ELI5 - What is the difference between headphones, earphones and IEMs?
ELI5 - What is the difference between headphones, earphones and IEMs?
Hello! I was looking through the sidebar's list of recommended earphones, and after clicking through some of them, I've realized that I actually don't know if that's a list for me, a consumer looking for something to jack into my phone.
I've tried quickly looking for differences between IEMs and headphones, but didn't managed to reach a conclusion. I've vaguely familiar with the term "monitors", since I do help out from time with band shows, but I never actually dealt with audio equipment or audio setup (aside from carrying it to the stage). From what I assume based on what I've seen, monitors are the the speakers that play on stage, so the band can hear what they play. And IEMs are earbud versions of monitors that the band uses instead.
I've always assumed that they are basically headphones/earphones, just connected to some kind of transmitter, and calling them IEMs just makes it easier to find earbuds focused on audio quality, because the term is not as mass-marketed as earbuds are. But judging by the cable connector I've seen on some of the IEMs I've looked at, it's probably not a jack.
So, what are the differences? Is it a different tech all-together, or are they really just a higher quality earphones with better connector? Would looking for IEMs instead of earbuds make it easier to find better earbuds for regular use, or are they meant only for studios and I'll have a hard time even connecting them without aditionall equipment?
Thank you for any reply or explanation. I realize this question may seem pretty basic, and I hope it's not too out of place - I have almost zero experience with audio, but I did start recently DJing (where all I needed so far was to be able to connect RCA into a mixer) and helping out with setting up band shows, so I'm asking this question not because I'm shopping for earbuds, but because I'm honestly interested in learning something new about how different tech around music work and what's the common language around it.
Headphones have a band that goesyour head (or some go around the back of your head) and sit on or over your ears.
Earphones go in your ears, but not into your ear canal. Think of the old school Apple earphones that came with their phones/iPods etc. (on the right in this pic: https://media.wired.com/photos/5932a9a458b0d64bb35d3252/master/w_1280,c_limit/09122012-IPHONE-NEW-EARBUDS-040edit.jpg)
IEMs go in to your ear canal with a little nozzle. These, for exmaple: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61HketTXYcL.jpg The black bit goes in to your ear canal.
To expand on this, there are a few subcategories:
Headphones can be split into two main styles: open-back and closed-back.
Closed back headphones are probably what most consumers will ever see, like the Airpods Max, Sony WH1000XM5, Beyerdynamic DT770, AudioTechnica M50x, etc. They form a seal around your ears, and do not leak sound to the outside. If you are DJing or studio monitoring, you probably would want this type of headphones.
Open back headphones like the Sennheiser HD600, HD800, and Hifiman HE400 expose the back of the driver to the outside, which means sound gets in and out of the headphones, but what they provide in return is better soundstage than closed back headphones. Higher-end heaphones are usually open backed.IEMs also have a subcategory called CIEMs, C stands for custom.
Typical IEMs have a rubber eartip that you stuff in your ear canal to form a seal. Usually they also offer multiple different sizes of eartips to fit different sizes of ear canals, but for some, they still won't fit or don't provide the best seal.
Custom IEMs on the other hand, provide custom molds of your ear canals, so when you receive your CIEM, it would have the shape of your own ears to give you the best seal. They are typically used on stage for the best sound isolation and have the benefit of not easily falling off. Brands like 64 audio, FitEar offer these types of IEMs, and are usually very top of the line. Also good for DJing I would imagine.Thank you. Is there any difference beatween earbuds and IEMs? Or is it just based on what they are used for, i.e casual music listening, and monitoring (is that the right word?) during stage performances? I suppose that the IEMs also have a different connector that isn't a jack, but at least something like RCA, or the larger jack.
Both can be used for casual listening. IEMs are just the style of earphones which has the rubber eartip that goes into your ear canal, they are not limited to stage use.
You are right that IEMs may have special connectors, but you confuse them with something else. So lets break down the audio chain: your output device -> headphone cable -> headphone.
Connecting the output device to the headphone cable are RCA jacks or TRS connecters.
RCA jacks are usually reserved for speakers to connect to amplifiers. Typical heaphones, earphones, and IEMs do not use them. What they use are TRS connecters. The most common one is the 3.5mm headphone jack, you know, the ones that you plug into the hole that phone makers nowadays decide they don't need to exist? Some higher end headphones would also come with 6.35 mm (AKA quarter inch) headphone jacks, which are much larger than 3.5mm plugs. Then there are 2.5 and 4.4mm plugs, and they provide balanced audio, which is another topic worth its own thread.Connecting the cable to the headphone unit is another connector, which definitely is not RCA. Most consumer earphones wire the cables straight to the driver inside the earphone unit, but headphones and IEMs may let you separate them. On heaphones, they may be another TRS connector that connects the cable and the headphone unit. On IEMs, you have two main types of connectors: MMCX and 2-pin. Of course, some IEMs and even headphones would also have their own proprietary connectors, but those are just the main ones.
Nah not really different use cases, just preferences afaik. Some people don't like things going in to their ear canal. I suppose IEMs would also block out more external noise than earphones.
They'll all use the same connector, save perhaps for headphones which sometimes come with a 1/4" connector, rather than the standard 3.5mm
Hey there! Here’s a quick rundown:
IEMs - stands for in ear monitors, typically these are not used for casual listening to music, they are meant as a replacement or augmentation to the traditional monitor wedges seen at the bottom front of a stage during live performances. They are typically wired headphones, plugged into a wireless receiver that a front of house or monitor mixing engineer can feed individual mixes to the different members of a band on stage (drummer may just want to hear a click track, singer might want to hear themselves, etc.) they aren’t the best sounding, unless you spend a ton of money, but they do usually have some level of noise dampening in them so that you can hear what you are doing on stage better than through a monitor wedge.
