Headphones!!

Wisely choose your audio accessory for more hearing pleasure.

Earphones
Suggested Models
Sony MDR-EX23LP, Sennheiser MX55
Budget
Rs 500 – Rs 2,000

Built for portability, these earphones are best suited for PMPs (portable media players) and laptops and feature really small drivers that fit in the ear canal. The vital factor to look out for in earphones is a comfortable fit as these are pretty intrusive and can cause harm if not used properly. The supreme models in this category have soft rubbery plugs that are made to have an airtight fit for the ear canal. The plugs make the air trapped inside move with the driver to provide an evenly balanced sound. Many brands include plugs of different sizes that allow the wearer to choose the best fit from 3-5 different preset sizes, which can be replaced and cleaned separately thus improving ear hygiene. It’s important to find earphones that do not overemphasize the mids and highs as it may tempt the wearer to increase the volume level to harmful levels to hear decent bass. However due to the small size, it’s difficult for manufacturers to fit in drivers that can cover most of the sonic spectrum. Earphones with extended bass response do exist but they mostly employ older technologies that have trickled down from the professional series of the brands.

Headsets
Suggested Models
Blue’s SLR-870MV, Labtec Stereo 332, Plantronics .Audio 310
Budget
Rs 500 – Rs 3,000

Perfectly suited to professional gamers, Skype and VoIP addicts, these headphones feature microphones and headphone drivers with enhanced mids to improve voice reproduction and intelligibility. The first thing to look for in a headset is a maneuverable mic that has a well pivoted joint connecting to the headphone itself. Secondly, an inline remote helps in controlling sudden volume change and switching the mic on or off when not in use. The better versions out in the market have noise cancellation on the mic: a feature necessary for using Speech recognition software. Nearly all decent headsets have their connector cables only on one side of the headphone which helps the user focus amidst the heat of gameplay. Specific VoIP use users can opt for mono-aural headsets that have only one speaker and can clip on the pinna of either ear with an over the ear design. These are of good use when the user has to monitor background sounds as the other ear is free to hear surrounding events. In this variety some versions come with microphones that can be turned around either side to put the headphone on any ear.

Headphones
Suggested Models
Sennheiser PXC450, Bose QuiteComfort 2.0, Phillips HP850
Budget
Rs 2,000 – Rs 30,000

This is the ultimate luxury segment in headphones. These headphones have large drivers and big cushions that rest on the ear pinna for the Supra-aural versions and cover it completely from all sides for the Circum-aural ones. They feature superb bass response and imaging and provide a very immersive experience. Due to the sheer size of the units, these headphones can integrate active noise cancellation technologies to counter any background sounds and provide a pristine aural experience typically with finely balanced sonic characteristics. These headphones feature microphones that capture ambient noise and add an out of phase version of this to the playback sound. This cancels out the background sound and places the wearer in a synthetic world of pure audio nirvana. Some problems associated with this class of headphones are that they are not easy to carry around besides they are not very comfortable, and hygienic to use in humid conditions. Some manufacturers have tried addressing these problems by providing foldable units and using really comfortable soft leather or washable fabric based cushions.