Bluetooth technology – so named after the King of Denmark in the 10th Century when he united

Denmark and Norway – has made this a very simple choice. All it takes is to place a “dongle”

- a small box with a small jack plug – into your music system. The headphones and dongle are then “paired” electronically and you are set to go! Apart from the usual requirements of headphones – good sound quality, comfort, hands free design etc. – some people just want to look “cool” when it comes to wearing headsets. The Bluetooth technology allows the user to wear headphones without the trailing wires and styles have certainly improved of late. I – Phone have come up with a design which looks a little odd. The behind the neck bar attaches to large, egg-shaped ear pieces and are not for everyone. They look a little theatrical in style and basically are just too big to look “cool”. A pointer to watch out for when purchasing new headphones is to try them on for size. This headsets’ bar stood out from the back of the neck way too far.

Whether you want the smaller, more fashionable, or more portable headphones always make sure you get what is right for you in terms of comfort, style and price. Buy the best you can

afford for longevity.

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Design has improved of late and the earpiece does tend to stay where it was supposed to stay. For something that looks a little more “cool” the style on the street is the “behind the head” style headphones. These became popular some time back and the improvement in sound justifies the price tag of about $50 for the better quality sets.

Beware though, not all of us have the same size head and trying it on for size is a must! Also, some of these are “open” style which means sounds can leak out and in. Be careful if you want to use them in quiet areas e.g. libraries etc.

Then come the “fold down” portables. Less portable than the others mentioned here but still good quality sound. Some fold down flat and are great for packing but others fold into a ball like shape. These can prove difficult to carry around.

So for less than $50 – in some cases $20 – the sound from your equipment can be improved tremendously. If you really like music perhaps you should give this a try!

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Circum-aural

- pads that sit around the ear, or supra-aural

- pads that sit directly on the ear.

Both have good and bad points and choice can also depend on how much you want to pay. With the supra-aural headphones the user can feel that the instrument is playing next to the ear giving good and sharp clarity However, this may sound strange to some people since we are used to a more muffled sound.

With the circum-aural headphones the sound is just that

- a little muffled

- but it is a more natural sound.

Imagine sitting in a concert hall. You are not right next to the instruments so you don’t get that sharp clarity that the ’supra’ headphones give. Of course, the choice is up to the user and what they want out of their headset.

Then there is the headphone that is used primarily in the recording studio. These are usually full sized “circum” style headphones that have soft material on the ear pads to block out sound. Some have a built-in switch to automatically cut the sound when the headphone is taken off. A much needed feature if recording is going on.

No matter which is your preference on headphones, perhaps the one thing that people do not consider is comfort. If you live in hot climes be sure to get the sets with velvet type pads. Plastic can get very sticky.

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Others are far too big or cut out all of the peripheral sound potentially placing the user in a dangerous position. Imagine being deep into the exercise with the music adding to the intensity. The user could easily run into a busy road or into another dangerous position without being fully aware. Apart from fitting securely the headphone set must be easy to clean and also be able to be used in low temperatures.
Added ability to resist sweat and humidity is also a requisite for this
type of headset.

Some headphones come with a lanyard, ideal for joggers, with removable straps to attach the player to a neckband if necessary. Others come with extension cords so that the player can be carried in the pocket. Perhaps the most unusual headphone set yet is the one
replacing the headband model. The LX 70 sports model consists of a thin flexible plastic tube with a metal inner core.

It is impossibly light and yet extremely tough and is possibly one of the best sets for sports available. The price is around $55. Whichever sport you play it is imperative that you find exactly the right model that fits the sport you play.

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Today, however, there is virtually no one who has not heard of, or used, a set of headphones. They have literally exploded in popularity since the onset of mobile phones, mp3 players, ipods and the like. The most common used wires to connect the headpiece to the equipment and this restricted the movements of the user to within range – in other words, as far as the wire would stretch!

The advent of the wireless headphones set the user free to move about whilst listening to the preferred channel. The introduction of Bluetooth technology has given the user freedom unparalleled in history. The headset “hooks” on to the sound being transmitted from as far as ten meters away.

Since most people carry the transmitter – be it mobile phone with radio or mp3 players – with them distance is not a problem. However, imagine being able to move around your house while listening to your favorite music without blasting the neighbors!

Perhaps the best thing about today’s headsets is the quality of sound. The music is beamed directly to your ears without the distraction of peripheral noise. You truly are in a world of your own whether you are running or lying in your bed!

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So what do you look for in comfort? Well, first decide if you like the sound right inside your ears or outside. If outside, do you want the “circum” style which sits around the ear or the “supra” style which sits right on the ear? All have good points and bad points and it is up to the
user which style to buy.

