Rankings and Ratings

The Overview section shows a selection of key stats for the headphone alongside a summary of who the headphone is targeted at, how difficult it is to drive, and what to expect in the box. 

Pricing shows the recent, discounted retail price compared to the average price on the used market, at the time of writing, in Canadian dollars. 

Cables lists what cables and adapters are included in the box. For wireless headphones, it will also list what wired audio inputs the headphone accepts (i.e. passive 3.5mm, USB-C). 

Ohms represents the manufacturer's stated impedance of a headphone. This is generally measured at 1 kHz, and the actual impedance of a headphone tends to be much higher at lower frequencies, and slightly higher at high frequencies. 

Levels shows the efficiency and sensitivity of the headphone, measured in decibels per milliwatt (dB/mW) and decibels per volt (dB/V). This is how loud the headphone will get from 1 mW of power or from 1 volt RMS. The dB/mW value is relative to the headphone's impedance and is not ideal for comparing headphones of different impedances; for that purpose, you should use the dB/V value, which is independent of impedance.

Amp? indicates whether these headphones will require an amp. The general rule of thumb is you want to be able to power a headphone to 110 dB to ensure plenty of dynamic range, though 105 dB is often good enough if you don't listen to high-fidelity audio. Headphonesty has an excellent calculator where you can enter your headphone's values and desired loudness to see how capable of an amp will be required. As a quick reference, Apple's $10 North American USB-C to 3.5mm dongle provides 1 Vrms, while the European version provides 0.5 Vrms. 

Whether the headphones will need an amp depends on what you're plugging them into. Cheap audio chips have gotten good enough that modern computers often have a built-in DAC and amp that are sufficient for many moderate impedance headphones if they're reasonably sensitive. In these cases, a "Maybe" value will be assigned. Headphones that are very easy to drive off just about anything are given a "No," while headphones that are difficult to drive are given a "Yes." One complication comes from low impedance, low sensitivity headphones (e.g., Hifiman models) that require a lot of current to sing. They generally sound just fine off a cheap amp, but their dynamic range and soundstage greatly benefit from a better source.

If you're not sure whether you'll need an amp or DAC, we recommend buying the headphone first and trying it on your current setup. If you're hearing any noise, distortion, or the sound is just lower-quality than you expect—then try a DAC. If your headphone is unable to reach a volume substantially louder than your comfortable listening level without passing 75–80% of your max volume, you'll want an amp.

At Humble Headphones, we aim to provide simple and transparent ratings that reflect a headphone’s perceived performance across various key categories. Each of these categories is completely subjective to our opinions and updated as we continually compare old headphones to newly acquired ones. Our ratings are not scientific. They are not based on measurements or graphs. They are based on how the headphones sound to us. 

Here’s how we calculate each rating and what they each mean:

These lists are all based on my subjective ratings and enjoyment of each headphone. They are my opinion, have no basis on any objective measurements, and are updated semi-frequently. 

Headphones with a "For Music" score of 0 have been entered into the spreadsheet but not yet evaluated. Headphones marked with a single asterisk were tested via Bluetooth or a wireless dongle. Headphones marked with two asterisks were tested using USB. Everything else was evaluated on a FiiO K7.