It’s very common, when we go to buy a new set of headphones to think about certain characteristics such as, size, color or sound controllers. But now days there is an important detail to take into account, if they should be wireless or not. We usually tend to avoid wires as they are usually disturbing, but in the case of the headphones this decision isn’t that simple.
A piece of headphone’s story
A long time ago
More than a decade ago, headphones tend to have large size and wires. They usually had to be placed around your head, for them to reach the ears correctly. This was very uncomfortable if you wanted to chill listening to music and they tend to fall down.
Besides, long wires for headphones weren’t that common so the wire was always in the middle. Affordable headphones didn’t have the best sound quality and the wire was easily broken, which meant buying a new set of headphones.
In the last decade
After that, smaller wired headphones were used. These headphones fitted into the ear so they were wearable. But the sound quality wasn’t good either, they were uncomfortable and isolation was almost impossible for them.
That’s why people used to wear them and have a high volume which could either affect the audition or disturb other people nearby. At the same time bigger headphone’s quality improved, as well as their comfort, but their price went up too. Luckily technology develops quite fast and new tendencies arrive.
Present time
Present time can be characterized as the time of multiple options. We have a great variety of headphones with different characteristics that adapt to a large amount of people, There are big headphones, small ones, with microphone, with audio controller, that cancel noise, etc.
It’s important to know that there’s a clear tendency to get rid of wires and to connect all devices with wireless technologies such as WiFi or Bluetooth.
We can connect phones to laptops, to TVs and even to the washing machine or the fridge. This tendency is growing bigger and has turned into what is called Internet of Things, IoT, as there are more and more devices that can be connected wirelessly. This tendency is clear for all devices except for headphones.
Why headphones don’t follow tendencies?
I could say that those people who work editing, making or producing music need to have the best quality which can only be provided by wired headphones, but it’ll be much better if I use an everyday example:
Imagine you have your set of wireless headphones and you’re listening to music or in the middle of a phone call. What if the song cut in the middle of it or if you couldn’t understand what the person on the other side is saying?
You may think the reason is the device or that it could be a problem of cell service, but many times it’s because of the use of wireless technologies. Wireless headphones are a reality and, depending on the use, very suitable. But we should take into account that these technologies haven’t reached wired technologies’ performance quality.
Comparison
Wired headphones
Speaking about wired headphones, the first idea that usually comes to mind is that the wire is always in the middle. Other ideas that may appear are that the wire is hard to untangle or if the wire breaks the headphones become useless.
One thing is clear, in a good set of headphones, and even affordable, the quality of the audio signal is better. First of all, the volume required to hear the audio signal is lower than the one needed if the headphones were wireless.
There is almost no delay which is ideal for real time services such as listening to music, making a call, etc. This means that if there is a problem in which the audio signal gets cut or delays, the main problem is probably other than the headphones.
As the required technology is less complex, wired headphones are more affordable than having the same headphone’s model with wireless technology.
Wireless headphones
Wireless headphones are quite interesting themselves. They are wearable devices that connect with other devices and allow to receive sound. We should know that wireless technologies have limitations and when sending data wirelessly the probability of error increases. This is due to several factors:
- : this means that when sending data with wireless technologies it should be well managed in order to avoid errors and collisions. This produces more delays and variation of them which can affect real time services.
- : The distance and position between the transmitter and the receiver can change even if it’s just a little. Depending on the wireless technology this can affect more or less. Besides, if the distance is very big, there is the possibility for devices to lose connection.
- : As the connection is wireless and the information is sent through the air, several objects could prevent the information to arrive correctly or, depending on the technology, other signals could interfere or could produce connection lost.
If we focus on the wireless headphone characteristics, the first one is that as there are no wires so they need to have a rechargeable battery. This means that if they run out of battery they can’t be used. Luckily headphone’s batteries usually last quite long.
Secondly it must be said that it produces larger power consumption on the device it’s connected to. The amount won’t be significant if the device is directly connected to the power supply. But if the other device uses a battery too it will consume the battery power faster.
This is due to the constant need to check the connectivity, the more information processing and the power needed to send the information through the air. Apart from that, another important characteristic is that the audio quality is lower.
Of course there are wireless headphones that can provide high quality sound but the price will probably be higher. There is another important aspect which is that connecting the devices is not as simple as it is connecting a wire.
The connection is defined by a protocol which means that in order to have a connection we have to follow certain steps. This can sometimes be hard because it isn’t clearly explained or because it fails. Their most clear advantage is that there are no wires, which make them more comfortable to use and as technology develops, the probability of error using these technologies is smaller than before.
Hybrid headphones
As it’s been mentioned before, there are a lot of options for headphones. This means that there are even certain models that contain parts of both technologies, wired and wireless. This means that headphones can connect to devices through a removable audio wire as well as through wireless technologies.
This means that in cases you’re looking for comfort there is the possibility to connect wirelessly and in cases where audio quality is required an audio wire can be used. In addition, if the wire breaks it can be replaced with a new one as they are standard wires.
This also has an effect on the cost as more than one technology coexist but there are good quality affordable headphones.
It depends on the use
In the end, the best type of headphones depends on the use we will give them. Even if there is a tendency to connect all devices wirelessly, headphones have proved that sometimes sacrificing quality for comfort is not the best option but in other cases it isn’t that relevant.
Wireless connections and data, or signal, transmissions can be hard to manage because of the characteristics of the media that is why wired connections are more robust and reliable.
This translated into headphones results in wireless headphones to be easier to wear and more comfortable to use. They have even reduced their probability of error. But wired headphones provide better quality sound, consume less power, don’t need to be recharged, the only possible explanation for error in the headphones is that the wire or certain connections have broken, and they are more suitable for real time services with a lower cost.
Of course, if you’re that kind of person that in some cases needs quality sound and in other cases prefers comfort it’s important to know that there is the possibility of combining both worlds. But even if there’s an hybrid option, the fight, for now, is always between wired and wireless headphones, mainly because people usually look for just comfort or just quality. It is common that some people who think of buying another set of headphones already have a functional one. That is the reason why they are looking for just one of the options. But for those who are more practical and prefer reducing the amount of gadgets they also have the possibility to reduce it to just a set of headphones with the combination of both technologies.
If you want to buy a pair of safe and comfortable headphones, then below is our list of recommendations based on quality, price and users’ feedback
For more information about noise cancelling headphones and headphones in general you might want to have a look at our list of e-books below
- Your health and headphones
- The In and out of anti-noise headphones
- Evolution of headphones technology
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