The Best Headphones for Mixing

If high-end studio monitors give you a big, high-definition image of your audio, then studio headphones are a magnifying glass you can use to polish your mixes to perfection. Of course, just like it wouldn’t make sense to mix from laptop speakers, you can’t use any old pair of headphones for mixing. Thankfully, there are plenty of headphones out there that are designed specifically for mixing, mastering, and hi-fi listening.

Continue reading to learn more about some of our picks for the best headphones for mixing.

Why Headphones Are Good for Mixing

First things first, why would you even want to mix with headphones if you have a perfectly good set of studio monitors? We previously answered this question at length, but here’s the short version:

Headphones offer a different sonic perspective than speakers, which may reveal certain details you may have missed.
Panning tends to sound much wider on headphones compared to speakers, which is helpful for fine-tuning your stereo image.
Headphones don’t create room noise (unlike speakers), which helps you dial in effects like reverb more accurately.

In fact, there are so many benefits to mixing with headphones, that some engineers (such as Andrew Scheps) use them as their primary playback system for mixing.

However, a big asterisk to mixing with headphones is that they need to be good quality and designed for mixing. Everyday headphones like earbuds are great for reference—most people will listen to your music with earbuds, after all—but they won’t help much with the actual mixing process. A lot of headphones designed for everyday listening tend to artificially bump up certain frequencies (usually the low-end), which could leave your mix sounding completely different as soon as you play it from a different source.

An ideal set of headphones for mixing is one that gives you a transparent, unaltered, and true-to-life sound. Here are a few of our favorite pairs.

The Best Headphones for Mixing

AUDEZE MM-500

Designed with input from GRAMMY Award-winning producer/mixer Manny Marroquin (Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Post Malone), the Audeze MM-500 are made to deliver a consistently natural and trustworthy sound in any setting. Lighter than the brand's best-selling LCD-X headphones and equipped with planar magnetic drivers selected personally by Marroquin, the MM-500 gives you clean, room noise-free audio while also staying comfortable on your head for hours. This model was most recently used to mix Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, so odds are they’ll get the job done for your music as well.

FOCAL CLEAR MG PROFESSIONAL

This big and bold model by Focal sounds just as good as it looks—in other words, incredibly detailed and meticulously crafted. Everything from the M-shaped magnesium dome and internal grille to the outer honeycomb grilles and wide external ear cups is intended to give you the most transparent and full-spectrum listening experience. The Clear MG hits the right balance between the wide, spacial image you get from studio monitors and the precise sonic detail you’d want from headphones, making them ideal for mixing in the studio or at home.

NEUMANN NDH 30

Neumann has long been a go-to for linear, uncolored audio, and the NDH 30 is no different. Calibrated specifically for mixing and mastering, the NDH 30 uses 38 mm drivers for greater sensitivity and a lightning-fast transient response and a lightweight open-back construction for wide spatial imagery. Plus, its lightweight spring steel and aluminum enclosure keeps the NDH 30 comfortable for long wearing times, but also durable for multi-year use.

HEDD HEDDPHONE TWO

It’s no coincidence that these unconventional headphones look like two tiny studio monitors for your ears. The HEDDphone TWO is based on the innovative loudspeaker tech developed by HEDD founder Klaus Heinz and informed by user feedback on the original model, making for a carefully refined and optimized listening experience. The headphones’ unique Air Motion Transformer electrodynamic transducer creates a lower distortion floor than conventional headphones, and its Variable Velocity Transform technology offers a massive 10 Hz to 40 kHz frequency response. The result is a true-to-life sonic picture that’s ideal for fine-tuning your work.

AUSTRIAN AUDIO HI-X65

The youngest brand on our list, Vienna-based Austrian Audio wasted no time making a splash thanks to their forward-thinking headphone and microphone designs. The Hi-X65 packs a serious amount of innovation into one set of headphones, including the company’s patented High Excursion technology, ultra-light 44mm drivers, and unique ring magnet design. All of these components work together to create a high-res, low-noise, and remarkably true-to-life sound that makes mixing a breeze.

Honorable Mentions

Any of the above headphones are fantastic choices for mixing with precision and clarity. But if you’re still curious about other options, then here are a few more solid choices that are available right now.