Ask any DJ what their most important bit of kit is and they’ll tell you it’s what goes around their head. Whether playing off a laptop, CDJs or decks, a pair of decent headphones is your portal to the mix and an essential element to get right.
Luckily, we’ve assembled some of the world’s best selectors to evangelise about the pairs they’re faithful to: from reliable specialist brands to old-school one-ear models, these are the best DJ headphones for crystal-clear sound and to hear that all-important bass.
DJs on their favourite headphones
Sennheiser HD 25
£129 at Sennheiser
£117 at Amazon
I love bass, bass, bass and bass – and Sennheisers hear my call. I first bought these headphones in 1993 and I now use the HD 25-C-II model. They’re perfect for someone with a little head and ears who requires a fat bottom-end and crystal-clear monitoring. The sound has to have the capacity to push through the noise in a festival space and yet be accurate in a quieter, more intimate setting, and the Sennheiser’s small closed-ear cup gives the best sound isolation.
They have to work hard and need to be ridiculously durable, as they’re taken on and off my head repeatedly through each set – the 3m spiral cable (or as I fondly call it, the curly pigtail extension cable) has been an essential lifeline, giving me a huge range of movement. And did I say they take a hammering? They may look cheap and plasticky, but the build is hard to beat and every part is replaceable. They are hard-wearing and hard-working. DJ Paulette
Reloop RHP-10 Mono
£57 at Thomann
£59 at Amazon
I stayed away from lollipops for a long time because these one-ear headphones were always seen as kind of a New York thing – everyone was following Larry Levan. You’re going to buy a Fender Stratocaster because you love Jimi Hendrix; if you love basketball then you’re going to wear whatever LeBron James is wearing. Larry was the superstar DJ at the time, and everybody followed suit. But I’m from Detroit.
One of the main reasons I started using a lollipop, though, has to do with protecting my hearing. Most of us DJs play far too loud, not only in the booth but also to hear what we’re cueing. When I would have headphones strapped around my head all the time, they were hurting my ears. With a lollipop, I don’t need to have it on all the time; often I just hold it with my hand.
I use Reloops because they’re cheap and utilitarian. It doesn’t have to look sexy, I’m not taking it out to dinner. Let’s look at it like a hammer: it doesn’t need to be titanium, it just needs to do the job. I have some headphones that are $2,000 and I can stand up on stage and everybody’ll think, “Oh my God, he’s so great with those headphones on.” But no, Reloops do the job. I don’t really care about anything else. Carl Craig
Technics EAH-DJ1200
£139 at Discdjstore
£169 at Amazon
Headphones are possibly the most important thing for a DJ to get right. I’ve been using these Technics ones for more than 20 years – the same make as the legendary turntables. The bass sounds really good through them, and I rarely take them off; I just move the headphones past my ears and over my head to hear the monitors. They’re not too bulky, either, and they’re good value for money. The only downside is that in summer the leather headband can get sweaty when the temperature in the club gets hotter. But it hasn’t stopped me from wearing them for most of my career. Severino
Pioneer HDJ-X7
£179 at Selfridges
£161 at Amazon
There are new models of these headphones available but I got these in 2017. I like comfort and want something that’s going to hug my ear. These can flip around and fold up – there are so many nice elements – but they’re really comfortable, which is the main thing. Sometimes, you get headphones that are too tight or too loose. With these, I can have one can on my ear and one on the side of my head, and it’ll sit there nicely.
I think you have to splash out on DJ headphones. You can’t go too cheap because you won’t hear what you need to. You need quality of sound. For me, it’s the bass. I need to be able to hear that kick drum because that’s what you mix with. And then everything else needs to be clear, otherwise it’s distorted, especially in a club – because you have to have it quite loud. Most of us now wear ear defenders, so then you have to have the music in the headphones even louder.
These have got a bit of gravitas. They’ve got a weight behind them, and they’re sturdy but comfortable. You can knock these around quite a lot but, if you look after them, they will last you a long time. Smokin Jo
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Aiaiai Audio TMA-2 DJ
£159 at Amazon
I had a gig and I’d left my headphones in a club in Ibiza the night before, so my DJ friend lent me his Aiaiais, and I was converted. The good thing about them is that they’re modular: you can buy a new lead or earpieces separately, which is essential when you’re using them all the time. My headphones generally only used to last about a year (because normally the lead connection would get loose, as you move around a lot behind the decks and the headphone wire gets pulled a fair amount), but the Aiaiais have lasted a lot longer. Apart from the obvious – sound quality (and these are also great to listen to music with at home/travelling/in the studio) – the key feature I look for is whether the headphones will stay on my teeny head. Most brands just fall off! Sophie Lloyd
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x
£115 at Advanced MP3 Players
£127 at Amazon
Durability is important to me as my headphones get thrown in record bags etc, so they need to be sturdy – and the M50xs came highly recommended. I love them because they don’t break. They also have a rich, full sound: headphones should make you feel like you’re immersed in the music and able to notice the slightest detail in the mix.
These headphones also double up as ear defenders: I remember plonking myself in the middle of the New Regency Orchestra, an 18-piece band that I direct, as we were recording the horn section live. I had the mix of the rhythm section in my ears and was listening to the horns blowing on top through the cans – they certainly protected my ears from being in the direct line of fire of the 12 horns blowing in my face! Plus, they go over the ears and keep them warm, which is handy when I’m DJing in a church for my event Church of Sound – it can get chilly in the winter! Lex Blondin
Pioneer HDJ-CUE1
£60 at Argos
£54.99 at Amazon
I bought these headphones in 2021, and they’ve survived countless festival fields and dark clubs since. A friend recommended them as a great entry-level pair to start getting a bit more serious with. Despite buying other headphones, I do keep finding myself coming back to them more often than not: they do a great job and are Pioneers’ most affordable model. I need them to be comfortable. Great sound, obviously. But also something that can pack down nicely to fit in a bumbag. They’re really flexible, clear on the low end and the finish is clean. Rohan Rakhit
Sony MDR-7506
£95 at Gear4music
£82.56 at Amazon
I bought these while I was on tour about a decade ago because I had lost my other headphones. They were less expensive and I had seen people using them. I still have the same ones all these years later because they’re good quality and unpretentious.
You can replace the ear cushions, which wear out with heavy use. They also have a cable that looks like an old-school telephone cable, so there’s some flexibility. Also, I think they look cool: simple, functional, not too “aesthetic” like some boutique ‘phones. They’re also quite slick, not some giant silver plastic thing that has EDM written all over it.
I can use them also for vocal recordings because they have closed cups, which is the standard headphone style that you will find in most studios. If aliens would arrive on this planet and would ask me what a headphone is, I would probably show them this one. Matias Aguayo
DJ Paulette’s book, Welcome to the Club, is on sale now. Buy it for £20 at guardianbookshop.com – the paperback is out 29 April. Smokin Jo’s book, You Don’t Need a Dick to DJ, is out now. Buy it for £19.80 at guardianbookshop.com
