In-Ear Monitors (IEMs), is a type of headphone designed to be partially inserted into a user’s ear canal by using form-fitting tips often made by a range materials such as rubber, soft plastic, silicon, and more. It’s also common to purchase custom molded tips to fit your ear canal. This typically offers the best results in comfort and noise isolation.

A Planar Magnetic driver, has coined a few other terms such as “orthodynamic” or “Isodynamic”, all of which mean the same thing (in regards to headphones). They can be described as the child of a dynamic and electrostatic driver, sort of… The best of both worlds, at least.

A dynamic driver, sometimes referred to as a “moving coil” driver is the most common driver found in headphones. It is the same technology found in speakers around your home, but on a much smaller scale. This type of driver consists of alternating magnetic fields powered by a tiny wire coil (or a “voice coil”). As the current changes based on the sound playback, the coil reacts with the magnetic field and the lightweight diaphragm rapidly compresses and decompresses the air by pulling the diaphragm in and out from the ring within the driver to create the sound you hear.

Headphones are essentially a set of tiny speakers that sit in, on or around your ears and like all speakers, they have drivers. Everyone can agree that not all headphones are the same or created equally. But besides the superficial differences and the various features you may be offered such as noise cancelling and wireless capabilities, there are other more subtle differences that can make a huge difference. That subtle difference is determined by the type of driver used in the headphones.