Headphone and Earphone Buyer's Guide

In a perfect world, you could crank the volume until you could feel it and watch a movie at two in the morning in your living room. In reality however, if someone is sleeping in your house, this would scare the living daylights out of them. Action and science-fiction movies work particularly well - not that I've ever done this to anyone. You see, the problem is that movies with Dolby Digital or DTS soundtracks are difficult to listen to at low volume levels. The dialogue is too quiet and the sound effects are too loud. You could sit there with the remote in your hand and keep adjusting the volume constantly, but that's no fun. This is where headphone entertainment comes in.

But using headphones in your house is only one of the applications. People listen to music through headphones when traveling, exercising, playing video games, not to mention the countless professionals that use headphones.

Believe it or not, a good set of headphones (or cans if you prefer slang) can deliver sound quality equal to a set of speakers several times their price. This is because headphones are easier to drive than speakers, closer to your ear and the acoustics of your room do not play a role when using headphones. Headphones can also deliver the frequency response, signal to noise ratio and total harmonic distortion of some of the best stereo speakers.

Today's headphones come in all shapes and flavors: ear buds, over the ears and wireless. So what should you look for in headphones?

Preventing outside noise from entering your ears is important, especially in noisy environments, and can be accomplished in two ways.

One way is to form a tight seal between your headphones and your ears. Over the ear headphones are generally good at this, while ear buds and in-ear headphones form a much tighter seal with the use of sleeves (foam, flex, or triple flange). Multiple sleeves are typically provided so that you can choose a set that fits your ears tightly and comfortably. Headphones that make a tight fit in or around the ear are usually called sound isolating headphones.

A second method uses active noise canceling technology that senses outside environment noise with tiny built-in microphones. It sends an equal-but-opposite canceling signal to the headphones. This can reduce noise by up to 80% (or 15 dB) and allows the user to listen to music at a much lower and safer volume level. Usually it is an option that can be turned on and off and requires batteries to run. A downside of noise canceling technology is that depending on the quality of the headphones, the circuitry may generate a constant hissing sound of its own. Sennheiser and Sony are a couple of the manufacturers that offer products in this category. This technology can also be found in some modern cars like the last generation of the Honda Prelude (other new Hondas and Acuras also have it). Honda calls it the Acoustic Feedback System.

Headphones have an impedance rating that varies significantly between different sets. It takes more power (electrical energy) to drive higher impedance headphones than it does to drive lower impedance headphones to achieve the same volume level. While any set of headphones can be used with any audio video equipment, there are choices that make more sense. Lower impedance headphones (64 ohms or less) are easier to drive (require lower voltages) and should be used with mp3 players and other portable devices. This will prolong the life of the batteries in the device. Higher impedance headphones require higher voltages to produce the same volume level. But higher impedance headphones have an advantage: the resistance in the headphone cable and connector are less significant. More power makes it to the headphones, since less power is lost in the cable and connectors.

Open headphones (or open air headphones) have an open backing or grille on the backs of the drivers. This allows the sound to vent freely and usually improves the quality of sound compared to similarly-priced closed headphones. Open headphones let some sound escape through their grilles and may be disturbing to others around you. Closed headphones make a good choice if sound isolation is preferred over sound quality.

The latest technology to come to the world of headphones is the Dolby Headphone format. This technology is actually found in today's receivers, not headphones. The Dolby Headphone algorithm takes any multi-channel audio source (up to 5-channels) and processes it to add all sorts of spatial cues and ambient effects through simulated direct and reflected sounds. It outputs a two-channel audio signal that is reproduced through any pair of conventional headphones and allows you to listen to music, watch movies and play video games while enjoying the sound effects of a 5.1-channel soundtrack. In order to experience the Dolby Headphone format, your receiver or DVD player must have the capability to decode it. A few DVDs also come with pre-encoded Dolby Headphone soundtracks in which case hardware decoding is unnecessary. Special editions of Pearl Harbor and T2: Extreme DVD are a couple of movies that have these soundtracks included. As with any other sound formats, you can usually tell if the hardware can decode this format by looking for the Dolby Headphone logo on its front panel. Home theater receivers from Harman/Kardon, Denon, Marantz and Kenwood as well as the Marantz DV9500 universal player are some of the latest home theater products to offer this technology.

But Dolby Headphone decoding isn't limited to home theater equipment. It can also be found in personal computers, mp3 players and portable DVD players. Eventually it will probably make it into most electronic products.

Then there are headphone amplifiers. Once used exclusively by recording studios, headphone amplifiers have become increasingly popular among audiophiles. The professional market has also realized the importance of headphone amplifiers in the studio and for monitoring live events. Most of these are solid state amplifiers but some tube versions also exist. Many home theater receivers and amplifiers concentrate on driving loudspeakers and pay little attention to the headphone output. This can cause higher noise and output distortion. Portable stereos and mp3 players are notorious for their weak headphone outputs, which are purposely underpowered to conserve battery life. Headphone amplifiers are designed specifically to power headphones and have built-in circuitry such as spatial processors to improve the sound of headphones.

Now, let's take a look at the pros and cons of each of the four types of headphones: earbuds, in-ear (canalphones), over the ear and wireless. Regardless of which type of headphones you decide to go with, keep in mind that all headphones can cause hearing loss if the volume is not carefully maintained or if you listen to them for extended periods of time without sufficient breaks.

