Comparison Realme Buds T300 vs Realme Buds Air 3S

This parameter is indicated only for specialized models that are not related to “ears” for general use. Nowadays, in headphones you can find the following specialization options: gaming, for active sports, office, monitor(aka studio), for DJs, for children's, for sleep. Here is a more detailed description of these varieties:

- Gaming. Headphones designed primarily for use in games - primarily with PCs and laptops (a separate type is available for consoles, see below for details). Externally they stand out primarily due to their design - usually quite bright and aggressive. Most of these models have an overhead design, most often in a full-size “Over Ear” format (see “Design”) - this provides maximum immersion into the gaming. There are other design options, but noticeably less frequently. An almost mandatory part is a microphone - for voice communication in online games. In addition, most multi-channel models fall into this category (see “Sound”) - such sound is most important for games.

— For active sports. Headphones good for sports. Such devices must, firstly, have additional fixation in the ears or on the head so as not to change their position during active movements; secondly, do...n’t be afraid of sweat (and ideally, rain, snow and other precipitation). With rare exceptions, headphones for active sports do not have a wire that could create inconvenience when moving. Sports headphones include earbuds models, earbuds, and some on-ear headphones. They share key character traits - a secure fit and at least some degree of IP water resistance (see "Protection (IP) Level").

- Office. Office headphones are designed for consultants, support operators and other employees who constantly have to deal with voice communications over the phone or the Internet. Accordingly, one of the main features in such models is the presence of a microphone. Also among office headphones, models for one ear are very popular (see “Sound - mono”), which allow you to hear both the interlocutor on the line and the surrounding environment at the same time. Many “ears” for this purpose use a USB connection (see “Connection”) - in the expectation that inexpensive office computers may not have specialized audio outputs at all. In this case, a small control panel for working with IP telephony can be provided directly on the USB plug; it allows, in particular, to accept and reject calls. There are also wireless models (usually with a connection via a radio channel, less often via Bluetooth), as well as specialized solutions connected to telephone sets using specific connectors.

— Monitor (studio). Headphones designed for use in professional sound recording and when setting up audio equipment. They are made only wired. However, the key feature of such models is different: they have the most even frequency response, which gives almost the same sound volume in all frequency bands, and a wide operating range, often exceeding the limits of frequencies audible to humans. Thanks to this, headphones for this purpose are able to clearly identify all the flaws in the sound signal - including nuances that are not noticeable on traditional “ears”; Such capabilities are indispensable in professional work with sound. On the other hand, for the same reason, there is no point in using monitor models for everyday listening to music: they not only reveal various shortcomings of the recording, but also give the sound a specific coloring that is unusual and even unpleasant for the average user.

— For DJ. Headphones originally intended for use by professional DJs when mixing tracks. In many ways they are similar to the monitor ones described above - in particular, they have a very smooth frequency response, providing the most reliable sound, and a wide frequency range. In addition, DJ headphones are usually made in a closed acoustic design and generally have high quality sound insulation, which allows you to maintain good audibility even in quite noisy environments.

- For children's. They differ from “adult” models primarily in appearance - both in smaller sizes and (in most models) in their characteristic bright design. In addition, children's's hearing is more sensitive to loud sound, and too high a volume is extremely undesirable for a child (including for psychological reasons). In light of this, children's's headphones may have corresponding features - for example, slightly reduced sensitivity, which does not allow the sound to be “boosted” to a high level, or a volume limiter, which can only be controlled by an adult.

- For sleep. Miniature headphones of a special anatomical shape, which allows you to calmly fall asleep lying on your side without discomfort in the ear. To reduce ambient noise levels, they are usually designed with passive noise reduction. These headphones can be used both for listening to music and for broadcasting white noise, nature sounds or waves. Advanced models also monitor sleep quality, and the alarm function turns on a wake-up melody at the appointed time. Such headphones are often called electronic earplugs.

Sound delay in wireless headphones is a natural process caused by the specifics of audio data transmission over Bluetooth. It can be either almost imperceptible or clearly interfere with comfortable gameplay or watching video content. This paragraph provides the declared sound delay time in milliseconds, which is written in the technical specifications for a particular headphone model.

The range of sound frequencies that headphones can reproduce.

The wider this range, the more fully the headphones reproduce the spectrum of sound frequencies, the lower the likelihood that too low or too high frequencies will be inaccessible. However, there are some nuances to consider here. First of all, let us remind you that the perceptual range of the human ear is on average from 16 Hz to 22 kHz, and for the complete picture it is enough for headphones to cover this range. However, modern models can significantly exceed these boundaries: in many devices the lower threshold does not exceed 15 Hz, or even 10 Hz, and the upper limit can reach 25 kHz, 30 kHz and even more. Such wide ranges in themselves do not provide practical advantages, but they usually indicate a high class of headphones, and are sometimes given only for advertising purposes.

