Features I should consider when buying new headphones

With such a huge variety of choice, choosing a pair of headphones can be endless. Whether it’s for mixing, monitoring, live or in the studio, for vocals, drummers, dj’s or audiophiles …in the end we all want the best listening experience we can get. A basic understanding of headphone types, characteristics and specifications will help you choose a good set of headphones that are right for you.

Headphones Types

Over-ear or Circumaural: cup your entire ear and provide a seal and better isolation for a more immersive listening experience.

On-ear or Supra-aural: rest on top of your ear and are non-isolating from external sound coming in and sound leaking out.

In-ear: rest inside your ear canal, are low profile, portable and features small drivers designed for maximum fidelity. They are profoundly isolating and also offer a good amount of hearing protection, making it suitable for on stage live monitoring.

Wireless Headphones: have the advantage of movement and the possibility to connect several headphones to a single transmitter while eliminating clutter. There are 3 transmission methods: Infrared: the transmitter and receiver work in line of sight. Analogue radio frequency transmission: works through walls and doors, but may pick up noise from other frequencies. Digital radio transmission: has the best signal transmission, but comes at a higher price tag.

Headphone Characteristics

Open back systems: allow for an airy and natural sound while also giving an accurate frequency balance. This does not however provide much isolation from both noise coming in or leaking out and is therefore not a practical choice for tracking in the studio. Compared to closed systems it is the safer choice when outdoors and is more comfortable due to less weight and more ventilation.

Closed back systems: block out sound either entering or escaping, which is ideal for monitoring in loud environments. It is also suitable for discreet listening and works well in the studio by preventing noise leaking into open mics. The isolation in closed systems allow for a stronger bass response, but are less accurate in frequency balance compared to open systems and with added weight and less ventilation tend to be slightly less comfortable.

Semi Open Systems: are a good compromise between open and closed back headphones in terms of isolation, sound balance and comfort.

Headphone Specifications

Impedance: is a measure of AC resistance in ohms. High end studio monitoring headphones have a high impedance typically above 300 ohms which means more resistance and therefore needing more power such as a headphone amplifier.

Total Harmonic Distortion : is measured as a percentage, simply put the lower the THD the purer the music. Electrostatic Headphones used in the professional sector have minimal distortion producing clearer sound in comparison to Dynamic headphones in consumer headphones, but are more expensive.

Frequency range: refers to the range of frequencies the headphones are able to reproduce.  The general standard is an audible range from 20 to 20,0000Hz, with the lowest number representing the bass end of the spectrum and the higher representing the treble end. Although lower bass frequencies can arguably be felt, there’s much debate on whether higher treble frequencies are at all perceived in determining sound quality.

Lawrence started playing the electric guitar because of his passion for rock music. Back in the day he played in a metal band, but now plays more for himself.

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