FAQ

About Us
Headsonic is a small, independent specialist audio retailer on Brisbane’s south side. Created in 2004 as an offshoot of the long-standing Voiceworx Academy, Headsonic sought to provide the music artists that walk through the doors with sound quality at home and on the run that would rival the sound quality produced in the studio, letting the artists focus on the composition of their works without worrying about the changing dynamics of sound. The venture was successful, and in late 2005 we opened our doors to the general public through our first site. Between then and now Headsonic slowly grew, with word-of-mouth from satisfied customers allowing us to continue to expand and reinvest our profits in providing our customers with a more efficient, more streamlined shopping experience.

We are a registered Australian business with an Australian Business Number (an ABN), a Trademark on our name and a real physical office from which we conduct business (however we are on the road a lot of the time, so meetings are by appointment only). Although we are comparatively young by professional audio standards (3 years seems like a long time to us!) we do plan on being around for a long time to come.
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Why Headphones?
As any music producer will be quick to say, Headphones offer the greatest value-for-money sound reproduction of any speaker system. A $500 pair of headphones, driven properly, will provide sound with a clarity and precision better than a $3000 speaker system. This value for money isn’t just had at the top of the range either. We’ve heard $50 headphones outdo $300 speaker systems, and $200 pairs outdo a THX certified home theatre system, not just on paper, but from the perspective and personal preference of the listener.

Secondly, with Australia being Australia, speakers are much more expensive here than in the rest of the world, due to the heavy freight costs and low population density. Shipping costs on a good set of speakers from Europe to Perth can cost just as much as the speakers themselves, making the case for Headphones even more compelling. We’ve included the shipping cost in the price for every single pair we sell, making sure what you see on the listing is the bottom line on your bill. We promise you that there will be no extra charges, no hidden taxes, and no fancy footwork.
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Why Headsonic?
Our goal is to make sure you, as a customer, get the best value for money from your purchase. We do this by offering you, the customer, the lowest possible price our products that can be safely offered by an Australian store. We promise that if your product breaks, you will deal directly with us and our Brisbane office, not with a store based in the United States, Norway or Macau. Thus, the only shipping cost to return a faulty product will be from you to Brisbane, an affordable journey by any means.
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But I haven’t heard of any of these brands!
Relax. The lines we sell are the same lines found in studios world over. If you’re not convinced, just ask any recording engineer or music producer about Sennheiser, Audio-Technica or Beyerdynamic. These brands don’t waste customer money on expensive advertising or grandiose display centres. Instead, they compete by providing the best products they can at the price points given.

Still not convinced? Each one of these manufacturers has long and prestigious histories, and the vast majority of the product lines of each are still handmade in or near their country of origin. (Most Beyerdynamic and premium Sennheiser headphones are still handmade in Germany, and all Audio-Technica products have always been made in Japan.) We keep a close watch on the quality of products coming through our doors. Warranty replacements are expensive for us, and we’ve found the best way to minimise this cost is to only sell products that work, and keep working.
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What are all these types of Headphones?
There are three different ways to make a speaker sit near your ears (in-ear, supra-aural and circum-aural), and there are two different types of designs that the manufacturer can use to build the housing for circum-aural headphones. As such, there are a total of 4 possible designs of headphone.

A headphone can either sit directly inside your ear (called in-ear or earbuds), press on your ear (supra-aural) or it can surround your ear, pressing on the side of your head (circum-aural). The different way a headphone sits will dictate both the comfort level of the headphone and the sound characteristics. For example, an earbud headphone will seldom have large levels of bass, as the driver is comparatively small compared to other headphones.

A supra-aural earphone sits directly on the ear, and has a similar distance from the ear canal as the earbud headphones. However, the speaker in a supra-aural headphone can be a lot larger, as it is not constrained by the size of your ear canal. As such, these tend to have stronger bass than an earbud headphone, but they tend to block off less outside noise, as your ear canal is not being closed off by the headphone.

The third way a speaker can be attached to your ear is for the headphone to be circum-aural, where the headphone completely surrounds the ear, pressing on the side of the head and not touching the ear itself. This is what most people associate with the word ‘headphones’, and these headphones range from between a size only slightly bigger than the ear itself (like the Sennheiser HD201’s) to a size of about twice the width of the ear (like the Audio Technica ‘A’ Model Closed Headphones, where the housing is 11cm in diameter). As you might expect, circum-aural headphones are larger and more comfortable than other types of headphone, but also tend to be more expensive. However, it isn’t just as simple as that.

To make matters more confusing, there are two possible ways of making circum-aural headphones. Firstly, there is the ‘closed’ method, where surrounding ambient noise is prevented from entering your ear by the ‘closing-off’ of the case of the headphone. Noise from inside the Headphone is prevented from getting out, and noise from outside is prevented from getting in. Some of our closed headphones have specifications detailing exactly how much noise will come in from the surroundings. The advantage to this type of headphone is that your coworkers/parents/fellow passengers will hear much less of what you’re listening to, and you’ll hear much less from them. A second advantage is the strengthened bass that comes from being in a closed environment compared to an open one. It is a genuine struggle for headphones with speakers of about 5cm in diameter to compete with freestanding speakers of larger sizes. Headphones simply cannot move the same volume of air as a standard speaker can, to say nothing of a subwoofer. A closed headphone suffers less from this than an open headphone. Because closed designs are capable of ‘reflecting’ the sound back into the ear, the same speaker will have a stronger bass in a closed design than an open one.

