Why do high-end headphones sound so good?

In audio, the saying – “The strength of a chain is decided by the weakest link of the chain” holds very good. Every part/component matters, including the audio source and file format of the audio file (if you are playing from a digital source, which is indeed the case today, as long as you are not using a Vinyl Record Player :D ).

The same rule applies to the components used within headphones/speakers.. The build quality is also a prime factor which decides the quality of sound being played back. Within the headphones, there is a small speaker driver (which is basically a diaphragm attached to a conducting coil which oscillates in a magnetic field set up by a permanent magnet). The factors deciding the quality are the type of diaphragm used, the material used in the diaphragm, the quality of the material used in the diaphragm, the quality/purity of copper used to make the coil, the sensitivity of the driver, the strength of the magnet used, the material used to make the magnet, the quality of the material used to make the magnet, etc.. Every single thing matters.

In a high-end headphone, the manufacturer will have taken a lot of care and would have put in a lot of R&D effort to optimise the acoustic performance in every possible way. A lot of research goes into the materials used. There is constant innovation going on to discover the usage of new materials with better properties which can give a considerable boost in the acoustical performance.


Post time: Nov-08-2021