A comparison of the newest cordless headphones.

| Monday, August 8, 2011
By Gunter Fellbaum


Looking for a new pair of headphones and overwhelmed by the flood of models of regular and Bluetooth and cordless headphones? I will give an overview of today's models to help you pick the pair of headphones that is right for you.

Headphones are available in many different styles. In terms of design, the smallest type headphones are in-ear headphones which are plugged into the ear, some of these have a bracket that wraps around the ear. These in-ear headphones are often bundled with iPods and other MP3 players and can easily be placed in a pocket. A larger type of headphones have earpieces that sit on the ears but are still quite small. These headphones have an elastic frame that connects the two earpieces. This frame either sits on the head or wraps around the neck. These two types of headphones are typically the least expensive and you should consider them if you are on a budget. Some in-ear models are specially designed to absorb exterior noise.

Medium-end headphones are an option if you are able to spend a little more and offer better sound quality. The earpieces have ear cushions to improve the wearing comfort. These ear cushions are either located on your ear or around your ear. Many people prefer the second type since there is no pressure on the ears. If you feel you would like to go with this type of headphones, you will then need to decide whether to go with an open, semi-open or closed design. An open design means that the audio can penetrate from the transducer to the outside and also cross-couple into the other earpiece. While some people feel that an open design sounds light, a closed design will tend to absorb exterior noise more and provide better insulation between the two earpieces.

Today's headphones are dynamic headphones for the most part. Dynamic indicates what type of transducer is used. Static headphones are the second type. This type is fairly expensive but offers high sound quality. Static headphones need a special headphone amplifier.

Wireless headphones eliminate the headphone cord. Bluetooth headphones are another option to consider. Bluetooth headphones are a type of wireless headphones which are designed for Bluetooth-enabled devices. Such devices include cell phones. The operating range is typically only 30 ft or less. Bluetooth headphones do normally not offer audiophile sound quality.

Other wireless headphones include inexpensive 900 MHz models which use FM transmission and more advanced digital wireless headphones which work at 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz. In addition to noticeable hissing and distortion, FM type wireless headphones are also very susceptible to wireless interference.

Another type of wireless headphones are digital wireless headphones. This type of headphones, such as Amphony headphones, will encode the audio prior to transmission which prevents any audio distortion during the transmission and ensures high reliability against interference. Digital wireless headphones which work at the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band have fewer problems with competing wireless devices than headphones working at 2.4 GHz.




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