The rise of portable music players has seen a dramatic increase in the number of headphones available to market. Paul Skelton looks at the opportunities these ‘cash and carry’ products are offering custom installers.

Back in the 1980s, wearing headphones (especially around your neck) was the epitome of cool. It meant you had a portable cassette player. Most likely a Sony Walkman. And it really was a case of ‘the bigger, the better’.

Then, in 2001, Apple released the iPod. Headphones got smaller. And white.

Overnight, it seemed, everybody was walking around with that now famous easy. (Often they were the ones walking out into traffic, blissfully unaware of their surroundings. Now they’re soccer mums out on a mid-afternoon jog.)

But headphone technology extends far beyond Apple’s ear buds; and some brands have even entered social lexicon – Sennheiser, Bose, Sony, Beats by Dr Dre and Sol Republic to name just a few.

The question is, though, can an integrator make money from the sale of headphones? And, if you did choose to sell them, what do you need to know about the technology to achieve the best results for your clients?

CAN’T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD

The two key requirements for audio components, and in turn headphones, are power consumption and audio quality.

So, what is a typical headphone’s power level?

According to a white paper issued by Digital Semiconductor, “The amount of power required to produce a specific sound pressure at the ear depends on the efficiency of the headphones, which is usually between 95dB SPL/mW and 120dB SPL/mW.

“Typical in-ear headphones have an efficiency of around 106dB SPL/ mW. This means that 1mW of electrical power delivered to the headphone will produce 106dB SPL. In this scenario only 0.25mW would be required to produce a loud sound (100dB SPL) and just 0.25 W to produce a moderate sound (70dB SPL).

“Audio quality is the second important consideration. Consumers expect top quality audio; any audible hiss due to a high level of noise is not acceptable. To quantify the audio performance in headphones, we need measure the output noise again at typical headphone volume settings.

“The volume setting a user selects will depend on the crest factor of the audio content. The crest factor is the ratio of the peak signal level to the average signal level. This tends to vary from 20dB for classical music to 5dB for highly compressed modern music. To achieve a signal level of 89mV RMS, when listening to music with a crest factor of 10dB, the volume control needs to be set such that the peak signal level will be 0.28V (10dB higher). For a typical portable audio volume control this corresponds to a volume setting of -14dB.

“In this scenario, the end user will set the volume control to around -14dB when listening at an average signal level of 89mV RMS to music with a crest factor of 10dB.”

DON’T TURN A DEAF EAR

As a predominantly consumer product, the opportunity presented by headphones isn’t as obvious as other integrated products.

“When you consider a typical home installation may include a dedicated media room, multiple in-wall/ceiling speakers and projector/screen installation, it can be easy to overlook headphones,” Sennheiser Australia marketing manager Wayne Farran says.

Convoy International brand manager John Martin agrees.

Convoy International is the Australian distributor of Aerial7, B&W, Harman Kardon, Monster and Sol Republic headphones.

“From our perspective, headphones really are a mass market product, but there is certainly an audiophile customer base out there that the top end of the market appeals to.

“It’s just a matter of matching your client’s needs to the headphones.”

Wayne says that offering your client the ability to listen to their audio system without affecting their family members or neighbours at the time of quoting and/or installation ensures that the installer retains the ability to keep the sale within his fees and charges.

“When you consider that a typical family home may consist of mum, dad and several children at different ages, volume levels may become an issue during different times of the day. Of an evening, different family members may want to go to bed without being subjected to high volume levels coming out of the media room. It could even be the case that during the day, different people may want to watch TV, listen to the radio or be involved in other activities in different parts of the house without being disturbed by the audio coming from the media area,” Wayne says.

“It may also be the case that the installation may be in an apartment; volume levels may be very important right from the start.

“If the room is fitted with a cordless headphone system using a single transmitter with multiple receivers (headsets), people in the room will be able to listen to movies and experience great audio at their preferred volume level without disturbing others.”

Of course, there are a few points worth considering to ensure optimal audio quality, particularly if you’re working with cordless headphones.

“It’s important to select a cordless headphone that has the capability to transmit to additional headsets; this ensures that more than one person can enjoy the experience when using the headphone system.

“Further, when it comes to the overall quality of the headset by way of fit and feel, it’s important to remember that the viewer may be wearing it for two or three hours at a time, so comfort is a must.”

John adds, “A very low-grade audio signal will be torn apart by a good pair of headphones; it will be close to unlistenable. And the further you go up in price and quality, the more likely you are to find headphones that are designed to reproduce sound accurately, so the source becomes increasingly important.

“There is also a strong sense of fashion around headphones, which is how the Beats by Dr Dre brand began somewhat of a phenomenon.”

Perhaps the biggest issue facing installers, though, is trying to make money from a product that is readily available in all electronics stores, mass retailers and online.

“Parity pricing is crucial these days,” John says.

“This has meant that everybody is making a little bit less money on headphones as they once did, as they have had to trim their prices to meet the market.

“Most of them, if not all, have no restrictions in terms of voltages, etc, and they are lightweight and easily transportable. This means there is a trade-off in margin to keep them in line with what they are available for around the world.”

That said, John says headphones can still attract a 30-35 point margin. Overall, technology has come a long way since the Sony Walkman. Installers just need to get their heads around it.