Types of Earphone – What Are They?

An earphone is a set of small loudspeakers worn around or on the head in close proximity to a person’s ears. They are electrostatic transducers, which transform an electric signal into a corresponding sound. These are very small but produce powerful sound effects due to the fact that they are not very far away from the listener. There are three main types of earphones – supra-aural headphones, circum-aural headphones and ear bud headphones.

The former type of earphones (sub-aural) are much smaller and produce lower quality audio. They are normally used in automobiles to listen to music or other audios while driving. The advantage of these earphones is that they can be worn in any size and do not have to be custom made. However, since they are made less detailed, the amount of high quality audio they produce is much less. Another disadvantage of sub-aural earphones is that they are normally more expensive than ear bud headphones.

The next type of earphone is the earpiece. A typical earpiece will include a tiny microphone as well as a speaker so that the listener can hear the sound of the headphone speaker. The advantage of earpieces is that they are very discreet, cheap and can provide a good level of sound for the user. Unfortunately, they can also be difficult to use because the listener has to wear them exactly where their ear drops are.