# Do headphones affect the radio on my MP3 player?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-affect-the-radio-on-my-mp3-player/480974>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 12, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-affect-the-radio-on-my-mp3-player/480974 "2009-01-12T21:00:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-affect-the-radio-on-my-mp3-player/480974/1 "2009-01-12T21:00:19Z")

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I have a creative zen vision:m that I love because it essentially is an all-in-one device (music, movies, radio, and recording). However, I just recently realized that the radio wasn’t working. I’d been living in Taiwan for a couple of years, so I hadn’t noticed (I didn’t listen to the radio there).

It occurred to me that I had changed the headphones I used while I was in Taiwan (and I don’t have the old ones). Is there any chance that the headphones on my MP3 player act as antennae? If so, what do I have to look at when I’m looking for new headphones? I want some earbuds, but obviously, I want them to be able to get a signal.

Otherwise, the warranty’s up on the player, so I’m not going to have it fixed just for the radio. Otherwise, it works fine.

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-affect-the-radio-on-my-mp3-player/480974/2 "2009-01-12T21:04:27Z")

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Yes, in my experience that’s how it works. I have an MP3 player with an FM tuner and the ability to record off the radio. Without headphones plugged in, though, it can’t get any stations, even ones in the same town. The antenna needs to be a certain length based on the wavelength of the signal it’s meant to receive and my little gum-pack player isn’t big enough to contain any such thing, so the wire for the headphones gets pressed into service.

Rereading your OP, though, the kind of headphones should not matter: Ear buds have a wire just like any other kind. The wire is all you really need.

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-affect-the-radio-on-my-mp3-player/480974/3 "2009-01-12T21:20:59Z")

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> [@Derleth](#):
>
> The antenna needs to be a certain length based on the wavelength of the signal it’s meant to receive and my little gum-pack player isn’t big enough to contain any such thing, so the wire for the headphones gets pressed into service.

Not necessarily, to to both of these. The antenna wire can be coiled up inside the unit, but this adds expense and the headphone is available anyway so using it as the antenna is essentially free. Also, in an area with a sufficiently strong signal (which is almost everywhere that’s not highly rural) the antenna can be almost any length and still be efficient enough to supply the tuner with a strong enough signal.

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**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-affect-the-radio-on-my-mp3-player/480974/4 "2009-01-12T21:28:32Z")

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So. Does this mean that I should look for headphones that say they have an antenna? Or are the headphones themselves the antenna?

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**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-affect-the-radio-on-my-mp3-player/480974/5 "2009-01-12T21:29:40Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Rereading your OP, though, the kind of headphones should not matter: Ear buds have a wire just like any other kind. The wire is all you really need.

Missed that…