Youre listening to 20,000 wear headphones all the time.
I use them for work at the gym, playing video games, watching movies, and of course recording this very podcast.
But despite how much I use headphones, I actually dont know that much about them.
Sure I have a few pairs that I really like because they sound good and they work well for the things that I use them for.
But what actually makes a pair of headphones good?
When I get a new pair, what should I be listening for?
Which features really matter and which ones are just marketing gimmicks?
I decided that it was time to educate myself and bring you along with me.
You can think of this episode like a headphone handbook that you can refer back to anytime.
Now when I'm in the market for a new pair of headphones, there's one place that I always look, and that's the wire cutter section of the New York Times.
And in those articles there's a particular writer whose name I see all the time.
I'm Lauren Dragan.
I am Wirecutter's.
I guess you call me headphone expert.
Senior staff writer, technically, and I work with audio.
But primarily I do headphones and hearing aids.
If you stick it on your head and listen to it, that's what I do.
I love the hesitation on expert because it's like there is no doubt that you are the foremost expert or very up there, because I don't know who else is.
Well, I mean the New York Times technically claims that I've tested more headphones than anyone else in the world.
At Wirecutter, Lauren has personally tested almost 2000 pairs of headphones.