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Headphones
If you have any questions regarding headphones then hopefully this article would shed some light.
Headphones have been around for a while. It is widely accepted that they are the cheapest way to enjoy music. Primarily used in the early days for walkmans and Discmans. But now that Apple has dominated the portable music player category, we have the Ipod. Like any other portable player, Ipod’s come with a crappy, stylish white earphone that deprive you of the listening experience you should have plus the fact that they easily get broken.
There are various types of earphones/headphones available in the market. I’ll discuss with you the advantages and disadvantages of each and make recommendations along the way.
A. In-Ear – have ridden the popularity of the Ipod. While some of you may be concerned how the buds would fit your ears, you can find that different manufacturer’s such as Bose, Shure, usually offer three sets (S,M,L) that will fit your ears well. These types of earphones are very portable, can block outside sound quite well but do not offer the same sound quality as the headphones and the better ones are quite expensive.
B. Headphones – like I mentioned a while ago, headphones are the cheapest way to enjoy music. A good quality set of headphones can reproduce musical sound pretty accurately from your source. Though not as portable like the in-ears, they offer a better sound. If you’re really after sound quality, I suggest you try out Grado Labs headphones(SR60i and SR80i). Grado Labs is a small audiophile company dedicated to better sound quality at affordable prices. They may not be as popular or stylish as others but these Can’s (slang for headphones) have been winning awards and hearts of audiophiles. Price/Performance level is unequaled. (available at Acoustic Dimensions in Powerplant)
Open vs. Closed Headphones plus Noise Reduction Headphones
Open headphones are headphones with opening in the sides to allow sound to resonate better. Critically acclaimed headphones usually are open headphones. Grados’ and many of Sennheiser’s are this type.
Closed designs block out outside sounds but sound quality is generally lacking. Unless you require outside sounds to be blocked out then I recommend the open design.
Noise reduction headphones were originally produced in the 90’s aimed at airplane passengers. These types of headphones can be helpful because they produce an opposite sound wave in the ear which in effect drowns sounds coming from the outside but produce a hissing sound if you’re really keen. Result, you can now listen to your unnaturally reproduced music without having to worry of offensive sounds coming from the outside. (FYI, sometimes called noise cancellation headphones for marketing purposes, they reduce not cancel out offending sound not including random noises such as crying, banging etc.)
Bottomline
You can spend thousands of pesos on headphones. You can be misled by clever marketing or forums in the internet. Truth is more expensive Can’s does not mean better sounds, at least not to the average listener. Assess the price/performance level and choose what sounds are good for you, not what sound good to others.
-Banjovi
