Headphone Reviews
What You Need To Know When Selecting Headsets

Headphone reviews and information help you to focus your money where you need it most and get the best value for the money you spend.

Headphones allow you to hear audio sound from your computer in a closed environment. They also keep the sound from allowing others to hear what you hear as the sound comes only through the headphones and not the speakers.

Types of Headphones

There are two main groups of headphones, closed (circum-aural) and open (supra-aural).

Let’s examine them in some detail:

• Closed headphones are essentially two cups or pods with the speakers enclosed inside them.
  
  There are cushions around these cups/pods which form an airtight seal between your ear and the speaker and in some cases, the whole ear fits into the cup.
  
  The main sound characteristic of these headphones is deep bass, making them ideal for rock and electronic music. Closed headphones block out noise and because they don’t permit noise in, they also prevent noise out, so they are very good for use where you may not want to disturb other people



• Open headphones are essentially the opposite of closed ones.
  
  They allow airflow around the transmitter and fit into the ear, hence they are not airtight.
  
  Some of these open headphones may look like closed headphones because many do go around your ear, but in fact, the back is open, so you can tell most of the time if it has holes or a mesh of some type. The biggest advantage to this design is sound clarity.
  
  The bass is not as strong in general, as opposed to the overbearing sounds that are found in many closed headphones. These headphones are generally used for actives like running and walking.

Setting Your Headphone Budget

The first way to identifying the right headphones for you is to determine what budget you have as good headphones range from $30 right up to $900 per set. Once you work out how much you are prepared to spend, then you will know what brands and quality you can look for.

How Will You Use Your Headset

Next, identify the specific purpose or purposes you will be using them for. Certain types of headphones are needed for different applications.

Decide what features you need in your headset, how you will use them, make a list so you don’t overlook an essential function when you find a great deal on headphones. Here is a guide to help you:

• DJ: The optimal choice of headphones for DJ’ing and other similar activities are closed ones.
  
  These headphones tend to be extremely bass heavy for easier beat matching and have high power to handle high volumes. DJ oriented headphones are not really suited to casual listening or mastering as the higher frequencies are not very defined. Recommendations for DJ use include:
• IXOS MOS DJ100
• Sennheiser HD25
• Ultrasone HFI-550


• Producing: The biggest criteria for producing-oriented headphones is a flat frequency response speaker. This is so that the sounds are exaggerated. Recommendations for producing oriented headphones include:
• Ultrasone HiFi 650
• Beyerdynamic DT 831
• Etymotic ER-4S earplugs


• Listening: For general listening, the best headphones you can buy are open style headphones. Generally they sound cleaner and the sound is more defined than their closed cousins. They are also more comfortable since they are cooler because they allow air circulation and don’t squeeze your head as much. That is why they are popular for sports. Recommendations for home and general listening use include:
• Sennheiser HD 600
• Beyerdynamic DT 880
• Grado SR 125, 325

Read Before You Buy

Before you buy anything you should always read online reviews of the headphones you are about to purchase.

Online offers huge insights from existing users about all sorts of computer related issues and the perception of peripheral items like headphones is no exception.

That's one reason why I recommend purchasing your headsets from TigerDirect , they offer headphone reviews, ratings and recommendations; detailed information on selecting headsets; even noise cancelling headphone reviews plus they stand behind the products they sell .




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