A great pair of headphones can

  • make a really long run shorter
  • make a crappy commute on the train less crappy
  • transform music you’ve only otherwise heard “through the air” so you hear detail you may have missed
  • save you from getting
    • kicked out of your apartment for playing those beats too loud
    • the sh*t kicked out of you by your neighbor for playing those beats too loud
    • divorced

We’re only going to talk about ‘turntable cans’, headphones you plug in (for the best quality.  Bluetooth is convenient, but it will never sound as good as a physical wire will) to your amp to listen at home (or work, if you’re lucky enough to have a fancy job where you can have an audio rig!)

There are two basic types of ‘phones: open and closed.  Open ‘phones are generally acknowledged as better as approximating the soundstage of stereo speakers, while giving you all the advantages of headphones, namely, you get an AMAZING soundstage for far less moolah than you could for comparable loudspeakers.  For example, a pair of Grado GS3000Es retails for about $1800; I’d challenge anyone to find a pair of speakers that sounds THAT good for the same price. 

The only problem with open phones are, well, that they’re open, and you really need a quiet space to listen.  Ambient noise WILL creep in, and your friends will hear everything you are hearing, too, so don’t plan on bringing these on the subway.

Closed ‘phones have seemed to lag behind, though the gap is closing.  They offer better sound isolation and generally more lively bass response, but have been knocked as sounding too claustrophobic.  There are some really great closed phones out there now, like the Shure SRH1540, which you can get for short money ($399 – not nothing, but way cheaper than the GS3000E!)

Like loudspeakers, EVERY headphone sounds different.  You’ve just got to find which one is right for you.  What’s most comfortable?  Do you like to block out the world?  Are you a bass fiend, or do you prefer more accuracy at the low end?  (I do my private listening with a pair of AKG 702s, which are super comfortable and incredibly accurate.) 

At the beginning of the most recent headphone boom, you’d have been hard pressed to find a place to compare headphones, even the fancy audio salons.  Now, even the Apple Store has a headphone wall so you can listen for yourself.  Which is essential!  Honestly, would you buy a car without driving it?  Listen to a bunch and buy what you like.

Lastly, if you’ve got a good audio rig, I’d strongly advise you to get yourself a headphone amp, ESPECIALLY if you have hard(er) to drive headphones like the AKGs.  For many years, I thought, hey!  My amp ALREADY HAS A HEADPHONE JACK, I’ll just use that.  But even great amps can have crappy headphone amps inside.  It wasn’t until I got my own headphone amp (the Schiit  (yes, that’s their name) Asgard 2) that I realized what I was missing.  Schiit makes great … stuff, and right here in the USA.  They have a model priced as low as 99 bucks, the Magni – you should check it out.