Headphones (or head-phones in the early days of telephony and radio) are a pair of small listening devices that are designed to be worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are
electroacoustic transducers, which convert an
electrical signal to a corresponding
sound in the user's ear. Headphones are designed to allow a single user to listen to an audio source privately, in contrast to a
loudspeaker, which emits sound into the open air, for anyone nearby to hear. Headphones are also known as
earspeakers, earphones or,
colloquially,
cans. Circumaural and supra-aural headphones use a band over the top of the head to hold the speakers in place. The other type, known as
earbuds or
earphones consist of individual units that plug into the user's ear canal. In the context of
telecommunication, a
headset is a combination of headphone and
microphone. Headphones either connect directly to a signal source such as an audio
amplifier,
radio,
CD player,
portable media player,
mobile phone,
video game consoles,
electronic musical instrument, or use
wireless technology such as
bluetooth or
FM radio. Early headphones were first used by radio pioneers (crystal sets) and also by radio telephone and telegraph operators allowing a better audio reception without disturbing others around. Initially the audio quality was mediocre and a step forward was the invention of high fidelity headphones.