Confused about headphones?

The answer is that no matter which type you have, you should bear in mind two things:

• the volume you listen at
• the length of time you listen for

The louder you listen, the shorter the time you should listen for.

As a rule of thumb, if your music is uncomfortable to listen to, then it's too loud.  If you can't hear external sounds with your headphones on, again, it's probably too loud.

How do headphones help you to protect your hearing?

Lots of people use their volume button to drown out background noise around them, for instance the sound of traffic, trains or other people talking: the list goes on!  Therefore, headphones that isolate you from background noise could help you to protect your hearing.  The idea is that if the background noise is reduced, you won't need to turn up the volume of your music in order to hear it above the noise; in doing so, this should reduce your noise exposure and risk of damage to your hearing.

Over-headphones
These are the type that DJs use and are the largest type of headphones, so they can be quite heavy. They cover the whole ear so can reduce background noise considerably.

On-ear headphones
These sit on the ear (but not completely over the ear).  They are not quite as comfortable as over-ear headphones, but are smaller and lighter to wear.

Earphones (also known as earbuds)
These sit in your ear and are generally quite cheap and are normally supplied with personal audio equipment, such as MP3 players and personal CD players.  They generally do not block out background noises very well, and sound can easily escape.  In places where there is ample background noise, you might turn the volume of your audio player up quite a lot so that you can hear what you are listening to.

Sound-isolating earphones
These differ from standard earphones because they are designed to fit so well into your ear canal that they prevent outside noise from entering your ears.  They are a better fit because they are smaller and have foam or plastic earplugs that you attach to the earphones, before you put them in your ear.  This improved fit keeps external sounds out, and limits sound leakage.  They look similar to earphones but are normally more expensive because they tend to be built to a higher standard, and produce a better sound quality.

Noise-cancelling headphones
These headphones are significantly different from the others as they use noise-cancelling technology to actively block out background noise, rather than simple sound isolation.  The headphones are made with an electronic circuit, and a microphone that is located in the headphone or in a separate device.  The microphone picks up external noises and relays them to the circuit which then creates an 'anti-noise'.  The external noise and 'anti-noise' cancel one another out so all you hear is the music being played.  With a good pair of noise cancelling headphones, if you move from a quiet environment to a noisy one, there should be little or no need to increase the volume.

These suit environments where there is a constant noise (think of a hum or a drone) such as on aeroplanes and trains.  They are not so good at blocking out conversations or other erratic sounds.  The microphone and circuit have to be powered by a battery (which obviously has to be replaced) so they may be bulkier than other types.

Things to consider when buying:

• Do you prefer headphones or earphones?
• Physically try on different makes of headphones to get a feel for them.  For reasons of hygiene, you won’t be able to try on earphones.
• Sound isolating earphones can make you feel quite separate from the world – some people don’t like this feeling (women in particular say that this is a safety issue for them)
• Do you have a preference for treble or bass sounds?  Earphones tend to sound more ‘trebly’ while headphones tend to have more bass.
• Noise cancelling technology doesn’t cut out every noise.
• If you are concerned about annoying people around you, consider the sound leakage of your headphones or earphones.
• Headphones are bulkier than earphones - will you mind carrying them around?

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