Using headphones to play with your guitar amp is a great way to keep your playing skills sharp and ensure you’re always ready to songwrite when inspiration strikes. It’s not always just a case of plug in and play, however, as there are a multitude of barriers you might need to overcome before selecting the best guitar amp headphones for you.
You can’t just use any old pair of headphones on a guitar amp for a few reasons. First of all, most consumer headphones have a ‘V’ shaped EQ profile, which boosts bass and high-end and cuts the mids. These will make your guitar sound muddy. This means if you’re buying a pair, you’ll want to go the studio headphone route for the best sound. The issue with studio cans is impedance. Most practice amps have a headphone out with relatively low impedance, so you’ll need a pair in the 32-80 ohm range in order to make the most of them. These vary from model to model, however, so be sure to do some research on your specific guitar amp before you buy.
For me, the best overall was the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X. They’re a proper pair of studio headphones that sound great across a variety of different amps and modelers, and will work well if you fancy recording and mixing your own music. If you’re looking for something cheaper, then I recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. Their closed-back design makes them great for silent practice, and the slightly hyped sound means they work on a variety of sources.
Best overall
✅ Buy if you want the best overall sound: The DT 990 Pro X is a proper pair of studio headphones, which means they’ll sound phenomenal with pretty much any guitar amp or modeler.
❌ Avoid if you need complete silence: These are open-back cans, so some sound will bleed out that others will be able to hear.
🎧 The Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X are a superb pair of headphones, no matter what you’re using them for. They sound absolutely phenomenal through a guitar amp or amp modeler, and they’re a fantastic asset for those who like to record and mix their own music.
Overview
If you want the best possible sound when practicing with your guitar amp, I can’t recommend the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X enough. These are pro-level studio headphones with a flat frequency response, perfect for honing in on the intricacies of your technique and guitar tone. With a relatively low impedance of 48 ohms, they’ll also work great with a variety of amps, modelers, and other playback devices.
Build & comfort
I’ve owned the predecessor to these cans, the DT 990 Pros for many years now, having used them extensively in my home studio. Despite being chucked in backpacks and taken to mobile recording sessions, the only sign of wear has been a slight discoloration of the velour ear pads, thanks to many a sweaty playing session.
The DT 990 Pro X is an upgraded version of those headphones, with the main difference in build being the addition of a detachable cable. Otherwise, they’re pretty much indistinguishable in terms of build quality, so I have no qualms saying that they’re built to last.
One of the best things about Beyer headphones is those velour ear pads, which feel lovely and soft against your head. The ear cups themselves are circular but give generous room even to those endowed with larger ears or lobes, and overall, I found the headband to be very comfortable, with a detent in the middle to relieve pressure on the top of your head.
Frequency response
For my test data, I measured each headphone against the Harman Curve, a well-known standard for headphone testing. Here, we can see that the DT 990 Pro X is very flat across the sub, bass, low mids, and mids. This makes them well-suited for guitar playing, as guitars generally occupy the 80 Hz to 5 Khz range. The bass isn’t hyped as you find with more consumer headphones, which gives them a nice balance if you’re using drop-tuned or extended range guitars.
Nearer the higher ranges of the scale, we can start to see some peaks and troughs, which is typical of nearly all headphones, due to cancellations happening thanks to the way our ears are shaped. There are some significant dips around 8 and 13k, with some peaks around 11k, which should help you tame any harshness in your tone.
Subjective listening
Plugging the DT 990 Pro Xs into my Positive Grid Spark Mini, I’m instantly hit by how open they sound. After five minutes of playing, it’s very easy to forget the sound isn’t coming from the amplifier, as it’s replicated brilliantly. The same tones I always get, but without anyone else able to hear it. The bridge pickup of my Telecaster is replicated really nicely, with plenty of the cutting tone that I’m used to, without being harsh.
Plugging in my baritone, they remain super controlled in the low-end, with it never feeling overpowered even when chugging in drop A. With the volume mark at around 11 o’clock on the amp, there’s plenty of volume to cut most extraneous noise without being deafening, so despite the open-back design, I never feel distracted by anything around me, like my cats meowing at me because it’s nearing dinner time.
