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Our Favorite Wired In-Ears
Sennheiser IE200
For the Clumsy and Careless
Final E500
Budget-Conscious Yet Discerning
SoundMagic E11C
“I’ve got no strings to hold me down, to make me fret or make me frown …” You’d think, wouldn’t you, that if it was good enough for Pinocchio then it should be good enough for the rest of us? And it’s true, there’s a lot to be said for basic convenience (in general) and losing the strings (in particular). If you’re using wireless earbuds when you’re out and about, or wire-free headphones for focused listening at home, the flexibility of movement and lack of trip-or-twang hazards makes plenty of sense.
Wireless headphones, though, come with a few key compromises: a range in which they can operate, the risk of interference from external factors and potential downscaling of hi-res files. So if you’re interested in sound quality, then good, old-fashioned wired headphones begin to look very appealing. We’ve selected 16 pairs of corded headphones that back us up—a mixture of in-ear and on-ear, and ranging from very to not even remotely affordable. Because let’s face it: The sound is the most important thing, right?
Check out WIRED’s other audio guides, including our Best Noise Canceling Headphones, Best Wireless Headphones, Best Cheap Headphones, Best Earbuds, and Best Phones With a Headphone Jack.
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Photograph: Tharin Kaewkanya/Getty Images
Why Wired Headphones?
Not being tied to the source of music you’re listening to makes for plenty of convenience. But if you stop and think about it for a moment, the compromises inherent in wireless headphones are obvious. Just like their hardwired equivalent, they have a range in which they can operate. But while wired cans have absolute stability of connection until the connection is physically broken, wireless headphones are prone to interference and signal degradation from all sorts of factors. While wired headphones are performing to their absolute maximum every time, wireless headphones are at the mercy of the Bluetooth codec they’re compatible with and that your source player can handle.
If you have high-resolution audio stored on a music player somewhere, your wired headphones will give you every scrap of it, but if your wireless headphones can’t deal with the size of the file, it’ll be downscaled and consequently sound less impressive. Plug a pair of wired headphones in and away you go. With wireless, there’s that vague-but-nagging “battery life anxiety” to contend with. So while we’ll concede that wireless headphones are the very essence of convenience, if you’re primarily interested in sound quality, then wired headphones it is.
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Photograph: Sennheiser
Our Favorite Wired In-Ears
Sennheiser IE200
What Sennheiser doesn’t know about headphones of all types isn’t worth knowing—and the company got in on the current trend for wired in-ear monitors on the ground floor (see the much more expensive IE900 monitors further down this list). With the IE200 it intends to bring the benefits of the hard-wired configuration down to a “mainstream” level—and, of course, to have the IE200 act as a gateway drug to a sincere and ongoing hard-wired headphones habit. If you ask us, it’s succeeded in fine style.
For a flavor of what the high-end is all about, you just can’t go wrong here. They’re eloquent performers, the IE200, thanks to a pair of 7-mm full-range dynamic drivers that deliver hard-hitting, controlled, and brilliantly spacious sound that’s alive with fine detail. Though their main body is plastic, it both looks and feels good, and the detachable cable is both sturdy and braided (which helps prevent it from transmitting noise). The fit is also secure and comfortable. You’ll be hooked before you know it.
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Photograph: Final Audio
For the Clumsy and Careless
Final E500
You might, like us, associate Japan’s Final Audio with high-end headphones and even higher-end headphones—but it’s a broad church, and Final wants to cater to as many folks as possible. Its E500 in-ear headphones are yours for the price of a couple of drinks at an upscale bar, but are longer-lasting and offer a great deal more pleasure in the long run.
Despite being close to “disposable” at this price (good news for those of us who don’t take the best care of our possessions), the E500 use the same 6.4-mm full-range dynamic driver that shows up in some of the company’s much more expensive earbuds—and they sound much more accomplished and enjoyable than the price suggests they might, even if they’re slightly lumpy in absolute terms. The 1.2-meter cable resists transmitting noise well, the build quality is perfectly fine, and the sound will suit anyone who values a punchy, upfront presentation nicely.
There are five pairs of silicone and foam ear tips in the package too, so these Final are almost worth the asking price in accessories alone.
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Photograph: SoundMagic
Budget-Conscious Yet Discerning
SoundMagic E11C
Ever since it started turning out headphones back in 2005, SoundMAGIC has proved to be particularly accomplished where in-ear headphones at this price are concerned. The E11C are based on the E10 model that’s rapidly approaching “classic” status—so when we say the E11C are an obvious and worthwhile improvement on the model they replace, don’t be in any doubt that this is the best way to spend no more than $50 on in-ear listening.
The E11C are easy to drive, so they’re happy to work with the widest possible range of source players, and once they’re connected, they’re a breezy, entertaining listen. They’re not the last word in timing or detail retrieval, it’s true, but they’re still a sight better sorted than the in-ear headphones that came in your smartphone’s packaging as some sort of backhanded courtesy. And yes, they can be bettered for low-end control by most of the more expensive headphones in this list—but they still sound a lot fuller and more controlled than the price might lead you to believe. They’re more than happy to play good and loud, too, which is always a plus in our book.
