Tip: Don’t just go and buy some random expensive “audiophile” headphone that people on the internet rave about. The most important thing is that they first meet your taste. An expensive headphone that doesn’t fit your preferences is never going to impress you. I can’t stand headphones with rolled off bass, so listening to HD600s will always be a disappointing experience for me regardless of how much everyone else seems to love them.

What kind of frequency response do you prefer? Do you like over-ears, on-ears, earbuds, or IEMs? Open back, closed back, semi-closed? How much do you value soundstage and imaging? If you don’t know the answers to all of these questions, figuring them out after you spend $1000 on a headphone is a great way to find yourself with buyer’s remorse. Play around with different options in the budget range to figure out what you like, then upgrade from there.