Switching to the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, it’s time to use some multi-amp rigs with effects like stereo choruses and delays. The soundstage is lovely and wide thanks to the open back design. Ping pong delays bounce around, and there’s a huge feel to those dual rigs with different tones in each ear.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build & comfort | Well put together and great for long playing sessions | ★★★★½ |
Frequency response | Very close to the Harman Curve | ★★★★½ |
Subjective listening | Delivers a very open and natural amp tone | ★★★★½ |
Overall | A brilliant pair of headphones for any guitar player | ★★★★½ |
Best budget
✅ Buy if you want guitar amp headphones on a budget: As one of the most popular pairs of headphones ever manufactured, the ATH-M50x is an excellent choice for any music maker, but excels here thanks to the closed-back design.
❌ Avoid if you want something very flat: They do hype the highs and lows, however, so if you want something to double as mixing cans, these might not be for you.
🎧 It’s a sure sign a product is popular when it starts getting hate online, and the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x sure gets a lot of stick these days. Don’t let that fool you, though. These are fantastic headphones for the money, and well-suited to being plugged into a guitar amp or floor modeler.
Overview
Probably the most ubiquitous studio headphone ever manufactured, the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x is a brilliant budget option for guitar players. The closed-back design makes them ideal for silent practice, and the rough and ready build quality means they’ll put up with plenty of abuse.
Build & comfort
The ear cups of the ATH-M50x are very flexible. They rotate, flip outwards, and that means you can fold them down nicely for use with a travel guitar. This means you can share your best licks with a friend or partner if you like, or play with one ear off if you need to make sure you can hear what’s going on around.
They’re mostly comprised of hard plastic, but that doesn’t make them feel cheap. It adds a robust quality that lets you know they won’t break easily, regardless of whether you’re throwing them into a backpack and taking them out and about. The clamping force makes them feel very secure on my head, without being so overbearing that they cause any pain.
Frequency response
Despite the overall feeling of bass heaviness these headphones give, on the frequency response graph, they don’t appear to be too weighted towards the low-end. This might be down to the closed-back design, giving the feel of more bass because they certainly felt bassy in my listening tests.
The mid-range is fairly linear, with a slight dip in the low mids (200-400Hz), which leans more towards the consumer end of the scale, as this is where muddiness can build up. There are also significant dips between 5 and 8k where harshness tends to live, and a bit of a bump in the high end for some additional sheen to the tops.
Subjective listening
The best thing about the ATH-M50x is the isolation they offer from the rest of the world. Plugged into a Neural DSP Quad Cortex with the volume just to the right of the 12 o’clock mark, there’s little chance of being disturbed here. The sound isn’t as open as the DT 990 Pro X, but it’s not a million miles off in terms of quality. The low-end isn’t overpowered, but I’d definitely describe it as muscular, particularly noticeable with an extended-range guitar plugged in.
The low impedance means it gets plenty loud when plugged into my Positive Grid Spark Mini, and combined with the closed-back design, you don’t have to drive them as hard as you would an open-back headphone to get a good amount of volume. There’s a good amount of midrange detail for shaping your guitar tone, and the stereo separation is decent with ping pong delays, although not quite as wide-feeling as some of the open-backs I tested.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build & comfort | Excellent build quality and very comfortable | ★★★★½ |
Frequency response | Some peaks and troughs throughout the curve | ★★★★☆ |
Subjective listening | Can feel a little hyped in the highs and lows | ★★★★☆ |
Overall | A great option on a budget with excellent isolation | ★★★★☆ |
Best wireless
✅ Buy if you want a true wireless option: These are the only truly wireless headphones I’ve tested that work with a guitar amp, making them a great option if you absolutely must have cable-free performance.
❌ Avoid if you don’t want to spend loads: They are pretty expensive compared to wired options, which makes them a premium option for a lot of players.
🎧 They might be expensive, but the Yamaha YH-WL500 delivers a latency-free performance that makes playing without cables an absolute delight. The 4ms of latency was imperceptible for me, and I’d highly recommend them for players who want a wireless headphone they can use elsewhere.
Overview
Bluetooth headphones just don’t work for playing guitar, thanks to the average 200ms of delay between you playing a note and hearing it back. Enter the Yamaha YH-WL500, which utilizes some clever tech designed by Line 6, giving you the ability to practice with your guitar amp modeler, completely cable-free when you connect with the included dock.
