The headphones, a sound system that comes in various shapes and sizes, is mostly used as an alternative to speakers, for music and home cinema lovers who don't want to disrupt their surroundings or for other reasons. Whether you're listening on the road or at home, don’t ruin the experience with cheap headphones.
At the not-so-expensive price of $100 or more, you can buy yourself decent quality headphones, which have a few advantages over big noisy speakers.
Of course the style of sound is completely different, but the performance/price ratio provided by headphones is remarkable.
What's Available?
The number of companies operating in the field is relatively low (in comparison to the enormous number of speaker manufacturers), but the variety of headphones on offer is boggling. The are a number of different basic types of headphone designs:
Open Phones – headphones that have an open structure, so that their exterior part is open to a certain extent. Since the earphone is open, the sound seeps out and the user is exposed to external noise. People around you can also hear the sound – a downside in certain cases. In some of the headphones the noise leakage is greater, in some less.
The difference between open and closed headphones is huge. In open phones the sound is mostly characterized by airiness and openness, the bass usually falls in quantity but is outstanding in quality (a tight , deep and precise bass). Open phones also "colour" the sound less, they are more sonically-neutral than closed headphones. There are also semi-open phones with less sound seeping in and out of them than completely open phones, but more than closed phones.
Closed Phones – headphones which physically have a closed shell and are included in the closed category. The advantages of these headphones are mostly greater than the disadvantages in comparison to the rest of the types of headphones and they are a good replacement for a pair of speakers at night.
Closed headphones are characterized by a closed sound, with a considerable quantity of bass (although of much less quality than quantity, in many people's opinion). They provide a relatively good level of occlusion which isolates the listener from its surroundings and from external noises. Closed phones belong to the family of full-sized phones and they're pretty big.
Earbuds – these can be either closed or semi-open phones. They're small and compact headphones designed for people who require mobile sound.
In most cases, mobility comes at quality's expense – these headphones are characterized by a small, thin sound and with a weak and unsatisfying bass. These headphones in most cases belong to the lower price sector (although there are a few exceptional cases), primarily due to the fact that they are very cheap to manufacture.
They're mostly supplied (especially in the past few years) with all mobile audio devices that are sold, and therefore are very common. The earbuds that are sold with the devices are generally very low quality. For example, the iPod, Apple's mobile player, the most popular in the world, is sold together with this type of headphone, and the quality is ridiculous, in my opinion. The headphones provided with Sony's players are slightly better. Even if you'll prefer to stay with earbud phones, there are much better alternatives.
In-Ear Headphones (Canalphones or In-Ear Monitor) – do not confuse them with earbud phones. Here we're talking about closed phones only, which are inserted into the ear's canal and exploit the ear's structure in order to create a resonance box. These headphones provide a high level of isolation, maybe the highest. Some of these headphones isolate noises louder than 20 decibels – which is considered pretty impressive. Moreover, a few manufacturers enable consumers to receive custom made plugs for optimal isolation. This is a not so cheap solution, but it is an extremely effective one.
IEM headphones are characterized by a small, light, compact and practical structure and they are very comfortable for mobile purposes. Their price is usually higher than earbud phones, but their value is accordingly higher. The quality of sound of some of these kinds of headphones is certainly respectable and they provide a balanced, very elaborate, dynamic, clean sound – a quality that is difficult to find even in a healthy pair of speakers.
These advantages are accompanied by two disadvantages, which will cause most to not prefer them. The first disadvantage is the microphonic effect, which causes the listener to hear himself – if you've ever put in ear plugs at a shooting range, you know what we're talking about. Every touch of the earphone's cable, the sound of walking or touching yourself sounds pretty loud and can annoy quite a few people. There are some headphones affected with a stronger effect and some with a less strong effect.
An additional disadvantage is in the sound's character – not the quality, but the effect. Since the earphone sits in the ear's canal, the sound received is "in your head" and not surrounding your head like in full-sized headphones.
Electrostatic headphones - these feature a diaphragm consisting of a charged membrane, quite unlike the typical magnetic coil and piston driver in conventional speakers and headphones. Electrostatics aren't very common and are usually very expensive. They also require a special step-up high-voltage amplifier to power the membrane and are therefore impractical for anything other than seated listening. The incredibly low weight of the membrane driver makes them very responsive to even the tiniest signals, which means they offer incredible sonic detail and accuracy, and creamy smooth upper frequencies. Due to their cost and practical considerations, electrostatics are for committed audiophiles only. But they're so good that once you've tried them, you may see the merits of becoming an audiophile yourself.
Major Headphone Brands
Sennheiser – An old German company that was founded more than 60 years ago and is a leader in the headphones and microphones field. Its variety of headphones is broader and includes simple, cheap headphones to high end headphones at over ten thousand dollars.
Grado – a company that was founded in 1953 by Joe Grado, in order to manufacture phonograph heads and high quality headphones. Very popular amongst audiophiles, Grado has a relatively small line of products which includes only open phones, from the SR-60 to the RS-1 models. Predominant models: RS-1, 325, 225, SR-80.
