In today’s technologically advanced day and age, with the kinds of headphones available, it can get dizzying. Especially with the number of brands out there specializing in more than one type of product. But obviously if the user knows the exact application then narrowing down to a specific kind is made easy. Here’s a sketch of the current scenario.
Types of Headphones :-
Circum-aural
The mother of all headphones, these probably have the best sound quality. Their physical appearance is their main characteristic; it is a huge cup that engulfs the whole pinna. The rim of the cup has some soft foam or padding usually, thus ergonomically also they are good. The driver size is a good 1.5-2 inches, and they are usually high in impedance, thus entailing louder volumes (if your amp can drive it)
Under circum-aural there are two types viz. closed back and open back. It’s quite a no brainer: the closed back ones are totally solid all through the ‘cup’ that encloses the speaker, while open back ones have a grille.
Circum-aural headphones are almost always attached over the head via an adjustable headband, which can slide in or out to comfortably fit the size of the head. These do get heavy sometimes, especially with the larger closed back pro models.
Supra-aural
These look like a shrunken version of the circum aural versions. Commonly known as ‘over the ear’ headphones. These perch themselves on top of the pinna rather than engulf the whole thing. Thus they are lighter and smaller and look less obtrusive for a viewer. They are covered with foam over the whole driver surface, and some cheap ones often come off. (Remember your first walkman?). Other than this they are quite similar to their larger brothers in sound reproduction, just a little less in clarity and tightness. Supra aural are constructed with a headband over the head - that was the traditional way - nowadays you can find them attached to clips that fit around the ear, so they prove lighter without the headband. Another style is when the headband is bent to fit around the back of the head, thus keeping hair intact.
nice article array..u could also mention a bit more from a gaming pov ..the difference between closed and open Circumaural headphones from different kind of gamer's view ...like for example ... a closed headphone blocks exterior noise..which is ideal at LAN venues when for 1 on 1 Deathmatch gamers ..like Unreal Tournament 2004, Q3 CPMA 1on1 gamers , since its 1on1 they concentrate a lot ingame and closed headphones help in blocking exterior sound at LAN ( crowd, spectators etc ) while for TEAM GAMES like Counterstrike where communication between teammates are important..they prefer open headphones ..
u could also post an example for the popular open and closed gaming headphones...like Audiotechnica AD700 ( open ) , and Audio Technica A700 ( closed )
