What are Headphones, Earphones, Earbuds, Cans,...?
Feb 11, 2005 at 2:23 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 9

PTheD

Headphoneus Supremus
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Is there any general consensous about these head-fi idioms?

This is what comes to mind when I hear/read them...

Headphones - 1. Any kind of "personal stereo" that is worn on the head or in/on the ears. 2. Specificly the over-the-head or behind-the-neck style of personal stereo device that is worn on the head that places a speaker near, but not in the ear.

Earphones - A personal stereo device that are wearable specificly on or in the ear. Not over-the-head or behind-the-neck style headphones but clip-on headphones that are worn on the ear, headphones that are placed in the ear "pocket" so they rest right up against the earcanal but do not penetrate into the earcanal and in canal headphones that are inserted into the ear canal.

Earbuds - Specificly Earphones that are that are placed in the ear "pocket" so they rest right up against the earcanal but do not penetrate into the earcanal and in canal headphones that are inserted into the ear canal.

Cans - Any headphone that is not placed in the ear "pocket" so they rest right up against the earcanal but do not penetrate into the earcanal or in canal headphones that are inserted into the ear canal, but rather a personal stereo device that has a speaker placed up against the ear and held their by clipin on to the ear or a headband that goes behind the neck or over the head.

That is what comes to mind when I hear those idioms, what about you people?
 
Feb 11, 2005 at 2:44 AM Post #3 of 9
I knew that the cans deffiniton would be wrong by most people understanding. I know that any headphone can be refered to as a can, but I just have a hard time calling canalphones or ear pocket headphones like Sony MDR-E888LPs cans. I think of cans as something that rests on or around the ear and not something that goes in it. If the idiom came to be because headphones look like cans on the head then the canalphones and ear pocket phones are a little out of that words original applicable relm, don't you think?
 
Feb 11, 2005 at 2:53 AM Post #4 of 9
Headphones have a headband, it's that plain and simple.
Cans are headphones, if you want to be specific, they have to be circum-aural.
Earphones are anything that don't have headbands, this includes earbuds, ear-canals, clip-ons and streetstyles (behind-the-neck)
Earbuds have a "bud-like" protrusion which is inserted into the ear and holds the driver.
Ear-Canals are similar to earbuds, but do not have a shaft, instead they create a seal with the ear canal and are inserted into it.
Clip-Ons clip onto the ear and there are ear-canal and earbud varieties that have clip-on parts.
Streetstyles have a band which goes behind the neck, they're not headphones because they're technically clip-ons as they rest on the ear and not on the head.
vertical-in-the-ear 'phones are headphones as they have a headband...the funny thing is, they go inside the ear and have a "protrusion" like earbuds...blah, the most confusing type of all.

There' "ya" go.
 
Feb 11, 2005 at 3:10 AM Post #5 of 9
So what do people think are headphones...
A. a personal stereo device with a headband that goes over the head.
or
B. 1. Any kind of "personal stereo" that is worn on the head or in/on the ears. 2. Specificly the over-the-head or behind-the-neck style of personal stereo device that is worn on the head that places a speaker near, but not in the ear.
or
C. They are something else?
 
Feb 11, 2005 at 3:33 AM Post #6 of 9
If you really want to know what a headphone is:

head·phone ( P ) Pronunciation Key (h
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d f
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n)
n.

A receiver, as for a telephone, radio, or stereo, held to the ear by a headband.

Headphone
n : electro-acoustic transducer for converting electric signals into sounds; it is held over or inserted into the ear; "it was not the typing but the earphones that she disliked"
 
Feb 11, 2005 at 3:38 AM Post #7 of 9
So the first deffinition says a headphone is a receiver that is held to the ear and the second one says that it is an electro-acoustic transducer that is held over or inserted into the ear. So those are both diffirent also. One of them is in agreement with D-EJ915 in that a headphone has to be held to the ear by a headband and the other is more like the first deffinition of mine.
 
Feb 11, 2005 at 3:43 AM Post #8 of 9
Quote:

Originally Posted by PTheD
So the first deffinition says a headphone is a receiver that is held to the ear and the second one says that it is an electro-acoustic transducer that is held over or inserted into the ear. So those are both diffirent also. One of them is in agreement with D-EJ915 in that a headphone has to be held to the ear by a headband and the other is more like the first deffinition of mine.


I think the second definition is more directed towards our hobby.
 
Feb 11, 2005 at 3:46 AM Post #9 of 9
So then am I correct in my understanding that you would agree with my deffinitions, in their respective order of aplicability, if they where worded more like the deffinitions you posted?
 

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