Restart Radio: The Future of Personal Listening

Our listening gadgets are some of our most-used and best-loved devices. But how do we pick the right pair of headphones, and what do we do when they break?

Ugo is joined by Restarter Ben Skidmore to discuss Apple’s controversial ‘Airpods’: do they live up to all the hype? Ugo and Ben take a look at some of the advantages of drawbacks of these new wireless ear-buds, and wireless listening more generally. The wireless explosion could be the end of broken cables; but the cost and difficulty of fixing these new devices could also be a repairperson’s worst nightmare.

You may not be willing to part with your favourite headphones, and you don’t have to: we go over some tips for reducing wear and tear and increasing the lifespan of our personal listening equipment, and some tips for DIY repair. If you want the wireless experience, there’s a dongle available that connects directly to your own headphones, and then wirelessly to your device.

Ugo also shares a love-story about his own favourite noise-cancelling headphones, which were fixed in Nairobi for him five years ago with a simple toothpick. When the earpads began to deteriorate, it looked like the end: but this story has a happy ending. Check out what you can do with some new fabric and a needle and thread!

Links to things we discussed:

• iFixit: Airpods teardown
• Macword: Release date controversy
• Ars Technica: Airpod review
• The Verge: Airpod review
• Gerrard St: “circular” rental model 

Visit our Wiki page for information on diagnosing and repairing your broken headphones

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