Shane Landry March 6th, 2017
If you live in the city, you know the sound of this story too well: you’ve had a long day, and you’ve got a bigger one tomorrow. Sleep is critical. You’re about to drift off — but from outside, you hear the scathing battle cry of “Where’d you learn how to drive, pal?!” followed by a cacophony of horn-honking.
You’re destined to show up to work tomorrow groggy, grumpy, and disheveled. Again.
Thankfully, there is a solution, whether you live in the city or the countryside. Headphones for sleeping can block out sound with white noise and wrap you in a cocoon of relaxing music. But you don’t want to use just any old set of headphones for sleeping — you want something engineered for your needs. Acoustic Sheep has you covered.
The Creation Of Acoustic Sheep
Acoustic Sheep was started by a husband and wife team. Wei-Shin Lai, MD, and Jason Wolfe worked together to build the first prototype headphones for sleeping on their kitchen table in 2007 while working full-time jobs. The original sleep headphones sold incredibly well, and they soon added running headphones to their product line.
Related: These Sleeping Headphones Make It Easier To Catch Some Zs
Their meteoric rise to success continued to burn brightly as they took away an Innovation Award at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show and were featured on the Today Show, CNN, and others. It wasn’t long before the first headphones for sleeping, sewn together by hand on a kitchen table, evolved into a professionally manufactured product and shipped to all seven continents. (Yes, even Antarctica. Who would have thought penguins could be so loud?)
Today, Sleephones have been on the market for 10 years, clearly demonstrating that both the product and the Acoustic Sheep team have what it takes to compete in the long haul. Acoustic Sheep’s accomplishments are by no means limited to innovative products. The company’s CEO, Dr. Lai, will speak at the Women in Leadership Development Conference in April, offering advice and inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Sleephones: The Ultimate Headphones For Sleeping
The original Sleephones are a comfy headband with integrated speakers. There are wired and wireless options. The super-thin, soft headband is as low-profile as it gets, so it is comfortable to use when laying down.
The headband is available in two varieties: the Classic, which is 95% polyester and 5% spandex, and the Breeze, which is 88% polyester and 12% spandex. Color choices are a little limited, and mostly focused on “quiet” colors, but if you like pink, the Breeze has got you covered loud and proud.
Sleephones Wireless
The Sleephones Wireless has a range of 15-30 feet, so reception shouldn’t be a problem, unless you live in a mansion and own a bed that has its own zip code. The battery life is 8-12 hours, which suitable for most sleep cycles, barring the bizarre hibernation patterns of your typical 13-year-old.
The headband weighs a mere two ounces, so these headphones for sleeping are unlikely to weigh heavily on your mind as you sleep.
Sleephones Effortless
The Sleephones Effortless headphones are a classic Kickstarter success story. They had a modest funding goal of $10,000. Once Acoustic Sheep opened up these headphones for sleeping to the world at large, funds blasted through the $10,000 mark in one hour and 49 minutes.
Well, that’s one part of the business plan no one is going to lose any sleep over.
Related: How Katherine Krug Reached Kickstarter Success (Twice)
The big difference that defines the Effortless is the super-slick induction charger, so you can simply place your band on the charger and let it top off the battery in about three hours. That’s especially convenient for people who don’t wants to futz with tiny connectors before coffee in the morning.
Alternatively, if you’re the kind of person who prefers their morning jolt of energy in the form of running shoes, then the RunPhones might be for you.
Runphones: All-In-One Athletic Headphones
On the run, over-the-ear headphones and earbuds both have distinct disadvantages. Over-the-ear headphones are bulky, and if you are riding a bicycle, they don’t play nicely with helmets. Earbuds, on the other hand, can slip out if you are moving around too much, which is sort of the point of exercise in the first place.
And even if they do stay put, endurance athletes who are going beyond the one-hour mark can have comfort issues. Since they are buried in your ear, earbuds make it difficult to hear your surroundings, which can pose a serious safety issue. And none of the above options do a great job of keeping long hair and errant ponytails from going rogue and tagging you in the eye.
Related: The Best Running Earbuds For Active Music Lovers
The RunPhones by Acoustic Sheep remove these issues and excel at comfort and convenience. You can adjust the speakers inside the RunPhones headband, ensuring a proper fit for your particular head shape. With a battery life of 8-12 hours, the RunPhones will suffice for any athlete, save the most sadomasochistic among us who do full-length triathlons and ultra-marathons.
The RunPhones are engineered to allow outside noise to filter through, and they can double as a hair-tamer and a sweatband to keep those rivers of salty sweat from bathing your eyes in liquid agony. As the weather cools, they offer some ear warming capacity as well. The speakers are, of course, removable, so you can wash away the grime from the headband and do it all again tomorrow.
As Acoustic Sheep celebrates a decade of innovation, one thing remains true: sleep is one of the most important factors affecting our energy levels, mental focus, and performance at work and play. Yet, despite sounding so simple — hey, just close your eyes and don’t fidget for a bit — sleep is surprisingly elusive. A good set of comfortable headphones for sleeping can do wonders for your health.
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