The dock is central to the usability for guitarists, and it is quite a chunky bit of kit. It means it’ll sit nicely on your desk, on top of your amp, or on a nearby shelf, and comes with a cable that plugs into whichever device you want to use it with. It’s the caveat you have to make for having true wireless playback through a guitar amp, but it doubles as a charging station for the headphones themselves, and looked nice and clean sat on my desk.
Build quality & comfort
The headphones themselves feel very well-made, with a nice feel to the soft padding on the ear cups. The construction itself is all hard black plastic, apart from a white accent on the top half of the ear cup, which makes them look a little different from the more studio-focused cans on this list. The clamping force is enough to keep the cups pushed together when you’re not wearing them, and keeps them positioned nicely when charging in the dock.
There are various buttons on the left cup for power, volume up and down, and regular Bluetooth connectivity. There’s also a 1/8-inch jack input for connecting a wired cable, should you ever run out of battery. On the right cup is an LED that shows you the charge level, which is a handy indicator to have.
I did find that after long playing sessions, I got a little ache at the top of my head. This was around the two-hour mark, and I believe it’s partly down to the rather thin material at the top of the headband, and the relatively heavy weight having all those electronics inside the ear cups. It does limit the use case for me in longer sessions, although everyone’s head size and shape is different, so you might not necessarily have the same issue.
Frequency response
The results of the frequency response testing I got were very different from those of the other headphones in this guide, presumably because of the wireless connectivity. The results were incredibly variable, and with all my testing, I played five sine waves through each pair, reseating the headphones each time in order to get an average.
I did actually go back and test the WL500 again, but it still gave me inconsistent results; however, this could be down to a variety of factors. It makes it hard to judge the WL500 versus the others and the Harman Curve, all of which were measured with a wired connection. The testing graph certainly isn’t representative of the sound I heard from these headphones, but I’ve left it here for posterity.
Subjective listening
Cable-free playing with these and a guitar amp is a joyous experience, and combined with a wireless guitar system, you’ve got a really quick and easy way to play your guitar. The sound quality is really good, not as nice as some of the cabled options in this list, but certainly good enough for practicing with my Positive Grid Spark Mini.
It all feels nicely balanced in the lows and highs, solid, if unspectacular, compared to the Beyerdynamics I tested. Trying out some stereo amp action with Quad Cortex, there’s a nice sense of soundstage with these on, the semi-open-back design lending itself well to a bit of width, without letting too much from the outside in.
The real crux with the WL500s is not the sound quality, but the lack of latency. The freeing nature of playing sans-cable really does mean you won’t notice the lesser sound quality versus others all that much, because you can bob and weave your head as much as you’d like to with these on.
“There’s no doubt that the Yamaha YH-WL500s are the best wireless headphones for musicians you can buy right now, despite a few flaws. The sub-5ms latency time makes them perfect for players of all instruments, whether you’re a guitarist or bassist, play electronic drums, or must have a wireless pair of headphones for mixing.”
Read more: Yamaha YH WL500 review
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build & comfort | Very well put together but quite heavy | ★★★★☆ |
Frequency response | Was not able to get accurate measurements | N/A |
Subjective listening | Good enough for rock and roll | ★★★★☆ |
Overall | One of the only true wireless options to use with an existing amp | ★★★★☆ |
Best all-in-one
✅ Buy if you want an all-in-one practice solution: Containing both the ‘guitar amp’ and ‘headphones’ in guitar amp headphones, the Spark Neo is a great option if you want to take your practice regimen wherever you go.
❌ Avoid if you rely on your amp tone: If you’re buying headphones to use with a specific amplifier, then these aren’t the cans you’re looking for.
🎧 There’s a solid argument that the Positive Grid Spark Neo is the only practice solution you’ll ever need. Great quality headphones with some fantastic amp and effects sounds make them a brilliant option for the vast majority of players, unless you already have an amp you love with a headphone out.
Overview
Slightly different from the rest of the guitar amp headphones in this guide, the Positive Grid Spark Neo is a practice amp and headphone combined into one unit. You get a wireless transmitter that plugs into your guitar, a companion app that allows you to select tones alongside a plethora of other features, and that’s all you need to get playing.
