Wearing Style
Wearing Style describes how a headphone or earpiece sits around, on or inside the ear.
Over-ear cups surround the outer ear; on-ear pads rest against it. In-ear monitors sit in the ear canal, usually with a sealing tip. Earbuds rest near the canal entrance. True-wireless earbuds have separate wireless earpieces, although the label alone does not establish how deeply they fit.
Wearing Style — Headphone
The style affects contact points, portability and how the headphone fits alongside glasses or other headwear. Ear and head shape, pad dimensions and tip choice also matter, so two products with the same label need not feel alike.
A seal can influence bass response and isolation. Check the actual fit rather than treating wearing style as a comfort rating or guaranteed noise reduction. The label is separate from open-back versus closed-back acoustic design and from the driver technology that produces the sound.