How to Buy Headphones

Buying advice on headphones is a lot like relationship advice—there are no hard and fast rules; everything depends on your individual needs and personal preferences.

The major buying considerations for headphones are form factor, acoustics and price. And they are all intertwined: the form factor affects the acoustics, which affects the price.

In the Ear Headphones
Headphones come in two basic forms: in the ear and over the ear.

For in the ear headphones, we are talking about round ear buds that wedge into your ear canal, vertical in-ear headsets that are supported by a headband over the top of your head and rest in the ear canal, or earplug type headphones that can be customized to fit your ear canal.

It's Very Subjective
We're talking about shoving a piece of plastic into your ear canal. It's incredibly personal. Some sets of in-ear headphones will fit like a glove, others will be unspeakably painful. Round earbuds and vertical headsets are relatively inexpensive: $12-15 for the low end, so you can probably afford to try a pair. The earplug varieties from manufacturers like Shure and Etymotic can top $300, so go to a retailer who can offer you a trial fitting. At the most recent MacWorld in San Francisco, the Etymotic booth staff were using disposable covers on the earplugs to allow users a trial and fitting session. Try before you buy.

Over the Ear Headphones
Over the ear headphones come in two basic forms: open and closed. Sports-style open headphones rest on the outside of the ears and are supported by an over the head or behind the neck band. Personally, I prefer to exercise with the behind the neck headphones. They move less and the open design allows for more air and ambient noise to come through. I don't like my ears getting hot, and I like to be able to hear cars and peripheral noises around me when I am running. Prices on these headphones start at $15.

Closed or Open Over the Ear Headphones
Cupped open headphones provide less sound isolation, allowing for more ambient noise. But some people feel open headphones sound more natural than their closed or noise-reducing counterparts. The open backs on these headphones reduce the low-resonance effect that closed headphones can sometimes produce.

Closed headphones provide more isolation from ambient sounds, but can overly resonate low frequencies. If I had to recommend one pair of mid-range headphones that would be categorized as closed over the ear cushioned headphones: I would suggest the Sony MDR7506 headphones. These are an industry standard for television and audio professionals. They are comfortable and very durable.

New Technologies
Noise canceling headphones are great for plane trips: they actively eliminate much of the engine noise that travelers have to endure. I also use mine for weed-whacking: any consistent sound can be partially mitigated with noise canceling headphones. But this technology does not do much to block out intermittent noise like conversations and crying babies. Bottomline: if you travel a lot, noise canceling headphones are worth the extra expense.

Wireless stereo headphones are being marketed using Bluetooth technology. A Bluetooth transmitter plugs into your MP3 player or audio jack, and the headphones receive a wireless transmission of the output. So far, reviews have been mixed on this technology for stereo headphone use. Audio quality and signal stability have been questioned, but if you must go hands-free, Bluetooth is an option.