Is it all in your Headphones?

IS IT All in your Headphones?

Greetings to all,

Many times I have read about walkman enthusiast who complain about high quality players which sound poor, or are not what they expected. So I have decided to try to combine some tips and advice for those members who are not familiar with the world of Hi-Fi and walkmans or personal stereos, here goes:

So, when was the last time you were excited by a piece of music? Whether it was at a concert hall, a theater or your home system, surely the reason for that was the Hi-Fi source that the music was played on. Nothing can be more exciting than a clean and accurate frequency response of a good hi-fi system. We are not just satisfied with hearing music; we want to experience it too. The ability to experience pleasure from listening to music appears to be linked with the quality of reproduction. This in turn is linked with the ability to hear more of the music in greater detail. It is this pursuit of excellence that drives the quest for Hi Fi, to make the experience of music exhilarating!

The Question is: Can a Walkman or a portable stereo reproduce the same Hi-Fi quality as a home Hi-Fi system does? The answer lies in few factors which we will point out in this article.

The term Hi-Fi is a short for High Fidelity. Hi fidelity achieved by low distortion or noise. This achievement produces accurate Frequency response. To make your walkman or personal stereo sound great with all the bells and whistles; either you like low deep bass or crispy cymbals. The answer lies on the headphones.

Headphones are the central nerve system of any walkman.
The word headphone comes from Head-Phones. Meaning; they have a band or other arrangement to fit over the head unlike ear-phones or earbuds that are fitted directly in the outer ear. Not all headphones created equal. Some are good, some are worse, some are clean, some are distorted, some are colored and some are neutral.

This article is all about How to get the best sound quality out of your music player and your headphones, whether it's a Walkman, a Minidisc player, an mp3 player, or an Ipod.
When I started this article I didn't realize it will grow so much, so I have decided to split it in two parts (Well maybe three parts) So here we are.

In this article we will explain in general what are headphones?

1. Types of headphones
2. Cables and Plugs
3. Price vs. quality
4. Evaluate sound

Part 2
1. Crossfeed
2. Burn in
3. Headphones amps
4. Analog vs. digital

TYPES OF HEADPHONES

There are many types of headphones. The need for portability indicates smaller, lighter headphones but can mean a compromise in fidelity. Headphones used as part of a home hi-fi do not have the same design constraints and can be larger and heavier.

Generally, headphone form factors can be divided into four separate categories:
Over-the-ear, On-ear, earbud, and in-ear.

1. Full size headphones also called Over-the-ear headphones(Circumaural) have circular or ellipsoid earpads that encompass the ears. Because these headphones completely surround the ear, Over-the-ear headphones can be designed to fully seal against the head to attenuate any intrusive external noise. Because of their size, Over-the-ear headphones can be quiet heavy.
2. On-ear headphones (Supra-aural) have pads that sit on top of the ears, rather than around them.

This type of headphones generally tends to be smaller and more lightweight than Over-the-ear headphones, resulting in less attenuation of outside noise. They were commonly bundled with personal stereos during the 1980's with their unforgettable orange color.

Over-the-ear and On-ear-headphones both can also be further differentiated by the type of ear-cups:

Open-back headphones have the back of the earcups open. This leaks more sound out of the headphone and also lets more ambient sounds into the headphone, but gives a more natural or speaker-like sound and more spacious "soundscape" - the perception of distance from the source.

Closed-back styles have the back of the earcups closed. Depending on the model they may block 8-32db of ambient noise, but have a smaller soundscape, giving you a perception that the sound is coming from within your head. These types are mostly used as Studio monitors to prevent sound leakage to the mics.

