Reviews: Headphones for Computers and TVs

Our Tests

To test these headphones, we've used two different experienced listeners. We connected the headphones first to a Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro sound card to test them with games and then the headphone output on a NAD amp to test them with music. We listen to several reference tracks, repeating the most important extracts several times over. The music is on original audio CDs or DVD Audio sic. We also rate the headphones for how comfortable they are to wear.

'Darling, couldn't you put your headphones on?'  That's a phrase that I'm sure plenty of you have heard at least once if you've had the pleasure of living in a couple ... or with three people for that matter: a man, a woman and a PC ... Investing in a decent pair of headphones is often the only way to really enjoy music or your favourite video game without having to completely break off relations with your partner, your kids or the neighbours.

Most of the headphones we test come from the world of hifi audio, rather than computer manufactures.  That means you'll find manufacturers like Philips, AKG, Sennheiser, Koss and Sony, alongside two 'hybrid' exceptions, Altec Lansing and Create Labs.  We've deliberately left out headsets with built-in microphones, as you can find those elsewhere.  Our aim here is to test these products as PC peripherals, rather than strictly as audio hardware.  Most of the products we've included cost under £100, meaning they won't be able to rival the leaders like Beyer, Grado or Stax, or the very top of AKG's HEARO range for instance.

Our headphone tests: real-life use

We've tried to emphasise the quality of the audio produced and how comfortable they are to wear.  We've listened to both semi-open and closed headphones.  The former are usually more comfortable to wear, but the second are better at isolating external noise (and preventing anybody from hearing what you're listening too).  Which you prefer depends on what you're planning on doing with them.

None of them are tied directly to computers though, and can be used with a TV, a high, a DVD player or even and MP3 player.  If you are going to use an audio product with your computer, the most important thing to know is where you're going to plug it in: straight into the sound card or audio chipset, or into a headphone jack found on the speakers?  The choice will depend on the hardware you already have.  If you have a good quality sound card that provides decent amplification, then you should plug straight in.  If you have one of the Audigy or X-FI cards Create Labs, the Aureon or DMX 6Fire24/96 from Terratec or a High Definition Audio chipset certified by Dolby Master Studio, then you'll be fine.  Whatever happens, don't forget to set the driver up properly and specify that you're using headphones to make sure you get the right pre-amplification and the right filters are applied to the stereo output.

See Also

> Product Survey: Headphones
> Product Survey: In-Ear Headphones
> Product Survey: Portable Audio and Video Players