A good pair of headphones is essential for those who edit, create, or love music in general.
However, when you are met with the amount of options most stores offer nowadays, both online and physical, you might get overwhelmed.
The first choice you are met with is the dilemma between circumaural vs supra aural headphones.
We’re going to explain both types, the differences, and the ultimate guide to which ones you need, according to your preferences. We’re hoping to answer all of your questions in today’s post, so let’s start right away!
Circumaural vs Supra Aural – The Showdown
The Design
What does circumaural mean?
Circumaural headphones are made to surround your ears fully, and the padding is covering a part of your skin besides the ears as well.
This means that you will experience more warmth and comfort, but some people do not like this.
Supra aural headphones will sit on your ears.
They will not cover the sides of your ears, and some people find them a little irritating as they can be uncomfortable if you have larger ears or if you have a larger head.
The Price
Talking about the price of individual headphones, whether they are circumaural or supraural, doesn’t make much sense before we know the rest of the specifications.
Price points heavily depend on the quality of the build, the brand, etc. You can buy both cheap and pricey circumaural headphones, and the same goes for supra aural ones.
The Comfort
Think about all of your previous experiences with headphones and rely on that, as comfort is something that depends a lot on the things you usually enjoy.
People are generally more comfortable with circumaural headphones during Autumn and Winter, as they keep them warm and cozy.
Comfort is dictated by the thickness and the quality of the padding itself, so make sure that you check whether you like velvet, faux leather, or something third.
It would be nice to try some models out before you settle for a choice.
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The Portability
Generally speaking, the smaller something is, the more portable it is.
This would give supra aural headphones a head start and make them a little bit lighter and more comfortable to carry in a purse or a bag.
So, to conclude, in the circumaural vs supra aural discussion, portability is in favor of supra aural models.
The Isolation
If you want to use your headphones in crowded areas or somewhere where a lot of people make noise and murmur, you might wish to headphones that isolate the sounds around you.
Circumaural headphones entirely surround your ears, and they make sure that the padding cancels out anything that you might be hearing.
The bigger and thicker the padding is, the more isolation you get.
The Leakage
However, we can sometimes have the opposite problem. The songs and the audio we’re listening to can be heard on the outside, which means that your headphones are leaking.
This is a common problem with circumaural headphones, but also with supra aural ones, so it just depends on the model itself.
The Quality
As for the sound quality, you can expect a better bass and more echo from circumaural headphones in general.
Then again, the price tag and the brand dictate the overall quality of your headphones, which means that you’re getting the worth that you’re paying for.
Circumaural vs Supra Aural Headphones – Which One To Get?
We always advise you to make an informed decision, which is why we are presenting you with all of the steps you should take to make the right choice.
Take your own decisions and preferences and try to follow this algorithm.
Step 1 – What You Need
Make a list of everything you want in your headphones, and think about preferences and your ideas of the product.
Think about priorities and which things are a must, which things are optional. When you have the list, stop bothering with everything that is not essential.
Step 2 – Find It
Now you can search online and start to compare products to your list of features.
Try to focus on the price point as well, and make sure you carefully examine the last few contestants that make it to the final round.
Our guide also has some great headphone options that tick all the boxes.
Final Thoughts
To conclude our circumaural vs supra aural discussion, we want to mention that everyone has different experiences, which is why we have different choices as well.
We’re hoping that we answered all of your questions and provided you with the right information.