1. Earbuds or earphones are very small headphones that are fitted directly in the outer ear, facing but not inserted in the ear canal; they have no band or other arrangement to fit over the head. Such earphones are portable and convenient, but many people consider them to be uncomfortable and prone to falling out. Various models are available, most are cheap low low grade. They hardly provide any acoustic isolation and leave room for ambient noise to seep in; users may turn up the volume high to compensate, at the risk of causing hearing loss. Earbuds have commonly been sold with personal music devices since the early 90s.
2. In-ear headphones (also called IEMs), like earbuds, are small and without headband, but are inserted in the ear canal itself.

They are sometimes known as canal phones. Price and quality range from relatively inexpensive to very high; The better ones are called in-ear monitors (IEMs) and are mainly used by audio engineers and musicians.
Canal phones offer portability similar to earbuds, block out much environmental noise by obstructing the ear canals, and are far less prone to falling out. When used for casual portable use they block out sounds which can be important for safety (e.g. approaching vehicles).

Types of Headphones

DENON Headphones Assembly

Driver type

Your musical taste is quite important when choosing headphones. They will help you determine the headphone driver type to select.
The driver produces the sound. Most headphones use dynamic drivers, which provide a full range of sound.

Moving coil driver, more commonly referred to as a "Dynamic" driver is the most common type used in headphones.
The operating principle consists of a stationary magnetic element affixed to the frame of the headphone which sets up a static magnetic field. The magnetic element in headphones is typically composed of ferrite or neodymium. The diaphragm, typically fabricated from lightweight, high stiffness to mass ratio cellulose, polymer, carbon material, or the like, is attached to a coil of wire (voice coil) which is immersed in the static magnetic field of the stationary magnet. The diaphragm is activated by the attached voice coil, when an audio current is passed through the coil. The alternating magnetic field produced by the current through the coil reacts against the static magnetic field in turn, causing the coil and attached diaphragm to move the air, thus producing sound.

In comparison, balanced armature drivers are smaller and more efficient. They're mostly used in in-ear canal phones. High or low frequencies may be clipped.

Some headphones use static drivers. Found in headphones that run $500 and up, static drivers offer the best sound. They require an external power source, which means they're not quite portable.

CABLES & PLUGS

Another important factor for excellent hi-fi sound is properties of cables & plugs. Most headphones nowadays have a gold plug tip. Most people automatically think that gold has to be better. Some claim those headphones sounds better and they conduct better.
But is that a fact or myth?

Most interconnects are shielded to reduce any RF (radio frequency) Interference.
Shielding generally decreases capacitance which is undesirable. High capacitance tends to roll off high frequencies so short cable is best.
In order to maintain flexibility and maintain low electrical resistance cables use many conductors.
Better cables often use two separate elements of shielding, braiding to guard against (RFI), and foil to reduce (EMI).
Insulation is necessary to stop the signal shorting out but the type of insulation has a significant effect on the sound.
Whereas most cables use PVC as insulation but it’s particularly poor as a dielectric.
Teflon (PTFE) is one of the best dielectrics available with its dielectric constant being 100 times better than PVC.
Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) is often used in better cables as a conductor and produces minimal signal loss whilst passing signals accurately.

Silver or silver plated is usually considered the best material for cable conductors. Silver content in solder is proven in to have better conductivity in radio frequency (RF) assemblies and superior for audio. Purity of silver and copper cables are often quoted in high end interconnects and result in purity of around 99.99%.

Gold plating is used for connectors because of its low oxidation properties; it makes a reliable connection that tends not to deteriorate over time. In that case the only practical reason for using gold is that it doesn't corrode; But considerably more expensive than silver.

PRICE Vs. QUALITY

Something to always keep in mind is the headphones simple equation which is:
Quality is always expensive but Expensive is not always quality. However high quality headphones could also be found in not so fancy name/built with a high price tag.

The truth is that consumers don't really care enough about audio sound quality to even think about it. Unfortunately the focus of today's digital consumers seems to be with visuals or Pixels. When it comes to video we are obsessed with the differences between 720p and 1080p, Similarly with digital cameras where we want to know how many mega pixels it is. Concerns about audio sound quality in today’s market seem to be as unimportant. Those consumers would be perfectly happy listening to music from the tiny speakers of handheld devices, radios, laptops...etc. Those consumers find the cheap headsets and earbuds that comes bundle with consumer products very satisfying.