Headphones - pretty typical catchall term for speakers on your head - they range wildly in sound quality and use case, and as a casual listener you’d be much better suited to find a pair of headphones to use, rather than IEMs. Most manufacturers will have some kind of breakdown on their product pages for what their headphones are best suited for (casual listening/mixing/noise cancellation etc.)
Earphones - I have to admit I’m not super familiar with this term, though I’d imagine when it’s used, it’s being used to describe headphones that prioritize calling someone on a phone, rather than a music based application
I hope this helps!
Thank you! That's what I thought, I think I have a pretty clear picture now.
they aren’t the best sounding, unless you spend a ton of money
I didn't realize this, but it actually makes sense. I've kind of expected that they should be focused on audio quality, but I suppose that's not really important for IEMs, since you don't really need to have top-notch listening experience under those circumstances.
NO THAT'S NOT TRUE! IEMs have improved a lot, and you can get great sounding IEMs for very cheap nowadays! In the sidebar there is a tierlist made by the IEM reviewer crinacle, who also has a Youtube channel where he reviews stuff. You can find IEMs of great value at $200 or less and still sound great!
OP, I would also recommend you go to a headphone shopping site like Headphones.com and play with the filters on the left side of the webpage. The categories you are asking in this post are wearing style and cable type. Feel free to also play with other filters like cup style or driver type and see the differences.
Thank you, I'll check it out!
Hello, from my experiences as someone who just use them (headphones, earphones, IEMs) for consumption of music exclusively and acknowledging my complete ignorance in the production side of things, heres what I think of the classification of all things personal audio.
Broadly the classification is based on size, hence headphones and earphones.
Headphones come with a band that sit atop your head and have their drivers surrounded by cushioned pads which sit on or around your ears. On ear headphones usually will have earpads that are just big enough to sit on the edges of the ears and generally do not provide a complete seal around the ears. Around ear headphones have earpads that surround the ears and provide a much better seal, and hence a fuller sound, at least in my experience.The sound is produced by the drivers and the pads ensure the sound is channeled into your ears, and since the sound waves are received on the whole ear, the perception of space and width can be simulated by good design. Another classification that come here will be open back and closed back headphones. The drivers produce sound by creating vibrations in the air by oscillating a thin membrane. The air that faces our ears being vibrated is what we perceive as sound. But when the air inside the driver is functioning like this, the air on the other side goes through the same vibrations. So when a headphone manufacturer is designing a headphone, they have two choices, either find a way to close the space and dampen the unwanted vibrations as much as practicable, or design them with the backs open, with some dampening or more often than not, with just a dust filter to prevent ingress of dust from outside. Both these types of headphones have their own strengths and weaknesses, but generally open back headphones can simulate better perception of space i.e. width and height or soundstage as it is generally known, and closed back headphones can really reproduce bass in a more impactful and detailed manner, among other differences.
Earphones are tinier in size, and their whole construction is designed to sit inside the ear structure, with smaller drivers providing sound into the ear canals directly. The classification here are IEMs and, well, as I'm unsure of what the official terminology is, earbuds or simply non IEMs. The non IEMs are generally just small drivers just sitting in front of the ear canals blasting the sound waves out, not really providing any sort of seal or even good fit. Whereas in the case of IEMs, the drivers sit just outside the ear canals as in the above case, but there will exist a sort of tubing with rubber/foam/silicone tips that would actually get inserted into the ear canal. They provide excellent seal and allow you to listen to your music with as close to total isolation as is practicable, in my opinion.
In the question you posted you mention the cable connector for the IEMs you looked at arent what you would plug into a jack. This is sort of puzzling to me as from what I know, the most common terminations from earphones and headphones are standard, 3.5mm or 6.4 mm. There are other sizes, namely 2.5mm and 4.4mm, but as far as I know these are used for balanced output, which I'm not competent enough to explain. It is true that various manufacturers use different type of cables and terminations from the drivers, some detachable and some fixed, but the termination that is plugged into your source are generally standardised, to the sizes mentioned above, as far I am aware.
This post is super long by now, and there isnt much more I can tell you, apart from just letting you know there exists several types of driver technology, the majority being dynamic drivers, and planar, electrostatic, balanced armature being some of the other ones. Its not within my capability to explain all these, so I'll leave it to you to look them up if you're interested.
Thank you for the detailed reply. I've actually realized why I got confused by the connectors in the first place - because some of the IEMs have a connector on the side of the earbuds, and I saw this end and didn't realize that that's what goes into the earbuds, and not into the whatever device you're connecting them to.
Yeah I thought so. As falkerie71 pointed out, IEMs with detachable cables usually have terminations that are standardised into two types, 2-pin and MMCX.
This is the better answer, OP.
You are partially right. IEM stands for in-eat monitor and that name comes from the fact that it is like having a monitor (like a stage wedge) in your ear. That is all that means. It doesn't have to be used on stage, it doesn't have to hook up yo ang particular transmitter/receiver, it's just an audio playback device that fits inside your ear canal. It is no longer restricted to musicians, it refers to a huge array of consumer devices, too. Nearly all of them have a standard 3.5 mm plug on the end, though you can probably find some cables with larger balanced plugs.
Headphones are worn on your head, so they have a headband and sit on or around your ears. Ear buds (and probably earphones, though I don't see that term much anymore) are like regular Airpods that go in your ear, but they don't get shoved down into your ear canal and they don't create any sort of seal.
The only difference in tech is that smaller devices require smaller drivers (the "speaker"), so they may or may not use the same kind of drivers. But all of them serve the basic function of moving air to create sound waves.