Build quality & comfort
Versus the more traditional studio headphones I tested, the Positive Grid Spark Neo is way more ‘guitar amp’ than it is ‘headphones’. They’re quite heavy and the ear cups and headband are covered in a rubbery, textured coating that is a little bit like the Tolex you get on a guitar amp. The all-black design is accented by gold on the earcup holders and a small dab of PG scarlett on the inside of the ear cups.
They’re incredibly robust-feeling, far more rugged on the face of it than some of the other designs here. The headband flexes quite a bit without feeling like it’s going to break, while the earcups can rotate 45 degrees or so. They’ll also fold inwards so you can pack them down a bit for use on the go.
Like the WL500s, they have a selection of buttons and lights on the earcups for power on, syncing with Bluetooth, a volume control, and a handy preset button for cycling through four sounds you can save via the app. They’re really comfortable too, and I played for a good few hours without feeling any fatigue.
Frequency response
Because they’re different from a regular pair of studio headphones, it was not possible to test the frequency response of the Positive Grid Spark Neo in the same way I did the others in this group test. There’s no line-out function to connect it to my hardware, and sending the test signal via Bluetooth was problematic both in a technical way and in creating a fair test for all the headphones.
Subjective listening
Where the Spark Neo really succeeds is in its immediacy. Just plug the transmitter into your guitar and turn it on, then turn on the headphones, and you’re good to go. The sound is fantastic, but the closed-back design means that it doesn’t always feel like that immediate ‘amp-in-a-room’ tone I got with the Beyerdynamics. I also found some of the default presets a little harsh on my ears in the treble range, though this was remedied by tweaking the settings.
One really great thing is the isolation that they offer. Once I placed them on my head without any sound playing, I could immediately feel the outside world recede, and they sealed so well I could hear the sound of my own breathing. It makes it easy to fall into the world of just you and your guitar, and each time I picked up the Spark Neo, I found myself playing through them for hours and hours.
Listening to some reference songs via Bluetooth, I found that to my ear they were very much voiced to a consumer profile with massive low-end that’s incredibly noticeable on Lil Wayne’s ‘A Milli’, and a very sharp high-end and fast transient response on ‘What’s the Difference’ by Dr. Dre. Putting on the very complex mix of Radiohead’s ‘Paranoid Android’ I could clearly hear all of the individual elements present, but again it did feel a little sharp in the high end.
“Throughout my time with the Spark Neo, there was one thing that stood out to me the most, and that’s how ‘immersive’ it is. A large part of this obviously comes down to the headphone-based nature of the product, but this isn’t the same as plugging in a pair of Beats or Airpods to your practice amp.”
Read more: Positive Grid Spark Neo review
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build & comfort | Comfortable for long sessions with great isolation | ★★★★½ |
Frequency response | Was not able to get accurate measurements | N/A |
Subjective listening | Superb range of immersive guitar tones | ★★★★½ |
Overall | The ideal solution for players who don’t already own an amp with a headphone out | ★★★★½ |
Best comfort
✅ Buy if you want a pair of headphones you can wear for hours: The lightweight design and self-adjusting make these great headphones for those who want to spend hours and hours playing their guitar.
❌ Avoid if you need a truly ‘silent’ pair of headphones: These are open-back cans which means a very natural sound, but with some bleed at higher volumes.
🎧 Wearing headphones for long periods of time can result in aches, pains, and a lot of strain on your head. Out of all the headphones I’ve tested, the AKG K712s were the most comfortable, largely thanks to their very light weight. They’re also a brilliantly balanced set of cans in terms of tone, making them a more than capable mixing headphone, too.
Overview
The AKG K712s are one of the top-level headphones AKG offers, which makes them great for budding mixers. I love them for guitar thanks to their super light weight, which makes them great for lengthy playing sessions. The looks might not appeal to all, but if you need something to coincide with those epic funeral doom jams, these AKGs will keep you playing for hours and hours.
Build quality & comfort
Despite the lightweight feel, these headphones are very well put together, which you might expect as they’re handcrafted in Austria. The design is pretty different to all the others on this list, thanks to that self-adjusting headband design which requires the headband to be strapped to the orange earcup connectors.
The cups themselves are circular, but their large size means they should fit the vast majority of ears. The cushions on them are super soft feeling, and the ear cups themselves rotate slightly so that they fit a variety of head shapes and sizes, which no doubt contributes to the overall comfort levels.
