Earphones Explained – The best Guide (6 specifications)

Introduction

Earphones are among the fastest-growing electronic wearables in the market right now. they come in different shapes, sizes, and form factors in different price brackets. This large number of options makes choosing a good earphone particularly hard. If you are planning to buy a pair of earphones, and want to make sure that you get the one that suits you the best, what do buzzwords surrounding Earphones mean? read Earphones Explained.

What is ANC

ANC is among the most sought-after feature among premium earphones. if there is one feature that would differentiate a low-end/basic earphone from a premium one, and the one that is most noticeable by audiophiles and non-audiophiles alike. even though it used to be a premium-only feature, the latest Realme and JBL earphones also sport a very good ANC experience, especially considering the price.

ANC works by picking up the ambient sound from the outside environment and then producing an equivalent negative wave inside the ear along with the audio you are hearing so that the noise leak from the outside is reduced to a large extent. This helps to produce a feeling that you are hearing the music n a virtually silent room, while in reality, you may be in a bus or a cab.

ANC is most noticeable and excellent at removing low persistent ambient noises, such as the sound of a FAN, AC, or equipment running at a distance, which most earphones, including cheap ones from Realme, will successfully eliminate to quite an extent. ANC can also reduce other sounds, though not as well as the persistent low background noise

What is ENC?

ENC, or environmental noise cancellation, will not directly affect the sound quality of your music, but it will improve the mic quality quite a bit. As earphone microphones have much lower sound quality than mobile phones, many outside noises are prone to disturb your conversation. ENC works by canceling the unwanted noises, which will in turn improve the sound quality that the other end receives.

What is Dual Pairing

Dual or multi-device pairing is a feature that is actively coming to the earphone market. Even though the feature might not be beneficial for everyone, it is a lifesaver for people who own more than one smart device including phones, tablets, and PCs. in dual/Multi pairing, an earphone can connect to more than one device simultaneously, while multi-device switching from Apple and Samsung, even though only connects to only one device at the same time, virtually feels like it is connected to every other device in your ecosystem, as the connection is automatically and seamlessly connected to tab, phone, laptop, etc all at once.

What is 3D Audio

An earphone has two heads, which completely cover both ears. but not every sound can be heard in the 3D space as we normally hear in the real world. For the longest time, the sound was MONO or Stereo, meaning that sound came from either a single channel ( Mono) or through both sides (Stereo). But recent years have witnessed the rise in 3D audio, which is mainly a combination of software on the device, as well as a recording instrument, but still, the quality of the arrangement of sound in the space depends on how the earphone is capable of recreating the different sounds with accurate sound and positioning.

3D audio is a game changer in the gaming sector, where we can hear sound coming from different directions clearly, as well as in properly created movies, videos, and songs. There is special software that is best associated with 3D audio, such as Dolby Digital, and DTS surround which can create a better recreation of spatial sound as it is in real life. therefore, earphones with Dolby/ DTS, etc may provide better 3D

What are CODECs

We all know that modern wireless communication work on the radio spectrum, from old and slow 2G to the latest and fastest 5g, wifi, and Bluetooth. Bluetooth is among the oldest, and slowest of these wireless technologies, being only slightly faster than a typical 2G network, and not even remotely close to the speeds of other networks. But Bluetooth has been the ideal choice for all the connection requirements of most devices, due to their very low energy consumption, relatively cheaper components, and low complexity for making the circuit.

The only issue is, the bitrate of Bluetooth is lower than what most modern high-quality music files need. the way the manufacturers use to sent high-quality music files to the earphone is through the use of codecs. codec, short for CODER and DECODER, are hardware than can be thought of as compressing and decompressing the music file at the center and receiver side respectively.
Not all data will be included in the resulting music, as some data may be omitted to achieve a good compression ratio. there are many methods to choose, from while selecting the codec. When you buy an earphone, make sure you get the best codes that are supported by both your phone as well as earphones.

• SBC: oldest and least efficient codec, has the least audio fidelity and bitrate.
• AAC: most widely used audio codec, from AirPods to 1000RS earphones. they are widely compatible, and your existing phone and wireless earphones are almost guaranteed to have ACC enabled by default
• AptX: AptX is a standard created by Qualcomm, and used primarily by mobile phones with a Qualcomm processor. it provides better fidelity and loses lower amounts of details when compared to ACC as well as SBC. but it is not as widespread, due to licensing fees from Qualcomm, and other factors
• LDAC: arguably the best audio codec for non-professional – medium professional users, the LDAC is created and maintained by sony, and is only found in the most premium earphones from a handful of brands, as well as smartphones from sony, Samsung, one plus, etc.

For a more in-depth post, refer to this wonderful post from PCMAG.

What is Spatial Audio

Spatial audio is a relatively new feature that is mainly found in Apple, sony, and Samsung earbuds. it is most useful when viewing immersive content, such as VR, and also while watching content. Spatial Audio makes the Audio stay fixed in the 3D space, even when your head moves around, creating an illusion that sound is coming not from a pair of earphones that are in your years,

but rather from fixed sources of sound. f proper 3D audio is present, this experience is quite astonishing, although the use cases for the features are not yet large enough to justify a new purchase, like how ANC is. Maybe in the future, it will become as large a feature as ANC, or at least comparable. If you want to check out the best earphones to buy in 2022, check out our detailed guide on best earphones under 5k here.

Earphones Explained -Summary

these are some of the most important terms related to audio that you should know about, and we hope that we were able to clearly explain what each of these terms meant. If you want to learn more about such tech, check our playlist ‘tech explained‘. Else, if you would want to know more about any topics, or anything not explained in this post about audio, do comment, or connect with us on Whatsapp.