Headphones are one of the most important accessories connected to the computer. They give us not only the ability to listen to music or watch a video without distracting others, but also communicate with friends and family using programs such as Skype or Viber. In addition, it is much more comfortable to play video games with headphones, because they allow you to fully immerse yourself in what is happening on the screen.
But how to connect the headphones and understand their device? What is the name of the connector with which they are connected? You will learn about all this in this article.
What are the headphone jacks called
The headphone jack is “officially” called TRS. This is an English abbreviation for the words tip, ring and sleeve, which translates as tip, ring and sleeve, respectively.
But at present, and especially in ordinary everyday life, this name is used quite rarely. In most cases, you can hear a name like "jack". This is the translation of the word "nest" in English. A simple and fast-catching word appealed to many owners of headphones, so we will call it that way.
Jack is precisely the connector on the device itself, where the accessory is connected, but the plug, which sometimes also does not translate into Russian, is called the “plug” in English. But very often you can hear about several jacks at once, namely: just a jack and a mini-jack. What is the difference?
A “simple” jack is a 6.3 mm diameter jack. It is used in a professional environment - when connecting technically powerful headphones, microphones, guitars or amplifiers for it. That is, this entry will be familiar to any musician.
The mini-jack is almost the same, but the diameter of the connector is only 3.5 millimeters. Any citizen had to deal with him, one way or another - this is a connector for a headset, simple headphones for a computer, player and other similar devices.
IMPORTANT! Sometimes microjack is also used in phones - this connector is very small - 2.5 millimeters, but it is quite rare.
How to connect headphones
There is nothing complicated in connecting the headphones to the computer, but those who have never done this before may experience some difficulties. Especially if this is a device that also has a microphone, due to which it has two colored plugs at once.
Remember - the red plug is always responsible for the correct operation of the microphone. It is unlikely to mix up and insert it into the green connector, but there are situations when you need to connect only headphones and then you should understand that you need to insert a green plug.
In addition, sometimes there are no large headphones with you, so the headset will help out - in this case, the plug must also be inserted into the green connector. But in the new laptop models sometimes there are also combined jacks where you can insert a headset equipped with a microphone. They have the same round shape, and next to them there is a special icon indicating that this is a slot for a combined device.
After you have connected the accessory, adjust the volume and you can start using the headphones.
Features of connecting USB headphones
There are also devices that connect via the USB port. This is very convenient, since the vast majority of modern household appliances are equipped with such a socket - this is due to the proliferation of flash drives with which you can store and transmit information. Flash drives are inserted through the same port, so it is available not only on the oldest computers and laptops, but also on many tablets, televisions, and even phones.
On computers and laptops, there are often several such connectors at once, which facilitates the use of the device - you can connect special headphones, a USB flash drive, and, for example, a computer mouse.
USB headphones have their own characteristics, which you should definitely pay attention to when choosing:
- They have a built-in amplifier, which allows for a more powerful and clear sound. That is why the use of such an accessory will be very useful in combination with a phone or tablet, which in most cases provide not too intense sound.
- Another built-in element is its own sound card. Besides the fact that it allows you to listen to music or other sound tracks in better quality, such a card may be the only way to listen to something if the card on the phone or other device breaks.
- An acoustic connector is not required for their use.
- It is possible to play sound in parallel. This will enable the music in the headphones, and the sounds of notifications or calls, which often distract from enjoying your favorite song, will be played using the speaker.
Now you know how to correctly name the various headphone jacks, how they differ from each other, and also about the features of connecting this accessory to a computer. In addition, you can purchase an accessory that connects via USB, which has its significant advantages over other models. After studying this information, you can purchase exactly the device that is ideal for you.
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