Most audiophiles tend to like audiophile wired headphones over wireless but with the changing marketplace and the growing need for everything to be wireless in consumer electronics – there is more and more pressure to make audiophile grade headphones. Never has this been more true than today.
The number of players in the product category is nearly unlimited. The biggest companies in the consumer electronics world are spending millions upon millions per pair of headphones in development to get to a product that is worthy of mainstream AND audiophile acceptance. This isn’t such an easy feat to accomplish in terms of sound but what about the issue of vanity and fashion? With mainstream consumers, concepts like color, fabrics, durability, fit-and-feel all come before sound.
Is there hope of finding great audiophile headphones that are over-the-ear wireless that have the type of sound that you expect from your best wired headphones? The short answer is “yes” but make no mistake – it will take you some time and a little research to find the perfect over-the-ear wireless headphones for you. They all have their perks and most have downsides too.
Here’s a list of some of our favorites for your consideration on a pros and cons basis.
Apple AirPods Max ($549)
Pros:
- Incredible industrial design (shocker, right)
- They make their own driver (amazing)
- The coolest headphone case in the business.
- Five awesome, two-tone colors
- Great noise cancelation
- Good bass (not too boomy)
- Easy to use (one button and one dial)
- Easy pairing with any Apple product
- Siri (on demand at any time)
Cons:
- Boomy mid-bass performance (bad for vocals)
- Tight fit on larger heads
Pros:
- Great noise canceling (Bose and Sony are the best but many are chasing them these days)
- Excellent industrial design
- Very durable
- Open midrange sound (great for vocals)
Cons:
- These headphones have a bright top end.
- There are only two colors offered
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 ($399)
Pros:
- Great industrial design.
- USB-C inputs (for powering up) versus Lightening or Micro options.
- Good case
- Lots of cool colors
- Great battery performance
Cons:
- Lousy bass performance (very unlike their loudspeakers)
Sennheiser Momentum 4 ($349)
Pros:
- A great value.
- Best overall sound in the category of over-the-ear wireless headphones.
- Audiophile heritage.
- German design (but likely made in Asia)
Cons:
- These headphones, like the Apple’s have a tight fit on larger heads
- There aren’t as many tricky technical features as the R&D money goes into the sound first, second and last at Sennheiser.
We hope this gets you off to a good start with your wireless, over-the-hear headphone journey.