Buzz Out Loud Lounge forum: Getting Shocked from Your Headphones

If your office's or home's electrical installation is shoddy, and you are somehow grounded, you might get electric shocks from any metal component you touch. Used to happen to me at home until i re-wired it, if you touched any exposed metal part of the computer while barefoot it would shock you pretty nasty.

I have felt this before as well, it was more of a tingly feeling to me. No doubt that you have electricity going to the headphones to make the sound. You are also sticking the electricity very close to skin. My guess is we are basically getting little arcs coming from the headphones. My guess would be it either would happen on a very wet day or a very dry day.

As for me, I have some deep canal headphones now the moves the power away from your skin a bit.

this **** is crazy.

I use the ipod headphones too. Never had this problem.

I think im just gonna get new headphones before I get shocked to death.

I also get static shock in the ear while wearing headphones connected to my Video Ipod 60 Gb. If I turn on the ipod while wearing the headphones, I ALWAYS get a small annoying shock in both ears. Similarly, while I'm running (either outside or on the treadmill) I always get a few similar shocks in the ear. This kind of bizarre electric static discharge has never happened to me before while wearing headphones connected to anything ie. computer, mp3 player, stereo etc. I normally wear a Belkin sports sleeve while using the ipod and have no idea whether this exercise armband is responsible for the static build-up. Still, the shock happens if I wear the Belkin thingie or not. I found this forum while searching Google for any explanation and had to add my two cents.

if they are in ear headphones you'll get a zap if you build enough static up on your body, its just how it is. its not a defect of a player, its that you got wires leading up to your ears;)

Yes! I've had these like the past couple of days- I kept getting shocks from listening to my s***ty work pc through headphones. Might sue 'em!

if the shock occurs in the winter months it's most likely because you bundle up more and as a result of the extra layers accumulate more static electricity in your body, the earphones in your ears are a perfect place for this build-up to discharge, kind of like when you touch a doorknob. But these buildups can occur when your moving around a lot as well during the warmer months, dry air is ideal for static discharges, so turning in your chair in the office or your legs rubbing together on your evening run can also result in static charges. They hurt like hell, but at least it's not a defect of the more expensive device the headphones are attached to.

My ears got shocked really bad from my white ipod earbuds. The reason I think I got shocked was because ipods earbuds have a metal mesh screen, which can conduct electricity very easily. I bought a different player and headphones without metal on them. Haven't had another shocking experience since. Apple should really consider using non conductive materials for people to put in there ears. What a bunch of crap! Frying peoples heads! Awesome job Apple...

i think the static charge builds up on your body until it reaches a threshold voltage where it can arc from your ear to the wires in the earbuds (fairly short distance), which is when u get shocked. So if i am correct one solution would be to ground yourself periodically, discharging any static buildup before it can discharge through your ear. If you can find a metal part of your PC case, it should be grounded through the power cable, so if you touch it periodically i suspect this will prevent static buildup. If the case is too far away you could plug in a usb cable and put the other end by your mouse and touch the outer shielding part which should be connected to power supply ground.

Usually, a ground loop is caused by a mis-wired outlet, switching neutral and HOT would cause a difference of 110 volts AC between two devices. Another cause would be a user or other person (large or small) who plugs in a grounded non-polarized plug for a device into a nearby outlet. The grounding doesn't have to be through the power cord but could come from another device that has a common connection to ground through coax or auxillary audio cables. DANGER, this potential can KILL.

I started having this problem a few months-ish ago and I couldn't take it anymore so I invested a nicer pair of headphones and they've been great so far, no shocks (knock on wood).

I definitely recommend them: http://store.audioholics.com/portable/headphones/a-jays-four-iphone-earphones.html