Headphones have a special place in the life of any music fanatic. From listening to John Legend when you’re feeling loved or electrifying in EDM during a dance party, there are headphones for every mood and music. Or even just jamming to PlayCroco Online Casino‘s main theme.
But how were headphones invented? How have they evolved with the growth of technology? Now we will show you more about this.
The principle of headphones
In the early 1890s, headphones were a sturdy speaker on one side only for holding onto the ear and communicating. This later became an electrophone. It was a system that consisted of a stethoscope-type headset connected to a switchboard. With this setup, people across London would be able to tune in to live performances taking place across London. This luxurious subscription costs around £ 5 a year. This heavy installation was the iPod of its time.
These headphones were not open to the general public and were only available to military or military entities.
Its major purpose was to analyze radio frequency noises that were conveyed over the place’s unseen electrical networks, allowing people to connect with one other via sound.
The first personal listening headphones were created by Beyerdynamic in 1937. Headphones had previously been used in the military as a weapon. The Beyerdynamic DT-48 was a headphone with a thin metal band and two wires that could be connected separately.
AKG created the K-120, a headphone that offered superb sound and elegance, over the border in Austria, in 1939. A high-quality in-ear audio controller and a compact, stylish headband were included in the design. In a nutshell, Dr. Dre’s Beats at the time.
During WWII, the manufacture of these headphones was halted due to the continuing battle in Europe.
John Koss, a jazz guitarist, and audiophile saved headphones from extinction in 1958. They revolutionized headphones for personal listening with the introduction of the Koss SP-3, the first stereo over-ear headphones. It was a pair of speakers with a split headband covered in silky material. Although the design was not revolutionary, it prompted other audio engineers all over the world to enter the headphone business.
Traditional hearing aids were not commercially available to consumers until 1960, when Eugen Beyer’s son, the company’s owner and creator, seized control.
Koss dominated the American headphone market in the 1960s and 1970s. Rock & roll, as the era of new youthful music, drew people into music. Koss supported the Beatlephone, a Koss headphone with a Beatles sticker, as the Beatles’ popularity grew.
STAX created the first electrostatic headphones, the SR-1, about the same time. By that time, the headphones had been upgraded to provide optimum clarity.
Then there was a decade of silence in the headphone sector, with no breakthroughs.
There was an instant need for mobility due to developments in transportation and logistics. This is the time when the industry’s most extensively utilized item has shown to be advantageous. In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, a portable audio player. This was included with the MDR 3L2, which was their first portable headset. It was a simple over-the-ear design with thin metal bands that were easy to put on and take off. This design is nostalgic for anyone born before the year 2000.
In the year 1988; During the Seoul Olympics, all the headphone sets for broadcasting were from the Beyerdynamic brand, being the most popular headphones of that year.
One year later; In 1989, the first headphones with the ability to cancel noise were introduced, introducing the noise cancellation system that we know today in microphones and headphones.
Not long after, other consumer electronics brands like Philips, Onkyo, entered the headphone game. They produced such cheap headphones for the masses.
While fashion has gone around the world, the neck design has arrived. Sony introduced a behind-the-neck band design with in-ear headphones. These do not bother with your hair and they look beautiful with a minimalist design. This was the era of super-on-ear headphones with lightweight foam padding.
Starting in the 90s, in-ear hearing aids began to hit the market; the small hearing aids that enter the ear without covering them completely, being simple, easy to use, and thus avoiding that the ears get tired by the constant use of the old headphones.
The previous hearing aids were very large, tight, and caused some discomfort, given their size. However, the new in-ear hearing aids allowed a better acceptance and evolution of the headphones, going from a large, rough, and annoying size, to a much more compact, reduced, and portable size, allowing the consumer to be able to charge them anywhere without major inconvenience.
Until the turn of the century, these headphones dominated consumer music.
While these headphones have captured the attention of the general public, professional and premium audio manufacturers have excelled in their respective fields. The Orpheus, Sennheiser’s most popular open-back transducer headphones, is now available with a tube amp. Beyerdynamic headphones, on the other hand, were dedicated to satisfying the musical demands of artists and television stations.
With its noise-canceling technology, Bose created a name for itself. These headphones were an addition to your music in an era when travel and noise were inescapable. When Dr. Amar Bose created Noise Canceling Headphones in 1989, they were acquired on the spur of the moment for pilots in the cockpit during flights. For individuals who often fly or travel by train, noise reduction proved handy. Bose released the Quiet Comfot QC1 series to the public in 2000.
These consumer electronics firms easily supplied in-ear headphones in addition to headphones and earphones. A wave of appealing and simple design swept the world in 2001. Apple debuted the iPod with the world’s most renowned white headphones. For all youngsters at the time, these headphones were the peak of enjoyment. White headphones have evolved into a fashion statement.
Brands like Skullcandy have produced headphones for young people to add to the fashion and funk. With his design, he promised the skateboarder lifestyle.
