The Best Headphones For Audiophiles
A great pair of headphones must provide excellent sound quality, feel comfortable on your head and ears and be easy to use. They should also have features such as noise cancellation, transparency modes or even touch controls.
Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones set the standard in this category. They are comfortable, have excellent ANC, and an impressive application to adjust audio profiles.
High-end
A high-quality pair of headphones is a must-have piece of equipment for those who love music. They can be used to bring back old favorites and bring new life into your carefully planned playlists. They can be used to listen to podcasts, play games and even make calls.
Buying high-end headphones is a significant investment but you can enjoy top sound quality and features for the price of a moderate one. Be sure to consider the build quality of the headphones and the reputation of their manufacturer when choosing a pair. Brands with a good reputation like Sony and Bowers & Wilkins offer durable models that are suitable for daily use. They are also known for their comprehensive warranty and customer support system.
The Focal Stellia is a closed back rival to the company's Utopia range and offers amazing technical performance at a reasonable price. It produces an even, natural sound that displays all the details of your music without over-emphasized.
Monoprice Arya planar headphones are one of the most affordable planars available. It has a spacious, well-balanced soundstage that is ideal for listening to music while on the move. It is also simple to personalize the sound with the help of a variety of highly-engineered presets.
These Sony headphones are the best options if you're looking for a pair. They provide excellent quality of sound and noise cancellation, making them perfect for long journeys. They are also comfortable and come with an elegant design. They are available in a broad range of colours and designs, so you'll choose the right pair for your style. You can also pick from a range of accessories to enhance the audio experience. The Sony MDRZX110A offers many features that are perfect for audiophiles.
Mid-range
There are a lot of choices in the mid-range of audiophiles, and choosing the best set can transform your music listening experience. The best headphones at this price point are generally open-back, and offer a huge soundstage with crystalline, floating highs and smooth, natural mids. The acoustics are generally excellent and they often pick up the finest detail and subtleties in recordings. The Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 is among the most impressive headphones in this class and has significant improvements over the first-generation model. It's still quite heavy at 307 grams, but it's more comfortable, and it has improved noise-canceling and voice-calling performance. It's more stylish with its sleek style and extravagant materials.
Another alternative is the Grado Prestige Series SR225x which are a great choice for those who are looking for a high-quality pair of open-back headphones that won't cost an arm and leg. This is a hand-built, premium headphone that delivers outstanding audio quality for the price. It's not as high-quality as the Prestige headphones that cost more, but for an open-back set of headphones, it's a great value.
The Focal Stellia headphones are an excellent pair of mid-priced headphones. It's a closed-back competitor to the company's flagship Utopia headphones and is stunning to take a look at. It's got a stunning soundstage and a high-quality, transparent reproduction. It's an excellent headphone for listening to music and podcasts, and it comes with an excellent build quality that includes real wooden earcups. It's also one of the best headphones for those who prefer to listen to their music on the go. It's available in a wide variety of colors and features an amazing design that will entice the audiophile in you.
Low-end
If you're looking for headphones that are priced at a reasonable price, you need to prioritise the features you'd like and are able to live without. There are a variety of options in the lower end of price that offer great audio quality and comfort.
Sony's MDR7506s are a great example of how you can make your money go further in this particular category. These dynamically wired cans utilize the neodymium driver and neodymium-magnets to provide the balanced sound you'd expect from a premium pair. They also include DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine), which upscales low-res digital music files into near-high-res quality. You can control your music with voice via Google Assistant or Siri, as well as an IPX4 rating to protect your from showers.
The HiFiMan E11BTs are another great choice in this price range. These compact wireless headphones are more powerful than their cheaper rivals due to a sturdy, all-aluminum build. The neckband is comfortable and fits around your head. They're great for a quick trip to the bar or a daily exercise routine.
These are among the best headphones you can buy for under PS200. They're an upcoming What Hi-Fi? Award winner and provide excellent sound quality for the money. The sound is rich and wide, which isn't something you can get with headphones this cheap.
They also utilize a high-quality Bluetooth codec, which is aptX HD and LDAC compatible. Unfortunately, they do not support the more powerful AAC codec, which is used by a majority of iOS devices. That means that iPhone users may experience some latency when using these headphones in conjunction with their phones. Android users will not experience any latency issues with these headphones.
Comfort
Comfort is essential for long listening sessions. The majority of over-ear headphones come with padded ear cups, and headbands that sit comfortably on your ears. You might also want to try different eartips (supplied or available as accessories) until you find the perfect fit.
Wireless headphones are a great headphones gaming choice for many because they let you move around easily without worrying about cords that get tangled. Some models come with a noise-cancelling feature that blocks out any background noise so you can focus on your work or studying. Noise-canceling headphones are an excellent choice for commuters because they block out the sound of plane engines and train tracks while traveling to and from work.
High-end headphones often offer many features such as Bluetooth and high-resolution audio quality and noise cancellation. Some even fold up to a compact size and come with a case.
If you are looking for a pair of premium headphones, the Bose series is a good choice. Audiophiles love them due to their high-quality sound as well as their noise cancellation capabilities and comfortable design. The headband adjusts to fit most head sizes and the soft earpads ensure that your ears are well-protected without heat or pressure.
Sony WH1000XM5 is a different pair of headphones to try. They are highly rated and feature outstanding audio quality, amazing Noise Cancellation, and a comfortable ergonomics. They're wireless and come with many user-friendly features like touch sensors and smart assistant integration (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant) and automatic audio control settings due to accelerometers and proximity sensors. They're also fairly light for headphones that feature this much technology.
Noise-canceling
Noise-canceling headphones are excellent for blocking out distracting noises and helping you concentrate on your task, whether you're in a crowded city on your commute, flying in an aircraft, or in a noisy workplace with colleagues clacking their keys in the next room. They make use of active noise cancellation which uses built-in microphones to monitor the surroundings and then emit an audio wave that cancels it out.
The best headphones for noise cancellation is based on your preferences and budget. You might want to pick headphones that are lightweight, comfy and easy to operate and connect to your music player or mobile device. Other options include a built-in battery that provides hours of listening and an accessory case for traveling.
Over-the ear ANC headphones are the most effective noise-cancelling capability. Earbuds are more compact but are not as effective in blocking background noise. The Bose QC 35 II headphones are light and comfortable to wear for long durations of time. They come with an adjustable ANC, and a battery life up to 30 hours. Their design is sleek and compact with a fold-down mechanism that makes them easy to put in a bag or backpack.
Anker Soundcore Q45 headphones are an excellent alternative for those seeking ANC at a lower cost. They offer a transparent mode with customizable EQ settings and ANC that is solid. They don't block out any ambient noise and bass-heavy music might sound less dynamic however they do a great job overall for the cost.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 headphone is more expensive than the other options in this class, but it has excellent audio quality as well as an impressive noise-cancelling feature set. The headphones are comfortable to wear and fold flat into a small storage pouch. They're stylish and support the lossless LDAC Bluetooth codec for high-resolution audio streaming. The headphone app lets you alter EQ settings and choose from a variety of audio presets.