Recording studios and the like usually use the circumaural headphones. These have those large round earpads that fit over the ears completely and cut out peripheral sounds. Real sound enthusiasts sometimes use these too.

Supra-aural headphones are the foam rubber covered headsets that sit on the outside of the ear and used to given free with personal stereos or on airlines. They were the cheap and cheerful alternative in those days.

Earbuds are the headphones that are the bane of commuter’s life! They sit on the outer part of the ear but does not cut out peripheral noise.

Users usually pump up the volume to compensate for this and leave fellow travelers with the incredibly irritating overflow of tinny sound.
These headphones can cause damage to hearing and also cause distraction when crossing roads or similar. The volume is set so high that normal everyday sounds are drowned out.

Very dangerous!

Last – but not least – are the in-ear headphones sometimes known as canalphones. As the name implies they are placed directly into the ear canal giving good quality sound and banning peripheral noise.

It may be that you will want a different set of headphones for different circumstances. Be aware though that some are dangerous in both hearing loss and where accidents can occur. Choose wisely.

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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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