The BEST Headphones of the Year: An AUDIO ENGINEER's Review

Another year has come to a close and

another round of headphone releases with

it. Over the past year, I've tested

dozens of headphones, evaluating their

sound quality, using them in realworld

scenarios, and stress testing them. The

real question is, what are the best

headphones of the year? I'll share my

picks across a variety of categories.

Best design, budget option, open

backwired, gaming, microphone quality,

A&C quality, sound quality, and the

overall winner from the perspective of

an audio engineer. Many of these have

more in-depth reviews or videos that you

can check out in the description along

with links to purchase them. And this is

not all of the headphones I've checked

out. So, if they're not mentioned or

shown here, it doesn't mean that I

haven't checked them out. Let me know

what your picks are for each category in

the comments. Let's get started with the

first category. Headphones can range

from looking ridiculous to completely

generic. While I generally like

minimalistic, modern aesthetics, that

approach can be uninspiring and well,

sometimes seamy. It's not often that you

see a truly unique design that is bold

without being tacky, immature, or

cringe-worthy. One headphone released

this year nails this balance, and it's a

Nothing Headphone One. Nothing's

transparent, techy design language looks

fantastic on the Nothing Headphone One,

and I enjoy wearing them out and about.

It's a bit of a fashion statement, and

people often comment on the unique look.

With that said, I wish it had even more

layers of detail like on their phones.

The design is slightly simpler than I'd

prefer, but it's still bold without

being tacky. Imagine how much cooler

this would be if it also had the light

rings for charging stats and other neat

lighting effects like what you see on

their phones. I have a full review of

the Nothing Headphone 1 on my channel.

But one tip, the gray colorway showcases

the transparent design elements better

than the black version, which obscures

some of the internal details. With

everything getting more expensive, it

can be hard to justify spending hundreds

of dollars on flagship wireless

headphones. My pick for the best budget

headphone of the year comes in at under

$100 and delivers surprisingly decent

sound and need to clean design and it's

the CMF Headphones Pro by Nothing. At

this price point, you typically get

muddy bass, harsh treble, and tiny mids.

The CMF Headphones Pro avoids all those

pitfalls. They won't blow away audio

files, but they sound generally good for

the money. The ANC doesn't make

everything sound hollow. It lowers the

overall volume in a relatively natural

way. It won't win any A&C awards, but it

does take the edge off. The battery life

is also impressive with up to 100 hours

with&c off. That's quite fantastic for

how small and sleek they look. The

design is modern, clean, and

surprisingly nice. The replaceable ear

cups are great for longevity, and you

can get different colors to customize

your look. I have the black and orange

combo, and it looks fantastic. One thing

to note is that the black model has a

matte soft touch coating while the teal

and white models are glossy, which is

another reason why I prefer the black

version. Let me know in the comments

what your favorite budget option is. The

best open backwired headphone of the

year can be tricky to nail down. There

are so many options and releases with

wildly desperate price ranges. I haven't

had a chance to check out every

headphone out there, but of the ones

I've tried out, this one stands out the

most, and it's the Sennheiser HD 550.

The Sennheiser HD600 and its HD 6XX

variant are amongst the most popular

audio file headphones out there. Many

enthusiasts want that signature sound

with just slightly more bass. The new HD

550 delivers exactly that using the HD

560 chassis with a tasteful low-end

boost while maintaining that excellent

mid-range and clean detailed highs that

the series is known for. Add in a

replaceable headphone cable, a light

design, and comfortable ear cups. And

this is a fantastic addition to the

Sennheiser Audio File headphone lineup.

What's impressive is the $350 price

point, which is an exceptional value for

highquality audio file headphones,

especially considering they'll sit

amongst the standards that the HD600 and

HD 6X represent in the audio file

community. Keep your eye out for sales

on any of these headphones because they

do go on sale often. Gaming headphones

often sacrifice sound quality for RGB

lighting and exaggerated bass. They

emphasize footsteps and explosions, but

sound bizarre for music and movies. You

usually have to EQ heavily to get

acceptable sound, if the software even

allows it. My pick for the best gaming

headphones of the year really surprised

me, mainly because it's their first

audio product ever, and it's the Fractal

Designcape. I love Fractal Design's

aesthetic. I have their Fractal North

case for my PC, and it's gorgeous. That

philosophy carries over to the Fractal

Designscape. Has a clean, modern look

with tasteful RGB, a flip to mute

microphone, and an included wireless

charging dock, battery life hits 40

hours, and it connects via low latency

dongle for gaming or via Bluetooth to

your phone. Here's what makes it

special. It sounds good enough to use

beyond gaming. It has an excellent

mid-range, solid lowend, and a slightly

boosted high-end. It's closer to the

Harmon curve than not, so it sounds

fantastic for a gaming headset. The

fully parametric EQ with five adjustable

bands gives you control over frequency,

gain, and Q factor. It uses a web-based

interface, so no app installation is

required. You can create three sound

profiles and switch between them with a

quick button press. Perfect for having

different EQs for gaming versus music

without having to leave your game. Add

in a relatively light design,

replaceable ear cups, and multiple

physical controls, and you have a

fantastic package. There's no A&C and

the mic is on par with most gaming

headsets, though it does have a noise

cancellation feature for clear voice

pickup. This is the go-to gaming

headphone at $200. A nice savings

compared to the Odyssey Maxwell. A

common request I hear from people is,

"Hey Brandon, what headphone has the

best microphone quality?" Many of you

use wireless headphones for work, Zoom

calls, phone calls, and more. And

performance matters in noisy

environments like a cafe, a co-working

space, or around kids. The headphone

with the best sounding microphone

amongst flagships that I've used is the

Sony WH100XM6.

[music]

Most headphones have mics that sound

thin or quiet regardless of the

environment. The Sony captures a fuller,

more natural tone in noisy environments

like cafes and maintains voice clarity

and body while effectively suppressing

background noise. That's something that

competing headphones often struggle

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headphones for A&C and the best overall,

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