T3 - UK (2021-03)

86 T3 MARCH 2021

Best of the best

Nailed it. Light, with

broad, soft ear cups

and a remarkably

comfortable

headband, these

offer best-in-class

noise cancellation

with great sound,

rich bass and a lively

approach to music.

£349, sony.co.uk

BOSE NOISE CANCELLING

HEADPHONES 700

Close rivals to the

Sony and B&W

options above, they’re

less exciting, but also

very easy to listen

to for hours on end.

If you are easy like

Sunday morning,

maybe these are

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£299, bose.com

SHURE AONIC 50

The sound quality

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should have purists

purring. There isn’t

an excess of bass

and it delivers all

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and painstaking

accuracy you

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£359, shure.co.uk

BOWERS & WILKINS PX7

A bit dull-looking,

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and noise cancelling

are extremely

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Sonys. B&W’s usual

exciting, but well

balanced, sound

meets excellent

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£275, bowers-wilkins.co.uk

FLARE AUDIO FLARE

PRO 2HD

These are both

wired and wireless

• the in-ear bit has a
  cable to a DAC box,
  which you can then
  play music through
  over Bluetooth or
  by plugging in. The
  sound is fantastic –
  huge and nuanced.

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SOUNDMAGIC E11C

Can we really be

recommending a pair

of headphones for

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can! The grown-up

sound quality and

exemplary comfort

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bargain of the year.

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FLARE AUDIO

FLARES JET 3

Maintaining the

quality of the Flares

Pro (see Bluetooth

headphones),

removing the DAC

element and thereby

slashing the price,

these audiophile in-

ear headphones are a

tremendous option.

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KLIPSCH T5M WIRED

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but nonetheless

immediately felt

comfortable and

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boosted, primped

and pop-friendly,

with plenty of bass

and a very lively and

engaging sound.

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GRADO SR325E

When you factor

just how good these

sound, they’re a

bargain. In a quiet

room, they sound as

good as headphones

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more. They’re among

the leakiest we’ve

tried, however.

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FOCAL STELLIA

Carefully engineered

to give you the kind

of big soundscape

expected of high-

end headphones,

the audio quality is

stunning. Detail and

expansiveness at

the high end is really

impressive too.

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AKG K52

These have absolutely

no right to sound

half as good as they

do. For at-home

listening they offer a

massive soundstage,

impressive balance

and a frankly

ludicrous amount of

detail for the dosh.

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AUDIO TECHNICA

ATH-A1000Z

Forget about MP3s

or EDM: these

headphones don’t

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sound quality for

bass. But if you give

them a good amp

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source they do

incredible things.

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NOISE CANCELLING

HEADPHONES

WIRED IN-EAR

HEADPHONES

WIRED OVER-EAR

HEADPHONES

Find the lowest prices at:
t3.com/bestnoisecancelling

Find the lowest prices at:

t3.com/bestinear

Find the lowest prices at:

t3.com/bestoverear

SONY WH-1000XM4