TOP 5 full-size over-ear headphones for music lovers

JBL Tune 760NC are relatively inexpensive, well-built full-size headphones from JBL from the “folk” Tune line, in which the manufacturer has found a good balance between convenience, sound quality, additional features and cost. For less than $100, a potential buyer will receive a stylish gadget with a combined connection, active noise reduction, support for Ambient Aware and TalkThru functions, as well as a long-lasting battery that can provide up to 50 hours of operation (approx. 35 hours with ANC).

Visually, the JBL Tune 760NC is almost no different from its Tune series brethren with their minimalist cup design, massive logos and a variety of colors. The leatherette ear pads are soft and comfortable, thanks to them the headphones sit comfortably on the head, do not dangle or put pressure on the ears. The build quality and lining are above average, the plastic is visually strong, there is no feeling of cheapness, but a metal headband would definitely be more reliable. Adding to the convenience is the foldable design, which makes it easy to carry the headphones, as well as a replaceable cable. If necessary, the cable can be replaced or disconnected as long as Bluetooth 5.0 is used.

As for the sound, it's classic JBL, but with a few surprises. JBL headphones had a reputation for being youthful and bassy, when dynamics and pressure had to be sacrificed for the development of the frequency spectrum and the sound stage. JBL Tune 760NC has a very pleasant sound for its price; in our opinion, they play more interesting and balanced than the mass-market JBL headphones released 4 - 5 years ago. The bass does not come to the fore too much, covering up the rest of the instruments, the character has become softer and more restrained, and the sound stage has turned out to be surprisingly wide and realistic, which is more typical of open rather than closed headphones.

The ATH series of headphones from the Japanese brand Audio-Technica has long been respected by both professional sound engineers and ordinary music lovers who are looking for maximum sound quality at a reasonable price. In this case, there will be no competition for the younger models of the line, which cost a little more than mass-market models from JBL and Sony, but in terms of sound quality they are one (or maybe two) steps higher.

If we compare the ATH-M30x with older models, we will see an almost identical design and similar characteristics: 40 mm dynamic drivers, low impedance for adequate work with portable players and smartphones (in this case 47 Ohms) and traditionally “adult” sound studio level. At least that's what we expected. In fact, there was a noticeable difference from the reference ATH-M50x with their monitor sound. Here the sound is darker: the high frequencies are not so airy, but the bass, on the contrary, is more noticeable, aggressive and percussive. And with the stage, the 30s work not so subtly; the instruments seem to be standing right in front of the listener, creating a powerful wall of sound.

In general, this suggests a comparison with some kind of JBL on steroids that bassheads love. If you are looking for a more honest and delicate sound, then it is better to look towards the more sophisticated and expensive ATH-M50x model.

Now the great news: both the appearance and the design are almost exactly the same as the most popular model in the ATH-M50x line: good assembly, reliable headband design, thick, soft ear pads rotate in two directions, making the headphones easy to assemble and hide in a case. When unfolded, they sit comfortably on the head, and thanks to the soft velor ear pads, the ears are less tired during the heat. But the package is simpler to reduce the price: instead of a pair of replaceable cables, we got only one non-removable one and a simpler carrying case.

It's no secret that many brands take a different approach when designing studio headphones and regular models for listening to music. In the first case, the model must meet a number of requirements (moderately smooth frequency response, sound detail and dynamics, durability of the structure), and it will be judged by professionals. In the second case, it is not necessary to correspond to anything; bright packaging and advertising with Cristiano Ronaldo or Dr. can make sales. Dre. Therefore, it is not surprising that many music lovers buy studio headphones to pair with their hi-fi player.

An excellent example of this is the SRH940 over-ear headphones from the American brand Shure.

And it is precisely this “studio quality” that numerous reviews on foreign and domestic forums and music parties speak about: the sound is extremely detailed, with an excellent balance between the heaviness of the bass and the lightness of the upper frequencies. Everything sounds exactly as the sound engineer who mixed the album intended, and not the Beats engineers, who raised the peak around 100 Hz by 5 - 6 dB, just to make the bass pump even in the subway. What we liked most of all was their “musicality,” if I may say so. The Shure SRH940 makes you want to listen to music again and again; they don’t bore you with dryness or unnecessary analytics, like many other studio headphones.

