Audio Systems: Headphone, audio transducers, reading reviews

Question
Dear Mr Cleggsan

I just bought an MP3 player and am thinking of buying a good head/earphone to go with the player.

I see that each of the head/earphones I look at has the following specs:
a. frequency range e.g 20hz - 20,000 hz
b. sensitivity e.g 108dB
c. impedance e.g 32 ohms

My question is how each of the above spec affect the sound that comes out from the head/earphone. I would like to have a head/earphone that produce powerful bass with clear treble. What kind of spec should I be looking for?

Thank you for your time.

Regards
Dell

Answer
The sound quality of audio transducers such as loudspeakers and headphones is very subjective and there is no standard which has been adopted by manufacturers which allow you to know what kind of sound you are going to get.

The ONLY way to know whether you will get the sound you want is to audition the products you are interested in.  You can get some idea by reading reviews written by others, but their hearing may be different from yours.

The sensitivity figure IS an importantn specification because it tells you how much sound pressure level you will get with a given power input.  108 db is very good and will provide a big output for little electrical power input.  Anything over 100db is very sensitive.

Does this help?  Let me know if you need more.

Cleggsan