I love the fact that you can just chuck these on without having to mess around with the adjustment. On other headphones, these can be quite finicky, so it’s refreshing to just sit down with these, put them on, and get straight to playing with minimal messing about.
Frequency response
I’ve tested a lot of different headphones over the past 12 months, and the AKG K712s have one of the flattest frequency responses I’ve seen, from sub-bass to the mids and upper mids. In my testing, it produced a very even response across these bands, which might well be why many people online complain about their ‘bloated’ bass response.
As is typical of headphones, we see plenty of peaks and troughs as we get past the upper mids, with big dips around 3k and 7/8k. Your guitar doesn’t do much in these upper regions, so you shouldn’t find that these drastically affect the tone, and the usual high-end drop off is not as pronounced here as it is on other headphones I’ve tested.
Subjective listening
Plugging the K712s into my Positive Grid mini amp, I find a very balanced sound that works well across a wide range of presets. The low-end doesn’t feel overly powerful to me, with the low end and mids being very even and responsive when I go through mid-heavy amp models. I don’t hear any of the aforementioned ‘bloat’ here; if anything, the bass sounds a little understated.
They do feel a bit more open than the other headphones I tested, which makes them great for more of that ‘amp-in-a-room’ feel. Despite being an open back design like the Beyerdynamics, these actually feel a bit wider and less intimate, and I really love the smooth sound of the top end I get when playing with some shimmer reverb.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build & comfort | The most comfortable pair of headphones I’ve tested | ★★★★½ |
Frequency response | Incredibly stable throughout the majority of the curve | ★★★★½ |
Subjective listening | Sounds very open and wide, great for mixing too | ★★★★½ |
Overall | Ideal for players who prioritize comfort over all | ★★★★½ |
Best premium
✅ Buy if you want a top-of-the-range headphone: These cans from Neumann are fantastic quality, ideal for those who demand the best possible sound when playing guitar through headphones.
❌ Avoid if your amp has a low impedance rating: These headphones are required to be driven harder in order to sound their best, thanks to the 120 ohms impedance, so avoid if your headphone output is particularly quiet.
🎧 These headphones will offer incredible sound quality for those willing to spend the money. Out of all the headphones I tested for this guide, the Neumann NDH-30s were the most ‘hi-fi’ sounding, whether practicing through a guitar amp, mixing down and recording guitars, or just casually listening to music.
Overview
If you want a premium option for practicing your guitar, the Neumann NDH 30 is a top-tier choice, with an incredibly robust build quality. Aiming to bring the sound of the company’s KH studio monitors to a pair of headphones, they offer a flat frequency response, comfortable ear cups, and a relatively low impedance.
Build quality & comfort
The NDH 30s are one of the most robust-feeling headphones I’ve ever tested, thanks to their largely aluminium construction versus the plastic you get on a lot of other headphones. I certainly wouldn’t worry about chucking them in a backpack, but that does mean some added weight versus other headphones. It’s not insurmountable, but you will feel it a little bit over longer playing sessions.
The ear cushions feel lovely, thick, and soft with a ‘no sweat’ cloth covering that aims to help reduce the temperature and prevent you from sweating too much. The circular ear cups are fairly generously sized, although not as large as the ones on the K712s, so I did find they slightly caught my larger-than-average lobes. Overall, despite the heavier weight than some, I did find that NDH 30s were very comfortable when practicing guitar.
Frequency response
Out of all the headphones I tested, unsurprisingly, it was the most expensive ones that got closest to the ‘ideal’ of the Harman Curve. Everything from the sub bass up to the mids is not far at all from the main metric, with a very steady line that starts to dip down towards the upper mids.
It’s a tale of two halves, though, as there’s a lot of movement in the high-end versus some of the other options here. That drop off in the upper mids is interesting, and the downward trend continues all the way to the 20 kHz point, where things drop off. They’re actually rated to 34 kHz, but my test only ran between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, which is the limit of human hearing.
Subjective listening
Plugging these into the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, it’s very clear that they’re a step above most of the headphones on this list in terms of quality. It’s only the Beyerdyamics and these that get near to that really open feel that sounds very natural and less like you’ve got your ear up against a speaker.
It’s very much a ‘flat’ sounding headphone that is very restrained versus some of the more consumer-friendly options here, like the M50x. They’d make a brilliant mixing headphone, but they still sound really nice for casual listening duties. They don’t feel as bright as some of the other headphones here, with a very controlled top end that works really nicely with the higher reaches of the neck and use of an octave pedal.
