In-ear headphones, on ear headphones, ear buds, Which ones are right for me?
With so many different options for listening to music these days and being able to listen to what you want where you want it is important to get the best tool for the right situation. Big bulky headphones are great for big sound, big volume and some have great noise blockout. But the problem is you cant really wear big bulky headphones jogging or to the gym because they can be very hot and you get sweaty and they get jiggled around and the cord gets tangled. Its just not the right tool for the job.
Ear Buds
Aaaah earbuds, we’ve all seen them and probably all worn them at some stage because they came with our smart phones that we all seem to have these days. They’re light and sit in our ears comfortably and the cord can run under our shirt nicely. No heat problems either. The perfect solution right? Wrong, the sound is no where near as good as Headphones. I guess thats ok too if sound isn’t really your thing and you’re happy enough with some background music. But if you’re reading this then you are probably a bit more of an audiophile.
What are these weird plastic things?
When I got my Galaxy S3 smart phone, they came with these new style of in ear phones.
I didn’t know what they were and kept trying to wear them as ear buds and thought to myself this cant be right. The sound was so tinny, they didn’t fit my ears and kept falling out. I thought the smart phone manufacturers had lost the plot or just didn’t understand or care about what their users wanted. So I reverted back to my Iphone earbuds when I couldn’t wear my headphones.
Then one day I was heading out to work and realised my Iphone ear buds no longer worked so in a rush I grabbed the in ear phones that came with my S3. After wrestling with them and trying to get them to stay in my ears I turned to Mr. Google and asked “How do these new earphones work!?”. And I found the answer, they are called in earphones because you are supposed to put them in your ears. Not sitting in the lobe but actually in the canal.
How they work
The speaker itself sits right next to your eardrum (or very close to it) and the plastic flaps around the speaker not only hold the earphone in place but block out the noise around forming a seal in your ear canal. Basically you get very pure sound with minimal sound distortion or sound loss as it only has to travel a very short distance to your ear drum and the plastic/rubber flaps block most of the outside interference.
Yeah but do they sound good?
Yes! Amazingly they sound really great, the frequency response is superb. Low bass to high guitar screams and cymbal crashes. The clarity is crystal clear (providing the production is done well), you can hear each part of the songs. I’m hearing new things in records Ive been listening to for a decade or more and never noticed before. The combination of the speakers being so close to your ear drum and the noise blockout (which is more than I’ve experienced with some recording studio monitor headphones) allows you to hear every little nuance in the recordings. Also podcasts are great with this sort of headphone as sometimes they can be hard to hear in noisy environments but again for the reasons mentioned above (speaker close to eardrum etc) this style of headphone is great.
Are they safe?
I don’t really know to be honest. I am always very wary of putting thing in my ears, especially that far in but so far so good. The only difficulty I’ve had is if I do get a bit sweaty or my ears are extra waxy (yuk I know) the earphone can become a little dislodged.
Value
Considering I got these for free with my smart phone, which I needed anyway they are great value. There are wireless options available too which I have not tested but bluetooth technology has come a long way and like anything else, quality is important. Buy quality brands over price when you can.
So in ear phones or headphones
As far as Im concerned, these two forms of music listening should not be compared as they are each great for their own uses. Studio, home listening or maybe even walking around town (please pay attention to traffic if you do this) is the Headphones domain in my opinion. I had in earphones when I was driving a truck recently (legal as far as I’m aware in Australia) and they blocked out most of the engine noise and I was able to listen to podcasts clearly and music clearly, in fact even when the music stopped I left them in my ears to serve as earplugs. I am not a huge fan of having things so far in my ears but they are definitely useful in noisey environments and for a lightweight alternative when physically active and still maintaining a very good quality of sound.
| On Ear Headphones | In Ear Headphones | In Ear Buds | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stability During Excercise | 6/10 | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Sound Quality | 9/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Comfort(Heat) | 6/10(Can Get Hot) | 8/10(fairly cool) | 8/10(fairly cool) |