The Short Answer
One pick for each job, and a couple of alternatives with it. The reasoning is in the buying guides.
Open, with no amplifier
Meze 105 AER. Or the 105 SILVA, or the 109 PRO.
Forward and quick, with the guitars up front
Grado SR80. Or the SR325, or the Hemp.
A shared room, or somebody asleep
Meze 99 CLASSICS 2nd Gen. On a bus or in an open office, the ALBA S or the ALBA in-ear.
Wireless, around the house
Grado GW100x, open-back and Bluetooth, which almost nobody else makes.
One box between the computer and the headphones
Grace Design m900, a DAC and a headphone amplifier in one.
How to choose headphones
Start here if you are not yet sure what you are shopping for.
Open, with no amplifier
Meze 105 AER. Or the 105 SILVA, or the 109 PRO.
Forward and quick, with the guitars up front
Grado SR80. Or the SR325, or the Hemp.
A shared room, or somebody asleep
Meze 99 CLASSICS 2nd Gen. On a bus or in an open office, the ALBA S or the ALBA in-ear.
Wireless, around the house
Grado GW100x, open-back and Bluetooth, which almost nobody else makes.
One box between the computer and the headphones
Grace Design m900, a DAC and a headphone amplifier in one.
How to choose headphones
Start here if you are not yet sure what you are shopping for.
Worth reading
All guides
Where you listen, how closely you listen, and what it takes to drive the thing. Answer those three and the catalogue narrows fast. Picks at every step.
The HD 600 or the HD 650 is the whole question at this money, and the answer depends on which listener you are, not on which headphone is better.
What you get either way
The listening room
Third floor at 215 East Lewis Street in Livingston, by appointment. An hour in the room settles this faster than anything either of us could write.
How we grade
Used and consigned gear is graded at the worst axis and never averaged. Every defect is named on the listing and the standard is published, so as described is something you can hold us to.
