Headphones with cables in the test in 2022

Wired headphones will still be popular in 2022 – for good reasons. GIGA editor Stefan shows you his three personal favorites from the categories of in-ear, over-ear and on-ear.

Wired headphones: these are the advantages

First of all, the question arises: why should you buy wired headphones these days when everything can apparently be replaced by wireless Bluetooth models? Well, exactly this “apparently” is the whole point. Wireless headphones offer a number of benefits that still apply:

• Need wired headphones no own power supply (battery) and draw their energy directly from the player (e.g. tablet) via a jack cable. Bluetooth headphones, on the other hand, have to be charged regularly – until at some point the (often permanently integrated) battery dies and no longer charges at all.
• Cable headphones sound better – or at least they have the potential to do so. Why is that? Music transfer via Bluetooth is digitally compressed and therefore lossy, but music transfer via cable is not. In the case of particularly high-quality models and good recordings, this can make a decisive difference in the Sound quality do. Even today, you will only find wired headphones in professional recording studios.
• Cause cable headphones no latency. From the jack output of the source, the analog music signal travels over the cable to the transducers in the headphones at lightning speed – without any significant delay. Anyone who plays an electronic musical instrument or DJs knows the problem: Even the lowest latency (with Bluetooth transmission) has a disruptive effect. The topic can also be relevant to hardcore gamers. Therefore, in case of doubt, the same applies here: Cable is king.
• Cable headphones are mostly something cheaper than Bluetooth models with comparable sound. No battery, no digital-to-analog converter (DAC), no amplifier components – wired headphones don’t need any of that. This leaves the manufacturer with more budget for better drivers and materials (e.g. ear pads).
• Cable headphones are retro and back in fashion. Just as fashion keeps returning to past decades, there is also (seldom) a return to the world of technology. The resurrected vinyl record or exorbitant prices for used tape machines are examples of this. When it comes to headphones with a cord, it’s best to take a look around hipster strongholds like Berlin-Mitte: the current one “Y2K-Style” (more information on Desired) also include the good old Apple Earpods with the white cable.

What should I look out for when buying wired headphones?

the Purchase Checklist of cable headphones is pleasantly short and uncomplicated:

The right one plug: The most widespread is the “small jack socket” with 3.5 mm – it is usually the analog headphone output on cell phones, tablets and laptops. On mixing consoles (or DJ mixers) you sometimes come across the large jack socket (6.35 mm). Cable headphones can also be connected to devices without a jack socket: Either they already have a corresponding plug (Apple Lightning or USB-C) or you can plug in a suitable one adapter an (external headphone amplifier), which has a 3.5 mm socket.

Length of the cable: Depending on the intended use, you should buy the correct cable length consider. If you use your headphones to watch a film and plug them into the receiver on the television, you theoretically have to bridge the whole living room. Fortunately, there are also inexpensive extension cables available.

The right one resistance: The decisive factor is the “impedance”, which in Ohm (Ω) is specified. It expresses how easily (= low value) or difficult (= high value) the headphone model can be driven by an amplifier. Mobile devices such as cell phones, MP3 players or tablets are often equipped with somewhat inefficient amplifiers, so a headphone impedance of 32 ohms or less is recommended. High-impedance headphones can sound too quiet on weak smartphone jack sockets. On the other hand, professional headphones with 250 ohms can be plugged in at the mixer in the studio or at the external headphone amplifier, as there is enough power available.

The best wired headphones: this is how I chose the recommendations

How we test at GIGA and why you trust our judgment we have explained here:

Long before the first Bluetooth models came onto the market, I was concerned with headphones (at that time, logically, they all had cables): A lot of sample listening, a few bad purchases, but also a few hits – headphones are a science in themselves. In the following I’ll show you three modelswhich I can personally recommend with a clear conscience and which have also been positively assessed by the global specialist press.