Bring your music to life by choosing the best headphones for you
Choosing the right headphones makes it possible for you to hear your music the way the artist who made it intended, with all the nuances from the right bass and treble levels so you can hear every drum beat and guitar strum. Not all headphones are ideal for everybody and are a matter of personal taste, comfort and style. Find the ideal pair of headphones to use with your mobile device, stereo or computer, available at our Every Day Low Prices, and get your groove on.
Over-ear and on-ear headphones
Over-ear and on-ear headphones effectively block out outside sounds, allowing you to hear your music or whatever else you're listening to crisply and without distraction. Over-ear headphones are sometimes known as full-size headphones because they completely envelop the wearer's ear. This results in what's known as passive noise reduction, which makes these some of the most-preferred headphones available. The only drawback is that your ears and the skin around your ears can get warm and sweaty. These are usually the heaviest type of headphones.
On-ear headphones have speakers that rest on your ears as opposed to over them. The speakers are cushioned to make them more comfortable for the wearer. These reduce most outside sounds and deliver good sound quality, although there's a small amount of loss of the deeper bass sounds.
Earbuds and in-ear headphones
Earbuds have small speakers that rest on the ear canal of the wearer. These are usually much less expensive than on-ear and over-ear headphones and reproduce the sound well. However, outside sounds, such as traffic or power tools, can get past the earbuds and interfere with your enjoyment. Earbuds also don't stay in place very well if the wearer is moving much, such as exercising. These also are lower fidelity than on-ear and over-ear headphones.
In-ear headphones are like earbuds but are an upgrade to them. These headphones fit into the wearer's ear canal and stay in place with the use of foam or rubber tips. These tips are available in custom sizes so they can fit each individual wearer. When a proper fit's achieved, in-ear headphones reduce outside noise and deliver sound quality at about the same level as over-ear and on-ear headphones.
Wired, wireless and Bluetooth headphones
Although some headphones available are wired, many more are available that are wireless, and use Bluetooth to enable your music to be heard, even if the stereo or other device is several feet or even a few rooms away. Wired headphones deliver superior sound quality to wireless and Bluetooth because there's no chance of picking up interference from other devices, which sometimes happens with wireless headphones. In addition, wired headphones have no batteries to power them, so there's no chance of interruption should the batteries wear out.
Wireless and Bluetooth headphones are often preferable because so many devices, including cell phones, tablets, laptop computers and e-readers work with them. In addition, there's that nice feeling of freedom from being able to move about without having a wire trailing behind you or having to carry a device that the headphones are connected to.
gaming headsets
Gaming headsets are headphones that have a microphone attached and allow users to speak to other people and hear them with the same device. In fact, gaming headsets have other practical applications as well. You can use them in business or personal situations when you want to speak to people on a computer using a video phone program or social media chat room. Although these work for music applications, they're more suited for conversational clarity.
Other headphones
Although these are the basic types of headphones, there are other headphones that appeal to certain niches, such as professional sound engineers, DJs and active sports participants:
- Professional and DJ headphones in almost all cases, these are over-ear headphones, many with microphones, that allow sound engineers and disk jockeys to hear their music and talk at the same time; these are usually somewhat more expensive than standard over-ear headphones and have better sound quality, such as having more powerful bass drivers.
- Sports headphones These are lightweight headphones that act like on-ear headphones; this type of headphone is held in place on the ears with clips that go over and around the ears and stay in place securely.
- Waterproof headphones Many of these headphones fall under the in-ear category; these headphones are ideal for people who are active outside, such as joggers, or for people who like to listen to music while on the water, such as water skiers; some sports headphones are also waterproof.