The circum style sits around the ear and gives a slightly muffled sound as if the user is sitting in an auditorium whilst the supra style feels like the instruments are right there next to the ear. Whichever one is preferred make sure that the material on the ear pads is comfortable. Many have leatherette style coverings which can get a little sweaty in hot conditions. Velvet style pads do not have this problem.

For portable headsets personally I don’t like ear bud styles because they make my ears hurt!! Having tried them out on several occasions I have to vote for the other styles mentioned here.

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Well, some companies have offered a safe alternative – but some have been discontinued due to poor sales. Some companies produced equipment which limited volume automatically or warned the user when the sound was set too high.

The public rejected the idea with the response that it was up to the user how loud their music should be. That line of equipment was quickly discontinued. Today, some companies have introduced systems whereby volumes on different tracks are corrected to the same level.

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Others provide a system for the user to manipulate their own preferred settings and gives better control than the auto-corrected version. Some governments have jumped on the bandwagon in recent years and have imposed limits on the levels of sound personal equipment can emit. Of course, many have said that this is infringing on the freedom of users and use other software to remove the limits.

These governments have used the arguments that not only does the hearing damage caused bring a financial burden on the economy – future hearing loss medical interventions – but also the burden of accident victims who have caused, or been involved in accidents, due to the inability to hear the surroundings when immersed in their personal music players.

Of course it will always be up to the individual on how loud he/she wants their music to be. Perhaps the answer lies in education.

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I guess that some of you will want at least some technical details of typical surround sound headphones. There are some models out there that actually have discrete drivers for all the components of a full surround system. For those of you who are unfamiliar with surround technology, there is a middle front speaker called the center speaker for dialog. Moving side to side are the front speakers which output the normal stereo sound that we are accustomed to hearing. Then we have two rear speakers for the surround sound and finally a dedicated sub woofer for the lowest bass sounds.

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In some newer model headphones, all those speakers are actually present inside those large ear cups. If you take the cover off the headphones, you will see a center driver, a front driver, a surround driver and a sub driver. All these drivers are spaced apart so you get enough of a separation of sound to mimic the sound coming from a home theater loudspeaker system. Do these surround sound headphones work? Yes, according to reviews they are very popular because they actually work very well. They are pretty heavy, though. To round out the package, most headphones come with a multi-channel USB audio adapter. This adapter plugs into your USB port and drives all the channels of the surround headset.

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Built into the headphones are amplifiers and sound processors. These sound processors recreate the missing cues that give the ears a sense of space. If they do their job properly, you are surrounded by sound. Also if you like watching movies but don’t want to disturb your neighbors at 3:00AM or your significant other, then surround headphones are for you. Movies sound pretty awesome as you can hear things coming at you from all directions. I have actually ducked when watching an action movie with these headphones on. With the right movie, you’ll be hopping all about the place, in a good way.

You might wonder how much these things cost? There are inexpensive units that work pretty well. You can also go crazy and spend hundreds of dollars. You really need to get out there with your favorite movie and go sample them live at your nearest retail store. The more expensive units come with outboard Dolby decoder boxes and coaxial/digital inputs. These decoders will do an admirable job of decoding the Dolby surround and mixing it into two channels for the headset that comes with the decoder. The cheaper units have everything built into the headphones. Unfortunately, these units tend to be quite heavy. Some of you may not like the extra weight that these headphones carry due to the electronics on board. Extended sessions can become quite uncomfortable if you are sensitive to that kind of thing. Again, as I stated before, try them out at a retail store before committing to a purchase. At any rate, whichever surround headphones you get, you will be astounded at the difference between them and ordinary headphones.

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What other situations might call for amplified headphones? Well, many computer sound cards have lousy speaker drivers. They have a low current output. They have a lot of distortion at higher volumes, over 10%. This distortion becomes very noticeable unless you are just trying to drown out the noise of a passing train. Maybe a coworker is the passing train that you are trying to drown out. Whatever the case, having an amplifier in the loop can result in high sound levels at very low distortion. This also brings to mind another reason for having headsets with amplifiers in them. By having the heavy lifting done by another amplifier, the device you are listening to can play without distortion and you can play the music at very high levels cleanly.

You might be wondering about the extra batteries you’ll be needing. Yes, amplified headphones do need batteries for the amplifiers in them. Fortunately for you, most of these units consume very little power. As a result, a play time of over 100 hours is not unreasonable. If you use it for commuting, an hour a day or so, that’s three months on one set of batteries. That’s not bad at all. I personally am a fan of rechargeable batteries. I usually get two sets so when one set is on the charger, the other set is on the road with me.

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