Earbuds

Most people who listen to music while traveling or exercising prefer earbuds for the obvious reasons. They are inexpensive, very small, lightweight and won't flatten your hair when used for extended periods of time. Earbuds are commonly bundled with portable electronics such as mp3 players, CD/DVD players, PDAs and other similar products. Many people choose to replace bundled headphones with something better, as these are often of low quality. Earbuds provide poor isolation and are not capable of delivering the precision and range of sound offered by many full-sized headphones and in-ear headphones.

In-Ear

In-ear headphones fit inside the ear canal, making them closer to the eardrum than other types of headphones. They are extremely small, lightweight and provide an excellent sound isolation quality because they act as ear plugs. In-ear headphones are commonly used by live performers to protect themselves from the stage noise, although today they are also catered towards the audiophile. Universal tips (supplied with in-ear headphones) made of foam, flex, or triple flange ensure a tight and comfortable fit inside the ear. Custom fit tips can be obtained by visiting an audiologist. Due to their great isolation, in-ear headphones can deliver very high quality sound and the volume doesn't have to be turned up as high as with other types of headphones.

Over the Ear

Over the ear headphones are much larger than the previous two types and are comfortable to wear but are not as portable. They have pads that go on top of the ears (supraural headphones) or pads that go around the ear (circumaural headphones). Supraural headphones have the advantage of being smaller but do not provide as much sound isolation and may not be as comfortable as circumaural headphones. Some over the ear headphones collapse into a smaller package if you wish to travel with them.

Wireless

If you're looking for the freedom to walk around your house at inappropriate hours with headphones on, wireless headphones may be the solution for you. They'll let you listen to music anywhere inside and even outside your house, regardless of where your stereo is located. They are available in both circumaural and supraural designs. Wireless headphones transmit sound using the radio frequencies (RF) of 900 MHz, 2.4 or 2.8 GHz and are generally heavier than other pairs of headphones because they have built-in batteries. The headphones will typically function from 4 to 23 hours on a single charge (depending on the battery type) and the RF transmitter generally doubles as a recharging station. The range of wireless headphones is between 10 to 100 meters from the RF transmitter.

Finally...

We asked a few companies to send us their headphones so that we could put them to the test. Each of the four sets below is of a different design. This gave us the opportunity to examine the benefits and downfalls of each design. The people at Marantz were also nice enough to supply us with their SR8500 surround receiver equipped with Dolby Headphone decoding.

Grado SR80

To the eye, the Grado SR80 headphones look like a blast out of the 1950s. Their purposeful utalitarian look will catch the attention of those who enjoy retro styling. The SR80s are the smallest and lightest over the ear headphones that we tested in this session. With rotating ear pieces, the headphones collapse into an even smaller package that makes them easy to transport. The SR80s are an excellent choice for portable devices due to their small size, light weight and because they are easy to drive. Their supraural design means that their foam pads fit on top of the ear, rather than around it, which makes them not as comfortable as the other headphones in this session. The supraural design does not provide the best sound isolation either, so don't plan to use these headphones in loud environments. To the ear, is where the SR80s truly shine - they are decades ahead of their appearance. Grado has an excellent reputation for the sound quality of their headphones and listening to the SR80s showed us exactly why. The headphones are an open back design with a non-resonant air chamber. They produced a deep bass, an outstanding midrange and highs that were crisp and natural. With the smallest price tag ($150) of the headphones in this review, the SR80s performed right up to par with the higher priced sets, with all the material that we tossed their way.

Beyerdynamic DT 770

Sennheiser HD 555

The smooth curves of the Sennheiser HD 555 headphones make them the most attractive of the three over the ear headphones we tested. They are very comfortable with their soft material ear pads and head band and are also fairly light for their size. The headband is twistable making it easy to pull one ear pad off as we all do with headphones sometimes. The Sennheisers also have a unique earpiece design - the drivers are angled slightly backwards to better direct the sound into your ears. The circumaural design of the HD 555s means that they create a good seal around the ear, although some outside noise still gets into your ears since these are open back headphones. The HD 555 headphones are easy to drive which makes them great for use at home and with portable devices, as long as you are not in a noisy environment. They had a warm but detailed sound on every recording we listened through them. Their open back design also gives them a nice spacious sound with a bass that never lacked. They performed great while listening to music although their strong side seemed to be in the home theater. At a price of $199.95, the Sennheiser HD 555 headphones are a great contender.

Shure E3c

Shure's E3c sound isolating earphones were a slightly different type of contender in our review session. Other than producing sound, they shared nothing in common with the other headphones. The E3c styling is simple - these are tiny, lightweight L-shaped headphones that come with a variety of foam and flex sleeves (of different sizes) to fit anyone's ears. Their in-ear design means that they fit right inside your ear and fire sound right at the eardrum. This may sound a little intrusive but it's really not. An airtight seal is very important to achieve best bass performance and finding the perfect sleeve took some experimentation. The E3cs provided a tight and comfortable fit along with sound isolation like no other headphones in our review. On the performance side, the E3c headphones were nothing short of a champion. High and mid frequencies were naturally balanced and pleasant to the ears. Bass extension was also very impressive coming out of these little earphones. There is no question about it, their compact size and incredible sound isolation makes the Shure E3c headphones an ideal choice for mp3 players and other portable devices. They are the perfect replacement for iPod headphones for those wanting more out of the iPod. Since they create such a tight seal in your ear, you can listen to music at a lower volume level than with other headphones. This will allow you to listen to music for extended periods of time with less fatigue to your ears. At $249, the Shure E3c headphones may be small but are well worth the investment.