Our Top Picks For Audiophile Headphones & Personal Audio Gear
Headphones provide the most precise audio resolution possible. Speakers will always deliver soundstage image and present the physical intensity of sound better BUT great audiophile headphones can deliver complete intimacy with the subtleties of a recording, resulting in a far more immersive, personal, and perfectly musically detailed experience compared to speakers. Read our reviews for the best audiophile headphones that would make even the most seriously demanding audio enthusiast smile from top brands like Sennheiser, Grado, Shure, Denon, AKG, and more.
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High-End Headphones For Audiophiles
If you're an audiophile and don't own headphones, you should at least try a pair of Grado SR60s--it'll probably be the most fun you've had with your stereo gear for under $100. Audio enthusiasts looking for iPod headphones will love the nicely priced and great sounding Etymotic HF5, and will be blown away by the Shure SE530 triple-driver in ear headphone. A compact headphone for work or travel is the Audio Technica ATH-ESW9A. These lovely, warm sounding closed headphones are elegantly finished in tonewood and glove leather. Long a favorite trifecta of high-end headphones, the laid-back Sennheiser HD650, the neutral and punchy AKG K702, and the light and airy Beyerdynamic DT880 still hold their own in price-to-performance for headphone audiophiles.
Amazing $1,000+ headphones have recently taken headphone listening to a new level of sonics, technology, and gorgeous styling. The Ultrasone Edition 8 is every bit as good looking as it sounds; we've never heard "punch" and "smooth" ever done so well together. These are currently our favorite sealed headphones around the HeadRoom office. However, the full-size DENON AH-D7000 will easily give any headphone a VERY close run for the money. In fact, many will prefer the spacious circumaural fit, lushly textural bass response, and more expansive soundstage imaging ability of the DENON design. The superb Sennheiser HD800 reigns as the best open headphone in existence. Amazingly quick accurate transients, precise tonal/timbral definition, and a vast, fully open soundstage image will make audiophiles forget they're even wearing headphones as the music comes pouring through completely pure and undiluted. With nearly the imaging of the HD 800, the slightly lusher Beyerdynamic Tesla T1 with a fuller bodied bass and midrange will thrill those looking for a more romantic listening experience.
Great Headphones Deserve Great Audio Electronics To Drive Them
Great headphones by themselves don't make for great audio; the audio chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Your average headphone jack is just that: very average. The incredible resolution potential of high-end headphone performance is only possible with similarly high-quality audio electronics delivering the musical signal. The least expensive, and probably biggest single step up you can make for computer audio is a HeadRoom Total BitHead. Simply plug it into your computer's USB port and get rid of the noise and cheap audio electronics inside your computer with the Total BitHead's superior internal DAC, while also correctly driving your headphones with a proper headphone amp.
Hardcore audiophiles looking for great stereo music listening at home or on the road will love the Portable Desktop Amp, which includes a DAC (digital-to-analog converter) so you can feed it via USB direct from your computer or via optical and coax S/PDIF digital streams from your CD player. Just feed it 'lossless' audio files in tandem with the best headphones and you'll think you've snuck your home stereo rig on the airplane.
Packing high-end electronics into the smallest possible space, the Micro Amp and Micro DAC will open lots of space on your desk for work, and will open lots of warm space inside your head filled with glorious, perfectly rendered music.
With upgraded exquisite electronics and superior connectivity, the Ultra Desktop Amp is like an audio control center and high-end big rig in a 6" x 6" space on your desk. If you can make two 6" x 6" squares of space available on either side of your computer monitor, you can have the world's best commercially available near-field speaker system with the Audiophile Desktop - you simply won't believe sound and imaging this good is possible while you work.
The pinnacle of what's currently possible on reference audiophile headphones is achieved with re-cabled [XLR connection] balanced headphones and the Ultra Desktop DAC and Balanced Ultra Desktop Amp, a transcendent listening experience at your fingertips. Learn more about Balanced Drive with our article series.