Beyerdynamic or Beyr – A German company that was established in 1924 and manufactures closed headphones. Predominant models: DT 880, 250.
Audio-Technica – a company which was founded in 1962 in Japan, by a pioneer in the field. The company's headphones are very impressive in looks and sound. The company has a variety of headphones, which includes earbuds, opened phones and of course audiophile headphones, of which some are padded with leather. Predominant models: Ath 700, 900.
Sony – the electronic giant have their hands in this field as well. The company has a broad variety of headphones, including earbuds, quality Hi-Fi and prestigious Qualia headphones. Sony's headphones are very easy to find in this country, but generally, only the more basic models can be obtained. Predominant models: CD 3000 and MDR-F1.
AKG – an Austrian company established in 1947 and manufactures headphones and microphones. A.K.G. has a wide variety of headphones, as of simple and cheap ones to the prestigious K1000.
Stax – a Japanese company established in 1939 and specializes in electrostatic headphones. This is a high-end first league company in the field of headphones, which offers a small but high-quality and expensive product line. The headphones are usually distributed with a compatible amplifier that is also produced by Stax.
Ultrason – a Bavarian company, relatively new, which was established by a small group of pioneers in the field. The company has a variety of headphones, which mostly focuses on the DJ crowd and audiophiles. The company's special models, Edition 7, an earphone with a limited production of 1,000 headphones, made of Ethiopian goat leather, (according to them, the highest quality leather in the world).
Etymotic – a relatively new company established in 1983 and specializes in in-ear (intra-aural) headphones. This company has a surprisingly broad variety of headphones for this small part of the headphones.
Shure – an established American company operating for over 78 years that specializes in the production of microphones and in-ear headphones. They have a respected name in the world of audio and continues to provide the market with new and interesting models such as the E4c.
Ultimate Ears (UE) - a new American company which specializes in the manufacture of professional quality in-ear phones for artists, when the emphasis and uniqueness is in Custom headphones, which are custom made according to the ear's structure for each one separately. Recently the company has introduced a product line aimed at slightly lower budget consumers and includes regular in-ear headphones without custom moulds. The SuperFi 5 Pro/EB model and now the SuperFi 3 models have just emerged to general acclaim.
Westone – an American company which specializes in the production of quality in-ear phones with an option for custom molds which is adjusted in a unique way to the listener's ear, the company is relatively small and not so familiar, but they have a few very nice models.
These are the main companies in the market. There are other companies like KOSS, which haven’t been included in this review because we were interested in focusing in the most dominant companies.
Amplifying The Headphones
Like any speaker, many headphones require amplification so that you'll be able to take advantage of their potential. How is it possible that headphones that require a tenth of a watt in order to produce sound need amplification? As funny as it sounds, amplification is an important concern in a large number of headphones.
Generally, full-sized headphones require more amplification than others, the IEM and the earbud headphones do not require the use of an earphone amplifier in order to extract the most out of them.
Why Do You Need Amplification?
Like speakers, there are headphones that require more power than what devices (mainly mobile) are able to provide. Many tend to think that when connecting the headphones to the earphone outlet in their amplifier or receiver, they are actually specifically amplifying the signal for the headphones, which isn't correct at all. What actually happens is that the signal that arrives from the amplifier goes through a few resistors which reduce the output and what we get is in fact a compromise.
The most important factor is the impedance (the electrical current's resistance). In certain headphones it's very high (300 ohm, for instance), the headphones do not require massive power to drive them, but by combining them with a correctly specified amplifier you'll get improved performance in terms of sound quality. It's common for the resistance of headphones today to go from 32 ohm to about 64 ohm. Although, the Sennheiser company, for instance, has quite a few headphones which have a resistance that reaches 300 ohm. These headphones require a considerable amount of amplification, for example, the HD 600 and the HD 650. In a few of Beyr's models the resistance is 250 ohm.
Types of Amplifiers
Even in the world of headphones, there a few types of amplifiers: integrated amplifiers, output amplifiers and pre-amplifiers. Compared to normal speakers the cost of the equipment is much lower.
The amplifier market isn't very large, which simplifies choice making. Kits can be purchased at a low cost and provide good results. All you need is a healthy pair of hands, basic understanding of electronics, and quite a bit of patience. There are countless guides on the net. Major manufacturers of amplifier kits are Meir Audio, Aqua, Vincent, Grace Audio Design, Kevin Gilmore, Ray Samuels and Headroom.
There are other companies such as Valve, Musical Fidelity, Stax, Audio-Technica, and Grado, some of whom produce amplifiers which are designed for the headphones that their company produces, like Gordo, Audio-Technica and Stax. Additionally, mobile earphone amplifiers can be purchased which operate with batteries and provide a nice solution to anyone who wishes to amplify headphones on the road. Leading amplifier manufacturers in this field are Pocket Amp 2 V.2, Ray Samuels 71 and C-Moy.
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