Whether you are an audio expert or just starting to have a love for music, you always develop favoritism over a particular pair of headphones. The most common type is the over-the-ear headphones but there are other designs to choose from. All of the types of headphones listed below have their own pros and cons but generally, they give you the basic pleasure of hearing great music on a personal level.
Types of Headphones
Over-the-ear Headphones
The type of headphones that most people are familiar with is over-the-ear headphones. The headphones are big enough so that they can fit around your entire ear. It is actually the largest among the types of headphones available. A headband made of plastic or metal connects the two earcups.
Most over-the-ear headphones have earpads that make them very comfortable to wear. As the prices of these headphones go up, the quality of the materials also becomes more premium. Since these headphones cover your entire ears, the space between the device and your skin is minimal. This means that noise does not easily pass through the headphones. Over-the-ear headphones are great for traveling because they are both comfortable and reduce noise. Studio workers also prefer over-the-ear headphones because of the accuracy of the music that it gives the hearers.
On-ear Headphones
If you have seen smaller than usual headphone earcups, you may be looking at on-ear headphones. These headphones rest on the earlobes rather than around the ear. Because of their size, they are generally lighter in build and have nicer stability compared to over-the-ear headphones. They are also easier to carry around because of their compactness.
You may want to try out on-ear headphones if it is your first time purchasing one. Some may not be as comfortable as other brands because of the pressure that it gives the ears upon wearing. It can be irritating at times which makes you not wear them at all.
On-ear headphones rely on the flatness of your earlobes to create a seal between the environment and your ears. Because earlobes are not completely flat as the skin, they will not provide a 100% seal to cancel all the noise.
Closed-back Headphones
A variant of both the on-ear and the over-the-ear headphones is the closed-back design. The closed-back headphones have a plastic or metal panel that closes the outer side of the earcups. This design prevents noise from entering your ears, thus, giving a better listening experience.
Closed-back headphones are great for those people who want to hear the details of the music, particularly the different instruments being played. Because of this musicians and singers want to closed-back headphones so that they can focus on the music without the interference of noise.
Open-back Headphones
The open-back headphones do not have closed earcups. Instead, the headphones allow some leakage of sound from the headphones to the environment. It may seem like these headphones replicate speakers rather than isolating the music to the ears of the listener.
This type is preferred by studio mixers because it allows the listener to accurately make adjustments to the music without having to encounter any build-up in the frequencies of the sound.
Some audio experts, not necessarily sound engineers, prefer using closed-back headphones because they say that the music that goes out from these types of headphones is the actual sound that the singer intended it to be.
Because the sound is not isolated toward your ears, closed-back headphones are more comfortable to use over long periods of time. Just like closed-back headphones, open-back headphones have over-the-ear and on-ear variants.
Conclusion
It is truly a good time to be an audiophile today. Headphones are now being continually upgraded so that sound can very much be appreciated the way it was originally designed. Choose the right headphone that suits your preference and budget. Whether you pick the open-back, on-ear, closed-back, or over-the-ear headphones, you will surely have a great hearing experience that is as close as possible to listening to the quality of the original studio or live music.