How to Choose the Right Headphones for Your Needs

There are countless reasons for being selective about the headphones you wear. Of course, when making your choice, it depends completely on what your particular needs are. The following will explore some of the factors that you need to consider when deciding which headphones will suit you and your daily aims. You may find that there are headphones out there that provide you with features you hadn’t known were available before.

The world has undergone an intense amount of change due to the coronavirus pandemic that swept across the planet earlier this year. Many workplaces shifted the structure of their working environments, opting for remote or virtual work whenever possible. Even if the virus settles down, many research teams are predicting that people will continue working from home. Because of this, many employees are finding themselves in need of adapting their at-home technology to the demands of their work.

Wireless Or Not?

For some people, working from home is a freeing experience. They can listen in on that conference call while they prepare dinner. Or they can sweep the floor while they listen to reports. Neckband headphones that are best for activities outdoors or in the gym, and there are audiophile headphones that focus on high-fidelity audio. You can read more on this on MusicCritic’s list of neckband headphones. In these cases, wireless headphones feel like a magical solution they never knew they needed. Getting laundry done while working? Yes, please.

For others, it’s hard to stay present and focused on work with all their at-home belongings surrounding them. In these cases, people need to be tied to their computer with all the snacks put away and all the other in-house devices off. In these situations, wired headphones are usually best.

As a side note, many people are afraid to make the leap to wireless headphones for fear of not being able to work them. Wireless headphones are very user-friendly. If you’re still unsure, you can take a look at Red Diamond Audio—their blog section breaks down how to pair all different types of wireless headphones to your various devices. We promise they are far easier to set up than wireless printers.

Noise Cancelling Or Not?

Depending on your at-home responsibilities, you may want to seek out noise-canceling headphones. Some people live in a loud neighborhood, where construction sounds, traffic, and people shouting at each other in the apartment above for seemingly silly reasons is the norm. In cases like these, noise-canceling headphones are ideal. They allow you to ignore all the chaos that is happening outside your home and focus on your work meeting.

Some people have pets or children at home and they need to be able to hear what is going on around them while they work. In these cases, noise-canceling headphones should be avoided at all costs. Beyond this, some people feel nervous when they can’t hear the space around themselves. As a general rule, humans don’t like setting themselves up for animals to sneak up on them. Of course, there are no wolves in your apartment, but the thousands of years of evolution that went into the structure of your brain doesn’t know that.

Built-In Microphone Or Not?

Depending on what your work entails, you might find yourself wanting a headset-style set of headphones that allow your voice to be heard clearly and at a high quality. Many people need to only listen in on meetings and if they do speak, it’s only to those they work with daily. In these cases, people often do not need a microphone adaption on their headphones. It can be uncomfortable to have something floating in front of your mouth if you’re not used to it.

Other people are constantly giving presentations as part of their work. They need to be heard clearly. Sometimes their audio is even recorded to be listened to by people at a later date. In these circumstances, headphones with a microphone attachment are ideal. Often the microphone built into your computer does not record hyper-crisp sound.

Beyond the above points, many people are turning to online platforms for social interaction. Those who are gaming with their friends they used to meet up with for a game of soccer might also find the built-in microphone ideal. 

By filtering through the above options you will be able to determine what type of headphones you need for your new workplace “normal.” It is important to remember that listening to sound at a high volume in headphones all day can weaken or damage your ears. Make sure that you are keeping the volume lower and that you give your ears a nice break from the headphones—even if it’s just for a few minutes every hour.