In general, the last point in itself is a serious purchase order. But don’t rush, there is another side to the coin. Shure screwed up the design, making their lifespan a pretty expensive gamble. For some users, they work without problems for 2–3 years, for others, after just six months of use, the plastic arms crack. Considering how convenient the design turned out to be, this makes it doubly offensive. How can one not recall the story of the recent Focal Listen Pro, which also played at the level of headphones with twice the price tag, but could fail after a year or two of use?

The Danish brand Dali is well known to all fans of hi-fi acoustics, but these guys are really new to the headphone market. Realizing this, they were in no hurry, first going through a dozen prototypes of varying degrees of success. Until, finally, they came up with truly competitive headphones that meet all the requirements of the time. And it’s true that this is never a Chinese OEM - a separate R&D team was founded to create them, which over the course of several years lured specialists from competitors. Looking ahead, we note that all this was not in vain. Dali IO-4 not only meets modern requirements, but in many ways exceeds them. For example, how do you like the ability to work up to 60 hours on a single battery? Of course, here you need to take into account many different factors such as the sound source and volume, so we can immediately say that during the entire test we were not able to discharge them.

The list of additional advantages of the Dali IO-4 can stretch for several paragraphs, so let’s go over the most important ones. First of all, we highlight a well-thought-out control system, moisture protection of the case, universal USB C for charging and listening to music from a laptop, as well as damn comfortable ear pads with “memory” foam, reinforced headband mounts and swivel cups. On the points of “comfort” and “durability”, the Dali IO-4 gets 5 out of 5. By the way, if in this entire list you are disappointed by the lack of sound insulation, we have good news. In parallel with the IO-4, the Danes released exactly the same headphones IO-6 with almost standard noise reduction.

When designing the speakers, the engineers did not step on the throat of their own song and used speakers made of paper-fiber material, well known to fans of the brand. It turned out great: the IO-4 captivates with its overall timbral richness, transparency in the upper mids and an abundance of detail even at low listening volumes. Their presentation is dominated by lightness and airiness, with high intelligibility of instruments in the entire register. Jazz, classical and, in general, any music with an abundance of live instruments and details benefit from this especially. But sometimes you want power and dirt, like in the days of illegal British raves. And here the Dali IO-4 is a so-so assistant, they lack fangs. Otherwise, zero complaints and pure delight; you wouldn’t expect this kind of sound from a wireless model for $300.

Denon AH-D5200 is distinguished by its closed acoustic design and stylish zebrawood wood cups. This is an exotic species of unusually durable wood with a texture reminiscent of zebra stripes. Together with the brown leather headband matched to the wood tone, the headphones look 11 out of 10. Instead of fast food music from the Spotify charts for the Denon AH-D5200, I want to take a separate day, indulge in nostalgia, collect my favorite records and not be distracted by anything other than music. Moreover, the design of the headphones turned out to be extremely comfortable, and the foam-filled ear pads fit on the ears like native ones. We suspect that durability is also in order here - the aluminum frame and metal arms look reliable.

Now let's return to the zebrawood tree, which performs not only decorative functions. It has a high density of material and, accordingly, copes better with the resonances of the body, making the sound cleaner. It would probably be used more often if not for the complexity of processing. However, Japanese designers went even further, constructing membranes for 50 mm drivers from some clever lightweight and at the same time very rigid material that dampens vibrations in the diaphragm. And the speakers themselves were mounted on special vibration-damping suspensions. This set of measures made it possible to minimize resonances and parasitic overtones, achieving dynamic and accurate sound in the spectrum from 5 to 40,000 Hz.

Here's another thing that surprises. Many headphones were made with specific equipment in mind. So to speak, “street” models with high sensitivity may sound unpleasant on a thoroughbred amplifier, and high-impedance audiophile models, on the contrary, will not be able to swing properly on a smartphone. In this regard, the Denon AH-D5200 can easily sit on two chairs, working both as headphones for a smartphone/laptop and when connected to an amplifier. In both cases, the headphones provide excellent tonal balance with well-accented bass, neat, neat mids and extremely detailed highs. For some, such detail will even be a minus, since MP3 compression artifacts will appear everywhere. Considering all this, the price of the Denon AH-D5200 is impressive. Don't get me wrong, $500 for headphones is quite a lot, but just a couple of years ago the company's audiophile models cost twice as much.