Are planar headphones electrostatic?

Planars also have a much lower impedance than electrostatic headphones due to the embedded voice coil pattern on the diaphragm, which makes it much easier to drive and therefore less expensive. The shape of planar magnetic and electrostatic drivers provides a big advantage over the traditional dynamic driver.

What is an electrostatic headphone?

Electrostatic headphones are transducers that convert audio signals (electrical energy) into sound waves (mechanical wave energy) and work on electrostatic principles. Audio signals cause varying electric fields in the driver that move the diaphragm and produce corresponding sound waves.

What are magnetic planar headphones?

Planar magnetic headphones (sometimes called orthodynamic or isodynamic) can be considered to have elements of both dynamic and electrostatic headphones. A conductive diaphragm is sandwiched between an array of magnets to create a planar driver which can take be either round or square.

Do electrostatic headphones sound better?

Even at 100 dB SPL, these electrostatic headphones have only about 0.1% distortion down to 20 Hz! This lack of distortion is only one of many reasons why electrostatics sound so much better than ordinary transducers.

What is an electrostatic driver?

Electrostatic drivers have an extremely thin membrane sandwiched between two electrified plates. Weighing next to nothing and suspended within an electrostatic field, this diaphragm moves effortlessly to create the sound waves we hear.

Why are planar magnetic headphones better?

So in summary, headphones with planar magnetic transducers often sound tighter, more controlled, and have better extension capabilities with less distortion for bass than dynamic drivers.

Why are planar headphones so expensive?

The thing that makes planar cans so expensive is, you guessed it, their signature magnetic field. Dynamic headphones, the kind you probably own, send an audio signal through a coiled wire.

What is planar magnetic headphone?

A planar magnetic headphone or driver uses a magnetic field around a conductor with electrical current flowing through it to move the diaphragm that has very thin and flat electrical conductors in it.

Are magnetic headphones safe?

Although the magnets within headphones are extremely unlikely to cause any noticeable effects on our physiology due to their magnetic fields, headphones and earbuds do pose a threat to our health. This has to do with our sense of hearing and the potential damage high sound pressure levels may cause.