The world of headphones is a deep rabbit hole. With thousands of options and endless technical jargon, it’s hard to know which factors really matter, and which ones are just marketing gimmicks. In this episode, we cut through all of the gobbledygook, and break down the ins and outs of headphones to help you find your perfect pair. Featuring Wirecutter’s resident headphone expert Lauren Dragan. Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook. Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to get our entire catalog ad-free. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org Explore headphone recommendations from Wirecutter. Buy Dr. Chesky’s Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc. Go to Zocdoc.com/20K and download the Zocdoc app for free. Over at Liquid IV, use promo code 20K at for twenty percent off anything. Start your one-dollar-per month trial period at Shopify.com/20K. Get fifty five percent off your subscription at Babbel.com/20K. Support us by supporting our sponsors at 20k.org/sponsors. Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/headphonehandbook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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.