[Aceolus]

I was wondering if someone can explain to me Headset Specifications and what they mean/do. Like for an example I have been looking at the Sennheiser PC350 and the PC360 Headset Specifications and I'm not sure what they all mean and do.
 
PC350 Specifications
 

Distortion	< 0.1%
Frequency response	10 Hz – 26,000 Hz
Frequency response	50 Hz . 16,000 Hz
Headphone	Around-the-ear, closed
Impedance	150 Ω
Pick-up Pattern	Noise cancelling
Sensitivity	108 dBSPL
Sensitivity	-38 dBV at 94 dBSPL
Speaker data	Dynamic, 38 mm, Nd magnet

 
PC360 Specifications
 

Frequency response	15 – 28,000 Hz
Impedance	50 Ω
Sound pressure level (SPL)	112 dB
Microphone
Frequency response	50 – 16,000 Hz
Pick-up pattern	Noise canceling
Impedance	2 kΩ
Sensitivity as per 121 TR 9-5	-38 dBV/Pa

 
Can somebody please explain the Specifications to me and what they actually do and effect? I would really appreciate the help and if this thread/question has been posted before somewhere I'm sorry I just couldn't find anything about it, I'm not very familiar with this website.

 

[maverickronin]

If you've got no clue what any of those numbers mean that it would take a rather long post to explain the ins and outs of each one.  To compound problems those specifications are woefully incomplete and don't finish telling you what they start.  I'll cover the important ones.
 
Impedance: AC cousin of resistance.
 
Sensitivity:  How much sound it makes per amount of power.  The amount of power isn't specified so it doesn't tell us jack.
 
Frequency response:  Supposed to tell you what frequencies the headphone can play.  I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever seen this quoted honestly.  It's a pack of lies.  Don't believe it.
 
Some of those other stats are for the microphone.  I'm assuming that's why frequency response is listed twice.  About the only useful thing those stats tell you is that the 360s should play louder at a given volume setting than the 350s, if you assume that the unknown quantity of power from the sensitivity figures is the same in each case.  This is because the impedance of the 360s is lower and the sensitivity is higher.  Lower impedance means more voltage will flow at a given volume setting and the higher sensitivity means that it will louder from a given voltage anyway.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

The most important specification is 'Around-the-ear, closed' as how the headphone is made and fits has a bigger impact than anything else. The other two specs that are worth checking are impedance and SPL. The lower the impedance and the higher the SPL the easier the headphone is to drive. So if you were to plug both into an ipod, at a set point you will get more volume out of the PC360, but it will be marginal.