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Headphones & IEMs

Transducers right at the ear.

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Why it matters

The ear coupling is part of the system.

A loudspeaker works into a room. A headphone works around the ear. An IEM works inside the ear canal. Small changes in seal, pad shape, insertion depth, and tip size can change bass and treble a lot.

How it works

Common headphones use dynamic drivers, planar magnetic drivers, or balanced armatures in some IEMs. Some IEMs combine multiple driver types with tiny acoustic filters or crossovers.

Because the driver is close to the ear, target response is not the same as a flat loudspeaker measurement. Comfort, clamp, isolation, and leakage also matter.

Common mistakes

Simple example

Speaker driver A speaker driver is the moving part that turns amplifier power into air movement. Woofers, midranges, tweeters, and full-range drivers are all speaker drivers. Frequency response Frequency response shows how loud a speaker is at each frequency. It helps reveal balance, crossover behavior, box tuning, and room problems. Sensitivity Sensitivity tells you how loud a speaker gets from a known input. It helps estimate output, amplifier needs, and how well drivers will match. Impedance Impedance is the electrical load the amplifier sees. It changes with frequency, so a speaker marked 8 ohms is not 8 ohms everywhere.

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