On Headphones — William Charleton

While I wouldn’t call myself an audiophile, I do like a good sound system. I love listening to music, and I want to hear it just as it was created. Comfortably, with a good range and clarity. Something that doesn’t muddle when you turn it up. There are probably technical terms that I’m missing.

My first set of headphones that weren’t provided by apple, were the Bang and Olufsen Earphones in middle school. That’s just what they’re called. Earphones. And this was like the first step in a Rube Goldberg. Then my dad got a pair. Then he got my mom a pair. Then my mom got my aunt a pair. Then one year for Christmas we got my uncle a pair.

In the meantime, mine broke twice, and Bang and Olufsen replaced them for free both times! The second time, I went to the Greenwich store and they only had orange, which I was more than happy with. Eventually those broke too. In all of them, the left earphone stopped working! I keep their newest version, the i3 in my backpack for emergencies and unexpected long phone calls.

Anyway, for the size, they sounds impeccable and aren't terribly uncomfortable for sticking inside your head. Which I don’t think that’s a good idea. Sticking headphones in your ear like that. I don’t think it’s good electrically or acoustically. There should be distance between where the sound originates and your ear. I also think it’s not a good idea to have a wire going form your phone into your head. Air tube headsets are shown to reduce EMF exposure from wired headphones by 98%, but they sound so shitty!

So here’s what I’m on now. They sound even better than the Earphones, they are more comfortable and put distance between the speaker and your ears. I’m talking about the Beoplay H6. They’re over the ear, not bluetooth, not noise cancelling. Bluetooth is handy and all, but I don’t need it on my head. Noise cancelling headphones work by generating a frequency that cancels out the ambient noise. I have a few problems with that. It’s still something electronic on your head, and it’s just creating more noise. These headphones block out enough noise on their own.

The H6, in my opinion are the perfect headphones. You won’t find anything more comfortable.