Best guitar amp headphones 2026: practice playing your guitar in peace

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.

Over the past 12 months, I’ve tested around 20 different pairs of headphones using a playlist of professionally recorded tracks to measure the differences between them. Listening tests are very objective, of course, so I’ve also performed raw frequency response testing utilizing a Neumann KU 100 dummy head to add some subjective data to my findings. Of course, with these being guitar headphone amps, I’ve also listened to them through a variety of practice amps and modelers, including those from Boss, Line 6, Positive Grid, Neural DSP, and more.

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

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.

Best budget

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.

Best wireless

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.

EXPERT VERDICT: YAMAHA YH-WL500

EXPERT VERDICT: YAMAHA YH-WL500

Matt McCracken

“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

Best all-in-one

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.

EXPERT VERDICT: POSITIVE GRID SPARK NEO

EXPERT VERDICT: POSITIVE GRID SPARK NEO

Stuart Williams

“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

Best comfort

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.

Best premium

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.

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.

Also consider

Boss Waza-Air
Closed back | 1 M ohm
Packing five unique amp types from the Katana amp series, including voicings for bass guitar and acoustics, plus 50 customizable effects through Boss’ Tone Studio smartphone app, it’s hard to see where you can go wrong with the Waza-Air system.
★★★★½

Read more: Boss Waza-Air review

Audio-Technica ATH-R70XA
Open-back | 5 Hz - 40 kHz | 470 ohms
If you want a pair of headphones that can double as mixing cans, the Audio-Technica ATH-R70XA is an excellent choice. The soundstage is fantastic and the wide frequency range ensures you’ll hear every aspect of your tone, just be wary of that incredibly high impedance, which means they might not sound the best with every guitar or practice amp.
★★★★½

Read more: Audio-Technica ATH-R70XA review

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro
Closed-back | 5Hz - 35kHz | 48 ohms
These closed-back, over-ear headphones from German manufacturers Beyerdynamic are very high-end, with a frequency response ranging from 5Hz to 35kHz for maximum resolution and precision. That extended range means all notes feel defined and articulate, even at the extreme bottom end of the register, with punch and clarity in areas other sets may lack.
★★★★½

Positive Grid Spark Neo Core
Closed back | 20Hz – 20kHz | 32 ohms
A cable version of the Spark Neo further up in the guide, the Positive Grid Spark Neo Core is lower cost, all-in-one practice solution that requires the use of a guitar cable. It features all the same great sounds, excellent isolation, and a very rugged design and build quality. The cable position can be a bit awkward, though.
★★★★☆

Read more: Positive Grid Spark Neo Core review

Vox VH-Q1
Closed-back | 10Hz - 25kHz | 80 ohms
These active noise-cancelling headphones from Vox will certainly turn a few heads. The internal and external microphones make them an excellent tool for guitar practice and vocal training – picking up and isolating frequencies from your instrument, amp or voice for a clear and pristine tone. You can even feed in an audio source and blend it against what you play, which is perfect for rehearsing or jamming to backing tracks.
★★★★☆

AKG K240 Studio
Semi-open-back | 15Hz - 25kHz | 55 ohms
If you're looking for a cheap pair of cans that you don't have to feel bad about chucking into a backpack or tossing around your practice room, the AKG K240s should serve you well. Simple yet effective, their price point typically sits below the $/£100 mark, making them excellent value.
★★★★☆

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

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

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.

• Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we test each product.

Why trust us?

Guitar World boasts over 44 years of expertise and stands as the ultimate authority on all things related to guitars. The magazine and website feature expertly written gear round-ups and top-quality, authoritative reviews penned by a team of highly experienced industry professionals.

Guitar World's inaugural print issue hit the shelves in July 1980, and ever since, it has been captivating players and enthusiasts with engaging lessons, insightful interviews with the most prominent guitar heroes, and priceless buying advice for newbie players.

Furthermore, GuitarWorld.com continues this legacy online and serves as the hub of the world's foremost authorities on guitar playing. The site not only hosts content from Guitar World but also showcases articles from respected publications such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Guitar Techniques, and Bass Player. With a reach extending to 3.8 million players each month, GuitarWorld.com is a go-to destination for guitar fanatics globally.

Latest updates