Headphones facts for kids
Headphones are electronic gadgets that you wear on or in your ears. They let you listen to music, podcasts, or games privately. You can use them with your phone, computer, MP3 player, or even a gaming console. People often call them earphones, earbuds, or headsets.
Most headphones connect using a small plug. It's important to listen at a safe volume. Listening to headphones too loudly for a long time can hurt your hearing.
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Types of Headphones
Headphones come in many shapes and sizes. Their size often affects how clear the sound is and how easy they are to carry. We can split headphones into four main types: over-ear, on-ear, earbud, and in-ear.
Over-Ear Headphones
Over-ear headphones are also known as circumaural headphones. They have big, round or oval ear pads that completely surround your ears. Because they cover your whole ear, they can block out a lot of outside noise.
These headphones can be quite large and sometimes heavy. Some can weigh over half a kilogram! To make them comfortable, they need soft headbands and ear pads. Drummers often use these in recording studios.
On-Ear Headphones
On-ear headphones or supra-aural headphones have pads that press directly against your ears. They were very popular with portable music players in the 1980s.
These headphones are usually smaller and lighter than over-ear types. This means they don't block as much outside noise. Some people find them less comfortable than over-ear headphones because they press on the ear. The material of the ear pads can make a difference in comfort.
Open or Closed Designs
Both over-ear and on-ear headphones can have different earcup designs:
Open-back headphones have earcups that are open at the back. This means sound can leak out, and you can hear more sounds from around you. However, many people feel this design gives a more natural sound, like listening to speakers in a room.
Closed-back headphones (or sealed headphones) have earcups that are closed at the back. They usually block out more outside noise. Closed-back headphones can often produce stronger bass sounds than open-back ones.
Ear-Fitting Headphones
Earbuds
Earbuds are very small headphones that sit in your outer ear. They don't go inside your ear canal. Earbuds are easy to carry and use.
They don't block much outside noise, so you can still hear what's happening around you. This can be good for safety, like when you're walking near traffic. However, some people turn up the volume too high to hear over background noise, which can harm their hearing. Earbuds have been included with portable music players for a long time.
In-Ear Headphones
In-ear headphones, also called in-ear monitors (IEMs), are small headphones that fit directly into your ear canal. They are very portable, like earbuds.
IEMs are often used by sound engineers and musicians because they offer high-quality sound. They are made from materials like plastic, aluminum, or ceramic. Because they go into your ear canal, they block out a lot of environmental noise. This can be great for focusing on your music, but it also means you might not hear important sounds around you, like traffic.
Many in-ear headphones come with soft tips made of silicone or foam. Some special ones are custom-made to fit your ear perfectly, which makes them super comfortable and great at blocking noise.
Headsets
A headset is a combination of headphones and a microphone. This allows you to listen and talk at the same time, keeping your hands free.
Headsets are used for many things, like talking on the phone, playing video games, or communicating in aviation and TV studios. They can have one earpiece (mono) or two earpieces (stereo). The microphone can be on an arm in front of your mouth or built into the earpiece.
Telephone Headsets
Telephone headsets connect to a phone system. They replace the regular phone handset. Many headsets for office phones use a special connector. Wireless Bluetooth headsets are also very popular, especially with mobile phones.
Call center workers use headsets a lot because they need to talk on the phone all day. Anyone who wants to talk on the phone while doing other things with their hands also finds headsets useful.
Images for kids
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Headphones on a stand
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Wireless headphones
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Bone conduction headphones.
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Brandes radio headphones, circa 1920
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Sennheiser HD 555 headphones, used in audio production environments (2007)
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Headphone cord with integrated volume control
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Lightspeed Aviation 30 3G ANR Aviation headset used by aviators
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In-ears are among those good for noise isolation.
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A typical moving-coil headphone transducer
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Electrostatic loudspeaker diagram
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Balanced armature transducer with armature balanced and exerting no force on diaphragm
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A custom in-ear monitor which uses 8 balanced armatures in a triple crossover configuration (4 low/2 mid/2 high). Headphone designs often use multiple balanced armatures to provide a higher fidelity sound.
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Sony MDR-7506 headphones in stowed configuration
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A micro audio amplifier for boosting the output power of smartphones etc. to headphones. Used for example to compensate a built-in volume limit in smartphones, the higher volume levels could, however, lead to ear damage.
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See also
In Spanish: Auricular para niños
