Headphones, Earphones, Earbuds...Headbuds?

Everyone has them! There are more people walking around with something in or on their ears than without. I don’t think that is a bad thing! I can’t go anywhere without listening to music, the city is too...quiet. But anyhow!

This article is about the various kinds of head-mounted audio equipment. Each has its own characteristics...unless you buy a pair for thousands of dollars, in which case they’re pretty much perfect.

First off, earphones! If I mis-define them, don’t blame me. Just follow my description. What I call earphones are the things that rest in your ear, instead of sticking them down the ear, like the iPod standard earphones. These are about the worst you can get. They bleed (read: let out for other people to hear) sound horribly, and compound that with a general lack of bass, and tinny treble. You could spend more for a halfway decent pair, but that will only serve to lessen the imperfection. I’d call this the worst way to listen to music, aside from built-in laptop speakers. No good.

What I call earbuds are the ones you stick into your ear. I’ve got a pair of Sennheiser buds that have served me well! Until the left ear conked out. Not sure what to do about that. Anyhow, this design is characterized by letting out just about 0 arbitrary sound units (don’t look that up), weak bass, no sub-bass, and solid mids and trebles. I’d use these for listening to pretty much anything other than dubstep and drum & bass. They fit in your pocket, and that’s the main draw, plus they work well in the library for not pissing people off.

On-ear headphones! My Grado phones have been well-used. I’m using them right now! I find that open on-ear headphones offer the best overall sound quality. Only in a quiet environment! They let out as much sound as they let in, so don’t use these at the library. My $140 headphones, not much at all in this market, have excellent bass, decent sub-bass, and great treble/mids. If you’re an “audiophile”, you can’t go wrong with these. Closed-ear headphones tend to let less sound out, at the cost of muffled bass, unless you really shell out. One secret bonus of the open headphones is the fact that I will hear an oncoming car or ambulance, probably with time to front-flip over it.

Last but not least, the over-ear headphones. These ones are not meant to touch your ear, or not much, but instead they rest against the sides of your head around the ear. People will generally use these in the studio for music production, and I use my Audio Technica pair in the library, for containing the sound. They’re generally closed-ear, which can mean a generally more muffled or muted sound, but the open-ear ones are just about the best ear-gear you can get. For thousands of dollars.

There you have it! Listening to music in or on your ears is better than speakers of any kind because it immerses you. It fills your world with the sound, and with music in stereo, you’ll really feel the effect. Do some research, have a look at some of the links in the article, and listen to music!