How to choose a Good Headphone and what do the Specifications mean?
I recently purchased a Headphone
and spent some time researching and understanding what the specifications meant;
so that I could get the one that best fit my needs. I hope the below mentioned details helps you
in buying the right headphone and saves you time by not having to look
elsewhere.
Before we get into specifications
that would usually be mentioned on the packaging or on the manufactures web
page, let’s talk about the different types of headphones and choose the one
that best suits your requirements.
Open
Headphones – On-the-ear Headset also called
as Supra-aural Headset.
These types of headphones are
designed to allow some ambient noise to mix with the headphones output creating
a much better Bass and slightly better sound quality overall.
They are lighter and sound
natural, however people around you may
be able to hear what you are listening to. You might also need to
increase the volume if you are outdoors or in an area with substantial ambient
noise.
Closed
Headphones – Also called as Circum-aural Headphones.
These types of headphones are
excellent with blocking ambient noise either through sound isolation or active
noise cancellation; they are a good choice for monitoring your live recordings
and for gaming too so that the sound coming from the cups (headphones) does not
interfere with your microphone.
Specifications: Based on the manufacture the mentioned
specification would vary, listed are some of the common ones.
Headset
Driver Units (Denoted by
mm) - The size of the driver does not matter it’s the construction of
the cup and how it’s tuned that matters.
Usually 40 mm to 50 mm drivers should be sufficient to provide a good
dynamic range.
Headset
Impedance (Denoted by
Ohms - Ω) - The higher the impedance
the harder the computer sound card, phone, mp3 player etc has to work to attain
any particular volume.
Most high quality headphones that
have low electronic interference levels (that’s the hissing sound) usually have
high impedance levels as a by-product.
Impedance up to 32 Ω is
considered as a safe limit for most portable players. Anything higher would
require a portable amplifier in order to properly power them.
To get the best out of your
headset, you should match the impedance of the headphones to the audio
equipment you are using.
Headset Sensitivity (Denoted by dB/mW) - In plain terms it simply means how loud the headset would
sound. For example if two headsets with the same impedance are alternately used
with the same headphone amplifier, the headphone that is the loudest has a
higher Sensitivity.
Headset
Frequency Response (Denoted by
Hz ) – This is the range of bass, mids and treble, for example Human hearing is
usually between 20 - 20000 Hz, where 20 Hz is the bass end and 20000 Hz is the
treble.
The Headset frequency response could
vary from the actual range due to factors like dynamic range and harmonic
distortion, the lower the distortion the better the sound quality.
It is good to have headphones that covers as much
of the frequency range as possible however it shouldn’t be a major concern as
long has it’s in the human hearing spectrum J
Total
Harmonic Distortion (Denoted by
THD - 1 kHz/100 dB SPL) - This is
that crackling or hissing sound. When using headphones at higher volumes, the
speaker inside the headphone needs to move fast enough to produce sound,
failing to do so leads to distortion.
It’s best to get headphones with
as low total harmonic distortion (THD) level as possible.
Misc: Based upon preference or requirement one
might also want to consider;
Weight,
size, cable length, wired or wireless headphones, connectivity – either 3.5 mm
or USB
Finally, this basic knowledge should
help you get the headset with the performance and aesthetics that suits you. All the Best!!!
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