EVALUATE SOUND QUALITY

Ideally, everyone would agree about what sounds great, but in reality, sound is at least somewhat subjective - people hear slightly different things. Beyond that, you have to decide what sounds good to you. Like speakers, headphones might emphasize different parts of the audio spectrum, and you might prefer one sound over another.
Headphones should feed you clear, accurate sound with sufficient volume. However, good Headphones makers design their products to sound pretty much the same as the source. Others color the sound and emphasize it, even premium Headphone makers are now focusing most of their efforts on making Headphones with “colored sound” which emphasize certain sounds in a way that makes some music sound better to some listeners; for example: extended bass is the most common type of sound coloration.

We should consider five main factors to be important when evaluating the sound of a new pair of headphones: Frequency response, Sound balance, Clarity or distortion, Sensitivity and finally Impedance.


Frequency Response:
Frequency response (aka Dynamic Range) Measured in hertz, frequency response is the range of frequencies that the headphones can reproduce effectively. (“Range” describes the Headphone’s ability to let you hear the most extreme high and low ends of the audio spectrum - technically, it’s called Frequency Response) The human ear perceives sounds in the 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz range. Outside that range, sounds are not audible to most human ears (except the occasional sound professional and of course, some "golden ear" audiophiles). Ultra-low frequencies less than 20Hz are more felt than heard. Look for headphones that cover as much of this range as possible. Smaller headphones that use balanced armature drivers often have trouble with lower frequencies.

If you like music with a lot of bass, pay attention to lower frequencies; you may need larger headphones with dynamic drivers. For jazz and classical music, midrange and high frequencies are more important factor.


Sound balance:
Sound balance refers to the Headphone’s relative levels of bass, treble, and midrange - whether the designers present sound neutrally by balancing these types of sound equally, or color the sound so that bass, treble, and/or mid's are emphasized. Over-exaggeration can make certain types of music sound distorted.


Clarity or distortion:
Clarity or distortion refers to the Headphone’s ability to reveal better detail or flaws in your audio. The better the Headphone, the more detail it reveals in all parts of the audio spectrum; many Headphones reveal only high-end detail and leave bass and mids duller.


Sensitivity (loudness):
Sensitivity is a measure of headphone efficiency in dBs SPL per milliwatt of input. A low number means that the headphones need more power to sound as loud as those which have a higher sensitivity. Headphones for portables need to be fairly sensitive because of the lower power output of portable stereos.
Modern dynamic headphones have sensitivity ratings of 90 dB or more. When shopping for portable headphones, look for sensitivity rating of 100 dB or greater. (A decibel (dB) is a measure of sound intensity. The dB scale is logarithmic, meaning that a change of 10 dB represents a tenfold change in loudness. So, a sound measuring 20 dB is 10 times louder than a sound measuring 10 dB).


Impedance:
Impedance is measured in ohms. The higher the impedance, the more power required to produce sound. Lower numbers are better, particularly for portable headphones. Look for maximum impedance around 60 ohms. (Lower impedance players can compensate by using Headphone amp).

Standard Headphones Specifications (DENON AH-D650)

Equipment specifications are sometimes overstated, but in the case of headphones, they may be entirely misleading. It bears repeating that because headphones operate so close to the ears, the sound of a pair of headphones can depend on the shape of the listener's head and ears. Headphones with "good" specs may not sound good, and those with "bad" specs may not sound bad. However even an excellent pair of headphones can't overcome the lack of crossfeed found in natural stereo soundscape.


In part two of this article we will explain about:1. Crossfeed
2. Burn in
3. Headphones amps
4. Analog vs. digital


I Hope you enjoyed this article, as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for your time.