The second important point is that a wide frequency range in itself is not a guarantee of good sound: sound quality also depends on a number of parameters, primarily the amplitude-frequency response of the headphones.

The diameter of the speaker installed in the headphones; models with multiple drivers (see "Number of drivers"), usually, the size of the largest speaker is taken into account, other dimensions can be specified in the notes.

In general, this parameter is relevant primarily for over-ear headphones (see "Design"). In them, emitters can have different sizes; the larger it is, the more saturated the sound is and the better the speaker reproduces the bass, however, large emitters have a corresponding effect on the dimensions, weight and price of the headphones. But in-ear "ears" and earbuds, by definition, have very small speakers, and rich bass in them is achieved due to other design features.

The presence of a noise reduction system in its own headphone microphone.

In accordance with the name, such a system is designed to eliminate extraneous noise - primarily during conversations. It is usually based on an electronic filter that passes the sound of a human voice and cuts off background sounds such as city noise, the rumble of wind in the microphone grille, etc. As a result, even in noisy environments, thanks to the noise reduction of the microphone, speech is clear and intelligible; True, the system inevitably introduces distortions into the final sound, but they are not critical in this case.

— ENC. ENC (Environment Noise Cancellation) technology significantly reduces ambient noise with directional microphones. It is used both in gaming devices so that gamers can easily communicate in voice chat, and in TWS earphone models so that you can comfortably talk on the phone in a noisy environment.

— cVc. Microphone noise reduction cVc (Clear Voice Capture) is an advanced technology that is found mainly in expensive headphone models. cVc algorithms effectively suppress echo and noise from the environment. Sound processing using this technology is carried out at several levels at once - the algorithm determines the reference signal-to-noise level, automatically adjusts speech to the desired volume level, applies adaptive equalizers to process the entire voice, as well as specialized filters to remove...low-frequency bubbling, sibilants and hissing.

The ability to operate the functions and settings of headphones through a mobile application for a smartphone or tablet. Communication between the device and gadgets is usually carried out via the Bluetooth wireless protocol. The mobile application may provide tools for flexible sound settings (equalizer, bass boost, etc.), switching noise reduction and transparency modes, reassigning buttons and gestures, finding lost headphones, etc. Also, the ability to update the headphone firmware is often implemented through the mobile application.

The headphones have their own volume control. Such a regulator can be placed both on the wire and on one of the cups (the latter is typical for wireless models). Anyway, this function allows you to easily adjust the volume: for this you do not need to go into the computer settings, press the buttons on the player or smartphone, etc., just use the control at hand. On the other hand, additional equipment complicates and increases the cost of the design, and also increases the likelihood of distortion. In light of the latter, volume control is almost never found in professional headphones.

A system that reduces the influence of ambient noise on the audibility of sound through headphones. "Noise reduction" with the help of a separate microphone (or several micro) "listens" to external sounds and sends the same sounds to the headphones, but in antiphase. Due to this, the noise heard by the ears is attenuated almost to zero and the user can enjoy the sound of the headphones without interference even in a rather “loud” environment. For filtering in headphones, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Environment Noise Cancellation (ENC) systems are used. The first suppresses all the noise around the listener, the second - reduces the noise level of the environment. Active noise cancellation affects the purity of the sound, but the noise from the outside spoils the picture when listening to audio tracks even more.

Also in the headphones there is an adaptive active noise reduction system Adaptive ANC, aimed at automatically adjusting the sound of the headphones depending on the level of ambient noise. In a noisy environment (for example, when traveling on the subway), the Adaptive ANC system enhances the work of “noise reduction”, in the absence of loud sounds from outside, it weakens the noise reduction.

A feature that allows the user to hear the sounds of the surrounding world without removing the headphones.

This possibility is relevant mainly for models with a high degree of sound insulation; so the transparent mode can be found mainly among in-ear models, as well as overhead "ears" of the Over Ear format in a closed acoustic design. A special microphone is responsible for the operation of the function, which “listens” to the surrounding sounds and broadcasts them to the headphones. In Talk Through mode, you can, for example, listen to the interlocutor or control the environment on a busy street. And some headphones with this feature also have more advanced functions, including automatic adjustment to the situation: such models turn on on their own to transmit speech, “hearing” the loud voice of a person nearby. Individual headphones react to loud street noises in the transparent Ambient Aware mode — it means broadcasting noises through the speaker that can be potential danger signals (screams, car signals, etc.).

Note that most models with Talk through also have an active noise reduction function (see above), and the “transparent mode” in them is one of the noise reduction modes. However, exceptions to this rule are possible — technically transparent mode does not have to be combined with noise reduction.