Parts of a Headphone – Headband, Earcups, Driver, Jack

All 9 parts on the diagram

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Start here: 6 main parts 6

Headband The band over the head's top. It holds the drivers in place over the ears.
Earcups The cups on each side that hold the drivers. Over-ear headphones sit round the ears; on-ear ones press on them.
Ear pad The soft cushion round the rim of the earcup. It sits against the head.
Driver The small loudspeaker inside each earcup. It turns the electrical signal into sound.
Cable The cable that carries the sound signal from the player. Wireless headphones use Bluetooth instead.
Jack The phone jack plug that goes into the audio source. Usually 3.5 mm (1/8 inch) or 6.35 mm (1/4 inch).

Inside the driver: 4 3

Diaphragm The thin, light skin at the front of the driver. It vibrates and moves the air to make sound.
Voice coil The coil of wire fixed to the diaphragm. The signal flowing through it pushes it back and forth in the magnet's field.
Magnet The permanent magnet whose field the voice coil moves in.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. Wikipedia, Headphones, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphones : two small loudspeaker drivers worn over the ears, on or around the head; circumaural headphones (round the ear) and supra-aural ones (on the ear) hold the drivers in place with a band over the head; headband and earpad design for comfort; earcups; drivers with a voice coil, a permanent magnet and a diaphragm made to vibrate by the audio current; cabled headphones have a 1/4 in or 1/8 in phone jack, and some are wireless, using Bluetooth. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-27. Own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

These are the parts of headphones on an over-ear pair, one earcup open and its driver cut through below. Start with the 6 main parts, then inside the driver.

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Outside

The headband holds an earcup over each ear, with a soft ear pad round each rim. A cable runs to a jack that plugs into the source, such as a phone, radio or amplifier; wireless pairs use Bluetooth instead.

Inside the driver

Each earcup holds a driver, a tiny loudspeaker. The signal runs through the voice coil, which moves in the magnet's field and pushes the diaphragm back and forth to make sound.

Circumaural headphones sit around the ears; supra-aural ones rest on the ears, with more pressure on them. Both use a band over the head.

Questions and answers

What is the speaker inside headphones called?

The driver. Each earcup has one: a small loudspeaker with a diaphragm, a voice coil and a magnet, which turns the electrical signal into sound.

What are the cushions on headphones called?

Ear pads, or earpads. They sit round the rim of each earcup, against the head, and their design matters a lot for comfort.

What size is a headphone jack?

Most are 3.5 mm (1/8 inch). Larger 6.35 mm (1/4 inch) jacks are used on some studio and hi-fi equipment.