Comparison Sennheiser HD 206 vs Panasonic RP-HTF295

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.

The design of the plug provided in the headphones. This parameter is relevant primarily for models with a mini-Jack interface (see "Connection") — the rest of the plugs are made straight in most cases, exceptions are extremely rare.

— Direct. The traditional, most simple and unpretentious option is plugs that do not have any bends. Usually, they are compatible without restrictions with stationary audio equipment, PCs, laptops, etc. But for smartphones and other portable gadgets, this option is not always optimal — it all depends on how the gadget is located in your pocket or case. In some cases — for example, when carrying a smartphone in a regular pants pocket — such a wire can be strongly bent around the plug, which quickly becomes unusable; in such cases it is worth paying attention to L-shaped or curved plugs (see below).

— L-shaped. Plugs angled at 90° in the shape of the letter L. Designed primarily for use with smartphones and other handheld devices: such devices, when worn, can be positioned in such a way that a bent plug is more convenient than a straight one. However, the L-shaped design may also be the best choice for stationary equipment, where the headphone wire approaches the connector at a right angle — for example, this situation is often found in computers and laptops.

— At an angle of 45°. A variation of the L-shaped plug...described above, bent not at a straight line, but at a smaller angle (not necessarily exactly 45 °). It is also designed primarily for pocket equipment, and with such an application, such plugs are considered even more convenient and reliable than traditional L-shaped ones. But for stationary devices, it hardly makes sense to specifically look for a model with a similar connector (although such an application is technically quite possible).

The length of the cable supplied with the headphones with the appropriate connectivity.

The optimal cable length depends on the planned format of the "ears". So, for pocket gadgets, 1 metre or less is often enough, for a computer it is already desirable to have a wire for 1 – 2 m, and preferably 2 – 3 m. And models with a longer cable length — 3 – 5 m or even more — are mainly designed for specific tasks, such as connecting to a TV or using in recording studios.

Recall that in some models the cable is removable (see below) and can be replaced if necessary with a longer or shorter one. Also note that there are extension cables that allow you to increase the length of the main wire; such a cable may even be included in the delivery, this point (and the length of the additional cable) is usually specified in the notes.

Impedance refers to the headphone's nominal resistance to AC current, such as an audio signal.

Other things being equal, a higher impedance reduces distortion, but requires a more powerful amplifier — otherwise the headphones simply will not be able to produce sufficient volume. Thus, the choice of resistance depends primarily on which signal source you plan to connect the "ears". So, for a portable gadget (smartphone, pocket player), an indicator of 16 ohms or less is considered optimal, 17 – 32 ohms is not bad. Higher values — 33 – 64 ohms and 65 – 96 ohms — will require quite powerful amplifiers, like those used in computers and televisions. And models with a resistance of 96 – 250 ohms and above are designed mainly for Hi-End audio equipment and professional use; for such cases, detailed recommendations for selection can be found in special sources.

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.

Rated headphone sensitivity. Technically, this is the volume at which they sound when a certain standard signal from the amplifier is connected to them. Thus, sensitivity is one of the parameters that determine the overall volume of the headphones: the higher it is, the louder the sound will be with the same input signal level and other things being equal. However, we must not forget that the volume level also depends on the resistance (impedance, see above); moreover, it is worth choosing “ears” for a specific device first by impedance, and only then by sensitivity. In this case, one parameter can be compensated for by another: for example, a model with high resistance and high sensitivity can work even on a relatively weak amplifier.

As for specific figures, headphones with indicators of 100 dB or less are designed mainly for use in a quiet environment (in some similar models, the sensitivity does not exceed 90 dB). For use on the street, in transport and other similar conditions, it is desirable to have more sensitive headphones — about 101 – 105 dB, or even 110 dB. And in some models, this figure can reach 116 – 120 dB. and even more.

It is also worth noting that this parameter is relevant only for a wired connection according to the analogue standard — for example, via a 3.5 mm mini-...jack. When using digital interfaces like USB and wireless channels like Bluetooth, the sound is processed in the built-in headphone converter, and if you plan to mainly use this kind of application, you can not pay much attention to sensitivity.

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 coefficient of harmonic distortion produced by this model of headphones.

This parameter determines the amount of non-linear distortion introduced by the headphones into the reproduced sound. The lower it is, the less such distortions, the cleaner and closer to the original sound is. So, an indicator of 1% or more can be considered tolerable at best, from 0.5% to 1% — good, less than 0.5% — excellent (such indicators are acceptable even for monitor headphones), and less than 0.1% — almost perfect.

Note that a low harmonic coefficient in itself does not guarantee high-quality sound — a lot depends on other features of the headphones, primarily the frequency response.

The total weight of the headphones; for true wireless models (see "Cable Type"), the weight of each individual earbud is listed.

This parameter is directly related to the design (see above) and some features of the functionality. Thus, the mentioned true wireless devices are very light, their weight does not exceed 25 g. More traditional in-ears and in-ears can be noticeably heavier, up to 50g for in-ears and up to 100g for most in-ears. Overhead models, for the most part, are quite massive: among them there are many models weighing 200 – 250 g, 250 – 300 g and even more than 300 g. It should be noted that a significant weight for false ears is often not a disadvantage, but an advantage: it allows them to stay on the head more securely, creates an impression of solidity and reliability, and most often does not create significant inconvenience.