Headphones

While few things beat listening to albums loud through speakers - your partner, housemates, or neighbours might not enjoy it as much as you do. Headphones are a great way of losing yourself in music. More than any other part of my HiFi I have wasted the most money on cheap and mid pairs that always disappoint... All of those are currently sitting in a box, waiting to eventually be thrown out.

Note: the majority of turntables do not have an audio jack out, so you will almost always require some form of amplifier to receive the turntable signal and output it to a 6.35mm (or 3.5mm) audio jack + volume control, required for most headphones.

As with the rest of your HiFi gear buy the best you can afford. The two pairs I've settled on are...

  • Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro Studio (Open Back) - open, sound bleeds in and out, more spacious. For a 'solo' or 'quiet' house.

  • Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X (Closed back) - isolated, sound is close and direct. Better for loud houses or high background noise.

A pair of Bluetooth headphones resting on a wooden shelf. In the background, there is audio equipment with a CD player and a stereo amplifier, with a collection of CDs below.
Black audio headphones with gray ear cushions resting on a wooden surface, with a black electronic device and speaker in the background.

Non HiFi Headphones

Bluetooth Headphones - In the house I listen to Spotify through the phone or movies on the tablet with these.

  • Sony WH-1000XM5 - Bluetooth & noise cancelling. 

Bluetooth earphones - out of sheer convenience I rarely have these out of my ears when I'm working, dog walking, hiking, or pottering around the house passively listening to music. Great sound quality, solid battery life, and reasonably priced. I have two sets in use and two spare pairs, in case they stop making them.

  • Anker Soundcore Life A1

Wired earphones- haven't used earphones in a long time, but the last pair of these in-ear monitor earphones were fantastic. Took a while to get used to the fit/shape, but the sound was incredible.

  • Yinyoo KZ ZS10 PRO X