Latency in Headphones

Have you ever noticed a delay between hitting play on your music and the start of that music in your wireless headphones? That's called latency, and though it's not always noticeable, it can be really obnoxious in certain situations. Long considered the bane of gamers and mobile movie watchers, latency has been around since the invention of wireless headphones. Read on to find out about what latency is, how it relates to your headphones, and how to avoid it.

What is Headphone Latency?

Latency, in general, refers to the delay between an input and a response to that input. You'll often see the term used in reference to network delays and in gaming. In relation to headphones, latency refers to how long it takes between pressing play on your tunes or a video and hearing audio from your headphones. Though this delay is often negligible if you're just listening to music, it becomes more tiresome when you're trying to watch video content with wireless headphones. Sometimes the delay can be so apparent that it may make the whole video look desynced.

What are Low Latency Bluetooth Headphones?

Low latency Bluetooth headphones are exactly as they seem: They have less latency trouble than your average wireless headphones, allowing them to have less of a delay. The trouble is, you can only really get so far in terms of latency on Bluetooth headphones. There are some specialty wireless headphones that can mitigate latency to a point that it is almost unnoticeable, but there will always be at least a small delay when using Bluetooth. There are some options that can get around this delay by not utilizing Bluetooth at all.

Low latency wireless headphones that don't use Bluetooth typically come with an extra USB piece that wirelessly connects to your headphones and makes them nearly latency-free. This USB dongle is designed to fit into a USB port on your desktop computer, laptop, or anything else with an available USB port. Once it's plugged in and your headphones are turned on, the dongle will connect to the headphones, granting them zero latency connection without a Bluetooth connection. Though the need for a USB port means you can't use these kinds of low latency headphones with your phone, you will have access to top-quality audio on your computer.

As mentioned above, low latency headphones are essential for gaming. Any audio delay may result in you losing your immersion in your singleplayer game, or a loss in your competitive game. That's why wired headphones, and more recently low-latency wireless headphones, are commonly used by gamers. The number one feature any wireless gaming headset can offer is low latency. Without it, any other feature they may be packing is irrelevant. Many modern wireless gaming headsets make use of USB dongles to ensure that your audio is latency-free so you can stay at the top of your game.

Latency is most likely going to be something you're going to have to deal with if you're big on wireless audio, but that doesn't mean you can't mitigate it! We hope this blog has helped you learn the ins and outs of latency in your headphones. If you're currently in the market for a new pair of headphones, check out our headphone buying guide.