subwoofer.

Once you have a rough idea of what type of speaker you think that you would like, think about where you will be putting them in the room. Some things to consider are:

• Speakers should be at the height your ears will be when you are listening. Consider if that is more likely to be sitting or standing height.
• Layout your speakers so that they play the length of the room.
• Don’t stack things in front of your speakers as this will ruin the sound!
• Try to leave space between the wall and the speaker, as this will improve the sound.
• If you have a subwoofer then place it at least 30cm from any corners, this prevents echo.
• If speakers are placed on a shelf or desk, put them on a layer of foam or similar to prevent the surface from reverberating.

It’s also worth thinking about whether or not you will need an amplifier. An amplifier increases the output of the sound source, meaning that you can get a higher quality sound at a lower volume. They aren’t always necessary, however, you will need one if you are intending to listen to your music using a record player as they often don’t have one built-in.

Probably the most important part of your home audio set up, and the most under-rated, is 10 gauge speaker wire. If you don’t have the wire, you can’t get sound to those carefully chosen speakers – simple as that!

Once you have an idea of the audio setup that you think you’d like, it’s time to test it out. Although most audio shops will allow you to test out equipment in store, this isn’t a true test because the acoustics in your home are likely to be different. Ensure that the store you purchase from has a returns policy that allows you to try out the equipment at home, and bring it back if you aren’t happy with the results.

While you exercise

Music is not only great in your home, but it’s also great for your workout. Music improves your mood, improves stamina and relieves boredom. Frankly, anyone who can use a treadmill without headphones must be superhuman! 

If your music is motivational, it is shown to have physiological effects as well as psychological ones. For example, a strong, steady beat can help to keep your pacing constant. Particularly while running this is incredibly beneficial, most people are prone to either slowing down or speeding up and tiring themselves out too quickly. Motivational lyrics can also give you confidence and mean that you can work out for longer than you could have done otherwise.

If you are looking for the best headphones for your workout, you should make sure that they meet the following criteria:

• They are wireless. You don’t want to deal with your phone falling and pulling your headphones out of your ears with it… that hurts!
• They are sweat-resistant.
• They will stay in your ears even when you’re moving around a lot.
• Your budget. There is absolutely no reason to break the bank! You can get perfectly serviceable headphones for around $15, so don’t spend more unless there is a specific feature you are happy to spend the money on.
• Decent sound quality.
• Situational awareness. This may or may not be important to you, but if you are running near busy roads, for example, it can be very important to be able to hear what’s going on around you. If this is important to you, you could look at a pair of bone-conducting headphones rather than traditional wireless ones. They are not in your ears so they don’t block out ambient sounds, rather the soundwaves travel through your skull and bones in your ears. 

In the car

Driving, or more specifically being stuck in traffic, can be an incredibly stressful experience. Studies have shown that listening to music while you drive may calm the heart and help you to stay cool under pressure. It’s important to note that this is very much dependent on the type of music you listen to. Soothing classical music will have this effect, death metal absolutely will not.

Although listening to calming music may help you, if you are distracted by choosing the next song this is dangerous. For safety’s sake, it’s worth upgrading your car audio system to one with voice recognition technology so that you can skip tracks safely. Or if you don’t want to invest in a whole new audio system you could just plan playlists for your journey ahead of time so that there’s nothing left for you to do but sit back and enjoy the music.