Headphones. There are three main types of headphones, ear bud, padded full ear and the more modern in-ear headphones, each have their own use and purpose.

There are two main qualities necessary in a decent set of head phones, accurate sound reproduction and effective isolation from surrounding noise. They are usually used to either limit audio output to a single user and spare any bystanders the noise or to eliminate external sounds and isolate the user from their surroundings.

Headphones are definitely not just small speakers. Modern headests are designed to project sound into the ear correctly and while they share some basic design principles with speakers, headphones have many specific design qualities confined purely to their own particular uses.

There are three main types of headphones available, the earbuds, a wide range of padded full ears and the latest and most effective and latest in technology the in-ear headphones.

Earbuds are the cheap, discreet solution usually provided with portable music players, be they mp3 or cd. The small buds fit inside the ear lobe and project sound into the ear. The main advantage of earbud headphones is size, as they are easily the smallest type and barely take up more room than the wires they connect with. This makes them excellent for portable use but fairly poor in terms of sound quality or isolation.

Head-Phones - Reviews and shopping for Head-phones. www.head-phones.co.uk

Bonners Music. - Headphone retailer. www.bonnersmusic.co.uk


Full ear headphones are the majority of the retail headphone market and come in many sub-categories. These are all designed to cup the ear, making them more comfortable and capable of blocking sound in a variety of ways. The size of the headphones also means they are capable of housing better sound reproduction technology than the small earbuds. Sound cancellation options include closed headphones where sound is blocked simply by making the cans solid and soundproof, which can reduce sound quality and noise cancellation headphones which use a mic to detect external sound and then reproduce a directly opposing soundwave to eliminate those sounds.

In ear headphones are the latest headphone technology and are actually inserted into the ear canal itself. Specially designed for the purpose they are perfectly safe, and block more outside noise than any other headphones making them superb in terms of isolation. Since they project sound directly into the ear and onto the eardrum, in ear headphones are also capable of exceptional sound quality. One of the drawbacks is price, of course, as this type of headphone is reasonably expensive, and they are a little fiddly to use as they need to be correctly inserted into the ear.