CNET editors' headphones buying guide: Accessories and adapters

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Earbuds, noise-canceling, circumaural, and wireless: there are more types of headphones than ever. Which ones are right for your ears? Read CNET's headphone buying guide for the answers.

Accessories and adapters

Headphones are often dismissed as an accessory to audio/video products, but they have a full array of accoutrements. Better models will include some of these--phono adapters or extension cables, for instance--but most of these are available separately and at minimal cost.

Adapters

EarHugger EHA-18 airline adapter

Airline plug to minijack
While some airliner seats now use standard minijack connectors, many still use an older, dual-prong design.

RCA stereo headphone adapter plug

Phono plug to minijack
This common adapter will let you use your smaller portable headphones with home AV equipment, such as AV receivers and CD/DVD players.

Belkin stereo adapter

Minijack plug to phono jack
Some high-end headphones designed for home use (such as the Grado SR125) are equipped with the larger phono plug. This adapter lets you plug them into the minijack connector found on nearly all portable devices and PCs.

Sony PC-MP1S micro miniplug adapter

2.5mm plug to minijack
Cell phones are becoming increasingly agile multimedia devices. If you want to enjoy a music or video on your smart phone, this adapter will let you plug your minijack headphones into any 2.5mm cell phone jack, such as the one found on the do-it-all Palm Treo 650. You'll enjoy your music much more on standard stereo headphones than via the monaural cell phone headset.

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Splitters

Intec headphones splitter

Want to watch a DVD with your airline seat mate or share your favorite playlist? A headphone splitter turns one jack into two.

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Extension cables

Arista 18-315 10-foot headphone extension for 3.5mm plug

If you're headphone cord is too short, you can always go longer with an extension cable. While most cables are available in set lengths, some portable extenders use a retractable design for added portability.

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In-line remotes

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Many music players utilize a small remote control with basic transport functions--play/pause and forward/reverse skip, for instance. In-line remotes are often at the end of a short extension cable and frequently include a clip for attaching to a shirt or jacket. While these remotes are almost always proprietary to the device, they usually have a standard minijack port so that they can be used with any headphones. There are also generic in-line remotes with volume and mute controls that will work with any combination of player and headphones.

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Cable wraps

Smartwrap

If your headphone cable is too long, you should consider investing in a cable wrap. This simple accessory will effectively shorten the length of your headphone cable to your ideal length.

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Headphone amplifiers

Grado RA1 (DC)

What you plug your headphones into can significantly affect their sound, and trust us: the quality of the amplifiers built into portable CD/MP3 players is generally awful. It's not their fault: the little guys have to power their electronics and their internal amplifier using a few puny volts. Even some of the better home AV receivers' headphone jacks offer highly variable sound quality.

If you find yourself listening to headphones a lot of the time and care about sound quality, you might want to consider purchasing a headphone amp. Both home and portable headphone amplifiers are available.

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Headphone connection types