Headphones are one of our most frequently used portable devices. A good headset not only allows you to enjoy high sound quality and listen to richer details, but also protects our hearing from those bad headphones. The factors affecting the sound quality of the earphones mainly include the speaker unit and the wire. In particular, the quality of the speaker unit directly determines the quality of the sound, so we often see the detailed description of the unit configuration of the merchant when purchasing the earphone.
For the most commonly used dynamic headphones, there are many factors that affect the quality of the speaker unit, and the diaphragm is one of the key components for the speaker unit to have good quality. The so-called diaphragm is actually a component that is sensitive to changes in the magnetic field. When the electrical signal passes through the coil, the magnetic field changes, causing the diaphragm to be deformed by force. Since the electrical signal changes rapidly, the diaphragm vibrates at high speed, and then the vibration of the diaphragm is transmitted to the air, thereby generating sound waves. In this process, the quality of the diaphragm determines the overall quality of the headset.
There are many types of diaphragms, such as paper diaphragm, wood diaphragm, plastic diaphragm, metal diaphragm, bio-diaphragm, etc. Generally, in the earphone, the design of the diaphragm is lighter in weight and better in rigidity. Well, such a diaphragm can completely convert the kinetic energy of the coil into sound. For most of the current dynamic headphones on the market, the plastic diaphragm is basically used, even those that sell for thousands of dollars often use plastic diaphragm.
The plastic diaphragm mentioned here is a general term for various polymer compounds (including: PET/PEN/PEI/PI/LCP/PEEK/PC/PPS/PAR, etc.), and the physicality of each compound is specific to each compound. The characteristics are different. What they have in common is that they are extremely plastic, easy to process, and low in cost, but they are less rigid. If you want to get better rigidity, you need to increase the thickness of the diaphragm. Such a diaphragm is easy to cause large distortion due to its small internal resistance and poor rigidity, and it is difficult to restore the original sound. However, due to cost advantages, most headphones on the market use plastic diaphragms.
Plastic diaphragm authors have received plastic diaphragms of four different materials in the past two days, namely polyarylate (PAR) diaphragm, polyethylene diformate (PEN) diaphragm, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Membrane and polyetherimide (PEI) diaphragms, all of which are commonly used plastic earphone diaphragm materials. Like the speaker speakers, in order to increase the rigidity of the bass, there is a spiral groove on the diaphragm. This design has also been used on the woofer of the speaker. The plastic diaphragm is very thin and therefore easy to drive.
Whether in headphones or speakers, the ideal vibration state of the diaphragm is that the diaphragm should be activated immediately when the voice coil is activated. When the voice coil does not have audio current flowing through it, the diaphragm should stop immediately.
The rigidity of the plastic diaphragm is poor. However, compared with other diaphragm materials, the rigidity of the plastic diaphragm is relatively poor. The weak rigidity of the plastic material causes high-speed micro-motion (when working in high frequency range), the kinetic energy emitted by the voice coil cannot be It is completely and consistently transmitted to the entire diaphragm. Although it has good damping, it is impossible to make perfect piston motion, so the distortion rate is relatively improved. In the sense of hearing, there will be obvious problems of poor resolution and lack of dynamics. The intermediate frequency to the intermediate frequency is also prone to sluggishness and poor connection.
Next, let's talk about the bio-diaphragm that everyone is not familiar with. The name of the bio-diaphragm sounds a bit mysterious. It is a kind of bacterial cellulose, which is a metabolite of acetic acid bacteria. This fiber is a kind of nano-scale fiber. The film after drying can have a much higher rigidity than the general synthetic fiber, and the diaphragm can have good high frequency extension and resolution. Moreover, the vibration conduction speed of this material is extremely high, and it has a good effect for reducing high frequency distortion.
Of course, the bio-diaphragm is also a general concept. Wool diaphragms, silk diaphragms, paper diaphragms, etc. all belong to bio-diaphragms, because they are made of natural bio-fibers, but differ in performance. . I have heard wool diaphragm headphones with high frequency extension and good resolution, but the high frequency can still hear the distortion. However, this type of diaphragm has a great advantage in that it is light in weight and tough, and the headphones made are generally very good.
The carbon fiber mycelium membrane carbon fiber mycelium diaphragm is characterized by good rigidity, large internal resistance, small distortion, high resolution, and delicate and soft sound, which can realize the real sound effect in the game. Not only can it handle small musical details, but it can also restore the various sounds that are simultaneously sounded in the music.
Since the main function of the diaphragm is vibration, one that affects the dynamic behavior of the vibration is elasticity, and the other is inertia. The diaphragm with sufficient rigidity and the linear elastic diaphragm must have better vibration dynamics, which can restore/play back the sound signal reasonably and its audio performance will be balanced. The light weight of the diaphragm must be relatively small, so the clarity/details of the sound will perform very well. The diaphragm designed with biomaterials is lighter, and the light diaphragm is beneficial to the improvement of sharpness and the reduction of high frequency bands, and the sound performance will be better.
Written at the end:
Today we mainly talk about the plastic diaphragm and bio-diaphragm, which may be boring, but it is actually very simple. The materials and design of the diaphragm are mostly beneficial. The publicity of the business is also to avoid weaknesses. It's really hard to say. As a consumer, we certainly can't believe it. The most effective way is to listen to more contrasts and to compare more. I didn't make a joke with everyone. Only by listening and comparing, can you find what is really good, and which headphones are really suitable for you.
Kunshan SVL Electric Co.,Ltd , https://www.svlelectric.com