Best Headphones According to r/headphones (December 2025)

We analyzed 204,930 opinions and found 221 products worth considering.

Sources:r/headphones
12 months of discussions (Dec 2024 - Dec 2025)
160 products ranked (+61 limited)
Updated Dec 2025
🥇

Dan Clark Audio E3

Top$$$

tldr; Closed planar summit. Incredible isolation, incredible sound. Travel endgame.

Prices
🥈

Meze 109 Pro

$$$

tldr; Open-back Meze. Relaxed, musical, gorgeous. When you want beauty and sound.

Prices
🥉

ZMF Atrium

$$$

tldr; ZMF's open flagship. Biocellulose magic, ethereal soundstage. American artisan endgame.

Prices
#4

Sony IER-Z1R

$$$

tldr; Sony's flagship closed-back. Warm V-shape, premium build. Expensive but refined.

Prices
#5

Audeze LCD-X

$$$

tldr; Producer's planar. Punchy, detailed, studio-ready. Less warm than LCD-2.

Prices
#6

Drop + Sennheiser HD 6XX

$$

tldr; Drop's HD650. Same sound, blue color, lower price. The value king.

Prices
#7

Dan Clark Audio Stealth

$$$

tldr; Closed planar summit. Incredible isolation, incredible sound. Travel endgame.

Prices
#8

Sennheiser HD 800 S

$$$

tldr; Soundstage monster. Legendary imaging, treble spike bothers some. Detail retrieval god.

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#9

HiFiMan HE6se V2

$$$

tldr; HE6 reborn. Still power hungry, still special. V2 improvements help.

Prices
#10

Focal Clear Mg

$$$

tldr; Dynamic driver king. Punchy, detailed, great imaging. The benchmark mid-fi open-back.

Prices
#11

Sennheiser HD 650

$$

tldr; HD600's warmer sibling. Slightly more bass, same magic. Pick your flavor.

Prices
#12

Koss KPH40 Utility

$

tldr; KPH30i successor. Balanced sound, crazy comfortable. Budget on-ear champion.

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#13

ZMF Caldera

$$$

tldr; ZMF's closed flagship. Incredible detail, premium wood build. Summit-fi territory.

Prices
#14

HiFiMan Arya

$$$

tldr; Planar endgame contender. Massive stage, ethereal detail. QC worries but sound is special.

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#15

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

$$$

tldr; Bose's best ANC. Incredible noise canceling, great comfort, immersive audio. Top wireless pick.

Prices
#16

Drop + Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee

$$

tldr; Drop's budget Sennheiser. HD660S-lite at half price. Amazing value.

Prices
#17

LETSHUOER S12 Pro

$$

tldr; Budget planar IEM. Great detail, comfortable fit, excellent value. Competes above price.

Prices
#18

AKG K702

$$

tldr; Wide stage open-back. Analytical, spacious, light bass. Mixing favorite.

Prices
#19

Meze Empyrean

$$$

tldr; Gorgeous endgame. Isodynamic hybrid, stunning build. Sounds as good as it looks.

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#20

Sennheiser HD 600

Most Discussed$$$

tldr; The reference. 30 years of relevance. Not exciting, just correct. The standard.

Prices
#21

Audeze LCD-3

$$$

tldr; LCD-2 refined. More detail, more money. Diminishing returns territory.

Prices
#22

Focal Utopia (2022)

$$$

tldr; Endgame for many. Beryllium drivers, insane detail. If you can afford it, you'll know why.

Prices
#23

7Hz Timeless

$$

tldr; Planar IEM. Unique driver, polarizing tuning. Different from BA/DD crowd.

Prices
#24

Audeze LCD-2

$$$

tldr; Planar classic. Warm, lush, heavy. The sound that launched a thousand upgrades.

Prices
#25

Aful Performer 5

$$

tldr; Technical IEM. Excellent detail, neutral tuning. Reference-tier for the price.

Prices

Showing top 25 of 160 products ranked by Reddit

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How We Rank headphones

Simple, transparent, and built on real Reddit opinions.

1

Analyze Reddit

We scan thousands of discussions from r/headphones where people share honest opinions.

2

ML Sentiment Classification

A trained classifier scores each mention as positive, negative, or neutral. Reproducible results, not generative AI.

3

Calculate grades

Bayesian scoring (like IMDB Top 250) rewards products with lots of positive data. 💎 Hidden Gems finds promising newcomers.

4

You decide

Read actual comments, check grades, make informed choices. No sponsorships.

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