Soon after the iPod and headphones became popular, all companies began producing in-ear headphones that appealed to everyone due to their portable but stylish design.
Val Kolton launched a headphone line in 2004 that drew in DJs and artists that liked their music to have a lot of basses. For all DJs and electronic music fans, V-Moda has delivered high-quality audio with deep bass and long-lasting style and design. For those in the electronic scene, these headphones were the pinnacle of elegance and audio.
Even though no publications on the internet mention it, the first decade of the century was also when professional audio companies made their debut. When businesses prioritized design and aesthetics, audio quality suffered. Purists and experts have been taken into account by professional audio manufacturers.
Two lifestyle brands became famous in the headphone business in 2008. With these appealing cans, Dr. Dre and Monster inspired the hip-hop, rapper lifestyle. They enlisted the help of celebrities and footballers to keep their headphones in place. This drew the attention of all the youths who want a stylish modern lifestyle. It had a simple design with round ears and a colorful headband that looked lovely. These headphones, which focus on bass and terrific sound, have become the hottest trend in lifestyle headphones.
How Bluetooth headphones were made
Since wireless headphones were created, they have been of a lower or lower sound quality than wired headphones, since the latter provides a higher level of frequency and not an unstable one, as in the case of wireless headphones or Bluetooth headphones.
The history of Bluetooth dates back to the mid-90s when Ericsson was developing a technology that allowed short-range communications with the goodness of using very little power in devices (mainly mobile). That project was MCLink.
With the time, the greats of technology showed interest in the product and formed a SIG (Special Interest Group), that in the field of technology corresponds to a kind of workgroup work group made up of different companies, who contribute monetary capital and human. Among those greats are Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Nordic Semiconductor, and Toshiba. (Today there are more than 14,000 companies that comprise it).
Bluetooth was not called that from the beginning, in fact,, Bluetooth was a codename of the many betas of the project. The SIG thought it was a good name, and they adopted it. The word Bluetooth comes from the Danish king Herald Blåtand, whose English translation of the surname would be “Bluetooth”, a character of notable Scandinavian relevance in feudal times.
In 1998, when Bluetooth saw the light, Wi-Fi (the 802.11 standards) was much commented on by the public and many came to think that Bluetooth was the competition of Wi-Fi. Big mistake!. Bluetooth has a very well defined north and is based on being a technology that:
- Establish connections with little energy expenditure.
- Establishes links, usually of short duration.
- Provides security through various forms of data encryption, in addition to requiring the use of a PIN to establish connections between computers.
- Supports voice and data
- It has a low cost of production and implementation, it was proposed that it should not exceed the US $5 per device.
Already in the year 2000, the era of Bluetooth began, where it could be observed for the first time in cell phones, shortly after, this technology arrived in headphones, being the first Bluetooth headphones in history.
Their price was somewhat high when they came out, but as technological advances progressed, it was possible to reduce the cost of creating Bluetooth headphones, and can currently be found from $10 (USD)
How do wireless Bluetooth headphones work?
Bluetooth headphones work using the wireless radio frequency of Bluetooth, having these sending and receiving devices in their heads.
Likewise, these work thanks to the batteries, allowing them to become completely independent from the cables; however, making them dependent on energy, limiting their usage time.
For these Bluetooth headphones to work, they must be connected to other devices that send and receive Bluetooth radio frequencies.
It is also emphasized that Bluetooth headphones must be paired to function properly.
How do you put on a Bluetooth headset?
Depending on the type of Bluetooth headset you have, you should place it on or inside your ears, but in the same way, all these will be used in the ears to be able to capture the sound that is being emitted.
The larger ones usually completely cover the ears and offer a noise cancellation system, making all external sound almost completely reduced. It should be noted that most of all Bluetooth headphones have a built-in microphone, allowing you to speak through them without the need for a device close to your mouth.
Which Bluetooth headset is better?
It is difficult to determine which type of Bluetooth hearing aid is better since there is a great diversity of these; offering different types of features and functions.
The larger ones are generally more expensive, but provide greater features such as total external noise cancellation, better sound, and a better fit on the head.
On the other hand, the smallest are headphones that are designed to be used inside the ear, allowing better comfort, but their design will depend on whether or not to reduce external noise.
The pacifier-type headphones are the most ideal to cancel external noise, being one of the most recommended for this.
There are two sides to each coin. While the world was busy adjusting to modern headphones, the guys who were seriously into audio got to work. This was the moment when many professional and audiophile brands leaped for the better.
Brands such as Shure, Beyerdynamic, and AKG were always present on the professional audio scene, but with the increase in demand for quality audio, after 2011 many other professional and hi-fi audio brands began to revamp themselves its older models or have introduced new headphones that have attracted music lovers.
Headphones have a long history and are now an essential element of everyone’s music collection. People still dispute bass and pure audio, but there are lots of alternatives for the appropriate musical companion for everyone’s convenience and preference.