- Wired headphones for making music
- Wireless over-ears or earplugs for listening
- Choose earphones and headphones that your listeners are likely to want
- Older models tend to get the biggest Black Friday discounts
As a recording musician, I have strong opinions about headphones and earphones because I spend so much time using them, both as a music maker and a music fan. And that means I don’t just have one pair of headphones or earphones. I have more than your local Best Buy.
This is because different headphones and earphones excel in different areas and are useful for different things. For example, if you produce music, you want headphones that don’t flatter your sound: you want to hear mistakes. If you’re making music for others to hear, it helps if you listen with the same headphones and earphones they’ll be listening to. And because you’re also a music fan, you’ll also want headphones that make your favorite music sound great.
Finding headphones to do all the different tasks soon adds up, so I tend to make a wish list and then wait for something like Black Friday so I can get the ones I want for a little less money. These are the ones I’d recommend you keep an eye out for this Black Friday.
Must-have: AirPods (or Sony equivalent)
Apple’s AirPods (and Sony’s equivalent, such as the WF-1000XM5) are the earphones that many of your listeners will be using, so if you’re making music for a wide audience, you’ll want to check out how your own music sounds on a set of these.
Which one you choose will largely depend on budget and personal preference, but from a purely practical perspective, the AirPods 4 are far more likely to get decent Black Friday discounts than the AirPods Pro 3.
Watch out for AirPods Pro 2 deals though: now Apple’s discontinued retailers will be moving their inventory. They remain an excellent pair of everyday earphones.
For my daily listening on buses, trains and dog walks, I actually use different earphones: Bose QuietComfort 2 earphones, which I’ve had for a few years now, and which are available in even better versions now – check out the newer Bose QuietComfort Ultra earphones (2nd generation). You really can’t go wrong with Bose earphones, especially when it comes to ANC, but I think a lot more of your fans will be listening on Apple or Sony earphones.
In the studio: Beyerdynamic Pro over-ears
If some bizarre law made it illegal to own more than one pair of headphones, I’d keep my Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro over-ears.
They’re exceptionally comfortable even during very long sessions, and they deliver a sound that really works for me when I’m mixing: not too flattering, but not painfully harsh either. They are also suitable for recording vocals as they do not leak too much sound into the microphone. And because they’re wired instead of wireless, there’s no latency, which is crucial with live performances.
I have the 80 ohm versions, but there are 32 ohm versions that are easier for phones and tablets to drive, as well as 250 ohm versions for studio setups.
Because I’m worth it: AirPods Max, B&W Px7 S2, Cambridge Audio Melomania P100, Grado SR80x
The more headphones you test your music on, the more likely you are to spot issues – and I sometimes hear things on my AirPods Max that I didn’t spot when I was using my Beyerdynamics. But honestly, the reason I have really nice headphones is because I like really nice headphones, especially for analyzing or just enjoying other people’s music.
Headphones I’d recommend in this bracket also include the excellent Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 (there’s a newer model, but the S2 is where the deals are) and Cambridge Audio’s very impressive and aggressively priced Melomania P100, as well as wired options such as Grado’s SR80x. These are the headphones you buy because you’re worth it.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
