Consumer Electronics

HEADPHONES AND HEADSETS

A headphone, Fig. 3.1, is defined as a listening device consisting of either one or two earphone receivers and a headband to hold them in place. A headset, Fig. 3.2, is essentially the same thing with a microphone attached to it. Headphones permit one-way communication while headsets permit two-way communication.

Particularly since the introduction of stereo, the use of headphones has become an important part of the high fidelity (hi-fi) scene, in some cases by choice and in others by necessity.

In the early days of wireless, headphones—often described as earphones—provided the most practical way of listening to the then available signals. From 1923 onwards, with the emergence of public broadcasting and the availability ...