Wireless headphones are more common now compared to wired headphones. There, however, remain a group of people that still stick to the latter for a plethora of reasons. Whether more people use wireless headphones nowadays, wired headphones will stay for those who like them more than wireless ones.
The jacks or plugs of wired headphones come in varying sizes. Headphone jack sizes differ because these headphones are used for different devices.
Most of the wired headphones with the smallest jack sizes are for computers, mobile phones, and tablets, for example. There are also headphones with bigger jack sizes for another set of audio devices.
This article will walk you through the headphone jack and its varying sizes. It will introduce you to what the headphone plug or jack is and what makes its anatomy. Then we will talk about the varying headphone jack sizes.
And finally, we will answer the nagging question about the standard headphone jack size. Read through to the end of the article to find out more about these.
What is a Headphone Jack/Plug?
Before we study what parts make the headphone jack and plug, let’s look at what they are first. The headphone jack is usually the socket in audio devices where you plug the wired headphones in. The tip of the wired headphones is the headphone plug.
You can find headphone jacks on your computer, laptop, tablet, and mobile phone. Although the latest makes and models of these can now be connected to wireless headphones by other means, they still have headphone jacks for wired headphones. These are for people who prefer wired headphones to wireless ones.
The Anatomy of a Headphone Plug/Jack
In this part of the article, let us look into the different parts of the headphone plugs and jacks.
The headphone plugs have conductors. These conductors are what connect the headphone plug to the jack. Without them, your wired headphone will not work at all. Headphone plugs can have up to five conductors. It depends on the length of the jack and what kind of headphone it is.
Headphone plugs with five conductors are called 5-conductor plugs. Some manufacturers, however, say pole instead of conductors. It follows, then, that some headphone jacks with three conductors, for example, are called 3-pole plugs.
Let us look closer at the 3-pole plugs. Every conductor of the headphone plug has a name. The longest conductor is the sleeve. The shorter middle part of the headphone plug is the ring. The last part that comes into contact first with the headphone jack is the tip.
A 3-pole plug is known as the TRS plug after its parts. The 4-conductor plugs would be TRRS and so on.
Headphone Jack Sizes
Headphone plugs come in four sizes. These are 6.35MM, 4.4MM, 3.5MM, and 2.5MM. Of the four, the 6.35MM is the thickest and biggest. The 2.5MM is the thinnest and smallest. The MM or millimeter in these sizes of headphone plugs is the diameter of every headphone plug and its conductors.
Expert Tip: The more conductors there are in a headphone plug, the better the sound quality you hear through your wired headphones. You can get better audio with the 5-pole, 6.35MM plug than the 2.5MM plug.
What is the size of a Standard Headphone Jack?
The most common headphone jack size is 3.5MM. The jacks of wired headphones, earphones, and speakers that you connect to your devices in and out of your home are of this size. If you are looking for wired headphones to connect to your computer, make sure to get the headphones with jacks that are 3.5MM.
Headphone jack sizes differ from one another. It is because they are used to connecting to different devices. The bigger and wider the headphone jack or plug size is and the more conductors it has. The more conductors it has, the better the sound quality you hear from your device.
You don’t have to purchase headphones with jack sizes bigger than 3.5MM if you are using this to listen to music on your mobile phone, tablet, or computer. Wired headphones with 3.5MM-sized headphone jacks are enough to help you connect them to the devices you use daily. You can use this kind of wired headphone to work with your devices every day.