The disadvantage of closed speakers is the hit in sound quality that comes with having a closed headphone. To demonstrate the effect of a closed headphone, take a glass and put it around your ear. You’ll hear the characteristic echo that comes from sound reverberating in such a small environment. A closed headphone simply will not have the same level of clarity and precision to the sound as a similarly priced open headphone, even though the speaker may be just as good (perhaps even identical). Sound travels from a source in all directions in the natural world, and playing music back is basically an attempt to emulate the way the sound was originally created. As such, if the sound is allowed to travel through free space, as it originally did, then it will be more accurate to the original.

This leads us to the final type of headphone, the open circum-aural headphone. To a large extent, most of the world’s best headphones are open circum-aural headphones. This is because most of the world’s best headphones are made for use in studios and in personal spaces where the user is completely occupied with the listening, free from outside noise or other constraints. As such, open headphones are the headphones of choice for most types of music, and these are the type of headphones that the studios used to hear the sound when originally recording. The sound is free to travel in and out of these headphones, and as a consequence everyone around you can hear what you’re listening to. Secondly, the bass response in these headphones is often not as strong as that found in closed or supra-aural headphones.
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Which type is right for me?
This depends largely on what you are doing and how you are doing it. We’ve split our catalogue into three general types: Portable, Closed and Open. Portable headphones include both in-ear and supra-aural headphones, and are basically any headphones of a size which most people would be comfortable travelling with. If you’re happy to get some serious Princess Leia action happening, then as a traveller feel free to have a look at our closed headphones as well. We believe open headphones simply let too much noise in, and let too much noise out, to be used practically in travelling.

If you’re a music lover at work, then you may want to check out our closed section. If you know for sure that your headphone will never be used anywhere but in serene comfort, then the open section is where you’ll want to look.

If you’re a dedicated basshead, gamer or action movie fan, then you may prefer the sound of closed headphones over that of open headphones. Closed headphones have louder, boomier bass and a meatier sound than open headphones, and in a competitive gaming environment you don’t want an opponent next to you overhearing your actions.

Still not sure? Not a problem. Either send us an email or give us a call and we’ll be too happy to have a chat and recommend you a product.
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How loud should my headphones be?
As a general rule of thumb, headphones should never be so loud that you can no longer hear your footsteps. If you have particularly loud footsteps or clacking heels, then consider a volume level below this. Even 70dB over a prolonged period is enough to cause damage. Your hearing is a precious thing, and if you ever have ringing in your ears in a silent room after using a headphone, turn the sound down immediately. A ringing ear is a sign of mild but irreparable damage. Your ear can not heal, and instead of the ringing going away, your brain simply compensates for it. Tinnitus is the same thing, but the ringing has gotten so loud that the brain is unable to compensate. This is a terrible condition, and we have encountered many in the music industry who are affected, and have had to retire as a result. There is currently no cure, so preserve your ears so you can continue to enjoy music for many years to come.
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How long will new headphones last?
The speaker in a quality pair of headphones should last anywhere between 5 and 10 years. We’ve heard models from the early 80’s that still sound reasonable, but as a general rule of thumb the sound will start to deteriorate after this 10 year period. Dynamic speaker drivers are still largely made from paper, as paper still offers a better sound than other comparable materials. However, the downside of paper speakers (otherwise known as drivers) is that Headphones are still susceptible to the same problems that paper has. Of course, the speakers are coated with protective chemicals, but direct exposure to sunlight over long periods or excessive humidity will send your headphones to an early grave.
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How can I pay for my order?
We accept Paypal through our online store, and we currently accept Direct Bank Deposit payments over the phone or through email. The Paypal system currently accepts both Visa and Mastercard cards, and you are not charged any extra fees for using this method. The price that you see on the product information page is what you will be billed, nothing more and nothing less. If you do wish to purchase a product via bank deposit, just send us an email and we’ll put your order through from there.
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Sounds great! But are internet sales safe?
If you’re not familiar with Paypal, it is a method of paying businesses without ever giving them your direct financial details. We will never receive your credit card information, and as such our system is completely safe. If our website was to ever be compromised, there is no risk of any hackers ever getting access to any financial details, as we simply don’t know them and could not access them, even if we tried.

Even so, our site is protected with the latest in security certificate technology, and when your payment is processed and your details are entered you are put through a system that protects your details from any prying eyes on the line, be they from somebody infiltrating your network or your internet service provider. Only you and Headsonic know your name and shipping details, and only you and Paypal know your billing details.
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How will my product be shipped?
All products ship from Brisbane via Couriers Please, and every order is tracked and insured. Brisbane customers should allow 2 days for delivery, and greater QLD and NSW should allow 3. VIC and SA customers usually take about 4 days for delivery, and WA customers should allow 1 week.

Upon dispatch of your order, you will receive a tracking number, so that you can track your parcel in real time. If, in tracking your parcel you notice that there has been no movement for a couple of days, call Couriers Please on 1300 PLEASE, as a delivery attempt may have been made, and they are simply waiting for a confirmation before trying again. Please contact us for any other problems or issues, we will be more than happy to resolve them for you.
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Is there a chance my product will be lost in transit?
As always, no delivery system is foolproof. About 0.05% (one in 2000) shipments do go missing. However, once we verify that the order is indeed lost, we will send out another. Please be patient with us during this time, as we may need to order in an additional unit. Upon delivery, we receive a digital image of your signature, so we know you’ve received it.
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You don’t stock a product I want! Can you get it in for me?
Most of the time, we can! Be aware that there may be a wait time as long as a month (in many cases it will be less than this, you will be given a general estimate when you ask) for products that we order in from our suppliers, and we will require payment in advance.
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