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When I plug headphones into my Windows 10 laptop, the system asks me what I installed, and particularly, whether the headphones are "earbuds", "on-ear" or "over-ear".
I was not sure exactly what to choose (I have some old headphones and not sure if they are called "on ear" or "over ear") so I tried all three options and did not notice any difference.
What is the difference between choosing "on ear" vs. "over ear"? (and what is the difference between this and choosing "earbuds"?)
15To clear up the terminology: over-ear refers to headphones with large cups that fully enclose or surround your ears, on-ear are similar in style but have smaller cups and sit on your ear lobes instead. Some people, especially those with glasses, have problems with over-ear headphones while on-ear headphones can have more problems with audio leak due to the less head-sealed and softer nature of the design. I'd suspect that on-ear headphones might need more of a volume boost to deal with environmental sound but don't really know why windows cares hence only a comment. – Mokubai – 2019-01-07T10:19:20.790
4I wear glasses and it's on-ear headphones that cause me issues. They squish the ear over the eyeglass temple, which hurts after a while. I suppose it varies though. – Carl Kevinson – 2019-01-07T15:44:28.017
@Mokubai Small correction: on-ear headphones sit on the whole ear, not just the lobe. – wjandrea – 2019-01-07T16:08:05.230