Ear tips are the cheapest upgrade in audio
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.
Priya Raghunathan
Runs the audio bench: a fixed head-and-torso rig, a sealed room, and a commute she has taken so many times it counts as a control group.
8 articles · 2 reviews · Average score awarded 8.2
Open-back or closed-back: choose by the room, not the graph
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.
How to stop your headphones dying after two years
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.
Noise cancellation, explained: what the number on the box is not telling you
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.
The best noise-cancelling headphones
We measured isolation across the band on a fixed rig, then wore all fourteen pairs on the same commute for a fortnight each. Two are worth your money.
Northbeam Atlas II review: the quiet ones finally got comfortable
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.
Northbeam Atlas II vs Halcyon Drift Pro: over-ear or in-ear?
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.
Halcyon Drift Pro review: excellent earbuds, exasperating case
The sound is better than the price suggests and the charging case opens itself in a bag. Both facts come from the same design instinct.
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