Buying a pair of headphones, just like buying any other gadgets can be quite tricky. If you’re a layman especially, you are at the risk of spending a lot of money on features you may not even need. If you’re in this category, this article helps you spend your money wisely by giving useful advice on how to buy useful, efficient headphones.
Here are the 5 mistakes you must avoid while buying headphones
Know your requirements
Why do you need headphones? The answer to this question is an important factor when you want to buy headphones.
Your answer to the question can’t just be “listening to music”. You need to be more specific.
Do you plan to use the headphones during road trips, flights, or in the gym, while working out? If you plan to use your headphones at work, for example, you’ll need one that isolates the sound in such a way that your coworkers won’t be disturbed by your music.
Even if you’re buying the headphones just to listen to music and no other specific reason, your lifestyle will be a good pointer to the type of headphones you should buy.
Don’t get confused with noise isolation vs noise cancellation
Noise isolation describes how much ambient noise gets into the headphones. If you’re in a noisy place, you won’t enjoy listening to music on your headphones, because a lot of that noise will get in.
Some headphones have better noise isolation than others. Good noise isolation is achieved mainly by design.
In over-the-ear headphones, the earcups can be designed such that it hugs the jawbones, leaving no space for sound to get in. Adjustable headbands also help to give the headphones a good fit.
Noise cancellation is also a method used to keep ambient sound out. Active noise cancellation uses advanced technology to kill ambient noise.
This can be amazing in some cases and dangerous in others. If you need headphones for outdoors, it’s not advisable to use active noise cancellation. You should be aware of traffic and things going on around.
Understand your bass needs
Modern music uses a lot more bass than older forms and genres. Trap, hip-hop, lo-fi, EDM and others have all their energy in the lower frequencies.
Lovers of these kinds of music need bass headphones to translate all that energy accurately. Good bass headphones will produce bass and sub-bass sounds without distortion or cracking the drivers.
Some people make the mistake of assuming that larger headphones will give more bass. That’s really not the case.
Of course, the size of the driver matters in bass production, but there are some in-ear headphones that give some serious bass vibrations even with their small size.
The only way to recognize a pair of headphones with deep, punchy bass is to listen to it. The frequency range in the spec sheet can also be a good indicator. A headset that will produce good bass must have a lower frequency boundary of 20-35Hz.
Also, if you have a chance to test your bass headphones before buying them, turn the volume all the way up and listen for distortion. If the bass isn’t smooth at the maximum volume, it’s a red flag.
When using bass headphones outdoors, remember that a lot of bass can drown out traffic rumble, so you shouldn’t turn it all the way up, especially if you’re walking down the road.
Comfort
Most times when we wear headphones, it’s a means to an end. We just want to enjoy music privately, and the headphones help us to do just that.
Any form of discomfort experienced when using headphones is totally not worth it. Sadly, there are headphones that quickly start to irritate your ears after a short period of use.
The area covered by the earcups or earbuds may become warm and sweaty. Comfortable headphones are mostly recognized by their earpads.
If the earpads are thick and plush, they’re likely to be comfortable. Also, padded headbands make headphones more comfortable by reducing pressure on the head.
Some headphones may be comfortable for the first few hours, and start getting uncomfortable when you use them for longer periods.
If you’ll be wearing your headphones for several hours, you should shop for lightweight options, so that it doesn’t get too heavy as time goes on.
Set budget limits
How much do you wish to spend on headphones? Don’t be surprised that you can get headphones for as low as less than $50. You can also have headphones that cost over $1000.
The fact that a pair of headphones cost more does not indicate that it’s of superior quality. This is why it’s good to do enough research before buying.
Some headphones have a higher price because they have some particular features which you may not even need. It’s no use spending an extra hundred dollars for active noise cancellation when you don’t even need it.
Conclusion
If you were planning to simply walk into a store and pick a pair of headphones you can afford, I hope you’ve had a change of mind.
It’s best to know exactly what you need before spending your money on it. Also, if you have enough money, there’s no reason you can’t have different headphones for different purposes, and be a headphones collector. Sounds cool?