Plugged into my Positive Grid Spark Mini, I don’t feel like I have to crank the volume to get a usable sound, despite the relatively high impedance versus some of the others here. This does depend on the headphone out, though so be sure to check yours before buying these.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build & comfort | The most rugged cans here and very comfortable | ★★★★½ |
Frequency response | As close as it gets to the Harman Curve | ★★★★½ |
Subjective listening | Superbly balanced and neutral tones that worked well with any tone | ★★★★½ |
Overall | A brilliant, albeit expensive, option for practicing your guitar with top-tier sound quality | ★★★★½ |
Spec comparison
If you're struggling to decide between certain pairs in this guide, I've put all of the key specifications in one place for you so you can see them all side-by-side.
Model | Type | Driver | Frequency response | Impedance | Sensitivity | Cable length | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X | Open-back | 45mm | 5Hz - 40kHz | 48 ohms | 104 dB | 3m | 352g |
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x | Closed-back | 45mm | 15Hz - 28kHz | 38 ohms | 99 dB | 3m | 285g |
Yamaha YH-WL500 | Semi-open-back | 40mm | 20Hz - 20kHz | N/A | N/A | N/A | 400g |
Positive Grid Spark Neo | Closed-back | 40mm | 20Hz - 20kHz | 32 ohms | 100dB | N/A | 366g |
AKG K712 Pro | Open-back | 40mm | 10Hz - 39.8kHz | 62 ohms | 105 dB | 3m | 235g |
Neumann NDH 30 | Open-back | 38mm | 12Hz - 34kHz | 120 ohms | 104 dB | 3m | 352g |
Also consider
How to choose
If you’re buying for the first time, then allow me to guide you through the three most important decisions you’re likely to face when buying a pair of guitar amp headphones. I’ve been playing guitar amps and modelers throughout my 20+ year playing career, so I’ve got plenty of real-world experience using them.
1. Open back vs closed back
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There are two main types of headphones, closed-back and open-back. Quite literally, it means the backs of the ear cups are either closed or open. This means that with closed-back headphones, there will be much less ‘bleed’ of the sound out of the headphones so that others in the room can hear what you’re playing. With an open-back pair, expect there to be a lot more ‘bleed’, which means they’re not a truly silent option for practicing.
However, it goes deeper than just this. Open-back and closed-back headphones sound very different thanks to their design. A lot of closed-back headphones produce more low-end because the design keeps sound in. They also tend to feel less ‘wide’ and more ‘close’ when it comes to the listening experience.
Open-back headphones tend to feel more natural because they allow some air to pass through, so you’re more likely to get that feeling that you’re listening to an actual guitar amp in a room, rather than listening to the speaker of an amp with your ear close to the grille cloth. It’s not a huge difference, and very much down to personal preference, so if you can try both kinds, it will help you a lot.
2. Impedance
The next issue you need to think about is the impedance of the headphones in question. Impedance is the measure of electrical resistance, which determines how much power is required from the output - in this case, a guitar amplifier - in order to ‘drive’ the headphones to their best possible sound. The higher the headphone impedance, the more power is required from the headphone out.
Not all guitar amp headphone outputs are created equally. Depending on which amp you have, you may benefit from a headphone with a lower or higher input impedance to ensure you get the best sound possible. A quick search online should give you a rough idea of what your particular guitar amp outputs, but if you’re unsure, getting a headphone that has an impedance between 30 and 80 ohms should work with the vast majority of guitar amps.
3. Comfort
Comfort is another potential issue. Our heads and ears are all different shapes and sizes, so what feels great for someone on a review you’re reading doesn’t mean it will translate to your own dimensions. Most of the headphones in this guide should be comfortable enough for most players, but there are no guarantees, so make sure to buy from a retailer with a good returns policy.
The other factor goes back to my first point in open-backs versus closed-back headphones. Closed-backs tend to have more heat build-up over long periods of time, because there’s airflow to your ears, like you get with open-backs. The material of the earpads is also a contributing factor to this, with the velour ear pads of headphones like the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X being more breathable than the leatherette of the ATH-M50x over longer playing sessions.
FAQs
Should I choose open or closed-back headphones?
