ComputingBest Overall
Strong buy
Kestrel Systems Meridian 14
Latest reviewAudio
Northbeam's second attempt at noise-cancelling headphones keeps the measurements and fixes the head. Six weeks in, it is the pair we reach for.
Strong buy
Recommended without caveats for most people.
Half the earbuds returned as 'weak bass' are nothing of the sort. They are the wrong size tip, and the fix costs less than a coffee.
Three of the last five machines we tested shipped with a firmware bug that was fixed within ten weeks. Waiting one quarter is the cheapest upgrade there is.
The most common headphone regret we hear has nothing to do with sound quality. It comes from buying the right headphone for the wrong room.
The protocols, the rigs, the minimum test periods, and the arrangements that make our obvious failure modes harder. Read this before you trust a number on this site.
Almost every pair we have retired failed in one of three places, and two of them are a ten-minute fix if the manufacturer sells the part.
Every manufacturer quotes a single decibel figure. It is always their best one, at the frequency they are best at, and it predicts almost nothing about a train.
One isolates 7 dB better and will not fit in a pocket. The other sounds livelier and opens itself in your bag. Measured on the same rig, in the same session.
One is 380 grams lighter with a better screen. The other is still running at full speed forty minutes into a workload. The right answer depends on one question.
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