Headphones

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For other uses, see Headphones (disambiguation).

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 AKG headphones on a stand

Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They
are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single
user listen to an audio source privately, in contrast to a loudspeaker, which emits sound into the open air for anyone
nearby to hear. Headphones are also known as earphones[1] or, colloquially, cans.[2] Circumaural (around the ear) and
supra-aural (over the ear) headphones use a band over the top of the head to hold the drivers in place. Another type,
known as earbuds or earpieces,[1] consists of individual units that plug into the user's ear canal; within that category
have been developed cordless air buds using wireless technology. A third type are bone conduction headphones, which
typically wrap around the back of the head and rest in front of the ear canal, leaving the ear canal open. In the context
of telecommunication, a headset is a combination of a headphone and microphone.

Headphones connect to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player, portable media player, mobile
phone, video game console, or electronic musical instrument, either directly using a cord, or using wireless technology
such as Bluetooth, DECT or FM radio. The first headphones were developed in the late 19th century for use
by switchboard operators, to keep their hands free. Initially, the audio quality was mediocre and a step forward was the
invention of high fidelity headphones.[3]

Headphones exhibit a range of different audio reproduction quality capabilities. Headsets designed for telephone use
typically cannot reproduce sound with the high fidelity of expensive units designed for music listening by audiophiles.
Headphones that use cables typically have either a 1⁄4 inch (6.4 mm) or 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) phone jack for plugging the
headphones into the audio source. Some headphones are wireless, using Bluetooth connectivity to receive the audio
signal by radio waves from source devices like cellphones and digital players.[4] As a result of the Walkman effect,
beginning in the 1980s, headphones started to be used in public places such as sidewalks, grocery stores, and public
transit.[5] Headphones are also used by people in various professional contexts, such as audio engineers mixing sound
for live concerts or sound recordings and disc jockeys (DJs), who use headphones to cue up the next song without the
audience hearing, aircraft pilots and call center employees. The latter two types of employees use headphones with an
integrated microphone.

History
 Telephone operator with a single head-mounted telephone-receiver
(headphone), 1898

Headphones grew out of the need to free up a person's hands when operating a telephone.[6] By the 1880s, soon after
the invention of the telephone, telephone switchboard operators began to use head apparatuses to mount
the telephone receiver.[7] The receiver was mounted on the head by a clamp which held it next to the ear.[8] The head
mount freed the switchboard operator's hands, so that they could easily connect the wires of the telephone callers and
receivers.[9] The head-mounted telephone receiver in the singular form was called a headphone.[10][11] These head-
mounted phone receivers, unlike modern headphones, only had one earpiece.[12]

By the 1890s a listening device with two earpieces was developed by the British company Electrophone. The device
created a listening system through the phone lines that allowed the customer to connect into live feeds of
performances at theaters and opera houses across London. Subscribers to the service could listen to the performance
through a pair of massive earphones that connected below the chin and were held by a long rod. [13]

French engineer Ernest Mercadier in 1891 patented a set of in-ear headphones. [14][13] The German company Siemens
Brothers at this time was also selling headpieces for telephone operators which had two earpieces, although placed
outside the ear. The Siemens Brothers headpieces looked similar to modern headphones. The majority of headgear
used by telephone operators continued to have only one earpiece.[15]

Wireless telegrapher Reginald Fessenden with two head-mounted telephone-

Headphones appeared in the emerging field of wireless telegraphy, which was the beginning stage of radio
broadcasting. Some early wireless telegraph developers chose to use the telephone receiver's speaker as the detector
for the electrical signal of the wireless receiving circuit.[16] By 1902 wireless telegraph innovators, such as Lee de Forest,
were using two jointly head-mounted telephone receivers to hear the signal of the receiving circuit. [17] The two head-
mounted telephone receivers were called in the singular form head telephones.[16] By 1908 the headpiece began to be
written simply as head phones,[18] and a year later the compound word headphones began to be used.[19]

Holtzer-Cabot telephone operator head receiver, wireless operator receiver,

One of the earliest companies to make headphones for wireless operators was the Holtzer-Cabot Company in 1909.
[20]
They were also makers of head receivers for telephone operators and normal telephone receivers for the home.
[20]
Another early manufacturer of headphones was Nathaniel Baldwin.[21] He was the first major supplier of headsets to
the U.S. Navy.[22] In 1910, motivated by his inability to hear sermons during Sunday service, he invented a prototype
telephone headset.[23] He offered it for testing to the navy, which promptly ordered 100 of them. Wireless Specialty
Apparatus Co., in partnership with Baldwin Radio Company, set up a manufacturing facility in Utah to fulfill orders.
[24]
These early headphones used moving iron drivers,[25] with either single-ended or balanced armatures. The common
single-ended type used voice coils wound around the poles of a permanent magnet, which were positioned close to a
flexible steel diaphragm. The audio current through the coils varied the magnetic field of the magnet, exerting a varying
force on the diaphragm, causing it to vibrate, creating sound waves. The requirement for high sensitivity meant that
no damping was used, so the frequency response of the diaphragm had large peaks due to resonance, resulting in
poor sound quality. These early models lacked padding, and were often uncomfortable to wear for long periods.
Their impedance varied; headphones used in telegraph and telephone work had an impedance of 75 ohms. Those used
with early wireless radio had more turns of finer wire to increase sensitivity. Impedances of 1,000 to 2,000 ohms was
common, which suited both crystal sets and triode receivers. Some very sensitive headphones, such as those
manufactured by Brandes around 1919, were commonly used for early radio work.

In 1958, John C. Koss, an audiophile and jazz musician from Milwaukee, produced the first stereo headphones.[26][25]

Smaller earbud-type earpieces, which plugged into the user's ear canal, were first developed for hearing aids. They
became widely used with transistor radios, which commercially appeared in 1954 with the introduction of the Regency
TR-1. The most popular audio device in history, the transistor radio changed listening habits, allowing people to listen to
the radio anywhere. The earbud uses either a moving iron driver or a piezoelectric crystal to produce sound. The
3.5 mm radio and phone connector, which is the most commonly used in portable applications today, has been used at
least since the Sony EFM-117J transistor radio, which was released in 1964.[27][28] Its popularity was reinforced by its use
on the Walkman portable tape player in 1979.