Headphones (also known as earphones, earbuds, stereophones,
headsets, or by the slang term cans) are a pair of small loudspeakers,
or less commonly a single speaker, with a way of holding them close to a user's ears
and a means of connecting them to a stereophonic, monophonic or binaural audio-frequency
signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio or CD player. In the context of telecommunication,
the term headset is used to describe a combination of headphone and microphone
used for two-way communication, for example with a telephone.
Headphones can be used both with fixed equipment such as CD or DVD players,
home theater, personal computers
and with portable devices (e.g. digital audio player/
mp3 player, mobile phone, etc.). Some
cordless headphones do not need to be connected via a wire, receiving a radio or infrared
signal encoded using a radio or infrared transmission link, like FM, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
These are actually made of powered receiver systems of which the headphone is only a component.
Headphones are widely used for listening to audio sources for recreation. In the professional audio
sector headphones are used in live situations by disc jockeys (DJ) and engineers for monitoring signal
sources. In radio studios, DJs use a pair of headphones when talking to the microphone while the speakers
are turned off, to eliminate acoustic feedback and monitor their own voice. In studio recordings, musicians
and singers use headphones to play along to a backing track.
Wired headphones are attached to an audio source. The most common connectors are 1/4" and 3.5 mm
stereophonic jack plugs and sockets. The older 1/4" standard is used on professional equipment,
and is often used on fixed equipment. Sony introduced the smaller and cheaper, and now widely-used,
3.5 mm stereo connector in 1979, adapting the older monophonic 3.5 mm connector for use with its
Walkman portable stereo tape player. Adapters are available for converting between 1/4" and 3.5 mm devices.
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