Pelham Records

If you’re looking to purchase a new pair of headphones the first thing you’ll want to know is exactly how headphones work, or you may end up purchasing a low quality pair.  There’s 3 main types of headphones: workout headphones, audiophile headphones and musician headphones.  And while they’re all different, they are also almost exactly the same.

Each of these types of headphones still function the same way.  They utilize what is known as air conduction to transport sound waves from the device, through the speakers and into your ears.  Essentially what happens is the sound moves the air within your ear canal which then stimulates your inner ear.  A signal is sent to your brain and instantly recognizes the frequencies and amplitudes to create a unique sound.  Pretty cool huh?  But what does all that have to do with headphones?  Well, now that you know the basics of sound you can use that to choose the best pair of headphones.

Here are 3 things to look for when determining sound quality of any headphone or earbud.

Frequency Response.  Each pair of headphones will have a specific range of frequencies that it can understand and then pass on to you.  It is very unlikely that you’ll find a pair of headphones that can’t pick up a common frequency.  Typically you’d want to see something like 20 MHz to 20,000 MHz.

Total Harmonic Distortion.  This is essentially just what it says, the amount of distortion of the sound that is generated between the source (MP3 player) and the exit (earbud).  The goal would be less than 0.5% at which point you wouldn’t notice anything.

Sound Pressure Level.  This is basically how loud a the headphones can play the music.  Usually it’s around 120dB, but you would never want to turn your headphones up that loud as you’d damage your hearing.

Now that you know everything about headphones you’re ready to buy the perfect pair!

As a departure from the normal stock market investing advice that I dispense, I thought that for a change, I would talk about musical instruments. As you know, the guitar is a stringed instrument that can be played with the fingers or a pick. Broadly speaking, there are two categories of guitars namely acoustic and electric with several important subcategories. Guitars normally have six strings though there are exceptions such as the 12 string guitar or the Russian guitar which has 7 strings.

Acoustic guitars which have hollow bodies [in common with other instruments like the violin and the cello] have been used for hundreds of years. The main types of acoustic guitars are the classical guitar, the steel string guitar and the archtop guitar. The tone of the guitar is produced when the vibrations of the strings are amplified by the hollow body which acts as a kind of resonating chamber. The classical guitar is extensively used as a solo instrument because the complex finger picking technique enables it to be so used.

Electric guitars, which were first used in the 1930s, use a separate amplifier through which sound can be amplified and manipulated. The vibration of the strings is picked up by magnetic pickups placed under them which transmit the sound to the amplifier through wires. Electric guitars have had a significant influence on modern music and culture and are used in musical genres that range from pop and rock to jazz and blues music.

An interesting blend of acoustic and electric guitars can be found in some archtop guitars where the top and sometimes the back of the instrument is curved rather than flat. They are distinguished by f holes much like a violin. Most modern archtop guitars are fitted with magnetic pickups and can therefore combine the best of the sound quality of both acoustic and electric guitars. These guitars were instantly welcomed by many musicians and have today become a staple of jazz, country music and many forms of blues.