If you’re like me and you listen to music most of the time, you will know how important owning a high-quality, comfortable pair of earphones really is for the purpose. When earphones are in your ear several hours a day, comfort and quality affect the whole music-listening experience even more than you might expect.
There are plenty of earphones to choose from, so finding a good pair should be easy regardless of your budget and specific needs. These tips we are about to discuss in this article will help you choose the best pair of earphones in no time.
Sound Character and Features
One of the first things you have to look into when searching and comparing earphones is the sound character. Earphones are usually designed to have a specific character instead of a wider spectrum. The relatively small size means there is no room for multiple drivers (or a big one), so manufacturers tend to focus on achieving a certain sound character. This is a good thing because then you can choose a pair of earphones that suits you perfectly.
Bass-forward earphones are rich in bass, but they tend to have slightly more muffled mid- and high-range. In-ear monitors, on the other hand, are designed to be flat and rich in details, albeit with a lower bass punch and weaker low frequency. Additional features like noise canceling help define these characters too. Some earphones like the Jaybird X-series and Soundsport or QuietComfort line from Bose come with a companion app through which you can fine-tune the equalizer to the last detail. Don’t expect the same wide range offered by bigger headphones, but you should be able to squeeze more from the pair of earphones of your choice.
Comfort
As mentioned before, comfort is a big factor when choosing earphones. Earphones that are badly designed can be very uncomfortable to wear, especially over an extended period of time. Different shapes, wing designs, and earphone tips will affect how comfortable the earphones are when worn. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure if a pair of earphones is comfortable is by trying it directly.
Another trick I use with all of my earphones is equipping them with Comply earbud tips. The premium tips from Comply are designed to be very comfortable indeed. They use special memory foam to achieve a whole new level of comfort and they are available for almost every popular set of earphones.
Wired vs. Wireless
Choosing between wired and wireless earphones is basically choosing between sound quality and convenience. While Bluetooth earphones are very good lately, you still need to go wired if you’re serious about enjoying the best music quality. Even technologies such as Bluetooth 4.1 and APT-X are still one or two steps behind their wired siblings.
That said, wireless earphones are easier to use for sure. You can pair wired earphones with multiple devices, use them with virtually any music player you have, and even convert them into wired earphones in some cases. The only downside is that Bluetooth earphones tend to be more expensive than wired earphones in the same category.
