My twin loves of music and photography encourage me to part with cash on a regular basis. I’m always in pursuit of more appropriate tools for artistic expression or enjoyment. This can often mean researching and upgrading equipment, whilst trying - and often failing - not to spend too much.

The most important thing is the music itself: if it moves you then it’s working. Having said that, there is a perceptible difference in audio quality between different earphones*. I thought I’d share my favourite earphones at different price points. If you are in the market for new earphones here are my recommendations.

*I have a number of go-to tracks for assessing audio quality, it isn’t scientific but it works for me. You can find my Audio Test Playlist on Spotify.

Sub £20 - Sony do a cracking pair of earphones for around £15. The SONY MDR-EX110APB Headphones are great bang for buck. Far better than Apple’s own in-ear headphones. For £20 you can get them with an inline remote for playback control and handsfree calling.

Sub £100 - The Shure SE215s come in at £75 for the same build quality and noise isolation as its dearer siblings. The passive isolation makes them a great commuter earphone. Though I do notice more sibilance in the high-end compared to Shure's other offerings.
Sub £100 Runner up - 1More Triple Driver Headphones These headphones pack three drivers into a small housing. They offer decent bass response and great sound for their sub £100 price tag. They also come with an excellent carrying case. They stick a little further out of the ear than the Shure SE215s do.
£100 Plus - In this price bracket there’s a lot of choice. The improvements over cheaper headphones will be most noticeable listening to jazz or classical music. I found an audible difference in dynamic range and more natural sounding brass and strings in these earphones. I love the Shure SE535s for their incredible clarity. They have great instrument separation and passive noise cancellation. In this price category you can move in to the realm of Custom IEMs (in ear monitors) such as those by Jerry Harvey Audio. This requires a visit to the audiologist to get a mould of your inner ear made for the manufacturer. These earpieces are often used by musicians onstage. I love mine. Although they were a gift, so if it was my own money on the line I’d consider it better spent on attending festivals and live gigs throughout the year.
Luxury - The Audeze LCD-X headphones offer the ultimate in sound quality. They are open-backed planar-magnetic headphones and sound best with a dedicated amp. I find they are too heavy to wear for long editing sessions and they leak sound so aren’t suitable for public transport. I wanted to give them an honourable mention as the produce the best sound I’ve ever heard. Everyone who can should try to hear them at least once with their favourite track. But my recommendation is to save your cash and head for an audiophile cafe in a city near you to see if you can try them out.

In London check out The Spiritland Headphone Bar.

Wildcards

The Chord Mojo - Improve the headphones you already have with a dedicated DAC/AMP such as the Chord Mojo. This small box improves the sound quality of music played from a phone or computer. Expect tighter and more organic bass and improved detail. The noise floor is also considerably lowered: silence is more silent, less background noise being audible. It even smooths out the sibilance in the SE215s without squashing the top-end. Pair with either of the Shure Headphones in this roundup for great results.

The Jaybird X3 - Wireless headphones are here to stay. I don’t use them for the majority of my listening, but they have transformed my workouts on the rowing machine. I wouldn’t be without a pair for that reason. These are far better sounding, more comfortable and more discreet than any of the Beats ones I’ve tried. The Jaybirds also come with an excellent app that includes customisable EQ.

Fiio Bluetooth adaptor for wired headphones - Many brands are now making these. If you want the advantages of wireless attach this to your favourite pair of headphones. For around £25 you’ll be walking around the house and garden with your favourite headphones on and no phone in hand.

Rounding off

Coming full circle to the beginning of this article, it’s the music that counts. Much in the same way it’s the image that matters in photography, not the means by which an image is captured.

However you’re listening to music right now, you may wish to check out this Spotify playlist I put together for enjoying whilst editing.