Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2: A lot of us liked Shure’s original Aonic 50 headphones, but they had pretty middling noise cancellation. Well, the 2nd-gen version addresses that issue — the noise canceling is much improved — and Shure has more than doubled the the battery life to around 45 hours (they now have a quick-charge feature) and also shrunk the headphone’s carry case a bit, though it’s still not that compact. Those upgrades make the Aonic 50 Gen 2 a top noise-canceling headphone. While the Aonic 50 Gen 2s are pretty heavy at 334 grams, they’re built sturdily and are also comfortable to wear, with nicely padded ear cups. They feature excellent sound quality with very good clarity and well-defined bass. Shure call them a “studio headphone,” so the sound profile is fairly neutral, but you can add more bass in the EQ settings in Shure’s companion app for iOS and Android (engaging the Spatializer setting in the app expands the soundstage slightly but doesn’t make a big difference).
Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay HX: Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay HX headphones are the successor to the company’s H9 series headphones (the X is the Roman numeral for 10) and, like those earlier H9 models, the HX headphones carry a list price of $599 (some colors are discounted at Amazon). That price makes it a direct competitor of Apple’s AirPods Max, which are heavier at 385 grams versus the HX’s 285 grams. I don’t know if the HX headphones are more comfortable than the AirPods Max, but I found the two models pretty equal in the comfort department over longer listening sessions, and these do feature the usual swanky B&O lambskin-covered memory foam earpads. Their sound measures up well to the AirPods Max’s sound — overall, it’s well-balanced, with deep, well-defined bass, natural-sounding mids (where vocals live) and inviting detail in the treble.
V-Moda M-200: V-Moda’s M-200 is one of the few wired headphones on this list. Released in late 2019, these clean- and detailed-sounding over-ear headphones have excellent bass response, and the cushy earcups mean they’re also comfortable to wear. Featuring 50mm drivers with neodymium magnets, CCAW voice coils and fine-tuning by Roland engineers — yes, V-Moda is now owned by Roland — the M‑200 is Hi‑Res Audio-certified by the Japan Audio Society. Other V-Moda headphones tend to push the bass a little, but this set has the more neutral profile that you’d expect from studio monitor headphones. They come with two cords, one of which has a built-in microphone for making calls. It would be nice if V-Moda offered Lightning or USB-C cables for phones without headphone jacks. Note that last year V-Moda released the M-200 ANC ($350), a wireless version of these headphones that includes active noise canceling. They also sound great, but their noise cancellation, call quality and overall feature set don’t match those of the AirPods Max.
Mark Levinson No. 5909 (Currently on backorder): These are premium audio brand Mark Levinson’s first headphones and, yes, they’re really expensive at $999. But they’re also really good. They have a sturdy design without managing to feel hefty on your head (read: they’re substantial but not too heavy) and they’re comfortable to wear over long periods, thanks to their nicely padded and replaceable leather-covered earcups and headband. Read our Mark Levinson No. 5909 hands-on.
OneOdio A10: The OneOdio A10s deliver more than you’d expect for their relatively modest price, which is why they’re featured on several of our best lists. They’re built better than you think they would be for around $90 and are pretty comfortable to wear. They have a dual-hinge design and feel sturdy, weighing in at 395 grams, making them perfect headphones for a workout. They sound surprisingly decent and have reasonably good noise canceling with a transparency mode (which has a slight audible hiss, however). The headphones also have very good battery life. No, they’re not as comfortable as Bose’s and Sony’s models (they do feel a tad heavy) and their sound lacks that extra bit of clarity, bass definition and depth that more premium headphones tend to deliver. But they did exceed my expectations and come with a decent carrying case, even if the OneOdio logo splayed across it is a bit garish.
Technics EAH-A800: There’s a bit of an old-school vibe to the Technics EAH-A800 — and it’s not just the Technics brand, which Panasonic resurrected in the last few years. Their design is something of a throwback, but these headphones are comfortable and both fold up and fold flat. They feature a big, energetic sound with powerful bass and good detail, although they take a day or two to break in.
