Ear doping
WITH all the noise these days in social media, sometimes it’s good to just get away from everything and decompress, disengage yourself from the dizzying world we live in, and just relax.
One way to get immersed in your own world, detached from reality, is to put on a pair of headphones. Cranking up the volume while either listening to your favorite tunes, or watching a movie on your smartphone or tablet. Using headphones provides you the pleasure of hearing the audio, without disturbing the people around you.But the choices and variety of headphones available now are light years better than what was available during our younger years, a few decades ago.
There are basically three types of headphones: In-ear, on-ear, and over ear. In-ear headphones are small and rest inside the ear of the wearer. Inear monitors/headphones are easy to carry, are non-intrusive and many models are either water resistant or waterproof. On-ear headphones, meanwhile, have bigger drivers/ speakers and the ear cups rest on your ears. Both drivers are connected by a headband over your head. On-ear headphones are bulkier than in-ear headphones, but generally sound better than the latter. The last of the three is the over-ear headphones. Over-ear headphones are slightly bigger than the on-ear headphones, the main difference being that the former have ear cups that cover your ears which make them more comfortable to use for longer periods. Both on-ear and over-ear headphones have headbands to keep the drivers in place.
Of the three types of headphones, consumers also have a choice of either going wireless or wired. Until recently, going with wired headphones was the way to go. But as of late, there’s been a shift to wireless. The audio quality of wireless speakers have also improved tremendously. For hi-fi home audio, getting wired over-ear headphones is still the way to go. But for people who like watching TV late into the night without wanting to disturb other people, getting wireless headphones is crucial.
In the world of causal listening, in-ear is probably the most popular, especially if you also use it when you travel. In-ear headphones are less conspicuous, easier to store, and most have decent audio quality. Even sports enthusiasts use in-ear headphones, especially those which are either water resistant or waterproof. In-ear headphones are non-intrusive and can be used, for example, when cycling where you wear a helmet. A word of advice though. When running or cycling in the streets, use only one side, so you’ll still be aware of the traffic.
When auditioning headphones, one of the best songs to listen to is the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Aside from being a song by one of my favorite artists, Bohemian Rhapsody pretty much has it all – from bass, to acapella, to amazing guitar riffs, and a soft piano segment. There are supposedly over 180 separate overdubs in the classic hit song. There’s also so many changes in the tempo, switching back and forth between left and right speakers and changes to the decibel level make it perfect for testing headphones.
When choosing file formats, the most popular is MP3. Just make sure your MP3 file is at least 128Kbps. I personally prefer .WAV file format. Takes up much more space in your drive, but you can hear the difference in sound quality as compared to MP3, specially when listening to Annie Lennox, or songs of the same genre. For many who use Apple, AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the more popular choice.
When using headphones, a word of caution though. In 2015, the World Health Oganization released a study which recommended a maximum of one hour every day on your headphones, at 60% volume. As practice, I suggest taking off the headphones for a few minutes, if you’ve been using it for an hour. Numerous studies have shown that it’s not advisable to listen to music on your headphones for a prolonged period of time.