How to Buy Headphones
Choosing headphones is a very personal matter. You can purchase a computer, a monitor, or a keyboard and make it your own, ignoring its shortcomings and augmenting its strengths. Choosing headphones, however, is a very different matter. You will never "get used to" headphones that don't sound good to you or don't fit properly.
Two of the most important aspects of headphones are comfort and sound. Both of these qualities are very subjective. What is comfortable and sounds good to one user may be unpleasant and sound terrible to another.
So the only way to find out if a pair of headphones is right for you is to try them out. Unfortunately, this is often more complicated than it sounds. Headphones are often packaged so they cannot be opened in the store. If they are available to demo, the acoustical environment in the store may pollute the true sound of the headphones. So the best thing to do may be to learn as much as you can about headphones before you make your purchase. You should investigate the different types of headphones. There are four basic types of headphones on the market.
First, there are in-ear earphones, like those that come with most portable music players as well as those used by television anchormen and newswomen. These are often referred to as "earbuds". While generally uncomfortable, some of the soft versions that fit into the ear canal are said to be quite wearable. To get real comfort from this type of earphone, an audiologist can make an impression of your ear canal creating a casting which can then be used to create personalized ear plugs, such as the Sennheiser IE-3 Universal Ear Phones or Future Sonics' Custom Ear Plugs
Secondly, there are headphones that are referred to as "Closed", sometimes called sealed, enclosed, closed back, or isolating. The closed headphone sits on top of the ear and seals outside sound out and inside sound in. These are best used in noisy environments like airports, or more quiet places where you don't want any noise to be heard by others, like in an office environment. Closed headphones often have difficulty in their ability to consistently reproduce bass frequencies. At times they also have trouble with overall performance because of the resonance created by the closed scenario.
The third type of headphone will give you a more accurate, consistent sound. This type of headphone is called "Open" headphones, also referred to as Open-Aire, Open Back, or Vented. Some sound escapes out the back of these headphones, but that makes the sound more natural. Also, they are sometimes more comfortable since there is less pressure against the ear.
The last category of headphones includes those that are specially designed for voice rather than music. You will see these used in voice communications, intercoms, or other situations where clear voice reproduction is needed. There are also wireless headphones, headphones with unusual headbands and different sized earmuffs.
As you can see, there is a lot to learn about headphones. Internet sites like HeadRoom.com and Headphones.com both give detailed information about headphones, comfort, sound, and quality. You might even want to visit the Head-Fi Discussion Forum. Head-Fi is a community site dedicated to headphone enthusiasts where you will probably learn more than you even wanted to know about headphones.
Try as many different headphones as you can using both in-store demos and personal contacts. Be sure to consider the sound quality. Although sound production and replication is too detailed to delve into here, you can investigate this further or just let your ears be the judge. Higher priced headphones usually have a wider frequency response to create a better sound. If you don't want to pay a lot for the headphones, inexpensive headphone amplifiers can be purchased to improve the quality of low-end headphones.
After you complete your headphone investigation, you will be ready to pick out the headphones that you feel will be right for you. Be sure to purchase your headphones from a reputable source that gives at least an unconditional 30-day guarantee.
