[Hardware] This is what you should know before buying new headphones

[Draeno]

 

When you are looking for new headphones, you will surely notice that many manufacturers indicate that they have "custom audio", but what does this mean? How do you do this customization and how do you know what is best for you? In this article we are going to tell you everything in depth so that you never make a mistake when choosing new headphones.

Personalized audio in headphones, what does this mean? When a manufacturer tells us this, it means that they have optimized them for a specific type of use, which can be, for example, gaming or sports. And it is that depending on the type of use that you are going to give the device, one type of customization or another may be better, but we are going to get into the matter and see what those customizations are that they do to the headphones and that make them better for one thing or another. 

 

Factors that customize headphone audio

There are a total of six factors that can influence how headphones sound, something that obviously also has to do with the quality of the audio that they are capable of transmitting to users.

Diaphragm type: Although most manufacturers use neodymium magnet speakers for their headphones, there are actually six total types in use today: dynamic, planar magnetic, armature diaphragm, electrostatic, bone conduction, and hybrid. Each of these types of diaphragm has different properties and generates sound differently. The most common are the dynamic ones, as you will already suppose.
Size and material of the earmuffs: Oddly enough, this greatly influences the sound, since, for example, the thicker the earmuffs, the greater the distance between the ears and the diaphragm. Similarly, the better the earmuffs fit your head and ear, the more it isolates you from outside ambient noise, completely changing the audio experience.
External design of the headphones: the design greatly influences the quality of the sound, and logically it is something that the manufacturer can customize. Circumaural headphones will not sound the same as supra-aural ones, just as neither of these will sound the same as in-ear headphones.
Type of connector: in addition to the well-known USB (digital audio), we have many different types of connector, although it is true that the jack / minijack is the most common, but in these cases the audio is analog. The most common is the 3.5mm TRRS connector, but this type of connector cannot reproduce true balanced stereo sound because you would need at least 5 connectors to do so (TRRRS would be in this case).Type of codec used (wireless headphones): a subtype of the above is found in wireless headphones, and especially in those that use Bluetooth technology. There are many different Bluetooth codecs that can be used, such as aptX, LDAC, AAC, DBC or LHDC, and each one works at a different frequency, latency, depth, etc. different.
Factory equalization: The aspect that can most influence the customization of the audio of the headphones is the equalization. Many manufacturers incorporate software to be able to customize it to the user's taste, but many others do not and instead incorporate a custom factory equalization that logically changes the audio experience of the headphones a lot.