It all depends on your use case. Closed-back headphones are better if you want to isolate the sound from others as much as possible. The back of the ear cups is literally closed, which prevents any additional noise from escaping. This does make them feel ‘close’, and can mean they can be warmer on your ears as there’s nowhere for the air to go.
Open-back headphones are the opposite. The back of the ear cups is open, which allows some air to escape, resulting in noise ‘bleeding’ out of them. This design also means loud noises from outside can be heard with them on. It makes them sound more natural and open however, which will give you more of that ‘amp in a room’ sound. They’ll also be cooler on your ears over longer playing sessions.
What is headphone impedance, and why does it matter?
Scientifically speaking, impedance is a measure of electrical resistance. What that means for guitarists in simple terms is the amount of power a headphone output has to drive to your headphones in order to make them sound their best. Different headphones have different impedance ratings, measured in ohms (Ω), with a higher number meaning more power required.
Generally, it’s recommended for something between 30 and 80 ohms for guitar amp headphones, as headphone outs on guitar amps are notoriously quiet. This will differ greatly between different amps and modeling units, however, so it’s wise to check the specs of yours before deciding which headphones to buy.
Why does my amp sound fizzy or thin through headphones?
This is most likely because you’re using ‘consumer’ headphones designed for general music listening. Typically, these have a ‘V’ profile EQ that boosts the lows and highs while dipping the mids, which sounds great when listening to a full mix. Unfortunately, your guitar creates most of its sound in the mids, which is why it ends up sounding thin or fizzy. I recommend using headphones more geared towards studio use, as they have a ‘flat’ profile, which is better for guitar tones.
What is cabinet emulation, and do I need it?
Cabinet emulation is something that might be put on a headphone or line out from a guitar amp in order to provide a better sound. When listening with headphones, you’re bypassing your speaker, so the amp needs to provide an emulation of the speaker in order for it to sound like it does when you’re playing without headphones.
Not every amp does this though, which means some users can report their headphone output sounding lifeless when they plug in. Most modeling amps, desktop guitar amps, and modern practice amps will have a cab emulation on the outputs in order to make them sound better.
Can I use Bluetooth headphones to practice guitar?
The short answer to this is no. Bluetooth typically carries a latency of 200ms, which might not sound like much, but it’s a lifetime in action. It means when you pluck your string, there’s a delay before you hear the sound, which renders Bluetooth headphones useless for guitar players. Guitar-specific wireless headphones like the Positive Grid Spark Neo, Boss Waza-Air, and Yamaha WL-500 have a latency of around 4ms, which makes them much more usable if you need a wireless option.
Can I plug headphones directly into a tube amp?
Never plug headphones into anything other than a dedicated headphone out or recording line output. Plugging your headphones into a speaker output runs the risk of damaging both your guitar amp and your headphones themselves. If you want to use headphones with a tube amp that doesn’t have a dedicated output, you’ll need to get yourself a load box or impulse response loader.
Will I be able to hear my strings while I’m playing?
This depends on a couple of things, namely the type of headphone you’re using and the amount of volume. If you’re wearing an open-back pair of headphones and playing at low volume, then you might be able to hear the ‘clack’ of the strings. At higher volumes, the sound of your amp is likely to drown out any sound of the strings.
With closed-back headphones, you’re far less likely to be able to hear any external sounds, so if you’re worried about that affecting your practice, then it might be the best route to go down.
Key terms
- Cabinet emulation (cab sim): A digital filter on a headphone or line output of a guitar amp that mimics the frequency response of a speaker. This is because you bypass your speaker when listening via headphones, so the tone would be harsh and buzzy without it.
- Closed-back: A type of headphone where the backs of the ear cups are closed to prevent sound leaking outwards.
- Consumer EQ: The profile of headphones from brands like Beats and Anker that emphasize the bass and treble. Often called ‘V-shaped’, this profile can make guitar amps sound bad because it cuts out a lot of the mids.
- Driver: The speaker inside the ear cup. As with guitar speakers, larger drivers typically mean more volume and low-end.
- Flat: A term often used to describe studio gear that aims not to boost or cut specific frequencies, providing an honest listening experience.
- Harman Curve: A benchmark used to measure headphones that represents the ‘ideal’ sound for consumers based on benchmark testing.
- Impedance: Measured in ohms, this is a measure of electrical resistance. The lower the ohms, the easier it is to drive the headphones to higher volumes.
