If You're Looking for the World's Best Headphones, You've Come to the Right Place!
We believe the headphones on this page represent many of the world's best dynamic headphones. Historically, the best headphones have been open designs, but lately some incredibly good closed-back headphones have appeared that rival open-back sound quality. All these cans are good enough to warrant an excellent headphone amplifier.
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Best Headphones $800 And Up
To our ears (and our Test Lab), the current king of open headphones is the Sennheiser HD800, an articulate, and marvelously engineered headphone with spectacular imaging. Though some may sense them as a tad analytical, this is the reference by which all other dynamic headphones will be measure for a long time to come. Though slightly less convincing than the HD 800, the imaging on the Beyer Tesla T1 is terrific, and with its lusher sound, many will find them a more "fun" headphone delivering rapturous listening sessions. The closed-back Ultrasone Edition 8 and Edition 8 Palladium are designed to be the worlds best portable full-sized headphone and largely succeeds with smooth tones, and spectacular dynamics. We don't know how Denon managed smooth and punchy at the same time, but they sure did. We don't know how Denon managed smooth and punchy at the same time, but they sure did.The Denon AH-D7000 is warm with textured, real bass extension down into the lowest octave like no other headphone we've heard before, while remaing silky smooth and fully present in the mid-ranges and up top. The Grado PS1000 does low volume listening like no other, every whisper audible even at the lowest levels with full rich lows well defined. All the headphones listed warrant the highest level of dedicated amplification--HeadRoom's Ultra Desktop Amp will deliver your music with accurate authority, punch, and finesse.
The definitive audio 'high-road' for any of these top headphones remains re-cabling to balanced drive connections for use with dedicated XLR-output headphone amp sytems, like our Balanced Ultra Desktop Amp. See our Balanced Headphones Selection Guide for more balanced headphone & amp recommendations.
Best Headphones Under $800
The Sennheiser HD650 has been considered a best headphone in this price range with its balanced and slightly mellow sound; the Sennheiser HD600 is much the same headphone (some enthusiasts prefer it) at a lower price. The Denon AH-D5000 is a little warmer and punchier sounding than the Sennheisers, with absolutely terrific bass extension. Its little brother, the Denon AH-D2000, is significantly quicker sounding than the Sennheiser or AH-D5000, and may be the most articulate of the lot; we expect these are the closed headphone of choice for media recording professionals and reference-sound afficionados. The AKG K702 is very neutral sounding but a bit strident out of the the box; however, by about 300 hours of break-in they become masterfully articulate and open-toned. We like to recommend the velour-padded Beyerdynamic DT880 for those who like airy spacious detail and a little livelier sonic presentation. All these headphones are worthy of a top HeadRoom headphone amp, such as the Micro Amp, Desktop Amp, or Ultra Desktop Amp.