- Impulse response: Similar to a cab sim, an impulse response is a snapshot of a speaker recorded through a microphone (or multiple microphones) in a room. Offers a very realistic playing experience.
- Latency: The delay between plucking a string and hearing a sound. This is what you’ll get using traditional Bluetooth headphones with a guitar amplifier.
- Load box: A device used by tube amps to absorb the electrical power that would normally go to the speaker, allowing you to use the amp at a lower level or plug headphones into it
- Open-back: An open-back headphone has ear cups are perforated or have a mesh on the back, allowing some sound to bleed out.
- Soundstage: A word to describe the perceived space or width of the audio.
- Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): A measure of how much a headphone distorts the original signal at a particular amount.
- Sensitivity: The measure of how loud a pair of headphones is at a particular power level; a higher level at the same volume means that one headphone is louder than the other.
- Velour: A soft type of cushioning for the ear cups on a pair of headphones.
How we test
I’ve been playing guitar for well over twenty years now, and a fair majority of that has been in a recording studio or with an audio interface and a pair of headphones. Thanks to the massive improvements in amp modeling over the past years, using your guitar amp with a pair of headphones is pretty normal, and generally a great way to ensure you can keep practicing no matter what time inspiration strikes.
Judging the quality of headphones is an ongoing debate, and there are many forums dedicated to picking out the best-quality headphones, as well as a lot of snake oil about cables, amps, digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and pretty much any other aspect of the signal chain. Some objectivists believe data trumps all, and subjectivists believe it’s impossible to measure the sound of a headphone accurately.
For my tests, I wanted to straddle the line between both, combining objective data with my own subjective listening experience. I mix and record music in professional studios, and have used countless headphones over the years, which gives me a pretty good outlook on a guitar amp should sound through a pair of cans.
There are sites like Rtings and Soundguys that go incredibly deep into the data and science behind listening through headphones, but here I’m using my experience to give you the best possible suggestion for your particular use case.
The Neumann KU 100
For the objective portion of testing in this guide, I used a Neumann KU 100 dummy head on every single headphone apart from the Positive Grid Spark Neo, which doesn’t have a line connection. I played a 20 Hz to 20 kHz sine wave sweep through each pair of headphones five times, and after each play, I reseated the headphones in order to account for any slight differences in placement.
To prepare for the testing, I had to ensure the following:
- Decouple the binaural head from any surfaces that might resonate sympathetically
- Play a loudness-matched sound source for an even playing field
- All objective listening tests were performed in the same room for parity across each pair
REW Testing Software
To carry out the tests, I used REW, a freeware software used for acoustic measurements, loudspeaker measurements, and audio device testing. It’s tool for frequency response measurement, also provides an easy way to convert test results into images. With each pair of headphones being tested five times, the software also aggregated the results into a single trace, giving an easily calculable average.
Harman Curve
It’s all good and well having loads of test data, but I still needed something to measure it against. Enter the Harman Curve, the ‘ideal’ frequency response for a pair of headphones based on a lot of testing. Now, this testing was more for music listening, so it’s not as directly comparable for playing guitar, but it does give an objective method to compare headphones to one another.
Once you find a particular headphone you like and you know its frequency response, the idea is you’ll then be able to judge whether or not you’re going to appreciate a pair of headphones based on this data. It’s also good for when you’re using headphones other than your regular pair, so you can understand why you might be hearing things differently.
Subjective listening
Finally, and definitely the most fun part of testing a pair of headphones for guitar playing, the subjective listening. I used a modern practice amp with a headphone out in the Positive Grid Spark Mini, a modern amp modeler in the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, and I subjected each pair to my headphone testing playlist with a variety of professionally recorded mixes across different genres.
Between all these different methods, I was able to get a good overview of how each headphone responded in each portion of the frequency spectrum, what the stereo spread and soundstage was like, and how the transient response was. I put more weight towards their performance with the practice amp and modeler however, as this is what most people reading this guide will be using them for.
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Latest updates
12/02/26: The guide has been given a top to bottom update, with every single section receiving an update. New headphones have been added, and each product has had its frequency response tested, as well as been put through a subjective listening test. A new spec comparison table has been added alongside revamped FAQs, key terms, how to choose, and a brand new, 'why trust us?' section.
